Revelation 9:11 tells us that Abaddon is the “angel of the abyss”.
- Rev 9:11 And they have a king over them, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name was Abaddon, and in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Like the locusts, I do not believe that Abaddon is an evil being even though his title is the “angel of the abyss”. I do not see how Abaddon would want to punish mankind if he and mankind were on the same side. Abaddon simply oversees the activities of the locusts, who are tools used by God to punish those who accepted the Mark of the Beast. In addition, the text does not say that Abaddon comes out of the abyss like the locusts do (“of the abyss” in Abaddon’s title in Greek implies he is over the abyss). The text just tells us that Abaddon is an angel that oversees the locust.
“Abaddon” in Hebrew means “Destroyer” or “Destruction” and “Apollyon” in Greek means “Destroyer”. Therefore, Abaddon/Apollyon is an angel that is associated with bringing destruction.
There is a spiritual being known in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as “the Destroyer”. The Destroyer is most famous for smiting the Egyptians first-born, the final plague of the 10 plagues of Egypt.
- Exo 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.
- Heb 11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
The destroyer also is also mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:10, which references an event in Numbers 14.
Some people argue that the Destroyer is the Angel of the Lord. People who believe this often cite the fact that the Angel of the Lord wiped out the Assyrian Army with a plague (Isaiah 37:36). I feel the main verse that either supports or destroys the argument rests in 1 Chronicles 21:15. In this passage the "destroying angel" is mentioned as being in the same location as the Angel of the Lord.
- 1Ch 21:15 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.
- 1Ch 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.
- 1Ch 21:17 And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.
- 1Ch 21:18 Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
I used to think the Angel of the Lord was the Destroyer. However, the more I studied the passage above the more I am convinced that there are two angels at the scene. The Destroyer and the Angel of the Lord.
Therefore, I believe Abaddon/Apollyon, the leader of the locusts, most likely is the angelic Destroyer that God has sent to inflict punishment on people like the Egyptians in the past and not the Angel of the Lord who smote the Assyrians. However, I do not believe we will have to worry about being tormented by the Destroyer and his locusts because I believe the Elect will already be removed at this point in the end times.
