Abaddon or Apollyon the
Destroyer
Good angel or bad angel?
Revelation 9: 1: 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.
The fifth angel is the fifth angel of the seven that stood before the
throne of God holding the trumpets from chapter eight. John then saw a
star fall from heaven unto the earth. This star was an angel just as the
star in the fourth seal was an angel. This angel has been given the key to
the bottomless pit. Christ is the possessor of this key. He holds the keys
to death; Hell and the grave and it would be ridiculous to believe that he
doesn't possess this key as well. He has given this key to this angel and
he is in charge of the bottomless pit just as Joseph was keeper of the
prison gate in Egypt.
Most of the time when the Bible speaks of something falling we picture
it to mean falling from grace or a higher estate with God, such as
backsliding or other such things. In this scripture this angel falling
does not mean that he is a fallen angel. It is just that John saw him fall
from heaven. This angel has come down from heaven the same as the angel in
the third trumpet that was called wormwood to bring God's punishment upon
men for their evil behavior.
We see this angel again when he chains Satan and casts him into the
bottomless pit (Rev. 20: 1). He is called the destroyer because he is the
destroyer of evil as a servant of God. He is one of God's angels of
destruction.
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.
This describes the one who has the authority to release or seal up
these locusts, to open or shut the door to the bottomless pit. He is
called king over them, not because he leads them but because he has
complete authority over them.
Abaddon means perdition or destruction and the name Apollyon means
destroyer and is defined as being the angel of the bottomless pit. The one
thing to bear in mind is that it is God that is responsible for this
plague of darkness and tormenting locusts. This is not the work of Satan
but of the angel that God had sent to bring this destruction. Jesus
himself taught that Satan was not divided against Satan. This he taught so
that we would realize that the Devil is smart enough not to divide his own
house. God is not guilty of using the Devil as a hit man to battle against
the forces of evil. He has His own faithful angels who will do the job.
This wrath is poured out on the nations that worship the Antichrist. Satan
lives in side of the Antichrist and is being worshipped by these people
that have suffered this plague.
It is easier to understand when we go back to Genesis the
6th chapter to read that God himself is the destroyer of evil
if we become evil and are weighed in his balances.
Genesis 6:7: And the LORD said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man,
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it
repenteth me that I have made them.
God destroyed the earth with a flood; the Devil didn't do this God did.
We do not see any angels during this flood but it is probable that they
played a certain role in this destruction. But, we will see in Genesis how
that angels do play a role in the destruction of wickedness.
After Abraham had tried to convince the angels of the Lord not to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah two of the angels proceeded to go to the cities
to see for their selves. After having seen the wickedness of these cities
they went to Lot and his family to try and rescue them for Abraham's sake.
Genesis 19: 1: And there came two angels to
Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose
up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the
ground;
12: And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any
besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou
hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
13: For
we will destroy this place, because the cry of them
is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath
sent us to destroy it.
14: And Lot went out, and
spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get
you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city.
But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
The angels were prepared to save all of Lot's family for Abraham's sake
but not all would listen to him. But, notice in verse 13 the angels said
that they were going to destroy the cities. The Devil did not destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah, the angels of the Lord did. Satan did play a role by
convincing the people of Sodom and Gomorrah to become so sinful that God
could not allow it to continue. He did bring about its destruction in this
sense but he was not the destroying angel that poured out fire and
brimstone to bring about the end of these people's lives.
During the days of Moses when he was helping to deliver Israel from
slavery God sent an angel called the destroyer to destroy the first
born of the Egyptians.
Exodus 12:23: For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians;
and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts,
the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the
destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
This angel could have possibly been Abaddon himself because God called
him the destroyer. The destroyer was one of God's angels to execute wrath
on the Egyptians because of their stubborn resistance against the will of
God.
Then we see a destroying angel in the story of David.
1 st Chronicles 1: And Satan
stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number
Israel.
1stChron:21:12: Either
three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes,
while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days
the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of
the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore
advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent
me.
13: And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me
fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but
let me not fall into the hand of man.
14: So the LORD sent
pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy
thousand men.
15: And God sent an angel
unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld,
and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that
destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of
the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.(2Sam:24:16:)
1stChron:21:16: And
David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the
earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over
Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in
sackcloth, fell upon their
faces.
1stChron:21:27: And the LORD commanded
the angel; and he put up his sword again into the sheath
thereof.
1stChron:21:30: But David could not
go before it to enquire of God: for he was afraid because of the sword of
the angel of the LORD.
In this story of David the angel of the Lord killed seventy thousand
men with a pestilence. He was a vessel to pour out wrath upon those who
sinned against God. Although David's sin of numbering the people opened
the door for this to happen, God was already angry with Israel because of
the sins they were committing against him and themselves.
Then we read of another event during the rule of Hezekiah the king of
Judah.
2ndKings 19:35: And it came to pass that night,
that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of
the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when
they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses.
God defended Hezekiah and Judah from their enemies by sending the angel
of the Lord to destroy over a hundred thousand men who were prepared to do
battle with them.
An angel will have to unlock the bottomless pit in
order for Satan to be thrown into it. It would have to be Abaddon because
the Lord himself has given him the key to the bottomless pit. He is the
angel of the bottomless pit having authority over everything that is in
it.
Revelation 20:
1: And I saw an angel come down from heaven,
having the key of the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand.
2: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old
serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand
years,
3: 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.
By these things it seems obvious to me that Satan is a fallen angel who
has become the destroyer of good but God has other angels such as Abaddon
who are destroyers of wickedness and evil. May God cause all of His people
to see and understand all of the mysteries that are hidden from our view
and bring the body of Christ together in these last days.
Your brother in Christ
Tommie Spurgeon