Revelation 9:21 Komentář

In this chapter we have an account of the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets, the appearances that attended them, and the events that were to follow; the fifth trumpet (Rev 9:1-12), the sixth (Rev 9:13, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 9 This chapter gives an account of the blowing of the fifth and sixth trumpets, and of the effects following upon them. The fifth angel blows his trumpet, and a star falls; the key of the bottomless pit is given to him, which being opened by it, out of it comes smoke to the darkening of the sun and air, and out of the smoke locusts, who have power like scorpions, Rev 9:1; whose power is restrained from using it to the hurt of the grass, or any green thing or tree, only of those who had not the seal of God in their foreheads; but are permitted, though not to kill men, yet to torment them five months, which is worse than death unto them, Rev 9:4. The shapes of these locusts, which are said to be like horses, are described by their heads, faces, hair, teeth, breastplates, wings, and tails, and are said to have a king over them, whose name is mentioned, Rev 9:7. The blowing of this trumpet brings on one of the woes mentioned in Rev 8:13, and the two other follow, Rev 9:12. The sixth angel blows his trumpet, and a voice is heard from the horns of the altar, directed to the said angel, ordering him to loose four angels bound in the great river Euphrates, where they were prepared, for a determinate time, to slay the third part of men, and they were loosed accordingly, Rev 9:13. The number of the army, under these angels, is given, Rev 9:16, and the horses and horsemen are described; the riders by their breastplates of fire, jacinth, and brimstone; their horses' heads as heads of lions, fire, smoke, and brimstone, issuing out of their mouths, by which the third part of men are killed, Rev 9:17. The reason of this slaughter is, because they had power both in their mouth and tails, which latter were like serpents, and had heads, with which they did mischief, Rev 9:19; and yet such who were not killed by these plagues, but escaped, did not repent of their idolatry, murders, sorceries, fornication, and theft, Rev 9:20.

Neither repented they of their murders,.... Of the saints and martyrs of Jesus, with whose blood the western antichrist is made drunk, and which will be found in her, and for which she is answerable. Now, though the western parts of the empire escaped the scourge of the Turks, yet this did not bring them to repent of their murderous practices, but they went on to take away the lives of godly men; witness the persecutions of the Waldenses and Albigenses, the murders of John Huss and Jerom of Prague, the burning of the martyrs here in Queen Mary's days, and the massacres in Paris and in Ireland, and their butcheries elsewhere; and which they have continued unto this day, where the Inquisition obtains: nor of their sorceries; Jezebel the whore of Rome has been famous for, by which she has deceived all nations; many of the popes of Rome have been necromancers, given to the magic art, and have entered into covenant, and have had familiarity with the devil; and one part of the Romish service lies in exorcisms, conjurations, and enchantments, and which they still continue: nor of their fornication; all sorts of uncleanness; not only simple fornication, but adultery, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; brothel houses have been set up and licensed by authority, which have yielded to the popes a yearly revenue of forty thousand ducats; the Romish clergy, popes, cardinals, priests, monks, and friars, have been dreadfully guilty of all manner of uncleanness, and still are; whence Rome is called Sodom, Rev 11:8; nor of their thefts; who under pretence of granting indulgences and pardons, and praying souls out of purgatory, with other tricks, cheat men of their money, pillage and plunder their estates, and devour widows' houses; rob men of their substance, and make merchandise of their souls: now all these iniquities the Papists in the eastern empire were guilty of, for which the Turks as a scourge were let in upon it, and destroyed it; and yet the western papacy, who did not suffer in these calamities, took no warning by them, did not repent of their sins, and reform their practices; but went on, and still go on in the same wicked way, and by their hardness and impenitence treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. Next: Revelation Chapter 10

The prophet, striking the spiritual harp, recounted to us concerning those punished in Hades, saying to God: "that there is no one in death who remembers you; and in Hades, who will confess to you," (Ps. 6:6) depriving them both of joy according to God and repentance? For through the remembrance of God there is spiritual joy, for the same one writes that elsewhere he "remembered God and was glad," (Ps. 76:4) but through not confessing repentance— for confession is the declaration of those who have sinned, arising from remorse and turning back through shame that comes near to the soul. For in truth, God has appointed for us two lives, the present and the future. In the present life, He has given us the ability and authority to govern ourselves according to reason; but in the future life, there will be recompense for what has been lived, and neither the present life is subject to judgment, unless perhaps someone is profitably reminded and urged to repentance, nor the future life is a state so that we might be reformed from a misused life to a better one. Since these things are so, how then has it been said concerning those punished there? "And the rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, neither repented from the works of their hands". It does not say that those who did not repent in that life, but that those still living, and not from obedience and seeing the things that were then to come, repented from these and those unlawful deeds. By this said "plague", they do not die the intellectual death, calling punishment death, as they co-exist eternally with the wicked, unless they are punished by another, indeed worse, which, though attempting to say it, he wisely kept silent. May it happen that all of us become free; by the grace and generosity of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

