Rev 9:1-11 The Fifth Trumpet – First Woe.
Now we move on to Chapter Nine in which we will see the two plagues connected with the blowing of the fifth and sixth trumpets.
Hellish Locusts – Internal Decay.
1) A Star Fell from Heaven.
a) This star represents an angel seen in verse 11.
b) Maybe an evil angel carrying out the purpose of God.
c) Maybe an angel or even Christ Himself is carrying out God’s directions.
d) He was given the key to the abyss or the bottomless pit.
2) Who is this star (angel)?
There is some debate as to who this angel is. One side says it is Christ or an angel sent by Him and the other side says it is Satan.
“That is, that the angel of God glittering with glory, as a star fallen from heaven. He may be Christ, who has the keys of hell by himself and by princely authority, or some inferior angel who has the same key entrusted to him and holds it ministerially, or by office of his ministry.”
1599 Geneva
“…and I have the keys of death and Hades.”
The other possibility is that this is Satan. The reasoning behind this is that this person is making an attempt to wreck God’s plan. See the quote under point ‘7’ below from the Family New Testament Notes that lays out the idea of the evil on earth and in hell getting together.
I have difficulty with the idea of this being Satan or one employed by Satan because the locusts were only allowed to touch those “who do not have the seal of God on their forehead.” Rev 9:4. The character more likely to be Satan here is the leader of the locusts, Abaddon--Apollyon.
So returning to the first idea we must rule out it being Christ because the whole appearance is of a lesser character than Christ. Since it is stated in verse 11 that this is an angel we can be sure that this ‘star’ is an angel who was likely sent by Christ under His authority.
3) The Abyss or Bottomless Pit.
a) This is the abyss of 11 Peter 2:4; Luke 8:31.
b) This is the habitation of Satan Rev 17:8; Rev 20:1-3.
c) “Smoke came forth from the pit and darkened the air.”
“the bottomless place”. It occurs in Rom 10:7 for the common receptacle of the dead for Hades (Sheol), but in Luke 8:31 a lower depth is sounded, for the abode of demons, and in this sense it occurs in Rev 9:1,2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3
Robertson NT Word Pictures - Online Bible.
"The bottomless pit" is meant hell, out of which the beast arose, and into which Satan will be cast, Rev 11:7 17:8 20:3. "The key" is designed the power of it, of opening and shutting it, of saving persons from it, or of casting them into it; This is a different key from what were given to Peter; he had the keys of the kingdom of heaven. John Gill’s Expositor – Online Bible.
4) Plague of Locusts.
a) They came from the smoke.
On the opening of the bottomless pit, there arose a great smoke. The devil carries on his designs by blinding the eyes of men, by putting out light and knowledge, and promoting ignorance and error. Out of this smoke there came a swarm of locusts, emblems of the devil's agents, who promote superstition, idolatry, error, and cruelty.
Matthew Henrew Concise Commentary – Online Bible.
b) They were not natural locusts that feed on plants. In fact in the text we read they were instructed to leave green plants alone.
Ex “The plague of locusts in Egypt
Do not hurt the grass--any tree; contrary to the nature of natural locusts, showing that these locusts represent cruel enemies sent by God to scourge those men which have not the seal of God; such as are not true Christians, and have rejected divine truth.
Family New Testament Notes. – Online Bible.
c) They were told to leave the land untouched and hurt only the men who didn’t wear the seal of God.
Rev 7:3-8 “The sealing of God’s people.”
d) Not permitted to kill, only torment like a scorpion sting.
A scorpion sting is very painful but usually not fatal.
e) The plague was limited to only 5 months.
The time that the locusts should torment men, which is "five months", seems not to design any determinate time; but only that seeing five months is the time that locusts live, and are in their strength and power, even the five, hottest months in the year, from April to September.
John Gill’s Expositor – Online Bible.
f) Following our conclusions about symbolism of numbers, this number ‘5’ being half of the complete number ‘10’ must be considered to be an incomplete number, therefore the time of five months must also be seen as an imperfect or incomplete time.
See Appendix C – Symbolism of Numbers.
5) Other Judgements by Locusts.
a) Ex -15 The plague of locusts in Egypt
b) “What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten.
And what the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten.
And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten.”
Joel 1 & 2
6) Description of Locusts.
a) Horses prepared for battle – armed for battle.
The horse is a warlike creature, swift, strong and courageous.
"The likeness of a locust to a horse, especially to a horse equipped with armour, is so striking that the insect is named in German _Heupferd_ (hay horse), and in Italian _cavalett_ a little horse" (Vincent).
Robertson’s NT Word Pictures – Online Bible.
b) Crowns – victory or conquerors crowns.
c) Men’s faces – intelligence.
Human-looking faces in these demonic locusts to give added terror, "suggesting the intelligence and capacity of man"
Robertson’s NT Word Pictures – Online Bible.
d) Hair – strength. Judges 16:4-22 “The strength of Samson.”
e) Teeth of lions – powerful fierce and like natural locusts, voracious.
f) Breasts plates of iron – armour, well protected.
g) Sound of wings – great number, speed.
