Passive Divinity, or Divine Passive? - a story of a key

Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
Rev 9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he strikes a man.
Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongues is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongues has his name Apollyon.

One aspect that I find particularly significant in this story is that the power represented by the key was not intrinsically Satan’s, but was allowed to him by a higher power.

There are four passives used in this passage, which suggest the presence of a character implicitly present in the narration. In the Judaism of the time, the Jews believed that God’s name was too sacred to be uttered, except in rare circumstances. When talking about God and his actions, they used what is called the divine passive. For instance, “you are blessed” means “God has blessed you.” The divine passive is often used in the book of Revelation. In the above passage:
the key of the bottomless pit was given
unto the locusts was given power
to the locusts it was commanded something
it was also given that they should not kill

What kind of divinity do we discover in Revelation 9: a passive divinity, a God who does not care, a God unable to handle things, a God acting at Satan’s discretion? Or on the contrary, we discover the divine passive, a God who is in control, a God who has the power to intervene in history, and not only He has the power, but He does intervene?


Christ is in possession of the keys of Hades. In Rev. 9, the key is given to Satan. Yet in Revelation 20: 1, 3, we discover the key back into the hands of God’s angel. In the final moments of our history, close to the end of the great conflict, God’s angel uses the key to lock Satan in the bottomless pit, where he cannot deceive the nations anymore. God intervened in the very beginning of our history, when he limited Satan to only one attempt to deceive Adam and Eve. He continued to intervene all throughout history, limiting Satan and his evil actions, and He is depicted as being still in control in the end of time as we know it.

But why any harm at all? Wouldn’t it be great if God just fixed everything promptly, if no one had ever been allowed access to, if there was no suffering at all? After all, God has the power to intervene.

True, except that, if God intervened every time Satan plotted something against humanity, the devil would not have had the occasion to prove his character. Not allowing him to prove himself would have the same effect as his instant destruction when sin appeared in the universe.

But God, “How long, God?” “How long?” How long are fathers going to die and leave sorrow behind, how long are the cripple going to long for a different life? How long are we going to be stolen from, deceived, lied to, cheated on? How long are we and our beloved ones going to be unfairly treated abused, tortured?

We’re asking. And we are not the only ones: Rev. 6:10 “How long, o Lord, holy and true, will you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth?” In his own time, in his wisdom and long-enduring love, God answers our lamentations. The evil will not endure forever. The part of evil is destruction.

A key was allowed in Job’s life. But it was taken back. A key was allowed in Jesus’ life. But it was taken back. A key was allowed in so many of the Bible characters we’ve become familiar with. But they were taken back.


A key may have been allowed into your life. But that thought, that habit, that feeling, lust, resent, pride, envy, gluttony,despair,or whatever the key has locked or unlocked, can be overcome. The key of access is eventually going to be taken back forever. Restoration is a divine promised to the faithful.