Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

Revelation 9 and the Hordes of Islam

by David Wilcoxson and John D. Keyser

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. 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.”

Just as Lucifer fell from heaven, a falling star is a great person or leader, who executes evil plans from the bottomless pit of Satan. The fifth Trumpet represents the rise of the Islamic Empire, which YEHOVAH God used to execute judgment against a third of the Roman Empire. Mohammed was a great leader (star) who was used by YEHOVAH God to darken the Roman Empire.

At his birth, Mohammed’s grandfather possessed the authority of the house of Koreish, the governors of Mecca. Then his father died and his grandfather died, causing the governorship of Mecca to be passed onto someone else. Mohammed opened the bottomless pit of Satan’s lies, when he stayed in the cave of Hera for three years, and received a vision from an angel in white (no doubt Satan, as 2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”) Pagan superstition holds that caves serve “as the seats of oracles and sources of inspiration.”

The Qur’an says that Mohammed was given the power of heaven and the fire below, “I have been given the keys of all the treasures of the earth.” The smoke that rose up is the false doctrine of the Qur’an, which says that fighting non-believers is the duty of every Muslim for Allah. And the only way to be certain to go to heaven, is to die fighting for the cause of Allah.

The Qur’an says that the Messiah was just a prophet. They deny that he died on the tree and shed his blood for redemption of YEHOVAH's people Israel. They say that he fainted or went unconscious on the tree and was brought around at a later date. They deny the inerrancy of scripture. The Qur’an promises a paradise that will satisfy every sensual pleasure.

The new religion of Islam darkened the religion of the Western part of the remaining Roman Empire.

Revelation 9:3-4: “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. 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.”

So, what was John talking about when he described the army of locusts? A fleet of 21st-century military helicopters? Some modern-day teachers who promote trendy, pop interpretations of prophecy see nothing more than helicopters in these verses. Christians of the past, who know history better than most of us do, saw this army of locusts as a prophecy of the rise and spread of Islam. Writer Robert Wieland states that the Reformers “clearly recognized Islam” in this passage (Robert J. Wieland, “Islam Challenges the World,” Signs of the Times (Aug. 1985), 12). John Foxe, author of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, said that it is “clearer than light itself” that this a prophecy of the Muslim conquests.

Judges 6:5 and Judges 7:12 defines that locusts represent the Arabians.

Judges 6:5: “For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers (arbeh/locusts)…for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to…DESTROY it.”

Judges 7:12: “Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.”

It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for locust is "arbeh", and the Hebrew word for Arab is “arbe“, which is pronounced the same.

In the Arabian romance The Romance of Antar, the locust is introduced as the national emblem of the Ishmaelites. Mohammedan tradition speaks of locusts having dropped into the hands of Mohammed, bearing on their wings this inscription, "We are the army of the Great God." (Forster’s Mohammedanism Unveiled 1:217). When real locusts invade a land, all of the vegetation is devoured, so obviously these locust aren’t literal, but symbolic. During his life, Muhammad gave various injunctions to his forces and adopted practices toward the conduct of war. One of them was “Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful.”

This is from Abubeker to the first army of Muhammadans:

“Remember that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise. Avoid injustice and oppression, consult with your brethren, and study to preserve the love and confidence of your troops. When you fight the battle of the Lord, acquit yourselves like men, without turning your backs; but let not your victory be stained with the blood of women and children. Destroy no palm trees nor burn any fields of corn. Cut down no fruit trees, nor do any mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat.

"When you make any covenant or article, stand to it, and be as good as your word. As you go on, you will find some religious persons who live retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way: Let them alone, and neither kill them nor burn their monasteries. And you will find another sort of people, that belong to the synagogue of Satan, who have shaven crowns [Catholics]; be sure you cleave their skulls, and give them no quarter till they either turn Mohammedan or pay tribute” (chapter LI, paragraph 10).

That is a perfect match! Unlike the Goths, who burned up everything they conquered, Abubeker (the first Caliph after Mohammed) declared that they should not harm the trees or the fields, so that they could take them over and make them prosperous. They attacked only the people who were marked by the Roman Church, the idolaters and saint worshipers of the Pagan Roman Empire, who were not sealed with the holy spirit.

