1And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
The word “fall” is in the finished past tense. John saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. This angel probably fell with the casting down of Satan and his angels at the middle of the Tribulation period (12:7-9). (The angel in 8:10 was likely designated for that role at that time, though already judged). The fallen angel in 9:1 was given the key of the “bottomless pit.” The phrase may be translated “and to him was given the key of the shaft of the abyss.” We don’t know a lot about the abyss. On one occasion, Jesus cast out multiple demons from a man. The demons besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep (Luke 8:31). That word “deep” is the word “abyss” in Revelation 9:1. Also, the abyss is the place into which Satan will be thrown and bound during the thousand year reign of Christ (20:1-3).
2And 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. 3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
The smoke that came out of the abyss is mentioned four times in these two verses. The last time smoke was mentioned was in 8:4, where the smoke of the incense of Christ’s intercession ascended with the prayers of all of God’s people from the golden altar before the throne of God. Prayers that His kingdom would come. Prayers that He would avenge the blood of His people who had been murdered for their faith (6:9-11). Now those prayers are being answered. Their blood will be avenged.
The prophet Joel compared the future mid-Tribulation attack on Jerusalem to a locust invasion: That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten…. For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number… (Joel 1:4,6). Joel also described the atrocities that will be committed in that invasion. The same atrocities will come back in nightmare form to afflict those who committed them. Isaiah also said that when God judges the nations, as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them (Isaiah 33:4).
4And 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. 5And 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 striketh a man. 6And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
Locusts normally devastate every green thing, but these locusts will not hurt any green thing. They are not normal locusts. They are there to accomplish God’s intent: “to them it was given” to torment for five months those people who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. These locusts will torment everyone except those called in 7:3 “the servants of our God” and probably those who believe through the testimony of those servants.
There is no mention at this point of the mark of the Antichrist on those tormented (13:16), so it seems likely that that event comes later.
7And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
Compare the words of the Old Testament prophet Joel concerning the future attack on Jerusalem:
For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. (Joel 1:6)
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. (Joel 2:4)
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. (Joel 2:5)
And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. (Joel 3:3)
… ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things. (Joel 3:5)
Also consider the words of the prophet Zechariah concerning the same attack on Jerusalem:
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city (Zechariah 14:2).
The trumpet judgments are judgments by God in retribution for the mistreatment of His people. The ones who in the future attack on Jerusalem mistreat the women, seize the gold, and ravage God’s people with the teeth of a lion will receive the same in kind. The locusts that torment them will look like horses prepared for battle. They will have crowns like gold, human-like faces, hair like the hair of a woman, and teeth like lions’ teeth. The wings of the locusts will sound like war chariots with many horses. The appearance and sound of the locusts will be like a nightmare for those who have committed the atrocities, but the nightmare will be real.
The locusts will have breastplates like breastplates of iron. Iron is the material which represented Rome in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the four world empires, which Daniel interpreted (Daniel 2:40). The locusts will have on their heads something like golden crowns. Gold is the material which represented Babylon in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Daniel 2:37-38). This may be significant because Rome in Europe and Babylon in the Middle East will be the two power centers of the Antichrist during the Tribulation period (see chapters 13,17-18).
10And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
For five months these demonic locusts will torment people. People will want to die to be free from the torment, but death will elude them. There may be a statement of mercy in that the torment is limited to five months, less than the half-way mark in a year.
In speaking of natural locusts, the Old Testament says, The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands (Proverbs 30:27). Clearly, the locusts from the abyss in Revelation 9 are not natural locusts. They do have a king, a fallen angel whose name means “Destruction.” This angel’s name is given in both Hebrew and Greek, perhaps to indicate that the destruction inflicted by the locusts will affect both Jewish and Gentile oppressors of God’s people. Jesus said, …they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake (Luke 21:12). There will also be persecution of Jewish believers in Christ by other Jews.
The first of the three “woes” spoken of in 8:13 is this judgment which follows the sounding of the fifth trumpet. The sounding of the remaining two trumpets will bring the other two “woes.”
