THE AIR IN THE BIBLE EXCERPT REVELATION 9 SERIES STUDY 5, BY CHRIS MCCANN ...and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. (Revelation 9:2) I have looked at this verse many times and thought about the “air” and looked up that word before, and I have been pretty much “stumped” by it. All I could really think of is that we breathe the air, and man needs air to live, so this is language indicating that the air would not be breathable and, therefore, life could not continue for any length of time. But that is not really what the Bible is saying. When we look up the word “air” in the Bible, it does not lead us to that idea of “air” that we breathe.” We do not find any link in that direction. Then what does it mean? As we study the English word “air” in the Bible, we find, for instance, if you look in your Strong’s Concordance, you find the word “air” listed 22 times in the Old Testament; and 21 times it is Strong’s #8064. Of those 21 times, 18 times that word is translated as “fowl of the air,” and only two times as “bird of the air,” and one time as “eagle of the air.” But, in every case, it is a flying bird of some sort – a fowl, a bird or an eagle. And the only other time the word is used in the Old Testament, it is the word “spirit,” as it was used in the Book of Genesis. But, the word that is translated 21 times as “fowl of the air,” is a word that is also translated as “heaven” or “heavens,” so we do not really find too much help in the Old Testament, concerning this word. When it comes to the New Testament, we find that there are two Greek words that are translated as “air,” just like there were two Hebrew words translated as “air.” In the New Testament, the first word that is translated as “air” is Strong’s #3772, and it is used ten times and, in each case, “birds of the air” are in view, so that would relate to the Hebrew word, Strong’s #8064; it is the equivalent New Testament word, and that word is also translated as “heaven,” “heavens” and “sky,” elsewhere in the New Testament. So that word has to do with where the birds fly or the heaven above that and also with the sky. But the word that is translated as “air” in our verse in Revelation 9:1 is Strong’s #109 and it is translated as such seven times. We are going to look at some of these references to get an idea of how it is being used. Let us first go to Acts 22:21-24: And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and *then* lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a *fellow* from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. And as they cried out, and cast off *their* clothes, and threw dust into the air, The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. Here, we see that these Jews were exceedingly angry at the Apostle Paul and they were angry because they believed he had brought Gentiles into the temple. When Paul mentioned Gentiles, that was the last straw and they said, “It is not fit that he should live” and they “threw dust into the air.” That is the first reference to “air,” and it really does not seem to help us too much, but it is something we should keep in mind as we are trying to learn what this word “air” means (this particular Greek word, which is Strong’s #109). Now let us to 1st Corinthians. It is found a couple of times here, but we are only going to go to one place, in 1st Corinthians 14:8-9: For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. This is interesting and helpful. This is a chapter that is trying to clarify “tongues,” and, remember, the Apostle Paul is saying that he would rather speak words that are understandable, as it says in 1st Corinthians 14:2-6: For he that speaketh in an *unknown* tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth *him*; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men *to* edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an *unknown* tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater *is* he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. So the contrast is made between someone speaking in a tongue, which was a legitimate gift from God at that time, as God was still bringing divine revelation; at times, it came in the form of a tongue and that meant someone would speak in an unknown language (it was not an earthly language) and, yet, it was from God. No one understood it unless someone else had been given the gift to interpret that tongue. But on the other hand, “to prophesy” is set against that, and it simply means to speak what you have learned from the Bible in a clear way. So these are the two things that are set against one another, and are being compared to one another, and that is why it went on to say in 1st Corinthians 14:8-9: For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. So it is better to “prophesy” so that people can understand you, rather than to speak in an unknown tongue which people could not understand; people could not take warning from the trumpet sound if you spoke in an unknown tongue. Then God says that speaking words that are not understandable is like “speaking into the air.” That is an expression, I think, that some people still use today: “He is speaking into the air,” or he is gabbing along and making no sense, or people do not understand him; they are dozing off and “He is speaking into the air.” It comes right from the Bible and it means to speak in a way that is not understandable. Basically, when we think about what is being spoken here, it is not a “good thing.” It is a negative thing. It is a bad thing to “speak into the air,” rather than to speak in an understandable way. Let us go to another verse and this verse will be much more helpful to us. It is in Ephesians, chapter 2, and I think many of us are familiar with these verses. It says in Ephesians 2:1-3: And you *hath he quickened,* who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Here, in verse 2, we read, again, of a reference to the “air.” In this case, it is “according to the prince of the power of the air,” and this is an obvious reference to Satan, as it goes on to say, “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” So it has nothing to do with God, as the Lord Jesus is the Prince of Life; if it were His Spirit, it would be working in the children of obedience, not the children of disobedience. But this is referring to the devil, the enemy of God and the one that is “anti-Christ,” and he works in the unsaved to foster disobedience. Is that not interesting how these ideas are set one against the other? God does say the flesh is “contrary to the spirit,” and the one is against the other, so when we look at the spirit that is in the child of God, that spirit moves the child of God in the direction of obedience; they are given an ongoing desire to do the will of God and to obey the commandments of the Bible. The spirit that is operating in the rest of mankind (the unsaved people of the world) works in a way that develops and fosters disobedience. It is, of course, why man is so rebellious against God; it is his nature and that nature is nurtured and stirred up by “the prince of the power of the air,” by Satan himself who is mankind’s spiritual father. They take after him, but the elect take after the Lord Jesus Christ and they begin to develop obedience. That is why it is so extremely important that we do examine ourselves to see how we are doing in relationship to the Word of God, the Bible. If we have a tendency to go against God’s Word and to be disobedient to God’s command, that spirit does not come from Him. That is something that we should be frightened and terrified of, if that is true of our life. Here, we read that Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air.” This is something else that has always been unclear. What does it mean that Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air” and what does it mean that the “air is darkened” in the Day of Judgment? It has been unclear in the past, but I think we are going to be able to understand this a little bit more, as we continue to look at the Book of Revelation and as we look at this word, in particular. We may find something surprising and interesting, as we understand Revelation 9:2 better, as well as other references to “air,” such as 1st Thessalonians 4, where it says we will “meet the Lord in the air.”
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 12:22:01 +0000
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