The rest of humankind, who were spared and did not suffer these things, yet remained unrepentant. They will suffer these same things, since they did not keep themselves from idolatries and murders and fornications and thefts and works of magic. It is clear that the universal wrath comes from such things as these. These various deceits effect a frenzy in those nations that do not acknowledge the truth and that worship idols and the creature rather than the creator. And this is certainly so among those who confess to know God but deny him by their works and who wrap themselves up in the form of piety but deny the power of it.… May it be that we display the purity and authenticity of our faith in Christ by deeds so that we never hear those terrible words, “Truly, truly I say to you, I do not know you.” “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.” Rather, may we hear this blessed invitation, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

And they did not repent of their murders, etc. To their impious religion, they also add wicked morals. After describing the cruelty of the Antichrist, he, in his manner, recapitulates the beginning of Christ's birth and the glory of the Church to show the ruin of the same.

Then, in order to show that the Gentiles also belong to this body, he said after that, And the rest of the men, who are not, and did not do penance from the works of their hands, that they should not adore devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: and did not do penance from their murders, nor from their fornication, nor from their thefts, as if he were saying, “People of this kind also seem to belong to the aforementioned number.” Whereas throughout the other prophecies we find a great many things that correspond to our Mediator symbolized by earthly things and few by heavenly things, in this prophecy John has quite often represented his coming by an angel. To what end, if not to show that this prophecy is richer than others? Whence it is now said:

The fifth angel sounds, and a star falls from heaven to earth, Rev 9:1. The bottomless pit is opened, and locusts come out upon the earth, Rev 9:2, Rev 9:3. Their commission, Rev 9:4-6. Their form, Rev 9:7-10. Their government, Rev 9:11, Rev 9:12. The sixth angel sounds, and the four angels bound in the Euphrates are loosed, Rev 9:13-15. The army of horsemen, and their description, Rev 9:16-19. Though much evil is inflicted upon men for their idolatry, etc., they do not repent, Rev 9:20, Rev 9:21.

Neither repented they of their murders - Their cruelties towards the genuine followers of God, the Albigenses, and Waldenses, and others, against whom they published crusades, and hunted them down, and butchered them in the most shocking manner. The innumerable murders by the horrible inquisition need not be mentioned. Their sorceries - Those who apply this also to the Romish Church understand by it the various tricks, sleights of hand, or legerdemain, by which they impose on the common people in causing images of Christ to bleed, and the various pretended miracles wrought at the tombs, etc., of pretended saints, holy wells, and such like. Fornication - Giving that honor to various creatures which is due only to the Creator. Their thefts - Their exactions and impositions on men for indulgences, pardons, etc. These things may be intended, but it is going too far to say that this is the true interpretation. And yet to express any doubt on this subject is with some little else than heresy. If such men can see these things so clearly in such obscure prophecies, let them be thankful for their sight, and indulgent to those who still sit in darkness.

THE FIFTH TRUMPET: THE FALLEN STAR OPENS THE ABYSS WHENCE ISSUE LOCUSTS. THE SIXTH TRUMPET. FOUR ANGELS AT THE EUPHRATES LOOSED. (Rev. 9:1-21) The last three trumpets of the seven are called, from Rev 8:13, the woe-trumpets. fall--rather as Greek, "fallen." When John saw it, it was not in the act of falling, but had fallen already. This is a connecting link of this fifth trumpet with Rev 12:8-9, Rev 12:12, "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth, for the devil is come down," &c. Compare Isa 14:12, "How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning!" the bottomless pit--Greek, "the pit of the abyss"; the orifice of the hell where Satan and his demons dwell.

sorceries--witchcrafts by means of drugs (so the Greek). One of the fruits of the unrenewed flesh: the sin of the heathen: about to be repeated by apostate Christians in the last days, Rev 22:15, "sorcerers." The heathen who shall have rejected the proffered Gospel and clung to their fleshly lusts, and apostate Christians who shall have relapsed into the same shall share the same terrible judgments. The worship of images was established in the East in A.D. 842. fornication--singular: whereas the other sins are in the plural. Other sins are perpetrated at intervals: those lacking purity of heart indulge in one perpetual fornication [BENGEL]. Next: Revelation Chapter 10