The Arab tribes issuing from Arabia with their great speed, far ranging and irresistible progress, were fittingly symbolized by the swarms of locust.

This army of locusts came forth from a dark cloud of smoke that rolled out of the bottomless pit. The “bottomless pit” in Greek is abussos (abussoß), the source of our English word "abyss." Some English Bibles simply translate it as “the abyss.” It is remarkable that Abul A’la Mawdudi, one of Islam’s most prominent scholars of the 20th century, used the very word abyss when writing about the beginnings of Islam. In a book written to introduce English-speaking people to the basics of Islam, Mawdudi tells his readers that Muhammed and his message came out of “Arabia -- the Abyss of Darkness.” (Abul A’la Mawdudi, Towards Understanding Islam, 8th ed., 63). These are his exact words, and they appear in bold print as a sub-heading in his book. It is no mere coincidence that this outstanding Islamic author unwittingly identified Islam’s source, in bold print no less, as “the Abyss of Darkness” -- using the very same word that appears in Revelation.

The Arab warriors are likened to “horses prepared for battle.“ This also is a true picture of the type of military force that was used by the Arabs in their method of attack. Edward Gibbon says,

“I shall here observe what I must often repeat, that the charge of the Arabs was not like that of the Greeks and Romans, the effort of a firm and compact infantry: their military force was chiefly formed of cavalry and archers.” (Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire, Vol. V: 478-479).

Revelation 9:5: “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.”

Literal locusts come out for five months, from April to September. Muslims attacked for five months, which using the year-for-a-day principle, is 150 years. (5 months x 30 days = 150 years). In 632, Mohammed died and the Arabs moved out of Arabia to conquer other lands. This was the time of the supremacy of Islamic power, and for 150 years they conquered Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Spain and North Africa.

During the ten years between 634–644, they captured 36 cities, destroyed 4000 churches and built 1400 mosques. But their attempts to overtake the Eastern Roman Empire of Constantinople failed. They tried to conquer them, but ultimately just tormented them. In 762, caliph Almansor built Bagdad as the future seat of his empire and called it the city of peace. They no longer made such rapid conquests, but only engaged in ordinary wars like other nations. In 782 they signed the treaty of Constantinople which brought peace. So the 5 months, which is 150 prophetic years, was fulfilled from 632–782 A.D.

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

The Arabs were not allowed to just annihilate the apostate Christians of the Papal Church. They gave them a choice; convert to become a Muslim; or be killed if they decided to challenge them; or they could agree to be second class citizens, and they had to pay tax to the Muslims. If a Muslim came to their door, they had to bring them in and feed them.

These people were not real Christians, so they didn’t have the spirit of YEHOVAH God that caused them to accept martyrdom for their faith. They chose to become second class citizens who were subservient to the Muslims. They sought death but couldn’t find it, because they had not the guts or nerve to fight either.

Revelation 9:7-8: “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”

“The horses prepared unto battle” simply represents that they used horses in battle. “The crowns of gold” represent the gold and yellow saffron colored turbans that they wore. “Their faces were as the faces of men“ means that they had beards, which is a sign of their masculinity. Romans and other races shaved their faces, so this would have stood out to John. “They had hair as the hair of women“ The Muslims had long hair in those days. If they were preparing for battle, they would tie it up under the turbans.

“And their teeth were as the teeth of lions“ means that they were savage and ferocious. The teeth of the Arabs were as the teeth of a lion. “Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD!” (Psalm 58:6).

Here’s a portrait of Antar who was a contemporary of Mohammed:

You can see how it matches the description on Revelation 9:8-9, which points to the Arabs of Islam, as he is on a horse dressed for battle, he is wearing a crown of gold in the turban, has the face of men with his beard, his long hair of women is tucked under the turban and he is wearing a breastplate of iron in the chain mail.

Antar

Revelation 9:9: “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”

“And they had breastplates of iron“ means the Arab army wore chain-mail as they went into battle. The sounds of their wings represents the rapid conquests of the Saracens, as they moved over countries as swiftly as locust, their many horses causing a great sound.

