Revelation Chapter 9: Continuation of the Trumpet Judgments
In chapter 9, John
focuses attention on the fifth and sixth trumpets, which describe the first and
second woes. The importance of his focus is emphasized in that John gives more
than twice the space to describing the fifth and sixth trumpets than he does to
the previous four trumpets.
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| Woodcut by Albrect Durer, "The Seven Trumpets Are Given to the Angels",: c. 1498. |
“1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand—2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come. 3 Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste—nothing escapes them. 4 They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry.”
As chapter 9
begins, four of the Trumpet Judgments have been opened, and John now describes
the fifth starting with these words:
“1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.”
The Greek term
“…Abyss…” (v. 1) is βυθος (buthos) and means “depth, very deep” or
“bottomless.” The word refers to the underworld as a prison for certain demons
(Luke 8:31 and Jude 6) and as the realm of the dead (Romans 10:7). The Abyss is
what the Bible calls the underworld from which Satan and his demons emerge to
roam the earth. It is a place the demons do not want to be in, a place of
discomfort, and a place where Satan and his demons cannot deceive people. John
writes of the Abyss also in Revelation 11:7 and 17:8, identifying it as the
place from which the beast arises.
The fifth trumpet
releases locusts from the Abyss: huge billows of smoke pour out, darken the
sky, and there is the release horse-like locusts. These locusts are unlike
normal locusts, ferocious and able to inflict terrible torment on the
inhabitants of the earth who do not have the seal of God (vv. 4-10):
“4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).”
John describes the
locusts as resembling an army “…prepared for battle…” (v.7). The locusts’ heads
resemble horses’ heads. He describes them as having “…something like crowns of
gold, and their faces resembled human faces…,” which implies that there is
something unnatural or demonic about them. Their teeth “…like lions’ teeth…”
suggest they can bring terrible devastation. The “…breastplates like
breastplates of iron…” appear as a kind of shield of metal plates across the
chest, “…and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses
and chariots rushing into battle…” (v.9).
Locust plagues are
known as among the most severe plagues in history. The imagery of locusts is a
reminder of Joel’s vision of the locust army that came on Israel as a judgment
from God (Joel 1:6; 2:4-10). The locusts John describes, however, inflict agony
like scorpion stings (vv. 3, 5, & 10) and therefore are not ordinary
locusts, but exist to inflict injuries only on those who worship the beast and
who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads (v.4). They are most likely demonic
forces from the Abyss, and the people of God are protected from their sting.
Directing the
locust hoard is “…the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and
in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer)…” (v. 11). The Hebrew term אֲבִדּון
(’Ăḇaddōn) means “destroyer, destruction, ruin,” or “doom” and often is used to
mean “the place of ruin” or even “the grave…” (Job 26:6; Proverbs 15:11; 27:20;
Psalm 88:11). It is also translated simply “death” in Job 28:22. The Greek term
Ἀπολλύων (Apollyon, v. 11) means “exterminator, destroyer,” or “angel of
death,” and he is entrusted with authority over the Abyss.
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| The character "Christian" struggles with Apollyon. Illustration from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, 1850 edition |
In v. 1, John reports seeing a “…star…” falling to earth which “…was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.” The star is most likely symbolic of an angel, “…the angel of the Abyss…” (v. 11), and (20:1), where reference is also made to “…an angel coming down…” who has the key to the Abyss.
Note that in v. 4,
John observes that harm will come only to “…those people who did not have the
seal of God on their foreheads.” We first encountered the seal of God in our
study of Revelation 7, where in 7:2-4, John declares:
“2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: 3 ‘Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ 4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.”
The seal in 7:3
refers to that which will be placed on the foreheads of the servants of God
during the tribulation period. Then 7:4-8 describes these servants as the
144,000 witnesses, or evangelists, who will come from the 12 tribes of Israel
and who will be witnesses of the gospel worldwide.
Revelation 9:1-3
tells us that the demons (identified as locusts) will bring death to the earth,
except for those who have the seal of God on their foreheads: “They were told
not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people
who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (v. 4). The ones who will be safe are the 144,000 servants described in Revelation
7:4-8 plus their converts—all other people who become Christians during the
tribulation.
The Greek word for
“seal” is σφραγίς (sphragis), meaning “a signet ring” or “the inscription or
impression made by a seal or signet.” In Revelation 9, it signifies the
impression of the name of God and Christ stamped upon the foreheads of the
saved.
In v. 12, John
tells us: “The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come…,” and in vv.
13-19, John describes the advent of the sixth trumpet judgment:
“13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. 17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.”
