Philippians 2:10-11 ESV
Revelation Chapter 9
the Fifth and Sixth Trumpet Judgments
The Fifth and sixth trumpets are blown in Revelation chapter 9. An angel comes from heaven to earth with the key to the bottomless pit. The angel opens the shaft to the Abyss and thick smoke, like from a great furnace rises rises and darkens the sun and moon. Terrifying locusts like battle horses, teeth lion's teeth, iron breastplates and the power of scorpions. They were given permission to sting and torment, but not kill, those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Revelation chapter 9
Revelation 9:1-2 ESV
9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
"A star fallen from heaven to earth", in verse 9 above, signifies that the "star" is a spiritual being. John does not say he saw the star fall, only that it had fallen. The main question, is this a faithful angel in God's service, or an evil angel, maybe even Satan himself?
The key to answering the good or evil question, is to understand what the "bottomless pit", or the abyss is.
The New Testament writers used the Greek language to write the New Testament portion of the Bible. The English phrase, "bottomless pit", is a rendering of the Greek "abyssos". Some English versions of the Bible translate the Greek "abyssos" as "bottomless pit" and some translate it as "abyss" or "pit".
Rev 20:1-3, which has the bottomless pit/abyss/pit, as being the place where Satan dwells so it could be understood as a synonym for Hades (the place, not the personified being) and the realm of the dead.
Revelation 20:1-3 ESV
The Thousand Years
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
The angel of the bottomless pit
In Revelation, the beast rises from the bottomless pit (abyss).
Revelation 11:7 ESV
7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them,
Revelation 17:8 ESV
8 The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.
The locusts of the fifth trumpet judgment are demons and Satan is the leader over them, and the angel of the bottomless pit.
Revelation 9:11 ESV
11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
The bottomless pit is Satan's temporary place of imprisonment. "The Lake of Fire" will be his final doom.
Revelation 20:10 ESV
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The "star fallen from heaven", in Rev 9:1 is the same angel "coming down from heaven" in Rev 20:1-3, who holds the keys to the "bottomless pit". They are both faithful servants of God.
Intertestamental Jewish scholarly writings, such as 1 Enoch, identify the angel in both Rev 9:1 and Rev 20:1-3, as Uriel, the archangel, who in 1 Enoch was the chief over Tartarus, a place of torment in Greek mythology
Demons appear from the smoke coming from
the opened shaft of the bottomless pit
Revelation 9:3-11 ESV
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. 7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
Revelation chapter 9:3 introduces locusts who came out of the smoke rising from the bottomless pit. There is a textual relationship between Revelation chapter 9, Enochian and other 2nd temple jewish material that has the original offending Watchers, the angels of Genesis 6:1-4, and their disembodied offspring, the demons (disembodied giants who were killed) were placed in the underworld, the bottomless pit, or abyss, awaiting final judgment. This group, likened to a plague of locusts, are the spiritual beings released from the bottomless pit, which, of course is yet another allusion the the plagues of Egypts during the Exodus.
In Revelation chapter 9:4-9, these spiritual beings, likened to locusts, are told to harm only those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. The locusts torment, but not kill., Those affected would want to die, but death will flee from them. The locusts, are an allusion to Joel 1-2, which describes a plague of locusts devastating Israel's land.
Joel 2:1-15 ESV
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, 2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. 3 Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. 7 Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths. 8 They do not jostle one another; each marches in his path; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9 They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it? 12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. 14 Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God? 15 Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;
This judgment in Joel 2, is modeled on the plague of locusts in Exodus 10.
Isaiah 14:29,31 is also in John's view, since it portrays an enemy who will oppress and demoralize unbelieving Philistia as a "flying serpent" associated with "smoke". Here, in Revelation chapter 9:4, they are told to harm "only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads".
God will use the demon minions of Satan to judge the evil nations surrounding Israel, and their inhabitants, who have oppressed, tortured and killed believers in God.
Isaiah 14:29,31 ESV
29 Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent. 31 Wail, O gate; cry out, O city; melt in fear, O Philistia, all of you! For smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.
Also Deuteronomy 29:22-27 predicts that in the "latter days" Israel will suffer the plagues of Egypt, including the plague of locusts because of idolatry.
Deuteronomy 29:22-27 ESV
22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick— 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath— 24 all the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book,
In Revelation Chapter 9:7-10, and other Revelation imagery, John repeatedly uses descriptions that include "like" and "likeness". This reveals John's inability to precisely describe what he sees in his vision.
Joel 2:4-7, above, describes locusts as "like horses, like war horses running, like might warriors arrayed for battle, like mighty men, like soldiers.
Joel 2:4-7 ESV
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots,they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. 7 Like warriors they charge; like soldiers they scale the wall. They march each on his way; they do not swerve from their paths.
Revelation Chapter 9:13-21
the sixth trumpet judgment
Revelation 9:13-21 ESV
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound. 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
In Revelation chapter 9:13-14, the Euphrates river, in John's days, was also the eastern boundary of Rome's influence. The Euphrates symbolizes what keeps civil chaos and violence at bay.
Ancient Israel's captors, Assyria and Babylon, both came from the "north." Both were from Mesopotamia and the only path to Israel was to pass along the fertile crescent to Syria, then south (from the north) to Israel.
That the four destructive angels are held back at the "great river Euphrates", would have immediately evoked in the readers of John's day, the Old Testament prophecies of a northern enemy beyond the Euphrates whom God would bring to judge sinful Israel, These invaders are characterized as a terrifying army on horses and chariots coming from the "north".
Other ungodly nations around Israel would als be judged for terrorizing and oppressing God's people.
Ezekiel 26:7-11 ESV
7 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers. 8 He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. 9 He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10 His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. He will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.
Revelation chapter 9:15-16
So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number.
These four angels, in Revelation chapter 9:15-16 above, are evil angels. God's foreknowledge planned and prepared these evil angels, precisely for this sixth trumpet judgment, they knew what their role in the history of salvation would be, and they were to be bound until the precise moment God's plan would be put into motion.
The number of the demonic armies under these four evil angels are two hundred million.
It is clear that the hordes here are demonic, but that does not eliminate human armies from being part of the enemy forces of the sixth trumpet judgment against the ungodly.
Revelation 20:7-10 ESV
The Defeat of Satan
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
An entirely demonic army would be inconsistent with Revelation 20:7-10, where Satan is released from his prison and will deceive all the nations of the world to gather them for battle against His "beloved city", Jerusalem. Demons would not need to be "deceived" to march against God's holy city, Jerusalem.
Revelation 9:20-21 ESV
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Revelation chapter 9:20-21 make a couple of points very clear,
- (1) whatever the nature of the plagues were, they were designed to bring repentance, to arouse non-believers and nominal christians, from the lethargy into which long indulged sin had plunged them.
- (2) The godless, who were not killed, did not repent.