The Fallen Star with the Key to the Bottomless Pit

Revelation 9:1-12

The fifth trumpet angel sounds an alarm that there is a woe that will impact everyone who has not fully consecrated themselves through the sanctifying fire of the Holy Ghost. There is a fallen star ministry whom Satan has commissioned to torment them through their unconsecrated weaknesses. Of course the answer to avoid the torment is: fully consecrate all your life to complete obedience to the Word and Spirit of God.

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.” ~ Revelation 9:1

So what is this bottomless pit, and what is the key that is used to open it? As always, the scriptures give us insight into the meaning of spiritual things.

“The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.” ~ Proverbs 22:14

Spiritually, a deep pit is associated with teachings that open people up to living in an unfaithful spiritual condition. A true Christian is supposed to be completely faithful: as a pure bride married to Jesus Christ. But the concern is that we don’t fall prey to a ministry that would misuse the scriptures to open up the deep pit of unfaithful disobedience.

“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” ~ 2 Corinthians 11:2-4

So this fallen star ministry is opening up a spirit of deception by deceitful manipulation of the Word, to allow people to flirt with sin and believe “…Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).

“For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.” ~ Proverbs 23:27-28

In the fourth trumpet, a fallen ministry was already darkening the light of the gospel. Spiritual darkness from the pit was already seeping through from the pit to partially darken gospel understanding.

But in the fifth trumpet we are being warned that a fallen star ministry is opening up the pit wide-open! And they do this when they manipulate the key of the Word of God.

When the Word of God is used right, it is designed to bind evil and give liberty to good. But when used wrong, it can give liberty to all kinds of evil spirits! And when used wrong, it can be used to bind up and control sincere people.

“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ~ Matthew 16:19

The ”kingdom of heaven” he is speaking of is the place where God’s people gather to worship. (See Ephesians 1:3, 2:6 & Hebrews 12:22) a true minister of God uses the key of the word of God to bind up evil. But we also see that a star/minister can fall, and start to use the Word deceitfully. In doing so, he or she takes away the very foundation upon which we are to build our relationship with God.

• “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 3:11
• “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God” ~ Hebrews 6:1

A place of no foundation is a bottomless pit! It is a teaching that that takes away the “foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God” by allowing people to continue living in sin and believing that they are still married to Christ. But Christ is not married to a spiritual harlot! He is not married to an unfaithful church, a church without a foundation of faithfulness to Christ.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” ~ Psalm 11:3

The righteous must get fully consecrated to Christ to avoid losing their foundation, and to avoid the sting of the scorpion tail message that came out of the pit!

So what happened next when this fallen star messenger opened the bottomless pit?

“And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” ~ Revelation 9:2

The sun represents the new testament, and the air represents the spirit that is present (Ephesians 2:2). But the smoke from the pit darkened the New Testament message of deliverance from all sin, and it allowed a different spirit than the Holy Spirit to have liberty.

The reason the smoke is described as coming from a great furnace, is because the evils in the pit have already been judged by the Lord and his Word a long time ago. Just as he judged other evil conditions long ago.

“And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” ~ Genesis 19:28

So I hope we are starting to get a vision that Revelation is showing us that this message from the pit, is nothing new. It was judged as false a long time ago. But a fallen ministry is opening up that pit, to release the same old deception, one more time.

The problem is that if deceptions are not exposed and kept removed, people are not able to comprehend the dark message coming out of the bottomless pit. Consequently they can be deceived again, by the same old message.

This is a key purpose of Revelation, to expose and remove deceptions. And so later these deceptions are spiritually shown as destroyed again in Revelation chapters 17 – 19. And in chapter 17 and 19, they are destroyed because those deceptions are working amongst those who claim to be Christian.

But after the influence of false Christianity has been destroyed in chapters 17 through 19, these deceptions are shown again in chapter 20 as being bound into the bottomless pit. But they no longer have fake robes of righteousness. So therefore their deception is described as the dragon, and Satan.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” ~ Revelation 20:1-3

In Revelation chapter 20, we are given a viewpoint of history, without the confusion of false Christianity. So therefore the history of the gospel day (starting when Jesus was born, and ending at the end of the world) is told as simply binding up the deceptions of Satan, and then those same deceptions being later loosed or a season.

