Watchtower Society Quotes about Abaddon/Apollyon:
Insight on the Scriptures Volume 1 (1988), Page 12:
ABADDON
(A·bad´don) [from Heb., meaning "Destruction"].
At Revelation 9:11 this Hebrew word is transliterated into the English text. There we read concerning the symbolic plague of locusts that they have "a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon."
In Hebrew the word ´avad·dohn´ means "destruction" and may also refer to "the place of destruction." It appears in the original Hebrew text a total of five times, and in four of the occurrences it is used to parallel "the burial place," "Sheol," and "death." (Ps 88:11; Job 26:6; 28:22; Pr 15:11) The word ´avad·dohn´ in these texts evidently refers to the destructive processes that ensue with human death, and these scriptures indicate that decay or destruction takes place in Sheol, the common grave of mankind. At Job 31:12 ´avad·dohn´ designates the damaging effect of an adulterous course. Job declared: "That [adulterous course] is a fire that would eat clear to destruction [`adh-´avad·dohn´], and among all my produce it would take root."—Compare Pr 6:26-28, 32; 7:26, 27.
Abaddon,
the angel of the abyss—who is he?At Revelation 9:11, however, the word "Abaddon" is used as the name of "the angel of the abyss." The corresponding Greek name Apollyon means "Destroyer." In the past century there were efforts made to show that this text prophetically applied to individuals such as Emperor Vespasian, Muhammad, and even Napoleon, and the angel was generally regarded as "satanic." It should be noted, however, that at Revelation 20:1-3 the angel having "the key of the abyss" is shown to be God’s representative from heaven, and rather than being "satanic," he binds and hurls Satan into the abyss. Commenting on Revelation 9:11, The Interpreter’s Bible says: "Abaddon, however, is an angel not of Satan but of God, performing his work of destruction at God’s bidding."
In the Hebrew scriptures just considered, it is evident that ´avad·dohn´ is paralleled with Sheol and death. At Revelation 1:18 we find Christ Jesus stating: "I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades." His power with regard to the abyss is shown at Luke 8:31. That he has destroying power, including the power of destruction over Satan, is evident from Hebrews 2:14, which says that Jesus partook of blood and flesh in order that "through his death he might bring to nothing the one having the means to cause death, that is, the Devil." At Revelation 19:11-16 he is clearly represented as God’s appointed Destroyer or Executioner.—See APOLLYON.
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Insight on the Scriptures Volume 1 (1988), Page 126:
APOLLYON
(A·pol´lyon) [Destroyer].
The Greek name used by the apostle John to translate the Hebrew "Abaddon" at Revelation 9:11. Apollyon means "Destroyer," and is given as the name of "the angel of the abyss." Though most reference works apply this name to some evil personage or force, the whole setting of the apocalyptic vision is to the contrary, as it consistently portrays angels being used by God to bring woes upon His enemies.
The use of the related verb a·pol´ly·mi illustrates this, as at James 4:12, which says of God: "One there is that is lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy." (Compare Mt 10:28.) The unclean spirit cast out of a man by Jesus in a synagogue at Capernaum acknowledged Jesus as God’s agent and said: "What have we to do with you, Jesus you Nazarene? Did you come to destroy us?" (Mr 1:24; Lu 4:34) Jesus warned unrepentant opposers among his listeners of the danger of being destroyed. (Lu 13:3-5; 20:16) These and other texts point to the glorified Christ Jesus as the one referred to by this title.—Compare Re 19:11-16; Lu 8:31; see ABADDON.
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Insight on the Scriptures Volume 1 (1988), Pages 35-36:
ABYSS
According to Parkhurst’s Greek and English Lexicon to the New Testament (London, 1845, p. 2), the Greek a´bys·sos means "very or exceedingly deep." According to Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford, 1968, p. 4), it means "unfathomable, boundless." The Greek Septuagint uses it regularly to translate the Hebrew tehohm´ (watery deep), as at Genesis 1:2; 7:11.
A´bys·sos
occurs nine times in the Christian Greek Scriptures, seven of them being in the book of Revelation.
It is from "the abyss" that the symbolic locusts come forth under the headship of their king, Abaddon or Apollyon, "the angel of the abyss." (Re 9:1-3, 11) "The wild beast" that makes war against the "two witnesses" of God and kills them is also spoken of as coming "out of the abyss." (Re 11:3, 7) Revelation 20:1-3 describes the future casting of Satan into the abyss for a thousand years; something that a legion of demons urged Jesus not to do to them on a certain occasion.—Lu 8:31.Scriptural Significance. It is noteworthy that the Greek Septuagint does not use a´bys·sos to translate the Hebrew she´ohl´, and in view of the fact that spirit creatures are cast into it, it cannot properly be limited in meaning to Sheol or Hades, inasmuch as these two words clearly refer to the common earthly grave of mankind. (Job 17:13-16; see HADES; SHEOL.) It does not refer to "the lake of fire," since it is after Satan’s release from the abyss that he is thereupon hurled into the lake of fire. (Re 20:1-3, 7-10) Paul’s statement at Romans 10:7, in which he speaks of Christ as being in the abyss, also precludes such possibility and shows as well that the abyss is not the same as Tartarus.—See TARTARUS.
Romans 10:6, 7 aids in clearing up the meaning of "the abyss" in stating: "But the righteousness resulting from faith speaks in this manner: ‘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.’" (Compare De 30:11-13.) It is evident that "the abyss" here refers to the place in which Christ Jesus spent part of three days and from which place his Father resurrected him. (Compare Ps 71:19, 20; Mt 12:40.) Revelation 20:7 refers to the abyss as a "prison," and the confinement of absolute restraint resulting from death in the case of Jesus certainly harmonizes with this.—Compare Ac 2:24; 2Sa 22:5, 6; Job 38:16, 17; Ps 9:13; 107:18; 116:3.