13And 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 which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
A voice from the four horns of the golden altar commands the angel who had the sixth trumpet to loose the four angels bound at the river Euphrates. The Greek text emphasizes that it is one voice from the four horns. In Revelation 6:9-10, John saw under the altar the souls of those killed because of their witness to the Word of God. They said, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Then in chapter 8, before the sounding of the first trumpet, an angel took fire from the altar from which the prayers of God’s people ascended and cast the fire to the earth. Then the seven trumpets in sequence began to sound. The specific mention of one voice from the four horns of the altar emphasizes the decidedness of God to issue this judgment in retribution for the mistreatment suffered by His people.
The ancient city of Babylon, located at the river Euphrates, will be rebuilt and will become a commercial world power (Revelation 18). Babylon will do great harm to God’s people: “And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (18:24). After the sounding of the sixth trumpet, supernatural retribution from God will come out of the same location. Surely Babylon and all peoples under its sway will be the first and most severely affected. The four angels which will be loosed are bound at the Euphrates in preparation for this time. Thus we understand that these angels are demons, angels which followed Satan in his rebellion against God.
15And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
The demonic locusts released after the sounding of the fifth trumpet brought retribution for the atrocities committed in the mid-Tribulation attack on Jerusalem. Now the demonic horses and horsemen released with the four angels at the Euphrates after the sounding of the sixth trumpet will bring retribution on the world power that perpetrated the attack. The demonic army released will number in the hundreds of millions. This number likely anticipates by warning and by similarity the number of human troops that will later be gathered by Satan for battle at Armageddon and who will cross the Euphrates riverbed to come westward for battle at that time (Revelation 16:12-16).
The heads of the horses that John saw were like the heads of lions. In Daniel’s vision of the four world empires Babylon appeared as a lion (Daniel 7:4). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). He is the true Lion-King. Babylon will be a false Lion, a usurper of authority on earth. The demonic horses with heads like lions will bring retribution on those who follow the false Lion instead of the true. One third of men will be killed. They will be killed by three things: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that come from the mouths of the demonic horses. The only New Testament reference to brimstone (sulfur) outside the book of Revelation is used in reference to the destruction of Sodom (Luke 17:29). The demonic horses that John saw had tails like snakes. Babylon, the imposter Lion-King, will be an instrument of the serpent Satan.
In parallel with the three deadly entities (fire, smoke, and sulfur) which come out of the horses’ mouths at the sixth trumpet, three demons will come out of the mouths of (that is, be commanded by) Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet at the sixth bowl of wrath in 16:12-16.
We might consider the “fours” that we’ve encountered so far. John saw four living creatures who glorify Christ by portraying attributes of His Person (4:6-8). These four living creatures announced the ride of the four horsemen bringing judgments (6:1-8), thus implying that it is Christ who will control the initiation of the events of the Tribulation and the events themselves. In chapter 7 John saw the four winds of the four compass points of the earth (7:1-3). They will be effective in governing the harm which would accompany the trumpet judgments. God will have complete control over the geographical development of the events. In chapter 9 John saw four angels bound at the river Euphrates. They were prepared for a coming specific hour, day, month, and year to judge by death one-third of people. God will also have complete control over the timing of the events of the coming seven-year Tribulation.
20And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Not all idols look like idols. Paul said that covetousness is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). That means that all the stuff made of gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, etc., that people think is worthy of their lives are idols. Paul also said that behind an idol is a demon (1 Corinthians 10:19-20). Jesus made “stuff” personal when He said that a person cannot serve both God and earthly wealth (Matthew 6:24).
Whenever the “stuff” becomes a person’s God, the moral crash comes with it. Love for God and for others gets replaced by hurting others if necessary to get more “stuff” and also by a quest for pleasure without eternal perspective.
During the coming seven-year Tribulation period, God will give the people on earth dramatic warnings of the real judgment to come, but most will not listen.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.