And so this woe identified by the fifth trumpet, exposes a fallen ministry, that is releasing the deceptions of Satan for a season. Reflecting the season that Satan was released in chapter 20. But God is placing judgement upon this condition, and exposing it as the same old paganistic deceptions from many years past. Hence the Revelation message describes them as smoke from a great furnace – an already judged condition.

“Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” ~ Isaiah 65:5

So the intention of God is that his true ministry would spiritually use the keys of the Gospel, to shut up the evil deception into a pit.

“As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.” ~ Psalm 140:9-11

But the woe that the fifth trumpet angel is warning us about is: is that a fallen ministry is opening up that pit again! Hence, many evils that have already been judged as wrong, are arising again out of that pit they were bound up in.

“And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” ~ Revelation 9:3

In the scriptures, both locusts and scorpions are associated with bad things happening to people. The locusts are used to imply an army whose numbers cannot be counted for the great number. A number that causes distress by “eating up quickly” the harvest – everything that the laborers have labored long for.

• “Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in; for the locust shall consume it.” ~ Deuteronomy 28:38
• “He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number” ~ Psalm 105:34

These locust judgments are associated with a people who have disobeyed the Lord. And so the anti-type in scripture shows an opportunity for mercy, for those who will repent and turn from their wrong doing.

“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” ~ 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

And this army of locusts has an unusually different character: they have power as scorpions to cause hurt and pain. But thankfully they also have boundaries set upon them, as to whom they can hurt!

“And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” ~ Revelation 9:4

Grass and trees represent people:

• “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” ~ Isaiah 40:7-8
• “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” ~ Isaiah 61:3

Those who obey Christ and are sealed by his Holy Spirit, cannot be hurt spiritually by people with scorpion spirits. The seal in their foreheads shows whom they identify with. They belong to God, and they are assured of it!

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” ~ Romans 8:14-16

Jesus made it clear that the spirit of Satan is like a scorpion that painfully holds people in bondage, by some kind of deceptive control. When the Apostles returned from casting out evil spirits from people, Jesus said that he beheld the spirit of Satan falling from the place of control over the heart and soul of people. In the kingdom of heaven, the hearts and souls of people belong to Christ. That is how the kingdom of God is already here on Earth. It is within the heart and soul of God’s people (read it on your own Luke 17:20-21).

Additionally, also in Luke, Jesus told us:

“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” ~ Luke 10:18-20

So we see that false preacher spirits can especially inflict wounds upon those who are not sealed with the Holy Spirit’s consecration. This is because the unsanctified have less grace to crucify their own attitudes when they are hurt. So the fake Christians with their hurtful false message, can inflict deep and painful wounds upon the unsanctified. Consequently, the unsealed can be easily manipulated and divided into sects by fallen ministers.

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation.” ~ Proverbs 26:22-26

These false preacher scorpion spirits came from the pit, because their words come from the “depths of Satan as they speak” (read about this in Revelation 2:24). Therefore these scorpion preachers seek to “smokescreen” their real intent, by using confusing and deceitful words. And by using doctrines that spiritually hurt the unsuspecting soul.

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord , and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?” ~ Isaiah 29:15

But through Christ you can have power over the temptations of Satan, so he cannot spiritually hurt you. So in Revelation 9:4, it shows us that these satanic scorpion spirits are not able to hurt those who are sealed.

And yet again, an additional boundary was placed on these scorpion spirits, to keep them from completely destroying those whom they were hurting.

“And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.” ~ Revelation 9:5

When a scorpion strikes you with his sting of poison, it feels like you could die. And in this case they would have died, if it were not for God’s help and grace. God would not let the sting of these spirits destroy their hope in Christ. They would still be able to look to Christ for help and mercy, whenever the scorpions would try to sting them with the “sting of death”.

