Revelation 9:1-12 unveils the judgment of the fifth trumpet: a spiritual judgment where the abyss is opened, releasing a demonic force upon the earth. In this episode, J. Mark examines the four dramatic scenes of this passage: the unlocked pit, the unleashed power, the unveiled appearance, and the unmasked prince. In this Great Tribulation, we see the evil character of Satan starkly manifested and the affliction of those who did not choose Christ. This episode calls us to urgent trust in Jesus Christ before the day of judgment comes.
Transcript
At Heralds of Hope, Article 8 of our Statement of Faith reads like this: “We believe that there is a personal Devil who is the archenemy of God, and all good; that he is seeking to deceive all people and take them to eternal ruin.”
Satan launched his first attack in the Garden of Eden, successfully tempting Adam and Eve to disobey God. The disastrous consequences were that “sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).
Later, Satan tormented righteous Job, revealing his hatred for the godly. He tried to destroy Job’s faith–to take him from God’s kingdom back to his kingdom of darkness. Job’s experience gives us a glimpse of the spirit world and the unseen cosmic battle that rages around us. With God’s permission, Satan destroyed Job’s possessions, killed his children, and ruined his health. Yet Job remained faithful! In the end, God was vindicated, and Satan’s attempt to destroy Job’s faith failed. As he did with Job, Satan continually accuses believers before God’s throne.
In the future, Satan will serve God’s purpose by being permitted to launch another deadly assault against the human race. That attack will come at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, during the time of God’s judgment during the Great Tribulation.
Each of the first four trumpet judgments (which we examined in the previous episode) affects the physical universe, but with the fifth trumpet, the focus shifts to the spiritual realm. The traumatic events associated with that fifth trumpet unfold in four scenes, revealing a taste of hell on earth: the unlocked pit, the unleashed power, the unveiled appearance, and the unmasked prince.
Here is the Word of God from Revelation 9:1-12.
1Then 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.
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.
5 And 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.
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.
These scenes from the sounding of the fifth trumpet should do two things for us: reinforce the reality of God’s judgment on the wicked, and give us courage for bolder witness to the lost.
The First Scene is,
The Unlocked Pit
We have observed the rising crescendo of judgments on the earth; now, we’re introduced to the first woe, a dramatic event described by John in the first twelve verses of this chapter. As John’s visions continue, the fifth angel sounds his trumpet. John sees a star that has fallen from heaven to earth. However, this is not an ordinary star. In verse 2, this star is referred to as “he.” From Revelation 1:20, we learn that stars are used symbolically of angels.
I think it is safe to conclude that this star also represents an angel; however, based on what follows, a fallen or evil one. This may be Satan himself. He is described in the Hebrew text of Isaiah 14:12 as Helel (the shining one), or Helel ben Shachar (shining one, son of the dawn). In Luke 10:18, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
This angel is given the key to open the pit of the abyss. According to Luke 8:31, in their confrontation with Jesus, the demons begged Him not to send them into the abyss, the place where demonic spirits dwell. It seems that if Jesus had sent them there, they would be confined and no longer free to pursue their hellish tasks. Satan will be bound and confined to the same pit during the Millennial reign of Christ (Revelation 20:1, 3). Scripture teaches that God has sovereignly chosen to incarcerate certain demons in that pit of punishment. Second Peter 2:4 says that “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment.”[1]
Regarding the key given to the angel, recall the words of Jesus in Revelation 1:18, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” Jesus told Peter, in Matthew 16:19, “Behold, I give to you the keys of the kingdom…” Keys are a symbol of authority. They decide who has access and who doesn’t. So, this angel (possibly Satan) was given authority to open the shaft leading to the bottomless pit. The nether world, or the world below, is thought to increase in size the further it extends from the surface of the earth, and so resembles a cistern with a narrow opening.
When the angel used his key to open the shaft of the bottomless pit, smoke, like smoke from a great furnace, rolled out of the opening, reminiscent of Genesis 19:28. “Then [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.”
Again, this was not ordinary smoke. It was so dense that the air and the sunlight were darkened by it. Remember, as a result of the fourth trumpet, a third of the heavenly bodies were already darkened. Darkness is the realm of Satan and demonic oppression. The smoke polluting the sky symbolizes the corruption of hell belched forth from the abyss to pollute the world.
But it is not the blackout of the sun that makes the fifth trumpet the first woe judgment; it is what comes next. The unlocked pit leads to the unfolding of the next scene.
The Next Scene is,
The Unleashed Power
The smoke John saw ascending out of the bottomless pit was filled with locusts. Locusts were the eighth plague on the Egyptians. In Joel chapter 2, the prophet describes the horrors of a natural locust plague in apocalyptic language. They are like an unstoppable army, devouring everything in their path. Before them, the earth is lush and green; behind them, it is barren and desolate. Even though these locust-like creatures are forbidden to destroy the vegetation, their description is far worse than Joel’s. The fact that these locusts could be forbidden to do some things and commanded to do others means that they have the power of intellect.
What John saw were not normal locusts. The description reveals that they are demonic. Normal locusts would destroy all the remaining green vegetation. Remember, the first trumpet had already damaged a significant portion of all greenery. But this demonic variety was forbidden to do that. However, they have a unique characteristic that’s introduced in verse 3, “And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” Three times in this short section of 12 verses, the power to inflict the pain of scorpions is highlighted (v. 3, 5, 10).
Instead of normal locust behavior, these demonic creatures were commanded to torment people, but only those who “do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 7:1-3 reveals the sealing of the servants of God in their foreheads. Specifically, this must refer to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and, by extension, all those Tribulation saints who have believed in Jesus for their salvation. This seal marks them as personally belonging to God and as such protected from the forces of hell.