Note that “…the
four horns of the golden altar…” (v. 13) are part of God’s design for the
golden altar of incense, the description of which is found in Exodus 30:1-3:
“1 Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high—its horns of one piece with it. 3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.”
The horns are
usually pictured with one horn-like protrusion on each corner of the altar, but
no one knows the exact appearance of the altar. Horns in the ancient near east
were a symbol of strength. While the altar of incense was a place of mercy, in
this instance the prayers of the saints beneath it are crying for vengeance,
and the altar of incense becomes an instrument of God’s vengeance.
Back at chapter
6:9-11, in the opening of the sixth seal, John saw “…under the altar the souls
of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they
had maintained. 10They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord,
holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our
blood?’” (6:9-10).
We find God’s
response in 9:15: “…the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour
and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.” Four
demonic battle leaders, who had been previously selected and bound by God for
this hour, are released and are leading a huge army of demons in an invasion
that will kill 1/3 of the people still left on earth from among those who do
not have the seal of God on their foreheads. John describes their appearance as
armored war horses and their weapons being fire, smoke, and sulfur (vv. 17-19).
Commentators have proposed all kinds of interpretations of what John is seeing
in the vision as modern implements of war, including tanks, helicopters, and
cannon. The battle in chapter 9 is not the battle of Armageddon, however.
John’s description of that final battle occurs later in Revelation 16.
The “…four angels…” of v. 14 are instruments of God’s judgment, held back at the river Euphrates until God chooses to release them. The reference to “…the golden altar…” in v. 13 connects the release of these angels with the prayers of God’s saints for vindication (Revelation 6:9 and 8:3).
On the attack is a
mounted army of some 200 million horses and riders (“…twice ten thousand times
ten thousand…,” v. 16) released to wreak havoc on the earth among those people
who do not have the seal of God. These are demonic forces, with riders having
brightly colored breastplates of red, blue, and yellow suggestive of
supernatural horsemen. In addition, the horses’ heads resemble lions’ heads and
they are spewing fire, smoke, and sulfur and “…tails…like snakes, having heads
with which they inflict injury…”; the horses themselves, therefore, are
instruments of death (vv. 17-19).
The huge number of horses and riders indicates a demonic horde and not a human army. Elsewhere
in the Bible we find such large numbers of angelic hosts (Psalm 68:17;
Revelation 5:11; 2Kings 2:11-12; 6:17). The emphasis in vv. 16-19 is on the
demonic character of the 200 million horses and riders, determined to show no
mercy to those people on earth without the seal of God on their foreheads.
Vv. 20-21: “20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
John lists the
most prevalent sins he sees being practiced by the unsaved on earth in the
tribulation period. They “…did not repent of the work of their hands…” (v. 20),
and this fact relates to the next phrase about the worship of idols: “…they did
not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols
that cannot see or hear or walk.” Idol worship will be universal among the
unsaved in the era of the tribulation. There will be vast numbers of murders,
“…magic arts…” (v. 21), sexual immorality, and thefts.
I should note here that the meaning of “…magic arts…” (v. 21) has been lost in translation. The Greek word here is φαρμακεία (pharmakeia), which is the root of the English word “pharmacy.” The Greek term φαρμακεία means “the administering of drugs” or even “poisoning” and often is associated with sorcery and magical arts. The use of the term in v. 21 seems to infer the taking of drugs by the people in the tribulation period.
In the ancient near east, drugs were used by pagan
religions to dull the senses and bring one to a state in which he or she was
susceptible to such religious experiences as séances, witchcraft, incantations,
and the influence of mediums. Various plants would induce a drugged state when
ingested, in addition to excessive consumption of wine.
John’s vision
predicts the prevalent use of drugs and alcohol among the unsaved on earth
during the tribulation. In addition, John sees sexual immorality as a
widespread sin of the unsaved in the tribulation era, along with unbridled
theft.
Conclusion
God’s purpose for
the plagues that will affect the unsaved in the tribulation is His judgment on
humanity for choosing idolatry, murder, theft, drugs, and sexual immorality
over devotion to the Savior.
John had earlier
called the churches to repent of their faithlessness, threatening that they,
too, could be judged (see 2:5, 16, 21-22; and 3:19).
What John witnesses in his vision of the day of the Lord is a time of rampant,
escalating sin by the unsaved on earth, while the saved in heaven watch and
call for vengeance. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists and those saved under their
preaching, however, do not take part in the terrible sin of the unsaved and
thus escape the judgments taking place around them.
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