Revelation 9:1-2; Bottomless Pit

Revelation 9:1-2 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. 2 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. 

We observed the slow torture with an increasing degree of torment inflicted upon the rebellious inhabitants of the earth who refused to acknowledge their Creator God. Notice that the judgments of God that come during the Great Tribulation resembled the plagues that came upon Egypt during the time of the Exodus. It showed the long-suffering of God toward the unrepentant. And also, the covenant made after the global flood that He will not again send a global plague that will totally destroy the world in one stroke. In other words, God is merciful to give them for men to repent, just as the number of occasions that was accorded to Pharaoh to repent and release the people of Israel. It is interesting that in the next three chapters we see Israel coming into the scene.

The bottomless pit was located on earth, beneath the earth, it seemed. For the angel had the key to open the door to this abyss. As soon as it was opened, it was observed by John that smoke emerged from the out, as the fumes from an active volcano, spewing out smoke and lava! A dark cloud is formed that enveloped the sky surrounding this pit.

The Greek term “abyss” is rendered “deep waters [Genesis 1:2; 7:11; Psalm 106:9, 107:26] or depths of the earth” [Psalm 71:21] means “without depth” or “bottomless”… The ultimate destiny of the Devil and his angels, the lake of fire, differs from this abyss and is more deserving of the title “hell” (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 19:20; 20:10) (Lee, Charles). Better judgment dictates that the abyss is the preliminary place of incarceration for fallen angels from which some of them are about to be released under this trumpet. Luke 8:31, as well as the other six uses in the Apocalyse (9:2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3), supports this opinion. [Robertson, Word Pictures, 6:361; Walvoord, Revelation, p 159]

Smoke is used here in connection to judgment, doom, and torment (9:17, 18; 18:9; 19:3). The smoke is a vivid of divine judgment at Sodom (Genesis 19:28) and Sinai (Exodus 19:18). [Hughes, Revelation, p108-9]

Indeed, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:31)

May God be merciful to cause men everywhere to repent. Amen.