9:1 Again John saw a "star"(cf. 6:13; 8:10), but this time the "star"was an intelligent being. If "fallen"(Gr. peptokota) has theological connotations, the "star"may refer to Satan (vv. 2, 11; cf. 1:20; Job. 38:7; Luke 10:18) or some other fallen angel. If, on the other hand, "fallen"simply describes his condition as having come to earth from heaven, an unfallen angel is probably in view. Since this angelic being simply carries out God's instructions faithfully, I tend to think he is an unfallen angel. The "bottomless pit"(lit. shaft of the abyss) is the abode of Satan (v. 11; 20:1-3), some demons (cf. Luke 8:31; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6), and the beast (11:7; 17:8). It is evidently a preliminary prison, not their final abode, which is the lake of fire (i.e., hell, 19:20; 20:10; cf. Matt. 25:41), from which this angel is about to release some of them temporarily. The angel received the key to the door of this pit from a greater authority who is probably God.
9:2 John saw smoke rising from the shaft leading to an underground chamber. The smoke probably symbolizes the terribleness of the place from which the locusts emerge (cf. Eph. 2:2). In Revelation smoke usually relates to judgment, doom, and torment (vv. 17, 18; 18:9; 19:3) though it also has connections with holy things (8:4; 15:8). The context specifies a negative connotation here (cf. Gen. 19:28; Exod. 19:18). What John saw resembled smoke billowing out of an active volcano.
9:3 What he saw was probably literal locusts (cf. Exod. 10:12-20).322The Old Testament attests the destructive power of locusts (cf. Deut. 28:38; 2 Chron. 7:13; Joel 2:25). They often swarmed in apparently limitless numbers (cf. Ps. 105:34; Nah. 3:15). Joel likened what would come on the earth in the day of the Lord to a locust invasion (Joel 1-2). The locust is a symbol of destruction throughout the Old Testament (cf. 1 Kings 8:37; Ps. 78:46). Yet the locusts John saw had the power to hurt people as scorpions can, which normal locusts do not. They also had a leader (v. 11), which normal locusts do not (Prov. 30:27). Probably these are demons who assume some of the characteristics of locusts.323
"Should we assume the prophet saw something like a motion picture of the future in his vision and then attempted to explain it in terms of images he understood? Or did he see a picture precisely in the images he gives, images which paint reality rather than describing it? Which description of those options is more literal'? Is it the one that focuses on how it might look to us, so we explain what he meant in words and images very different from the prophet's terms and images? Or should one focus on how it looked to the prophet and how it appears in the ancient text? We would thus attempt to understand his words in their literary character, both by examining the image in context and the Old Testament images and background(s) it evokes."324
9:4 God commissioned these creatures to inflict severe pain on the earth-dwellers who did not have God's mark of ownership and protection on their foreheads (cf. 7:3-8). Normally locusts eat vegetation, but these creatures will afflict human beings.
9:5 They could not kill people, and their mission lasted only five months. The wound they caused would be very painful but not fatal.
"The scorpion belongs to the largest and most malignant of all insect tribes. Its general appearance is like a lobster, but much more hideous. Its sting located near the end of its tail is not always fatal, but can be. It ranks with the snake in its hostility toward human beings (cf. Luke 10:19; 11:12)."325
9:6 Because of the influence of these scorpion-like locusts, people will seek death but will not be able to escape their pain. They long for death rather than repenting.
Since 4:1 John had been reporting what he saw, but now he spoke as a prophet predicting the future.
"For the first time the Apostle ceases to be the exponent of what he saw, and becomes the direct organ of the Spirit . . ."326
This is one of the indications that Revelation is prophetic rather than only apocalyptic in genre.
