The Key of Authority

2005-6-4 05:16:00

The Key of Authority

The next verses to consider are:

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. 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. 3 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.  Revelation 9:1-3

First we need to examine the phrase "bottomless pit." It is indeed an intriguing wording that has captured the imagination of many, including the non-believers for many years.

"Bottomless comes from the Greek ABUSSOS which is translated as "deep" or "bottomless." Variations of this word often refer to the sea, which was seen as very deep or bottomless by the ancients. The equivalent Hebrew TeHOWM is usually translated as sea or a word like the "deep" referring to the sea or a deep place.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep (TeHOWM) And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.  Genesis 1:1-2
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep (TeHOWM) is frozen.  Job 38:30

Obviously Job was referring to a body of water for it was "frozen."

Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep (TeHOWM) places.  Psalms 135:6

Here we are told that deep places are found in "heaven" "earth" and the "seas."

In the New Testament this word was used by the evil spirits that named themselves Legion who Christ cast out of a man and entered the bodies of pigs. It is written:

And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep (Greek - ABUSSOS). And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.  Luke 8:30-32

Along this same line the words is used in Romans: But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (ABUSSOS) (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) Rom 10:6-7

In Luke ABUSSOS refers to a place where evil spirits do not want to go and in Romans, a place in the opposite direction of heaven.

Before the Book of Revelation comes along ABUSSOS appears by itself but this book adds the descriptive word "pit" which comes from PHREAR. Strong says it represents "A hole in the ground (dug for obtaining or holding water or other purposes) A cistern or well or abyss (as a prison)."

Usually this word merely refers to a well, but sometimes a deep pit.

PHREAR is used to describe a well in this account: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well (PHREAR) is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well (PHREAR), and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? John 4:10-12

In reference to the earth the "bottomless pit" would be a deep well that seems to have no bottom. If bottomless were to refer to the sea then it would indicates a submergence in the bottomless sea.

That covers an intellectual look at the "bottomless pit," but what does it really mean in connection with this scripture?

Water here is a symbol of the emotional nature as well as the multitudes of people who are governed and motivated by emotion.

The bottomless pit is therefore the emotional world of people on this earth as well as the next world. The bottomless pit for the demons would be the lower astral (emotional) world after death where there is no bottom (earth or physical bodies) for them to find rest.

That said, let us start the interpretation with the first verse: "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 sounding signifies that the disciple is prepared to use the full energies of the heart center including the energies of the soul which meet in the heart.

The star that fell from heaven represents the disciple and his teachings which came from heaven through the soul and are brought down to earth - or to the people who are seeking spiritual salvation.

...and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

The key represents authority and power. The disciple has shifted his attention from the emotional desires and selfish love to spiritual desire and unselfish love. In doing so he has authority and control (the key) over the emotional world (bottomless pit).

The lower emotions no longer direct him, but he directs them. This control requires an act of divine will manifesting through the disciple for the emotional self has been brewing and fomenting for many lifetimes and does not rest in peace for some time.

The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy...neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. John W. Gardner (1912 - )