Revelation 9:
The Fifth and Sixth Woeful Trumpets
Revelation 9:1-21
Timothy McKeown
The purpose of the Great Tribulation is for God’s
righteous judgment to fall on the earth, bringing many to repentance, but
amazingly many do not, as seen in chapter 9.
Yet God is merciful, not bringing complete judgment, but allowing for one fourth of the earth to die in the fourth seal judgment and for another third to die in the sixth trumpet judgment. With half of earth’s humanity killed by the end of the sixth trumpet, so many of the rest of the world’s population still will not repent.
1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
The
fallen star. The King James Version says “I saw a star fall
from heaven,” but the word “fall” is actually better translated as “having
fallen.” In other words, the “star” had already fallen, but when that star fell
is not known. Because the following sentence says, “to him” was given the key
to the abyss, it is likely a fallen angel, likely even the devil, to whom is
given a key to release the locusts. Jesus said He saw Satan fall like
lightening from the sky (Luke
God will wait for his total judgment for at least
another 42 months (Rev. 11:2-3, 12:6, 13:5). As the fifth seal dealt with the
souls under the altar in heaven, the fifth trumpet deals with the demons
confined to the “bottomless pit” (Greek: abusso
abusso; NASB, NIV: “abyss” ), a
term mentioned seven times in Revelation and also in Rom. 10:7 and Luke 8:31,
where the demons did not want to be sent.
3 Then out of the smoke locusts came
upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have
power. 4 They were
commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree,
but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5And they were not given authority
to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the
torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek
death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from
them. 7 The shape of
the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of
something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.
The
locusts. If these locusts are the worst of the fallen
angels which God has bound since their fall, Satan will loose these very
hideous demons to spread the worst havoc yet upon the earth, both physically
and spiritually. The devil, though fallen, is not currently bound in the abyss,
sometimes seen as Hades or hell. Some have speculated that these locusts are
John’s feeble description of military helicopters, using first century
terminology and identifications. While Satan will use and take control of man’s
military in the Tribulation, this description is much more foreboding and
menacing.
John was able to see with spiritual eyes what
fallen angels would become after thousands of years trapped in a tortuous
bottomless pit. They swarm and destroy as locusts. They are powerful and
painful as scorpions. Shaped like horses prepared for battle indicates their
organized power. That they have things like crowns of gold and faces like men
may mean that they will possess the rulers of the land.
8 They had hair like women's hair,
and their teeth were like lions' teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like
breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of
chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like
scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men
five months. 11 And they had
as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is
Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past. Behold,
still two more woes are coming after these things.
The hair of women may also indicate their
seductive power as seen in verse 21. Aggressively, their lion-like teeth are
vicious and unstoppable but their pain comes from their stinging, lightening-quick
tails.
Defensively, their iron breastplates give indication
that they are impenetrable to attack. Nevertheless,
they are still limited and commanded to not harm the plants or those with the
seal of God on their foreheads and are limited from killing those who do not
have God’s seal. They torment without killing for five months, presumably to
allow for repentance. The fact that those having the seal of God would not be
tormented will be a great incentive to get saved! Still, many do not.
King
of the Abyss. Among those loosed will be the beast which will
ascend out of the abyss (Rev. 11:7, 17:8), who is likely the king and the (fallen)
angel of or in charge of the abyss. The name “Abaddon” means “destruction” and
“Apollyon” means “destroyer.” Although the beast and the false prophet are cast
into the lake of fire alive at the beginning of the millennium, Satan is cast
into the abyss for the 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1). Still, there are two more woes
left.
13 Then the sixth
angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar
which is before God, 14saying to the
sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the
great river
An interval of perhaps five
months occurs between the fifth and sixth trumpets, as now angels (likely
fallen) are released to kill a third of mankind. The result of this will mean
that more than one half of the world’s population has died since the beginning
of the Tribulation. The four angels empower the army of the 200 hundred million
horsemen.
If some of the previous trumpets
and seals have been thermonuclear explosions, it is possible that all modern
devices using computers would be rendered obsolete. This is a result of the electromagnetic
pulse which occurs with any nuclear explosion. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
does not hurt the human body, but will fry all unprotected computer chips which
are virtually all automobiles, airplanes, trains, etc. In the 1950s, relatively
low level nuclear explosions resulted with EMP effects as far away as 800 miles
in all directions. It is not unrealistic to see how battles will return to
literally hand-to-hand combat and third world and primitive societies would
clearly have the upper hand.
16 Now the number
of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of
them.
It has been
reported since the 1960s that China has stated that it could immediately raise
an army of 200 million. Yet others believe this army is spiritual and demonic rather
than physical. Unlike in other places, here John does not say it is “like” an
army of horsemen, but rather that it is literally 200 million men on horseback.
He didn’t have to guess, someone, likely his angel guide, told him of the
number. Such a literal interpretation in John’s day would have been impossible
but now is very likely to be a literal fulfillment.
17And thus I saw
the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red,
hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the
heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a
third of mankind was killed--by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which
came out of their mouths. 19 For their
power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents,
having heads; and with them they do harm.
John resumes
in using similes by saying “like” or “as” in describing the heads of the horses
as being like lions. Whether these are literal horses or if they are
instruments of modern-day warfare is not really relevant. What is relevant is
the destruction which comes with this sixth woe and the lack of repentance.
20 But the rest
of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works
of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver,
brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of
their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Worship of
demons and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood can simply mean
materialistic people or can mean literal idolatry. Also, the word for “sorceries”
is the Greek word from which we get pharmaceuticals. Murders, drug use, illicit
sexual acts, and thefts are sins, but they will keep in rebellion against God.
4) Sin is sin, no matter the size, big or small. God wants repentance, not for the sake of merely stopping from sinning, but to return to Him in holiness.