OPENING THE SEALS
Revelation 6-9

The Lifeway quarterly only covers the beginning of Chapter 9, but we need to get the big picture first.

As the Lamb opened the seven seals, seven angels appear with seven trumpets, which they proceed to sound. The first four present the famous Four Horsemen of destruction, as first seen in Zechariah (but no relation to the four horsemen of Notre Dame in Knute Rockne days). All have to do with God's judgment unleashed on the world. They are usually interpreted as standing for war, civil war, plague, natural disaster, death, or something similar. Don't get diverted because one horse is white. The rider on the white horse does not represent Jesus or any other good guy unless you count all the riders as good because they are executing God's wrath on the unbelieving world. Remember, the book's first readers were Christians under persecution. Compare with Christians and others caught  by ISIS and killed or made slaves. They are crying out, “Where is God? How long will this last?” And the answer is the Lord is with His churches, in the midst of His people. Judgment is coming.

Now in Chapter 9 when the fifth seal is opened, a star falls. Someone gives him the key to the shaft of the abyss, presumably on the authority of God. The abyss seems to be a place where evil is kept sealed and unleashed now and then. Going back to Genesis 1:2 (The earth was without form and void – that is, chaos.) Throughout history the Bible portrays chaos as trying to break back in to destroy God's creation. Now in Revelation chaos is turned against itself. Chaos will destroy those who create chaos.

From the smoke of the abyss, locusts appear like creatures out of a horror movie. In the Middle East locusts that look like grasshoppers can destroy crops and bring on famine. For that reason, they are feared. But these “insects” are not allowed to touch the earth or its crops. They are only to afflict people, and then only for “five months.” Scholars differ on the five months. Some take it literally, but most think all of the numbers in Revelation are symbolic. Five may be a symbol of incompleteness or limitation. The pain is limited. They will torment people, but not forever. The pain will leave eventually.

The pain is likened to a scorpion's bite. In the Western US scorpions inflict people with stings that may compare to vicious bee or wasp stings. If you are allergic, you could die or require hospitalization. But the pain goes away. The pain will be so severe they will want to die, but they will not. There follows a description of the locusts that makes them appear fiercely weird. Their king or leader is Abbadon, which means Destroyer. Was this Satan or one of his minions?

Finally, we learn John has witnessed the first of three woes. Two more will come, and we shall find even those gross warnings don't cause people to repent.

What do you make of this. Some believe that one day those alive will see exactly what is portrayed here. Others take the pictures as symbolic of  the limitation of evil. Persecution is its own call to be persecuted. Witness for example what the Sunnis and Shiites do to each other, or Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland some years back.

The best takeaway I find is to remember this is a part of the overall Book of Revelation that proclaims the final victory of God. What goes around comes around, and one day persecutors will be persecuted, and evil will be utterly destroyed. Live in victory. Christ is Lord!