The smoke of the pit--(the fifth trumpet)--9:1-12. 1. A fallen star: I saw a star fall from heaven” --9:1. The star, as in previous instances where the symbol is used, denoted a ruler; and heaven in this connection, as also previously shown, denoted the dominion of these powers. When Jesus said in Luke 10:18, “ I beheld Satan fall as lightning from heaven,” he meant the complete defeat of all the personified agents of Satan. By his fall from heaven, Jesus meant that Satan would be dethroned from his exalted dominion; and his downfall would come swiftly as lightning in the shaping conflict. When the prophet said of a Babylonian ruler, in Isaiah 14:12 --"How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer (brilliant star), son of the morning; how art thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations” --it referred to the downfall of the ruler, personified as Lucifer. The name Lucifer in the Septuagint, is translated “ Star,” which was represented as falling from heaven--the wicked king’ s exalted place of dominion. The figure is no different in this Revelation vision. The star is personified in the persecuting ruler. He was designated “ a star fallen from heaven” for the wicked character that he exemplified in the descension from his exalted place of rulership to the satanic plane of a perfidious leader of impious forces. The star falling “ from heaven unto the earth” merely denoted the descent of the ruler from an exalted dominion to a degenerate place of activity among the powers of men. 2. The key to the bottomless pit: “ And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit” --9:1. The “ bottomless” pit is the abyss, the infernal region, the diabolical domain of the devil. This fallen star being an agent of Satan personified, he was given the “ key” to the abyss of Satan, that he might unloose the woes announced by the flying angel of chapter 8:13.