Revelation 9:1: What Is the Abyss?

The term Abyss occurs nine times in five different passages in the New Testament. In Luke 8:31 it is the place to which demons do not wish to be sent. In Romans 10:7 it is translated "the deep" and is the opposite of heaven, the one being above the earth and the other below. In Revelation 9:1-2 the "shaft [or well or pit] of the Abyss" is opened. In Revelation 11:7 there is a "beast that comes up from the Abyss." And finally in Revelation 20:1-3 Satan is chained and thrown into the Abyss for one thousand years, the shaft being locked and sealed over him. This is the New Testament data that we have to work with.

The Greek translation of the Old Testament uses "Abyss" to translate "the deep" (Gen 1:2; Ps 42:7; 107:26) and "the depths of the earth" (Ps 71:20). In the first group of passages it refers to the deep seas or primeval deep from which solid ground is separated and which in some Hebrew cosmologies lie under the earth. In the second passage it refers to the place of the dead. These probably give us the background of Romans 10:7 (either the place of the dead into which no living person can go or the deep as opposed to the heights of heaven), but they do not help us with Revelation.

In the intertestamental literature we discover what a first-century Jew like the author of Revelation thought of when he wrote "the Abyss." In 1 Enoch 10:4 a rebellious angel is bound and cast into darkness in a hole. This hole seems to be distinguished from the final place of judgment, a place of fire mentioned in 1 Enoch18:11 and 21:7, although this is also a pit. Likewise in Jubilees 5:6-11 the fallen angels are bound in a pit. With this background we can now understand John's image.

The Abyss is apparently the prison of demons and fallen angelic beings (some Jews believed demons were fallen angels, while others distinguished them as being their offspring). This explains the fear of the demons in Luke 8:31. They wanted to remain free, not be placed in prison. Jesus apparently allows them freedom because the time of judgment has not yet arrived. Likewise it explains why Satan is imprisoned in the Abyss, for it is the standard place to imprison such beings.

Yet the Abyss can be opened. In Revelation 9 it is opened to let out what are apparently demonic beings to torment people. These beings are not unorganized, but have "as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon" (Rev 9:11). The name means "destroyer" in either language. The identity of this ruler is unclear. Is he an angel, perhaps the one who opens the pit and then is sent to control the host he allows out? John normally uses "angel" for one of those loyal to God; there is also plenty of evidence in Scripture to accept the idea of a destroying angel. Or is he one of the host allowed out, himself a fallen angel or demon? The evidence is fairly well balanced, but given John's use of the term "angel," we suspect that the first suggestion is correct.

Not only do these demonic beings come up out of the Abyss, but "the beast" does as well. Revelation 11 does not explain this being, but given the connection of "the deep" with the sea, John identifies him as the beast "coming out of the sea" in Revelation 13:1, a world ruler who is inspired by Satan himself. This identification is repeated in Revelation 17:8, which combines elements of both the previous passages. In Revelation 11 he fights against God's witnesses, although they are protected by God until the time of their martyrdom.

The Abyss does not appear in the final two chapters of Revelation because it is no longer needed. After Revelation 20 there is no need for a prison. The time of the final judgment has arrived, and both the devil and those belonging to him are cast into their final place of torment, the lake of fire (Rev 20:10).

How should Christians relate to this information? Certainly the images in these passages are fearful. But other elements are at work as well. As previously noted, the witnesses in Revelation 11 are protected until such a time as God allows them to be injured. In all of the passages it is God and his angels who have the keys to the Abyss. Nothing comes out that God does not allow out. The beings that get out are not released to do their own will (although they may think that that is what they are doing), but to serve God's purposes. Finally, in Revelation 9:4 we read that the demonic beings from the Abyss are not allowed to touch those who have "the seal of God on their foreheads." Who are these? They are "the servants of our God" (Rev 7:3), who remain faithful to God and the Lamb (Rev 14:4-5). These people are not necessarily protected from martyrdom, but they are not able to be tormented or truly injured by the creatures of the pit. God remains in control even of the devil and his hosts. Thus, those who serve God should have no fear of the creatures of the Abyss, but instead should have a concern for others who do not walk under the protection of their Lord. This is an implied call to evangelism and to total faithfulness, even in the face of martyrdom.

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John uses "angel" in Revelation almost as many times as it appears in the whole rest of the New Testament put together. While there is one time when it does refer to fallen angels (Rev 12:7, 9, the dragon's angels) and one time when it might do so (Rev 9:14-15), the vast majority of the time it refers to God's angels.