Concerning the root meaning "unfathomable" as characteristic of "the abyss," it is of interest to note the statement in Hastings’ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (1913, Vol. I, p. 54), which, in commenting on Romans 10:6, 7, says: "The impression conveyed by St. Paul’s language is of the vastness of that realm, as of one that we should vainly attempt to explore." Paul contrasts the inaccessibility of "heaven" and of the "abyss" with the accessibility of righteousness by faith. The use of the related word ba´thos made by Paul at Romans 11:33 illustrates this: "O the depth [ba´thos] of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and past tracing out his ways are!" (See also 1Co 2:10; Eph 3:18, 19.) So, in harmony with Romans 10:6, 7, the place that is represented by "the abyss" would also evidently imply being out of the reach of anyone but God or his appointed angel with "the key of the abyss." (Re 20:1) Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon (p. 4) gives as one of the meanings of the word a´bys·sos "the infinite void."
The plural form of the Hebrew word metsoh·lah´ (or metsu·lah´) is translated "large abyss" in Psalm 88:6 and literally means "abysses," or "depths." (Compare Zec 10:11.) It is related to tsu·lah´, meaning "watery deep."—Isa 44:27.
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The Watchtower, May 1, 1992 Issue, Pages 11-12:
A Locust Band
9
Listen now to "the word of Jehovah that occurred to Joel": "Hear this, you older men, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the land. Has this occurred in your days, or even in the days of your forefathers? Concerning it give an account to your own sons, and your sons to their sons, and their sons to the following generation. What was left by the caterpillar, the locust has eaten; and what was left by the locust, the creeping, unwinged locust has eaten; and what the creeping, unwinged locust has left, the cockroach has eaten."—Joel 1:1-4.
10
This is a campaign extraordinaire, one that will be memorialized for all time. Wave upon wave of insects, most prominently locusts, devastate the land. What does this mean? Revelation 9:1-12 also speaks of a plague of locusts, sent forth by Jehovah under
"a king, the angel of the abyss," who is none other than Christ Jesus. His names Abaddon (Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek) mean "Destruction" and "Destroyer." These locusts picture the anointed remnant of Christians who, now in the Lord’s day, go forth to devastate Christendom’s pastures by completely exposing false religion and proclaiming Jehovah’s vengeance upon it.
11
As indicated by Revelation 9:13-21, the locust plague is succeeded by a huge plague of cavalry. How true this is today, as the few thousand remaining anointed Christians are reinforced by more than four million "other sheep" together making up an irresistible cavalry! (John 10:16) They unite in proclaiming Jehovah’s stinging judgments on Christendom’s idolaters and on those who ‘do not repent of their murders nor of their spiritistic practices nor of their fornication nor of their thefts.’ Clergy—both Catholic and Protestant—who have actively supported the murderous wars of this century, as well as pedophiliac priests and perverted TV evangelists, are among those against whom these judgment messages are directed.
12
To such depraved "gentlemen" of the cloth, Jehovah’s summons rings out: "Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; and howl, all you wine drinkers, on account of sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouths." (Joel 1:5) In this 20th century, Christendom’s religion has substituted the world’s permissiveness for the clean moral principles of God’s Word. It has seemed sweet to false religion and its parishioners to imbibe the ways of the world, but what a harvest of spiritual and physical disease they have reaped! Soon, as described at Revelation 17:16, 17, it will be God’s "thought" for the political powers to turn on the entire world empire of false religion, Babylon the Great, and devastate her. Only then, as she sees Jehovah’s decision being carried out against her, will she "wake up" from her drunken stupor.
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The Watchtower, December 1, 1969 Issue, Pages 719-721:
THE TORMENTING LOCUST PLAGUE
27 Already as early as in the midst of the first world war (of 1914-1918 C.E.) the clergy of Christendom, together with their political and military allies, had decided that they had experienced enough religious trouble with the Christian witnesses for Jehovah God and his kingdom by Christ. They took advantage of the war conditions and of wartime laws to put to death the public activities carried on by these witnesses. They did not like to be notified that the "times of the Gentiles" had run out in the year 1914 and that these witnesses had been vindicated by world events in pointing forward for decades to that year as the time for God’s kingdom by Christ to come into full control in the heavens, with authority to oust the Gentile nations from the earth. The cry of the clergy was, "Kill the witnesses!" That is to say, Cause these International Bible Students to cease from being witnesses in public to God’s kingdom of his Messiah or Christ. With the aid of the political and military powers they succeeded in technically ‘killing the witnesses’ by the middle of the year 1918, just some months before World War I ended.
28 Thus the extensive public witnessing work ended, even those who were foremost in the witnessing work being put behind prison bars under long-term sentences, also the witnessing organization being badly disrupted, limited. The "witnesses" were as if in the "pit of the abyss." Being figuratively in such a low location, they were like out of sight and as dead, dead as to being courageous, organized, well-equipped witnesses to God’s established Messianic kingdom. But not for long. Who loosed them?
29 With a loud trumpet peal the fifth angel announced the loosing of the abyssed "witnesses" and their work that followed. Was this to be a "woe" to "those dwelling on the earth"? With prophetic vision the apostle John watched to see. Look! A "star" had fallen, not into the sea or into the fresh waters, but to the earth. But its fall was not disastrous to it. Rather, this "star" comes as a Freedom-giver, a Liberator of others, for "the key of the pit of the abyss was given him." He is also a King, for he is "the angel of the abyss" and is the King of those whom he releases from the abyss; in harmony with which fact those whom he releases wear what, to John, "seemed to be crowns like gold." This symbolic "star" also has a name for this occasion. In Greek its name is Apollyon, which means Destroyer. In Hebrew it is Abaddon, which means Destruction. All these features about this symbolic "star" reveal him to be the glorified Jesus Christ. When, as a man on earth, nineteen centuries ago, he died as a martyr for God’s kingdom, he went into the abyss. On the third day God released him and seated him at His right hand.