These pained people would be able to keep hope in their Savior for: forgiveness, help, and mercy. Even though they were being ministered to by a manipulative and legalistic gospel minister, that was not helping them completely die out to sin.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Through Christ we can serve God from the love in our heart, and not from the fear of overstepping the boundaries of the Law, or some other rule system. When we fully consecrate our lives to God, his Holy Spirit fills us, and we then live by our love for God, and no longer by a fear of rules. Therefore the torment of fear is gone!

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” ~ 1 John 4:17-18

Let us be clear: the true fruit of the Holy Spirit in a minister’s life is not like a scorpion. It does not attempt to inflict spiritual pain to legalistically control people. The Holy Spirit leads just as a true loving father cares for his children.

“If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” ~ Luke 11:11-13

But the spiritual scorpion stings come from a ministry that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit. Consequently they “speak” the Word of God according to their own agenda, to hurt and control; which is essentially the work of Satan, the destroyer. But Satan’s ministry cannot spiritually hurt those who are “sealed in their foreheads” because they identify clearly as a child of God, belonging only to Christ. They have died out to their own will by a complete spiritual sacrifice of their lives to the will of God – a complete consecration. A heart and life that is sanctified for the Lord’s purpose.

“And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.” ~ Ezekiel 2:6

But note, yet another boundary has been set. A period of time is assigned to the power of the tormenting scorpion spirits: 5 months (see Revelation 9:5). What does this mean, and when did it occur? I will explain near the end of this post. But before we can understand the historical time period, we need more understanding into the spiritual condition. So for now let us continue to follow the narrative in the scripture.

“And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” ~ Revelation 9:6

A legalistic gospel minister will not lead you into the full consecration of your heart and soul to Christ. A gospel of only rules and guidelines, like the law, will never bring you to the place where by love, you can consecrate all your life and your will to the purpose and will of God. It will never bring you to the place where you can completely die out to sin, so that it no longer has any power over you. I am not talking about a grace that allows you to continue in sin, but rather, God’s grace the gives you power over sin!

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him , that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” ~ Romans 6:1-7

In Revelation 9:6 they were being led by a legalistic gospel. Therefore they could not find a way to crucify their own life and will, so that they could continue in the new resurrected life of Christ. Consequently, the old sinful nature within was still alive, and so they felt the sting of that sinful nature’s fruit from time to time. This is the hurt that a legalistic gospel does. It strengthens the sting of sin, but never gets you completely free! But the true gospel will free you from the very nature to sin, by enabling you to crucify the old man by being filled with the Holy Spirit. By the true in filling of the Holy Spirit, the old man is completely dead, so that the new life of Christ’s holiness can reign. “For he that is dead is freed from sin.” ~ Romans 6:7.

But the poor people under a gospel without the Spirit are tormented, because they are not shown the way to die to self. That is why it says they are seeking death, but they are not finding it.

“And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” ~ Revelation 9:6

Let us read Romans 7:22 – 8:5 to help us fully see the complete picture.

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” ~ Romans 7:22-8:5

We can be freed from the carnal fleshly nature by dying to our old fleshly man, so that the Holy Spirit’s life within us, is our new life. We become a new resurrected creature in Christ Jesus!

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

Consequently, once we are freed from the old man (who has died) we are no longer condemned by a sting of death, because we are sealed with the Spirit of holiness. Our lives are now holy and sin free, through the power of the Holy Spirit living within our hearts!

There is a spiritual battle going on here in Revelation 9, and that is why this part of Revelation describes it as a battle.

“And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.” ~ Revelation 9:7-9

In Nahum, the whole 3rd chapter seems to have many symbolic similarities to this! Here is one reference to this spiritual battle from Nahum chapter 3:

“Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.” ~ Nahum 3:17

In Revelation 9:7 it states they “have crowns like gold,” but not that they are gold. Gold in the scriptures is symbolic of faith (see 1 Peter 1:7). So this symbolically shows that it is as if they have a crown of faith, and an ability to rule by this crown, but it is only “like gold.” It is not the real thing! A legalistic gospel ministry can seem to have such strong faith, but it is not the faith that “is” gold, it is only “like gold.”

