The Revelation of Jesus Christ 121 "And the llfth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit," In the original. the words, "A star fall from heaven," really read, "The star which had fallen from heaven." This is the translation of Weymouth and others. It is not the act of falling in vision here, but the fact of a star which had fallen that is contemplated. The reference undoubtedly is to the star that fell in connection with the blowing of the third trum pet, the star whose falling shall affect multitudes of people. The trend of events shows that the star referred to represents the great apostate whom the devil will use to bring unbelief to a head in the last days. To this great apostate will be given "the key of the bot tomless pit." He will put that key, as it were, into the door that leads to the bottomless pit; the door will be opened; and out of the pit will come a blinding smoke that will obliterate the supreme source of light, darkening the very air itself. Following Peter's great confession of the deity of Christ, our Lord said to him, among other things. "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven'• (Matt. 16: 19). Peter used those keys on the day of Pentecost, when he opened the door of Christian opportunity to Israel by proclaiming the truth to them. He used them again to open the door to the Gentiles when he preached salvation through faith to them.in the house of Cornelius. It was what he said and taught con cerning the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ that opened the door to them. _ But not always are keys rightly used. In Luke 11 :52 Christ said to the hypocritical leaders of the Jews, "Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." It is very evident that the great apostate, represented by the fallen star, will use a system of teaching made up of heresy, the heart of which will no doubt be the denial of the Christ who died to save him. As a result of this false teach ing, the forces of the unseen W()rld will be loosed. Demon powers will beset the souls of men, and professing Christen dom will "believe a lie," as foretold by Paul in II Thess. 2: 11, 12.
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