30 To this resurrected, glorified Jesus Christ, God has given the "keys of death and of Ha´des," that he might act as a liberator therewith. Crowned as reigning King in the heavens at the end of the "times of the Gentiles" in the year 1914, he comes to release certain ones from their restrained condition as in the ‘pit of an abyss.’ Whom? The remnant of his followers on earth who are called to be kings with him in heaven. (Rev. 1:6, 17, 18; 20:4-6) In the year 1919 he used the "key of the pit of the abyss" and opened the pit and let his repentant, faithful remnant of Kingdom joint heirs out.
31 But what an appearance they take on as John sees them in prophetic vision! Coming out of a great smoke that ascends from the abyss and bedarkens both the sun and the air, they look like a strange species of locust. John says: "And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads were what seemed to be crowns like gold, and their faces were as men’s faces, but they had hair as women’s hair. And their teeth were as those of lions; and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle. Also, they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months. They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss."—Rev. 9:1-11.
32 Under command of their heavenly King Jesus Christ, the remnant of anointed witnesses of Jehovah swarmed forth in 1919 from their abysmal condition of restraint, heated up with godly zeal as if emerging from a furnace. These symbolic locusts did not try to eat up all the greenery of the earth; their target was men. Which men? "Only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." But they were not authorized to kill those particular men; they should only torment them for five months, which is the lifetime, the summertime of activity, for insect locusts. These symbolic locusts were really the ones that were sealed with the "seal of God on their foreheads," for they were the remnant of those spiritual Israelites, 144,000 of them, whom John saw undergo this sealing, according to his description in Revelation 7:1-8. As long-haired women are obedient to their husbands, so these symbolic locusts are subject and submissive to their King, Jesus Christ, their Bridegroom to be.
33 Who, then, are "those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads"? All unsealed men, including the "great crowd" at God’s temple whom the apostle John saw and described in Revelation 7:9-17? No! Only those men whom we would expect to have the "seal of God on their foreheads" according to their religious professions in Christendom. Those who outstandingly claim to be spiritual Israelites in the new covenant with God through Christ the Mediator are the religious clergy of Christendom, together with professional politicians, commercial profiteers and big militarists, who are church members and who are given the greatest prominence and consideration by the religious clergy. The conduct of "those men" proves that they are not producing the fruitage of God’s spirit, by means of which spirit the identifying seal of God’s ownership is put, as it were, upon one’s forehead for all to see.—Gal. 5:19-23; 2 Cor. 1:22.
34 These are the ones whom the symbolic locusts are tormenting, stinging them with the judgment message from God’s inspired Word, very painfully as if striking them with the venomous scorpion’s tail. This judgment message has to do specially with the international organization for world peace and security, which the clergy have claimed to be the "political expression of the Kingdom of God on earth," but which the symbolic locusts tormentingly proclaim is a mere man-made substitute for God’s Messianic kingdom and is therefore doomed to fail and be destroyed by God’s true kingdom. Those unsealed men of Christendom would like to get away from this religious torment by these symbolic locusts. They would like to die rather than to endure longer. But the "locusts" are not authorized to "kill" those unsealed men; so those men keep living. Also, the symbolic locusts keep living and keep up the torment, for they are authorized to do this tormenting work "five months," which, being the literal lifetime of an insect locust, symbolize all the lifetime of the symbolic locusts down till the war of Har–Magedon.
35 It was no overstatement for the "eagle" flying in midheaven to announce that this would be a "woe" to those directly affected by this locust plague.
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The Watchtower, December 1, 1961 Issue, Pages 717-724:
21 "I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given him. And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened, also the air, by the smoke of the pit." Falling stars, such as the Bible uses to symbolize unfaithful servants of God, disappear from sight in the night. But not so with this star, for it symbolizes the Lord Jesus Christ at his return in Kingdom power and glory to bless God’s faithful servants and to execute God’s judgments upon all servants of Satan the Devil, who is the "ruler of this world."—Rev. 22:16.
22 Nineteen centuries ago when Jesus died and was buried, he went into the abyss of death. (Rom. 10:6, 7) When Almighty God raised him out of the abyss on the third day, he gave to Jesus the "key of the pit of the abyss," to lock or unlock it. Hence, in Revelation 1:18, the resurrected, glorified Jesus says in the vision to John: "I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Ha´des [the common grave of dead mankind]."
23 In the Revelation vision John saw the Lord Jesus Christ at God’s spiritual temple. In modern fulfillment, in 1918, during the throes of World War I, the heavenly Lord Jesus Christ in company with Jehovah God came to the spiritual temple to put to the test all those who claimed to be his Christian disciples. In the course of that critical year of 1918 the enemies of the Christian witnesses of Jehovah took advantage of martial law and fanatical patriotism and religious hatreds that then prevailed, and they reduced these witnesses to a state like that of death and burial, by suppressing and killing their witness work. But not for long! In the spring of 1919 Jesus Christ the King, "the angel of the abyss," used the key and brought his remnant of anointed followers out of this abyss of spiritual inactivity and reanimated them in God’s service. It was then a time for issuing God’s fiery judgments, as suggested by the smoke that ascended out of the opened abyss.
24 Hence John says: "And out of the smoke locusts came forth upon the earth; and authority was given them, the same authority as the scorpions of the earth have. And they were told to harm no vegetation of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." Such men were not sealed or impressed with the spirit of God, and so were not producing the fruitage of His spirit but were imitation Christians, imitation spiritual Israelites. To these the anointed Christian witnesses of Jehovah who are pictured by the locusts out of the smoke of the abyss give a stinging, burning pain like that inflicted by scorpions. How? By means of the judgment message that these "locusts" proclaim.
25 John says further: "And it was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but that these should be tormented five months, and the torment upon them was as torment by a scorpion when it strikes a man." The life cycle of the locust (schistocerca [or split-tailed] gregaria) is about six months. So for that length of time the locust can do damage. The symbolic locusts who were revived in 1919 for God’s service went forth into the postwar world, but not to kill their persecutors, the religious clergy of Christendom who had no seal of the spirit from God. They went to declare to them God’s judgment message. But this did not please the religious rulers of Christendom. It put them in great pain as if from a scorpion’s sting, but such a sting, though painful, is not necessarily fatal.—2 Cor. 10:3-6.