The sound of locusts, when they fly or march in large companies, is very great. They make such a noise with their wings, when they fly, that the sound of them is said to have been heard six miles away.
John Gill’s Expositor – Online Bible.
h) Tails like scorpions – the power to torture.
7) The Leader or King.
“A king over them; representing the succession of their caliphs. Abaddon--Apollyon; that is, Destroyer, as both names signify. In corrupting and ruining men, the wicked on earth and in hell unite under one great leader; showing that they belong to the same company, are engaged in the same work, and are preparing for the same torment.”
Family New Testament Notes - Online Bible.
Family New Testament Notes - Online Bible.
a) Rev 9:1-3 “Came from the abyss.”
Rev 20:1-3 “the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan.”
b) His Name:- The Destroyer.
Hebrew – Abaddon meaning ‘destruction.’
Greek – Apollyon meaning ‘destroy.’
8) Meaning of this Plague.
a) These are not natural locusts but demonic locusts lead by Satan. They are limited in their power in that they can only torture the unsealed. God still has control over them, allowing them to serve His purpose.
b) It is Rome
c) -21 “did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold and of silver…”
d) The meaning of this plague is ‘Internal decay and Idol Worship.’
The First Woe is Gone – Two More to Come.
1) “The first woe is past,”
. The first of the three woe trumpets foretold in Chapter 8.
2) “behold, two woes are coming after these things”
These other two woes are found under the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpets.
Rev 9:13-19 The Sixth Trumpet – Second Woe.
Hellish Army – External Enemies.
1) Voice from the Altar.
a) The voice came “from the four horns of the golden altar.”
b) The voice spoke to the sixth angel who held the sixth trumpet.
c) It said, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates .”
Euphrates – A river that rises in Armenia and joins the Tigris River in lower Babylonia, a total length of nearly 1800 miles, and it was the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire next to Parthia
d) Meaning ‘a place of enemies.’
i) A land of enemies or evil to the north.
ii) Gen tells us that God promised to give Abraham’s descendants all the land from Egypt Euphrates .
iii) Some of the Jews most feared enemies came from beyond this river. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, and the Chaldeans.
See Jer 1:13; Isa 8:7-8; Hab 1:5-8
iv) The Parthians, a rival and feared enemy of Rome
2) The Four Angels.
a) Four angels holding back the forces of destruction.
b) In this case the four angels are tied or bound. The idea of the angels being bound is interesting. Were the angels in fact physically bound or were they held back by God’s command until the time comes for them to release this plague?
c) They are released at God’s command. Again we see God is in control. It is at His command that this army is released. It is at His command that they can kill and destroy but it is also at His command that they are limited in the number that they can kill.
3) The Horsemen.
a) John sees an army of horsemen on a battle field. Perhaps these were the Parthians, feared enemies of the Romans.
b) There are so many horsemen he is unable to count them. He hears their number is 2 million.
Again this number is symbolic and must be treated in the same way as we did with the numbers in & Rev 7:4. The number 2 is symbolic for strength and power. 2 to the 8th power, the meaning here is a vast number, great strength and power. See Appendix C – Symbolism of Numbers.
c) They were under the control of the four angels, who were under God’s control.
d) These horsemen and more particular their horses have one purpose – to kill and destroy.
4) The Horses. (Not natural horses.)
a) “Their breastplates were the colour of fire, hyacinth and brimstone.”
i) Fire the colour of red.
ii) Hyacinth a Mediterranean lily the colour of purple.
Note that this lily is also known as jacinth the word used in some versions.
iii) Brimstone – sulphur the colour of yellow.
b) “The heads of the horses were like heads of lions.”
It can clearly been seen that these are not the natural horses we see on farms today. Their powers are supernatural, the powers of demons.
1 Chr 12:8 fierce war horses.
c) “Out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.”
d) “Tails like serpents.”
Like the locusts that preceded them they do injury with their tails. The meaning here is that their tails are like snakes, not the tails of snakes but the heads of snakes, able to bite with a poisonous bite.
e) Limited in their ability to kill.
They were limited in that they were able to kill only one third of mankind. But this plague is still worse then the proceeding locust in that they were able to kill. Again this limiting shows that overall God is still in control.
5) The Horses do the Killing.
a) Notice that in this plague it is the horses doing the killing rather than the riders. Maybe these riders are directing and guiding the horses.
b) It is interesting to note that very little is said about the riders. Most of the detail concerns the horse’s ability to kill.
6) Purpose of this Plague.
a) To bring evil men to repentance.
b) “they did not repent” (This is repeated twice.)
7) Meaning of this Plague.
This section has always been rather hard to understand and none of the background writers I studied explain it completely. William Barclay in particular skips over this section very quickly while John Gill goes off into talking about Turks and the Ottoman Empire, of no relevance to 1st century Christians.