And what is this in verse 8? It states they have “hair like women”? Why does it emphasize that characteristic?

“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” ~ 1 Corinthians 11:14

So the indication from scripture again is that this spiritual army is a reproach to God. Scripture also teaches us why. It is because this spiritual army of false ministers operates in subjection and honor to a man (like a woman is supposed to honor her husband). So these ministers are not in subjection to God!

“But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.” ~ 1 Corinthians 11:3-4

Also in Revelation 9:8 it states “and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.” This indicates they can cause spiritual hurt.

• “My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.” ~ Psalm 57:4
• “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.” ~ Joel 1:6-7

They also have “as it were breastplates of iron.” But again, it was not the real breastplate of righteousness spoken of in the Bible (see Ephesians 6:14). Instead it is a hard, like iron: a legalistic and self-protective breastplate.

“…and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.” Revelation 9:9

Horses are a symbol of warfare in the Bible. Wings represent the ability to appear as a messenger sent from God. But their message brings fear and harm, not healing and peace to the soul.

“The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.” ~ Jeremiah 8:16

Finally, the Revelation gives us the conclusion of who this army represents, by showing us the “tail”, or the end result of their influence.

“And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.” ~ Revelation 9:10

Again, scorpions are used by our Lord to describe evil spirits from Satan!

“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” ~ Luke 10:18-20

And so these evil spirits working through false ministers, are able to hurt those whom they minister to, by the tail stings in the end-fruit of their message.

“The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.” ~ Isaiah 9:15-16

Again, let’s consider the time period they were constrained by:

“…and their power was to hurt men five months.” ~ Revelation 9:10

I say “constrained to hurt” because in the next woe, sounded by the sixth trumpet angel, evil ministers will have a greater power to bring about a complete spiritual death.

So this five month period represents a time in history when God was providing a window of time to his people, so that they could fully consecrate their hearts to the Holy Spirit’s purpose and will.

So to understand the five month period of hurting, we must understand what God was warning the people about. God was also working a revival to bring people back to complete consecration and holiness during this same “five month” time. Does a time in history parallel this?

During the reformation of the 1500s and 1600s there was also introduced many confusing doctrines and divisions of “Christian” sects. As time rolled into the 1700s and 1800s these various sects further hardened themselves into their doctrinal positions: even formulating hierarchical ruling structures and colleges for the purpose of controlling, building, and preserving their own identity. None of this produced God’s plan for a holy and a unified people!

Therefore, God began to work revivals among those individuals who desired true holiness in their hearts and lives. So during this same time, even our history books have recorded some “great awakenings.” Wikipedia speaks of this time period this way:

“The term Great Awakening can refer to several periods of religious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century.”

This time period represents approximately 1730 until 1880, a period of 150 years, or 5 months, if you use the identification of a day for a year spoken of in scripture.

“After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.” ~ Numbers 14:34

Again we read Revelation 9:10.

“And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.”

God is not the king of this army with stings that hurt. Satan is! But God allows Satan’s army to do things like this to try, and to prove the love of his people, and to awaken them to their need for a closer walk with Christ. And so this part of the Revelation message is warning us of this type of false ministry, because they operate under the direction of Satan himself!

“And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” ~ Revelation 9:11

Abaddon in the original means “the destroying angel.” And Apollyon means “a destroyer (that is Satan)”.

“One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.” ~ Revelation 9:12

The first of the final three woes has been completed. Do you remember where the woe of that first place of judgment was to start?

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” ~ 1 Peter 4:17

So again, the first woe has warned the House of God.

Are we listening to the spiritual warning? Have we completely consecrated our life to holy living and the will of the Spirit of God? If we have ears to hear, we will take heed. And we need to take heed because the next two woes are even more severe!

Note: this diagram below shows where this fifth trumpet message is within the full Revelation message. To better understand a high level view of Revelation, you can also see the “Roadmap of Revelation.”