26 How long are the remnant of the anointed Christian witnesses of Jehovah authorized to strike the religious clergy with this tormenting message? For the period of their life before God’s war of Armageddon, as symbolized by the five months assigned to the locusts. Since Jehovah’s anointed remnant are not authorized to act as his executioners of men who persecute them for preaching God’s message, the religious clergy are left alive to suffer the tormenting pain from God’s judgment message. Not that the clergy would not prefer to die rather than endure this judgment proclamation any longer; but as the apostle John says of them: "And in those days the men will seek death but will by no means find it, and they will desire to die but death keeps fleeing from them." God’s execution of judgment, his infliction of death upon these hypocritical Christian clergy, is delayed till he begins his universal war of Armageddon.
27 What do these symbolic locusts look like? John says: "And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads were what seemed to be crowns like gold, and their faces were as men’s faces, but they had hair as women’s hair. And their teeth were as those of lions; and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle. Also, they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months." From this description we note that the remnant of Jehovah’s anointed witnesses were brought forth in 1919 for warfare, a spiritual warfare from that year till the actual outbreak of the "war of the great day of God the Almighty," commonly called Armageddon. (Rev. 16:14-16) Hence they looked like horses, which in Bible times were used for warfare. "The horse is something prepared for the day of battle," says Proverbs 21:31.
28 The symbolic locusts are royal warriors, as denoted by the goldlike crowns upon the locusts’ heads; for by being anointed with God’s spirit they have been made "joint heirs with Christ" and have been assigned a crown and throne in Christ’s kingdom of a thousand years. (Rom. 8:16, 17; Luke 22:28-30; Rev. 3:11, 21) During this time of spiritual warfare with Christendom these symbolic locusts are mere humans gifted with intelligence, as denoted by their "men’s faces." Like Hebrew warriors in the field who did not have barbershop facilities, they let their head of hair grow to the length of women’s hair, so that they had a hairy mane and looked like lions for fierceness. (1 Chron. 12:8) Appropriately, then, "their teeth were as those of lions," that could devour solid food, flesh, like the strong judgment message of God’s vengeance against Christendom. (Heb. 5:12; 1 Cor. 3:1, 2) Their hearts, the organs of love for God and for his righteousness, hence hearts that know no fear but are courageous, are well protected as if by impenetrable breastplates of iron. So they never lose love and courage.
29 Like a huge swarm of winged locusts that are capable of flying for a thousand miles or more, they unitedly make a noise that sounds like a squadron of war chariots rattling along to the beat of many horses’ hoofs into the battle. It is a terrific sound. The symbolic locusts shout as from the house-tops and let God’s judgment message be heard over a vast distance in the territory that they cover. Fear of the enemy does not soften down their message to a mere whisper. Jehovah’s war declaration must be sounded loudly. He is responsible for the hurting of feelings that the message causes to the ones who are stung by it. For the brief time interval till Armageddon breaks out, "five months," as it were, the symbolic locusts must use their scorpion-like tails, God’s Word, "the sword of the spirit," and must strike men against whom God’s judgment is directed. It is not God’s time to spare feelings. His enemies have to be exposed and notified of coming judgment.—Eph. 6:17.
30 The symbolic locusts must follow their King, Jesus Christ. John says of them: "They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abad´don, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon." The resurrected heavenly Jesus Christ is the "angel of the abyss," for he holds the "keys of death and of Ha´des." In the finale of the universal war of Armageddon he will bind and pitch Satan the Devil and his spirit demons into the abyss of deathlike inactivity. (Rev. 20:1-3) When Jesus was on earth as a man, he was a Hebrew, and now in his capacity as Jehovah’s royal Executioner he is called by the Hebrew name Abad´don, which means Destruction. (Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; 12:23; 14:19) In the Greek in which the inspired Christian Scriptures were written his similar title is Apollyon, which means Destroyer. This name clearly shows that he comes to the throne at God’s right hand to rule first in the midst of his enemies and to destroy them in execution of Jehovah’s righteous judgment, Jehovah’s judicial decision against them.—Jas. 4:12.
31 The symbolic locusts who must proclaim the judgment message before the judgment is executed in the "low plain of the decision" have Jesus Christ as their King, but he is invisible. They have no visible king any more than literal locusts have: "The locusts have no king, and yet they go forth all of them divided into groups." For the reason that they move forward in groups or swarms, they are "instinctively wise," although being among the "smallest" things on earth. (Prov. 30:24, 27) The symbolic locusts, the anointed witnesses of Jehovah, move forward united, grouped according to their local congregations. But this is not due to any locust instinct. It is due to the heavenly wisdom imparted by God’s spirit. Also, their following their heavenly King Jesus Christ as the Leader whom God had enthroned is what keeps them united in their attack upon the men not sealed. (Rev. 7:2-8; 9:4) Willingly, obediently, they subject themselves to his command; and this is what may also be pictured by the fact that the symbolic locusts "had hair as women’s hair," since a woman’s long hair naturally is a sign of her subjection, a sign of having authority on her head.—1 Cor. 11:10, 15; Ps. 110:3.
UNSTOPPABLE, IRRESISTIBLE
32 The unitedness of the symbolic locusts is described more fully in Joel 2:2-11. There they are described as a people, which they actually are in the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. "There is a people numerous and mighty; one like it has not been made to exist from the indefinite past, and after it there will be none again to the years of generation after generation. Ahead of it a fire has devoured, and behind it a flame consumes. Like the garden of Eden the land is ahead of it; but behind it is a desolate wilderness, and there has also proved to be nothing thereof escaping."
33 Locusts are insects small in themselves, but when they migrate in a swarm they are mighty. Then they are mighty for their numerousness as a group, a united band. So numerous are they that their swarm will cover square miles of area, and they fly along with a roaring noise like a cataract. They literally darken the heavens and cast a great shadow upon the ground. So it has been since 1919 with respect to the symbolic locusts, the anointed remnant of the joint heirs of Christ’s kingdom. In themselves each one is small and insignificant; but when united in worship and action, they are a mighty people, "full of power, with the spirit of Jehovah."—Mic. 3:8.
