Revelation 9:1-12 – Fifth Trumpet Commentary
Verse 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 (Abyss) pit.
Verse 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."
Verse 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."
Verse 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."
Verse 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."
Verse 6: "In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them."
Verse 8: "They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth."
Verse 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."
Verse 10: "They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months."
Verse 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."
Verse 12: "One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things."
The “three woes of spiritism” (Rev. 8:13). First woe Rev. 9:1-12; Second Woe is Rev. 9:13-21 (Rev. 10:1-11:13 a literary and theological parenthesis, therefore Rev. 9:14 begins Rev. 9:21). The Third Woe is (Rev. 12:9-12).
- The "star" represents an angel, not a celestial body. This angel had already "fallen" (Greek: pipto) before the trumpet was sounded, signifying readiness for this task. He was waiting for God's restraint on spiritism to end (2 Thess. 2:6-7).
- This angel is distinct from Satan or the demons; it later uses the key to imprison Satan in Revelation 20:1-2.
- The key to the "pit of the abyss" (Abyss) represents divine authority to release the worst of the worst demons in the "pit of the abyss."
- The Abyss is the prison of evil spirits, the "pit of the abyss" is reserved for the worst of the Demons. When corporeal demons died in the Flood their spirits were imprisoned in "the pit of the abyss" as punishment for the evil they caused after the fall of Adam.
- The opening of the Abyss unleashes spiritual forces previously restrained by God's decree (cf. 2 Thess. 2:6-7).
- The imagery of smoke darkening the sun and air signifies the evil God was permitting be released earth.
- This act is an aspect of God's restraint on evil being "taken out of the way" fulfilling the prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10.
- The locusts are satanic creations or fallen angel technology symbolized by their coming out of the smoke of the pit. These are possessed by the demon spirits to enable them to affect the material world and torment humanity.
- Their power is like scorpions, capability to inflict painful, debilitating torment.
- Unlike natural locusts, these demonic entities are restricted to harming only humans without God's protective seal, emphasizing divine control over judgment.
- Grass, any green thing or tree represent those potentially receiving God's seal.
- The seal marks true believers in Christ, distinguishing them from apostates and unrepentant individuals.
- The five-month period symbolizes completeness. It matches the average locust life-span to imply they torment unceasingly until the appointed end.
- As these are spiritually dead in contrast to the spiritually alive, they must be followers of the false Christ "man of sin" (2 Thess. 2:3). The punishment is from Satan meted out by his demon locusts. These "tares" or "children of the devil" are resisting the Son of Destruction, still feigning allegiance to Christ. Satan doesn't have much time, the torment facilitates their conversion.
- The completeness signifies the efficacy of the torment, 100% success as it forced the apostates to reveal their true allegiance to Satan.
- Their desire to die is repeated twice to emphasize their hopelessness. They know they are damned, making it worse by worshipping the Son of Destruction has driven them into total despair.
- Their appearance as "horses prepared for battle" signifies readiness for war.
- Crowns of gold symbolize their authority as Satanic principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12).
- Human-like faces indicate they are fallen angels.
- They had "hair like women's hair" to identify them as the fallen angels who cohabitated with humans in Genesis 6:1-4. Their sin is on their head for all to see.
- Their "lions’ teeth" symbolize their ferocity and capacity for destruction.
- The iron breastplates signify their invulnerability to human resistance.
- The noise of their wings echoes military machinery, suggesting they are Satanic technology, "biomechanic" for the spirits of demons to possess and control.
- The scorpion-like tails emphasize the physical torment they inflict, again limited to five months.
- This symbolizes a specific, period of suffering needed to complete its work on the apostates.
- The king of these demonic locusts is Abaddon/Apollyon, meaning "Destroyer." These signify the Devil, the angel of the abyss is a messenger whose siren call leads to imprisonment in the Abyss. Heed this angel and eternal destruction results.
- This reinforces the locusts' identity as demonic agents under Satan’s dominion.
The “three woes of spiritism” (Rev. 8:13). First woe Rev. 9:1-12; Second Woe is Rev. 9:13-21 (Rev. 10:1-11:13 a literary and theological parenthesis, therefore Rev. 9:14 begins Rev. 9:21). The Third Woe is (Rev. 12:9-12).
