Victory Over The Abyss

Seven! Seven seals, seven angels, seven trumpets! Seven is the great number of completion and perfection. The number is used 735 times in Scripture, 54 times in Revelation. It is tied directly to God's creation of all things. The Jewish rabbis traditionally claim that Adam was created on Oct. 7, 3761 B.C. (the first day of Tishri, the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar). God created all things and completed His work on the 6th day, to rest on the 7th. So His children were commanded to follow His example and to "rest" on the Sabbath, the 7th day (Exo 16:23-29).

In Rev. 8 we hear the blast of four of seven trumpets blown by four of seven angels. As we move to chapter 9 the fifth angel blows his trumpet.

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.  - Rev 9:1-2 ESV

Smoke rose like the smoke from a great furnace until the air was darkened with this smoke from an abyss, a bottomless pit! At once we are reminded of the symbolical nature of this revelation. Here on the earth we may call a pit an abyss, a pit with no bottom, but we know that everything is limited. There is no such thing. Yet here comes the smoke pouring out from a pit that has no bottom. What does that imply? The term is used in a couple other places in the New Testament. When Jesus commanded the legion of unclean spirits to leave the naked Gerasene on the eastern side of the Galilean sea, they begged him not to send them into the abyss (Luke 8:31). Luke does not explain what the demons meant by that.

But then we turn to the Apostle Paul, who was closely associated with Dr. Luke. He writes,

But the righteousness based on faith says, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) "or 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); - Rom 10:6-8 ESV

From this we gather that the abyss is the abode of the dead and death is God's judgment upon those who rebel against Him. Symbolically, since it has no bottom, it is separated endlessly from the presence of God. Later in the Revelation we will encounter the Beast arising from this pit to wage war on the two witnesses and ultimately to go to destruction (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). We are told that the angel with the key to this dreadful pit will lock the dragon in it until the thousand years are ended.

In the Septuagint, the Greek O.T., abyss is the translation for the Hebrew tehom, the great subterranean ocean , the source of all springs and rivers. The LORD has founded the earth upon this great deep (Ex 20:4; Deut 5:8; Ps. 24:1-2). The Septuagint never renders tehom as the abode of the dead. That place is called sheol. However, tehom is used figuratively to describe the poet's many troubles and calamities. He has fallen into the great deep, but the LORD will bring him up again (Ps. 71:20).

So we conclude that there is a figurative place, the abyss, separated from the presence and majesty of the LORD God. From this place great troubles and sorrows arise. And we must not be surprised when they do. This is, in fact, part of God's judgment upon our rebellious earth. The beast, the dragon and the demons are permitted to come forth from it, but their time is limited. Ultimately they will be bound and locked back into the abyss from whence they come. Christ has risen victoriously. He has conquered death. He descended into the abyss and the place of the dead to proclaim His victory, Now that He has now returned from the dead He proclaims life and resurrection for all who put their trust in Him (1 Pet 3:18-20; Rev 20:1-15).

In our next post we'll take a look at those strange, fierce locusts that pour out from the smoke of that bottomless pit.