34 Locusts come in the hot summer months. Likewise the heat of Jehovah’s anger against his professed people in Christendom precedes the invasion of his symbolic locust swarm who proclaim the "day of vengeance on the part of our God." (Isa. 61:2) Jehovah God had a reason for burning like a "consuming fire," for in 1919, after Christendom had destroyed human lives and property by her first world war, she rejected God’s kingdom as proclaimed by Jehovah’s anointed witnesses and came out in support of a League of Nations that paraded under the disguise of being "the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth."—Deut. 4:24; Heb. 12:29.
35 First, Jehovah’s military host of symbolic locusts passes over Christendom with his judgment message. After this Jehovah’s angelic hosts under the King Jesus Christ will sweep over her and consume her like a fire, leaving nothing but ashes. Before the symbolic locust invasion began, Christendom’s premises looked like a religious garden of Eden. She had her Councils of Churches, her Catholic Action, her nationalist movements holding in check atheistic international communism, her relations with political states, and her so-called political expression of God’s kingdom on earth.
36 The future looked promising, until the swarm of Jehovah’s "locusts" began their united invasion around the world. From Bible prophecy they served notice on Christendom that Almighty God would desolate her in the battle of Armageddon, leaving her like a wilderness in which nothing had escaped being consumed. They left no bright hopes for Christendom behind them, especially in the Bible literature that they left behind in the hands of the people upon whom they called from house to house. They foretold that, after the "locust" swarm had passed over and finished serving advance notice upon all the nations of the inhabited earth, then Jehovah God himself with his heavenly hosts would fight against her and destroy her Edenlike appearance and make her like a desolate wilderness.
37 In itself the message that called attention to Jehovah’s battle action at Armageddon indicates when the modern locust plague really began. In The Watch Tower, the official magazine published and distributed by Jehovah’s witnesses, there appeared in its issue of July 15, 1925, the leading article entitled "The Remnant." This article set forth for the first time that Armageddon is not a disorganized "time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation," or a violent, anarchistic battle between capital and organized labor, but is a universal fight between Jehovah God and the entire organization of Satan the Devil in heaven and on earth. Said paragraphs 44, 45, under "Great Battle" as a heading:
That we are nearing the time of a great and final battle of the forces of darkness against the Lord is testified to by many Scriptures. (Revelation 17:14; 16:13-15; Matthew 24:21, 22) IT IS THE GREAT BATTLE OF GOD ALMIGHTY. The prophets frequently referred to it as "the day of the Lord". The prophet Isaiah addresses himself to the faithful of Israel, therefore the remnant class, saying: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen. . . . Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God." (Isaiah 43:10, 12) . . .
Seeing then that the devil and his organization goes forth to make war with the remnant (Revelation 12:17) it is quite evident that in this conflict Satan’s chief purpose is to destroy the "seed of promise" now on earth, and to discredit God in the minds of the people, . . .
Paragraph 63 said:
. . . Even so in the battle with the forces of darkness in this end of the age. The battle is not the battle of the faithful followers of Christ, but the battle is the Lord’s. The faithful ones who shall constitute the remnant will have a part therein in this, that they are told to sing. . . . that our strength is in the Lord and that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
38 That year (1925) the number who participated in celebrating the Memorial of Christ’s death as members of the remnant was reported as 90,434. (The Watch Tower, Sept. 1, 1925, page 263) The following year (1926) the remnant received fuller enlightenment about the battle of Armageddon in the book entitled "Deliverance." Its chapter 12 was entitled "The Final Battle," and its thirty pages gave a magnificent description of Armageddon. Page 275 thrillingly stated: "It is God’s fight"; and page 280 said: "The saints do not engage in the actual combat. This is the fight of God Almighty; and the fight is led by his beloved Son, . . . he is fighting for the anointed of God, that they may be vindicated for their faithful witness to the name of Jehovah. . . . Thus is Satan’s empire swept from the earth to oblivion. The name of Jehovah God is vindicated."
39 This book Deliverance was released in May of 1926. It was made the feature release at the international assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in London, England, in the final week of May. Here, for the first time, Jehovah’s witnesses went out from this London assembly onto the pavements to offer Bible booklets to passers-by.
40 In that memorable year of 1926 the symbolic locust plague as described by both Joel and the Revelation began. The religious leaders of Christendom began to feel special torments from the scorpion-like stings of the judgment message proclaimed by Jehovah’s anointed remnant. That message about Jehovah’s fight at Armageddon and the destruction that he will wreak upon Christendom and all the rest of Satan’s world was not delivered in just five literal months of 1926. It continues down to this day and gets stronger and stronger. Just as long as these symbolic locusts are alive and are witnessing on this side of Armageddon they will keep on inflicting torment by Jehovah’s message of vengeance upon religious hypocrites and upon all his other enemies on earth. Since 1931 the number of the anointed remnant still remaining on earth has dwindled; but since then also these symbolic locusts have been joined in the judgment proclamation by hundreds of thousands of God-fearing, sheeplike people, who begin calling upon the name of Jehovah for salvation and who dedicate their lives to him and get baptized in water just the same as Jesus did.
41 The spirit of Jehovah God is behind this increased swarm of symbolic locusts. It urges them onward, just the same as the wind did in the plague upon ancient Egypt in Moses’ day: "Jehovah caused an east wind to blow upon the land all that day and all night. The morning came and the east wind carried the locusts." (Ex. 10:13) The symbolic locusts were filled with a fearlessness that was not of themselves but that was of God’s spirit, as they dashed into this spiritual warfare like horses plunging unafraid into the battle. With every means of publicity they strove to make the good news of God’s kingdom known and to warn Christendom and all her international worldly allies of Jehovah’s day of vengeance.
42 Says Joel 2:4-6 of this people: "Its appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like steeds is the way they keep running. As with the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they keep skipping about, as with the sound of a flaming fire that is devouring stubble. It is like a mighty people, drawn up in battle order. Because of it, peoples will be in severe pains. As for all faces, they will certainly collect a glow of excitement."