Ezekiel 9:4–6 illustrates that God protects His people amid judgment. God commanded an angel to go through Jerusalem and mark the redeemed. Those who did not have that mark were subject to death when the city fell to the Babylonians. Jesus also promised the faithful members of the Philadelphia church that “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name” (3:12).
Just as God prohibited Satan from taking Job’s life, these demonic locusts are forbidden to take human life. However, as we’ll see, that was not a blessing. Instead, they are commanded to torment people for five months. (By the way, 5 months is the lifecycle of a normal locust.) The means of their torment is like the sting of a scorpion, which is extremely painful. Furthermore, the pain will be long-lasting, for months instead of a few days, as is normal. That five-month period will be one of intense spiritual and physical suffering inflicted on unbelievers by the judgment of God through the demon horde.
During this awful time, people will desperately wish for death, even to the extent of taking their own lives, but they will be prevented from ending their misery. The original wording uses a strong double-negative to indicate the impossibility of death. No “death with dignity” or assisted suicide will happen during this time!
All hope is gone; there will be no tomorrow. The earth people have loved and worshiped will have been utterly devastated, the land ravaged by earthquakes, fires, and volcanoes. The sea is filled with the putrefying bodies of billions of dead creatures, much of the fresh water supply turned into bitter poison, the atmosphere polluted with gases and showers of heavenly debris. Then, worst of all, will come foul smoke from the pit of hell as the demons are released to spiritually and physically torment wicked people. The dream of a worldwide utopia under the leadership of Antichrist (the beast of 13:1ff.) will have died.[2]
Most likely, during this time of intense suffering, the unbelieving inhabitants of the world will continue to hear the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the two witnesses, and many other believers. For many people, this may be the last opportunity to repent and believe before they die. Many will be permanently hardened and persist in their unbelief. The power of these unleashed demons is dramatically illustrated in the next scene.
The Next Scene is,
The Unveiled Appearance
Verses 7-10 unveil the appearance of these demonic locusts. Ten times in these few verses, John uses the term “like” in his attempts to describe their hideous characteristics as they bring massive, devastating, rapid judgment from God. To describe the supernatural demon horde, John uses natural analogies familiar to the original readers.
Demons do not normally have physical shape, so what John is seeing must symbolize demonic possession. John sees them as horses equipped for battle, much like the description in Joel 2:4. Try to imagine a locust the size of a horse! One commentator observed: “The likeness of a locust to a horse, especially to a horse equipped with armor, is so striking that the insect is named in German heupferd (hoy’pfeerd or hay horse), and in Italian cavalett a little horse.”
These demonic creatures appeared to be wearing gold crowns, and their faces resembled human faces. Human-like faces on these demonic locusts add terror, suggesting the intelligence and reasoning capacity of man. John continues the frightening description by adding that these creatures had hair like women’s and teeth like lions’. This awesome combination of the qualities of beasts and men depicts the utterly fearful character of these instruments of divine judgment. The book of Revelation unmasks the true nature of Satan and evil.
These locust-like creatures are described as wearing iron breastplates, implying they are immune to destruction. They are also equipped with wings that produce the sound of many chariots going to battle (Joel 2:4), implying speed and the impossibility of evading their attack. Particular attention is given to their tails, which are compared to those of scorpions and by which they have the power to hurt men for five months. Their tails were “like” scorpions, containing the means of stinging. The word is used of the spur of a rooster, the quill of the porcupine, the stings of insects, and a goad used for oxen.
It would be difficult to describe a more fearful spectacle than these instruments of divine justice, utterly wicked in themselves and released from the pit of the abyss to accomplish this terrifying judgment. The fact that they have the power to hurt men for five months is repeated in verse 10, as if to call special attention to the length of their torment. The unveiled appearance of these demonic locusts leads us to the final scene.
The Final Scene is,
The Unmasked Prince
Proverbs 30:27 describes normal locusts like this; The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks.” However, this vast army of demonic locusts, pictured as marching in unbroken ranks, is led by a king, the angel of the bottomless pit! His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, defined in Psalm 88:11 as “destruction.” In Greek, he is Apollyon, a proper name meaning “destroyer.” This describes the character of Satan and those who affiliate with him as wicked or fallen angels. This angel seems to be a high-ranking demon in Satan’s hierarchy.
In the modern world, Satan often appears as an angel of light, masquerading as what is good and religious. Here, the mask is stripped away, and evil is seen in its true character. Satan and his demons are the destroyers of men’s souls; they only bring affliction. When divine restraint is released, as in this instance, the true character of the evil one is immediately seen.
In the midst of this tremendous suffering comes the ominous announcement, “The one woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.” The word woe refers in Scripture to some great calamity, usually a judgment from God, such as Christ pronounced upon Chorazin and Bethsaida (Matt. 11:21). The situation of those who know not Christ in these tragic hours preceding His return to judge the wicked world will be truly perilous.
Having described the first woe (8:13), John cautions that God’s wrath has not run its course. Two woes (the sixth and seventh trumpets, including all the bowl judgments) are still coming after these things, so there will be nothing more than a brief sigh of relief before still more fearful judgments follow.
In the Great Tribulation, and especially in the time of the fifth trumpet, with the release of the confined demons, the full character of Satan will be starkly manifested. For the first time in history, all those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior will come under demonic possession and affliction. What is true in that hour is also true in some measure today, for there is no deliverance from the power of Satan nor from his affliction apart from salvation in Christ and the delivering power of God.
That, my friend, is the imperative of this message; accept the mercy of Christ today or face His judgment in the future.
I close with words from the apostle Paul. “But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”
[1] MacArthur, New Testament Commentary on Revelation, p. 363
[2] MacArthur, New Testament Commentary on Revelation, p. 372