Smoke, fire and brimstone are found in Gen 19:24-28 during God’s judgement on the cities of Sodom Gomorrah
Some modern authors have held up smoke, fire and brimstone as being a description of nuclear wars of the 20th century. Other authors speak of the locusts being Russian helicopter gun-ships and the horsemen as being Russian tanks. While this might be relevant to the recent Cold War period with its nuclear stand-off between the USA Russia
This plague is clearly an invasion of outside forces, destruction of a wicked nation by external forces. This trumpet really effected mankind but still men continued on with their false worship and worldliness.
Rev 9:20-21 They did not Repent.
“The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands;”
1) . They did not stop worshipping demons. They still rejected God, instead turning to man made idols. Verse 20 states that these idols were made of natural materials such as gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. They were lifeless objects which could neither hears, see or walk. But man still chose the worship of these lifeless objects over the worship of the one and only living God.
2) . They also didn’t repent from the many other sinful things they were doing. Among the sinful things listed here are murdering, magical acts, sexual immorality and thieving.
3) The two sides of mankind’s sin are presented here. In verse 20 they are shown to be sinning against God – making idols to worship in place of God. In verse 21 they are shown to be sinning against each other.
4) The out come of this is that mans evil nature, his depravity is displayed in defiance to the warnings from God. Most men would not repent but rather are willing to do anything but turn back to God.
Lessons from the Plagues (The seven trumpets).
1) God is still in control. Although Satan is very much involved in the terrible work that we have seen done here it has been made very clear to us that Satan’s power was limited.
For example:- Job 1:6-12 Satan had to ask God before he could touch Job.
2) Even after all these terrible plagues still men wouldn’t repent. There are some people who no matter what happens to them will never turn to God.
For example:- Ex ; Ex 16:2-7 The people of Israel Egypt
3) Acts 26:18 On the road to Damascus
“to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to god, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”
Attempts to interpret these visions have been many and in some cases quite fanciful. Together with the first four trumpets, the fifth and sixth trumpets signify tools at God’s disposal to bring wrath upon the persecutors of His people. Though allowed to go only so far, Satan’s influence can have the effect of weakening a nation from within. There is also the treat of external invasion by enemy forces. The vision of the locusts symbolises rottenness and internal decay while the vision of the horsemen symbolises external invasion. Together with the natural calamities of the first four trumpets, these are the instruments God will use to bring down the Roman Empire .
Revelation Notes By Mark Copeland pg 41
So what has happened to the seventh trumpet? The seventh trumpet will be found at the end of chapter 11 (-19) but before this we will pause in our story for another interlude giving further hope and encouragement to the saints.
These woes do not symbolise God’s final and complete displeasure. On the contrary, they indicate his initial judgements. They are charged with serious warning, not with final doom. Remember: trumpets warn; bowls are poured out. It is for this reason that the trumpets affect a third part – not the whole – of the earth, sea, waters, sun, moon, stars. The very function of the trumpet is to warn, Ezek 33:3.
Observe also that these trumpets of judgement affect the various parts of the universe; the land, the sea etc. Nowhere is there safety for the wicked. Yet, a certain order is evident. The first four trumpets harm the wicked in their physical being; the last three being spiritual anguish; hell itself is let loose.
More Than Conquerors - William Hendriksen, pg 140 – 141.
Overview – The Story so Far.
We are still in the throne scene of Chapter 4. We saw Jesus, the only one worthy, come forward and open the sealed book. After the first six seals, that were warnings of God’ coming judgement, there was an interlude where we were told that God is still in control and Christians were given hope.
We then moved on to the seventh seal that when opened presented us with seven angels standing ready to blow seven trumpets. As each trumpet was blown a picture was presented to us of a plague that was sent upon evil mankind, particularly against the Roman Empire .
In Chapter 8 we had four plagues:-
The First Trumpet – Land Disaster. Rev 8:7.
The Second Trumpet – Maritime Disaster. Rev 8:8-9.
The Third Trumpet – Freshwater Disaster. Rev 8:10-11.
The Fourth Trumpet – Disaster in the Sky.
In Chapter 9 we had another two plagues:-
The Fifth Trumpet – The First Woe.
The Plague of Locusts – Internal Decay. Rev 9:1-11.
The Sixth Trumpet – The Second Woe.
The Army of Horsemen – External Enemies. Rev 9:13-21.
Now, still under the heading of the seventh seal we are ready to move on to the seventh trumpet, but before we do there is another interlude.
The Interlude – Four things discussed.
1) The Unutterable Thunders. Rev 10:1-7.
2) The Little Book. Rev 10:8-11.
3) The Measuring of the Temple Rev 11:1-2.
4) The Two Witnesses. Rev 11:3-13.
The Seventh Trumpet – The Third Woe. Rev 11:14-19
Notice that this next interlude takes up all of Chapter 10 and half of Chapter 11. Because of this, our next overview will not be at the end of Chapter 10 but instead at the end of this interlude, half way through Chapter 11.