43 With their message of God’s universal war, they made the Bible word "Armageddon" well known, to get into popular usage. Orderly, as in battle formation, they proceeded to deliver Jehovah’s declaration of war against Christendom throughout the length and breadth of her realm. Just as a visit of a locust swarm is a calamity, so these symbolic locusts in their united assault were called "calamity howlers." But their persistence and their fearlessness were in themselves a portent, a proof that sure destruction was coming upon Christendom and her associated nations. Down till 1931 the anointed remnant were prophetically called a "mighty people," but oh how mighty a crowd there is today since the remnant have been joined by hundreds of thousands of dedicated seekers of eternal life in Paradise on earth! Revelation 7:9 describes these latter ones as a "great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues," out of 181 lands thus far!
44 In an article on "The Locust War" by a zoology professor at the University of Michigan, published in the New York Times Magazine as of May 12, 1960, it was said: "There is no known natural enemy that can keep their devastating migration in check." (Page 96) Note how true this is of the symbolic plague, as Joel 2:7, 8 goes on to say: "Like powerful men they run. Like men of war they go up a wall. And they go each one in his own ways, and they do not alter their paths. And one another they do not shove. As an able-bodied man in his course, they keep going; and should some fall even among the missiles, the others do not break off course."
45 In 1960 nineteen nations of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and southeast Asia, including Great Britain and France, formed an alliance, through the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, to make a vast concerted drive on the age-old locust plague. But regardless of what success these nations may have in this drive, they have been unable to stop the invasion of these modern symbolic locusts whom the Almighty God Jehovah has sent among them.
46 No matter how high legal walls are raised in protection, these locusts have climbed up them, even if it meant going as high as the Supreme Court of the land. They have climbed over such walls and kept on going. The walls raised up in defense of Christendom by Nazism, Fascism, Catholic Action, and now, too, the walls raised up by Russian Communism, have proved to be of no avail against Jehovah’s army of "locusts."
47 To the enemy that objects to the delivery of this judgment message, Jehovah’s witnesses say from underground as well as above ground: "We must obey God as ruler rather than men. . . . we are witnesses of these matters, and so is the holy spirit, which God has given to those obeying him as ruler." (Acts 5:29-32) In orderly ranks they march forward with God’s message, not altering their paths from following their King Jesus Christ, not shoving one another or hindering one another but helping and co-operating with one another. Though some fall because of the enemy’s destructive missiles and are killed, thrown into prison, concentration camps, slave-labor camps and isolated places of exile, the others use their liberty and keep active, not breaking off their course.
48 Into the cities and the countryside, yes, into the very capital or citadel of Christendom, they go. Into the private homes of the people they penetrate despite barriers to keep them away, for they follow the pattern of the apostolic locusts of the first century, who preached and taught "publicly and from house to house." (Acts 20:20) In an advance description Joel 2:9-11 says:
49 "Into the city they rush. On the wall they run. On the houses they go up. Through the windows they go in like the thief. Before it the land has become agitated, the heavens have rocked. Sun and moon themselves have become dark, and the very stars have withdrawn their brightness [because a locust swarm in flight blots out the heavens]. And Jehovah himself will certainly give forth his voice before his military force, for his camp is very numerous. For he who is carrying out his word is mighty; for the day of Jehovah is great and very fear-inspiring, and who can hold up under it?"
50 Jehovah’s judgment message of vengeance offers no bright prospects for Christendom and her worldly allies either day or night. Her future is completely black. Christendom will not be able to hold up under Jehovah’s great, fear-inspiring day for executing his vengeance upon blasphemers, profaners and reproachers of his holy name, because he is mighty enough to carry out his prophetic word as proclaimed by his military force of symbolic locusts.
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The Watchtower, March 1, 1951 Issue, Page 149:
5 These "locusts" are the army of Jehovah’s witnesses, and as to their effect upon Christendom’s "rich man" class Revelation 9:5-7, 10, 11 says: "It was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but that these should be tormented five months, and the torment upon them was as torment by a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days the men will seek death but will by no means find it, and they will desire to die but death keeps fleeing from them. And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle, . . . Also they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months. They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is A·bad´don [Destruction], but in Greek he has the name A·pol´lyon [Destroyer]." (NW) Not surprising that the effort is made throughout Christendom to destroy Jehovah’s witnesses.
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Revelation - Its Grand Climax At Hand! Book (1988):
Pages 142-148:
Chapter 22
The First Woe—Locusts
THE fifth angel prepares to blow his trumpet. Four heavenly trumpets have already sounded, and four plagues have been directed to the third of the earth that Jehovah regards as most reprehensible—Christendom. Her deathly sick condition has been uncovered. While angels sound the trumpet blasts, human heralds follow through on earth. Now the fifth angelic trumpet is about to announce the first woe, more fearsome even than what has gone before. It is related to a terrifying locust plague. First, though, let us examine other scriptures that will help us to understand this plague better.
2 The Bible book of Joel, written during the ninth century B.C.E., describes a plague of insects, including locusts, that is similar to the one that John sees. (Joel 2:1-11, 25) It was to cause much discomfort for apostate Israel but would also result in individual Jews’ repenting and returning to Jehovah’s favor. (Joel 2:6, 12-14) When that time arrived, Jehovah would pour out his spirit upon "every sort of flesh," while fearful signs and alarming portents would precede "the coming of the great and fear-inspiring day of Jehovah."—Joel 2:11, 28-32.
A First-Century Plague
3 There was a fulfillment of Joel chapter 2 in the first century. It was then, at Pentecost 33 C.E., that holy spirit was poured out, anointing the first Christians and empowering them to speak "the magnificent things of God" in many tongues. As a result, a large crowd assembled. The apostle Peter addressed those astonished onlookers, quoting Joel 2:28, 29 and explaining that they were witnessing its fulfillment. (Acts 2:1-21) But there is no record of a literal insect plague at that time, causing discomfort to some and leading others to repentance.