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.”
“They had stings in their tail” indicates their unique ability to fight rearwards, shooting arrows backwards, while riding on horseback.

Revelation 9:11: “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.”

Their king was Mohammed. Abaddon and Apollyon are words that essentially mean destroyer or one who exterminates, which aptly described the Arabs.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible -- Revelation 9:11:

"And they had a king over them, Which natural locusts have not, Prov 30:27; by whom is meant the false prophet Mahomet, who was at the head of the Saracens, and led them on to commit the outrages they did; and is believed in by the Turks to this day, as the great prophet of God, and by them preferred to all prophets, not only to Moses, but to Jesus Christ; he is the king of the eastern locusts, as the pope of Rome is the king of the western ones; for the Romish antichrist reigns, or at least has reigned, over the kings of the earth, Re 17:17;

"whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon; both which signify a 'destroyer;' and are very applicable both to Mahomet, who by his imposture has been the cause of the destruction of multitudes of souls, as well as by his wars, and those of the Saracens and Turks, of the lives of millions, and of the ruin of many kingdoms, countries, cities, and towns.

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

This is the start of the Second Woe.

The reason YEHOVAH God allowed this plague was to bring His people to repentance. This can be seen in the final two verses of Revelation 9: “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

Anyone who knows anything about Church history knows that these were the very sins in which the Church was steeped with when the false prophet Muhammed was raised up. Just as YEHOVAH God used the heathen kings of Assyria and Babylon as a rod of correction to chasten and correct and purify His people in olden times, so He used the heathen Muhammed as “the scourge of God for the castigation of fallen religion.” After a century and a half of war and conquest, Islam had supplanted Christianity in much of the eastern empire. Adam Clarke points out that the part of the Church which survived the Islamic wars “was not at all corrected by the judgments which fell upon the eastern church, but continued its senseless adoration of angels, saints, relics, etc., and does so to the present day.”

This is corroborated by Howard B. Rand:

"The Christians in the territory ravaged by the Ottomans, and who escaped their fury, were not in the least reformed by these calamities nor turned from their idolatry, murders and frauds. John says, 'And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of their thefts'....

"In the face of the continued ravages of the Mohammedans [Islam], an apostate [Catholic] Church and a worldly Christendom continued on in unbelief and will so continue until the closing scenes of this present world order" (A Study in Revelation, pp. 98-99).

Christians of the past believed that Revelation 9 was a prophecy of the rise of Islam and the Muslim invasion of the Christian world. Does this mean that Revelation 9 can have no further fulfillment in events of the present or future? Not at all. The nature of prophecy is such that a prophetic word may find its fulfillment more than one time, in more than one single event. Consider the prophesies in Matthew 24. Some found their fulfillment in the destruction of the Temple in AD 70, and they will also find further fulfillment in events just prior to the second appearance of the Messiah.

One thing is certain. The Islamic armies are rising again and setting out once more to vex the world like a plague of locusts. Centuries ago they abandoned their lust for conquest and world domination in order to pursue literature and the sciences. Now they have abandoned their love for literature and the sciences and have returned to their lust for conquest and world domination.

In addition to calling our nation to repentance, we need to educate people. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” YEHOVAH said (Hosea 4:6). Most Americans’ knowledge of the Scriptures is very superficial and shallow or totally non-existent. Sadly, this is often true even among church people. As a result, people are ripe for deception. One deceptive lie that is currently making great headway among many Americans is the notion that Islam is “a fine, noble religion.” Unfortunately, even our President has used these words to describe Islam. While there are some fine, noble Muslim people, the religion of Islam is a counterfeit faith that has as its source the bottomless pit -- the Abyss of Darkness.

It is not popular to say that Islam is a counterfeit faith that should be renounced, rejected, and abandoned by Muslim people. The spirit of this age is pushing for an all-inclusive, New Age view that sees all religions -- even Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism -- as legitimate faiths. Our proclaiming that all non-Biblical faiths are illegitimate will not make us popular, but we are not in a popularity contest. The Scripture speaks of only “one faith” (Ephesians 4:5), “the faith that was once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Our proclaiming this one faith, the faith described in the holy scriptures, will set us apart from the mainstream, but it is the only hope for our nation.