4 Was there a figurative plague during those days? Yes, indeed! It came as a result of the relentless preaching of the newly anointed Christians. Through them, Jehovah invited those Jews who would listen to repent and enjoy blessings from him. (Acts 2:38-40; 3:19) The individuals who responded received his favor to a remarkable degree. But to the ones who refused the invitation, the first-century Christians became like a devastating swarm of locusts. Starting in Jerusalem, they spread through all Judea and Samaria. Soon they were everywhere, tormenting the unbelieving Jews by publicly proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection, with all that this implied. (Acts 1:8; 4:18-20; 5:17-21, 28, 29, 40-42; 17:5, 6; 21:27-30) That plaguing continued until the "fear-inspiring day," in 70 C.E., when Jehovah brought the Roman armies against Jerusalem to destroy it. Only those Christians who in faith called on the name of Jehovah were saved.—Joel 2:32; Acts 2:20, 21; Proverbs 18:10.
The 20th-Century Plague
5 Reasonably, we could expect Joel’s prophecy to have a final fulfillment in the time of the end. How true this has proved to be! At the Bible Students’ convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, U.S.A., September 1-8, 1919, a notable outpouring of Jehovah’s spirit activated his people to organize a global campaign of preaching. Of all professed Christians, they alone, recognizing that Jesus had been enthroned as heavenly King, spared no effort in publishing abroad that good news. Their relentless witnessing, in fulfillment of prophecy, became as a tormenting plague to apostate Christendom.—Matthew 24:3-8, 14; Acts 1:8.
6 Revelation, written some 26 years after Jerusalem’s destruction, also describes that plague. What does it add to Joel’s description? Let us take up the record, as reported by John: "And the fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given him." (Revelation 9:1) This "star" is different from that at Revelation 8:10 that John saw in the act of falling. He sees "a star that had fallen from heaven" and that now has an assignment with respect to this earth. Is this a spirit or a fleshly person? The holder of this "key of the pit of the abyss" is later described as hurling Satan into "the abyss." (Revelation 20:1-3) So he must be a mighty spirit person. At Revelation 9:11, John tells us that the locusts have "a king, the angel of the abyss." Both verses must refer to the same individual, since the angel holding the key of the abyss would logically be the angel of the abyss. And the star must symbolize Jehovah’s appointed King, since anointed Christians acknowledge only the one angelic King, Jesus Christ.—Colossians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 15:25.
7 The account continues: "And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke ascended out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun was darkened, also the air, by the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke locusts came forth upon the earth; and authority was given them, the same authority as the scorpions of the earth have." (Revelation 9:2, 3) Scripturally, "the abyss" is a place of inactivity, even of death. (Compare Romans 10:7; Revelation 17:8; 20:1, 3.) The small band of Jesus’ brothers spent a short time in such an "abyss" of relative inactivity at the end of the first world war (1918-19). But when Jehovah poured his spirit upon his repentant servants in 1919, they swarmed forth to meet the challenge of the work that lay ahead.
8 As John observes, the release of the locusts is accompanied by much smoke, like "the smoke of a great furnace." That is how it proved to be in 1919. The situation darkened for Christendom and for the world in general. (Compare Joel 2:30, 31.) The release of those locusts, the John class, was actually a defeat for Christendom’s clergy, who had schemed and plotted to kill the Kingdom work for good and who now rejected God’s Kingdom. Evidence of a smokelike pall started to spread over apostate Christendom as that locust band was given divine authority and began to exercise it in proclaiming powerful judgment messages. Christendom’s "sun"—her appearance of enlightenment—suffered an eclipse, and "the air" became thick with declarations of divine judgment as "the ruler of the authority of the air" of this world was shown to be Christendom’s god.—Ephesians 2:2; John 12:31; 1 John 5:19.
Those Tormenting Locusts!
9 What battle instructions did those locusts receive? John reports: "And they were told to harm no vegetation of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was granted the locusts, not to kill them, but that these should be tormented five months, and the torment upon them was as torment by a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days the men will seek death but will by no means find it, and they will desire to die but death keeps fleeing from them."—Revelation 9:4-6.
10 Notice that this plague is not directed first against the people or prominent ones among them—the ‘vegetation and trees of the earth.’ (Compare Revelation 8:7.) The locusts are to harm only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads, those in Christendom who claim to be sealed but whose record belies that claim. (Ephesians 1:13, 14) Thus, the tormenting utterances of these modern-day locusts were directed first against the religious leaders of Christendom. How these self-assuming men must have been tormented at hearing it publicly announced that not only were they failing to lead their flocks to heaven but they themselves would not get there! Truly, it has been a case of ‘the blind leading the blind’!—Matthew 15:14.
11 The torment lasts for five months. Is that a relatively short time? Not from the point of view of a literal locust. Five months describes the normal life span of one of these insects. Therefore, it is for as long as they live that the modern-day locusts keep stinging God’s enemies. Moreover, the torment is so severe that men seek to die. True, we have no record that any of those who were stung by the locusts actually tried to kill themselves. But the expression helps us to picture the intensity of the torment—as though by the relentless assault of scorpions. It is like the suffering foreseen by Jeremiah for those unfaithful Israelites who would be scattered by the Babylonian conquerors and for whom death would be preferable to life.—Jeremiah 8:3; see also Ecclesiastes 4:2, 3.
12 Why is it granted to torment these ones, in a spiritual sense, and not to kill them? This is an initial woe in the exposing of the lies of Christendom and her failures, but only later, as the Lord’s day progresses, will her deathlike spiritual state be fully publicized. It will be during a second woe that a third of the men are killed.—Revelation 1:10; 9:12, 18; 11:14.
Locusts Equipped for Battle
13 What a remarkable appearance those locusts have! John describes it: "And the likenesses of the locusts resembled horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads were what seemed to be crowns like gold, and their faces were as men’s faces, but they had hair as women’s hair. And their teeth were as those of lions; and they had breastplates like iron breastplates. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle."—Revelation 9:7-9.
14 This well illustrates the loyal group of revived Christians in 1919. Like horses, they were ready for battle, eager to fight for the truth in the way described by the apostle Paul. (Ephesians 6:11-13; 2 Corinthians 10:4) On their heads John sees what seem to be crowns as of gold. It would not be proper for them to have actual crowns because they do not begin ruling while they are still on earth. (1 Corinthians 4:8; Revelation 20:4) But in 1919 they already had a royal appearance. They were brothers of the King, and their heavenly crowns were reserved for them provided they continued faithful to the end.—2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4.
15 In the vision, the locusts have iron breastplates, symbolizing unbreakable righteousness. (Ephesians 6:14-18) They also have men’s faces, this feature pointing to the quality of love, since man was made in the image of God, who is love. (Genesis 1:26; 1 John 4:16). Their hair is long like a woman’s, which well pictures subjection to their King, the angel of the abyss. And their teeth resemble a lion’s teeth. A lion uses its teeth to tear meat. From 1919 onward, the John class has again been able to take in solid spiritual food, particularly the truths about God’s Kingdom ruled by "the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah," Jesus Christ. Just as the lion symbolizes courage, so great courage has been needed to digest this hard-hitting message, to bring it forth in publications, and to distribute it around the globe. Those figurative locusts have made a lot of noise, like "the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle." After the example of first-century Christians, they do not intend to stay quiet.—1 Corinthians 11:7-15; Revelation 5:5.
16 This preaching involves more than the spoken word! "Also, they have tails and stings like scorpions; and in their tails is their authority to hurt the men five months." (Revelation 9:10) What could this mean? As they go about their Kingdom work, Jehovah’s Witnesses leave behind them publications—books, magazines, brochures, timely tracts. These contain authoritative statements, based on God’s Word, for the people to read in their homes, and they have a scorpionlike sting because they warn of Jehovah’s approaching day of vengeance. (Isaiah 61:2) Before the present generation of spiritual locusts lives out its life span, its divinely ordained work of declaring Jehovah’s judgments will be completed—to the hurt of all stiff-necked blasphemers.
17 That locust band was overjoyed when a new magazine, The Golden Age, was announced at their 1919 convention. It was a biweekly magazine, designed to intensify the sting of their witnessing. Its issue No. 27, of September 29, 1920, exposed the clergy’s duplicity in persecuting the Bible Students in the United States during the 1918-19 period. Through the 1920’s and 1930’s, The Golden Age tormented the clergy with further stinging articles and cartoons that exposed their crafty dabbling in politics, and especially the Catholic hierarchy’s accords made with the Fascist and Nazi dictators. In response, the clergy ‘framed mischief by law’ and organized mob violence against God’s people.—Psalm 94:20, King James Version.
World Rulers Put on Notice
18 The modern-day locusts had a job to do. The Kingdom good news had to be preached. Errors had to be exposed. Lost sheep had to be found. As the locusts went about these tasks, the world was forced to sit up and take notice. In obedience to the angels’ trumpet blasts, the John class has continued to expose Christendom as deserving of Jehovah’s adverse judgments. In response to the fifth trumpet, a particular aspect of these judgments was emphasized at a convention of the Bible Students in London, England, May 25-31, 1926. This featured a resolution, "A Testimony to the Rulers of the World," and a public talk at the Royal Albert Hall on "Why World Powers Are Tottering—The Remedy," the complete text of both of these being printed in a leading London newspaper the following day. Later, the locust band distributed worldwide, as a tract, 50 million copies of that resolution—a torment indeed to the clergy! Years later, people in England still spoke of this stinging exposé.
19 At this convention, the symbolic locusts received further fighting equipment, notably a new book entitled Deliverance. It included a Scriptural discussion of the sign proving that the ‘man child’ government, Christ’s heavenly Kingdom, had been born in 1914. (Matthew 24:3-14; Luke 21:24-26; Revelation 12:1-10) Thereafter, it quoted the manifesto published in London in 1918 and signed by eight clergymen, who were described as being "among the world’s greatest preachers." They represented the leading Protestant denominations—Baptist, Congregational, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and Methodist. This manifesto proclaimed that "the present crisis points toward the close of the times of the Gentiles" and that "the revelation of the Lord may be expected at any moment." Yes, those clergymen had recognized the sign of Jesus’ presence! But did they want to do anything about it? The book Deliverance informs us: "The most remarkable part of the affair is that the very men who signed the manifesto subsequently repudiated it and rejected the evidence which proves that we are at the end of the world and in the day of the Lord’s second presence."
20 Rather than announce the incoming Kingdom of God, Christendom’s clergy have chosen to remain with Satan’s world. They want no part with the locust band and their King, concerning whom John now observes: "They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon [meaning "Destruction"], but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [meaning "Destroyer"]." (Revelation 9:11) As "angel of the abyss" and "Destroyer," Jesus had truly released a plaguing woe on Christendom. But more is to follow!
[Footnotes]
Compare Joel 2:4, 5, 7 (where the insects are described as horses, people, and men, and as making a sound like a chariot) with Revelation 9:7-9; also, compare Joel 2:6, 10 (describing the painful effect of the insect plague) with Revelation 9:2, 5.
See the article "United Against Nations in the Valley of Decision" in the December 1, 1961, issue of The Watchtower.
Notice that this scripture cannot be used to prove that there was a fire in the abyss, as if the abyss were some kind of hellfire. John says he saw thick smoke that was "as," or like, the smoke of a great furnace. (Revelation 9:2) He does not report seeing actual flames in the abyss.
The Greek word used here comes from the root ba·sa·ni´zo, which is sometimes used of literal torture; however, it can also be used of mental torment. For example, at 2 Peter 2:8 we read that Lot "was tormenting his righteous soul" because of the evil that he saw in Sodom. The religious leaders of the apostolic era experienced mental torment although, of course, for a very different reason.
This magazine, now published semimonthly, was renamed Consolation in 1937 and Awake! in 1946.
