Vs 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.
The fifth angel sounds his trumpet only when given the command from God. He is of a special group of angels that have been given the task to sound a trumpet heralding in judgment from the throne. John sees a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. This star is not an inanimate piece of cosmic material but rather a fallen angel, most specifically Satan. Notice that the tense “had fallen” is used. Satan originally fell as noted in is Isaiah 14:12-15:
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of
Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.”
In Job 1:6-7 we see that even in his fallen state he had access to heaven and was called on occasion to give account:
“One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then in Revelation 12:7-9 we find that he is completely cast out of heaven, hurled to the earth with his demons with him:
“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down – that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth and his angels with him.”
This vision that John sees refers to that event. Satan’s name was Lucifer which means brightness. Jesus says in Luke 10:18 “I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven.” In this portion of prophesy Satan is given a key to the Abyss. Even in his judgment he is used by God to complete the will of his Creator.
Vs 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.
The Abyss is the pit. It is the abode of the demons and the place where Satan will be bound for a 1000 years in the millennium. It is a place where demons have been sent before the lake of fire. Remember in Luke 8:31: “And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go to the Abyss.” Demons begged Jesus not to send them to the pit but instead to the herd of pigs. It is the unseen underworld, a place where they are bound waiting on the time before they are cast into the lake of fire. The demons that have been inhabiting the Abyss are especially vile, perverted and wicked. So wicked that God in His mercy has had them locked up to prevent their damage to His chosen creation – mankind. While we know that there are strong demons loose on earth at this time and we see evidence of the destruction they have been a part of, can you imagine the world when the utterly wicked ones are loosed? The sky will be darkened with unimaginable evil.
Vs 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
These demons are referred to as locusts. They are not actual locusts insects but rather are called locusts because they swarm and destroy everything in sight. The Middle East has been experiencing a locust invasion since May of this year. The infestation will likely last through September given that the life cycle is about 5 months. Agriculturalists are working feverishly to preserve crops and destroy the locusts. But these locusts will be a different breed, for they are demons.
Vs 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.
Unlike the first 4 trumpets which affected the physical world, the fifth trumpet will be a direct assault on man himself. These demons will not destroy the earth but will seek to attack man. The only ones who will not be assaulted by this vile swarm of demons will be those who have the seal of God on their foreheads; the 144,000, the two witnesses, and the host of believers who are on the earth at that time. Just as God protected the Israelites from the plagues in Exodus, so He will protect His own during the plagues of Revelation.
Vs 5 They were not given power 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 a man.
The pain that is inflicted on man by these demons will be brutal but it will not be deadly. It will be like the sting of a venomous scorpion. This will be not bee sting. It will be like a deadly injection but no death. There will be swelling, pain, convulsions, tissue and nerve damage and more. Notice that the power is given to the demons for 5 months which is the life span of a locust. Once the Abyss is opened and they are loosed to do damage the average earth dweller being unfamiliar with scripture will not know that it is a 5 month period. They may well expect it to last a long time or forever. So the mental anguish will add to the physical torture.
Vs 6 During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die but death will elude them.
So bad will be the infliction that people will want to die. The fear, torment, pain, anguish will cause them to seek death as an escape but they will not find it. We see in these verses that the power of life and death is in the hands of the Creator. Jeremiah 8:3. Man cannot choose his birthday and he does not choose his death day. God alone decides although it may very well come as man kills others and himself. But ultimately God is sovereign and He chooses. So we see here that although they long to die and take actions to do so, death escapes them for a time being.
Vs 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.
So what do these locusts or demons look like? Notice in this verse and the several after it the term ‘like’. John gives like descriptions of them. In this verse they are like horses prepared for battle. They are warhorses. They have ‘something like crowns’ on their heads. The word for crown is stephanos which is the victor’s crown. They have been given enormous power and authority. And their faces are like human faces. They have the intellect and reasoning of a human.
Vs 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.
Women’s hair is seductive. It attracts men (people). It is an object of beauty. These demons will be alluring and seductive and yet they have teeth are like lions’ – powerful and deadly. Something about them will seem attractive and yet they are awful creatures.
Vs 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.
Their breastplates are strong and protective so that they cannot be destroyed. The sound of their wings thundering represents that they were numerous in number.
Vs 10 They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.
Their tails held the venom of their destruction.
So in the above descriptions we see that they were powerful, fast, given authority and rule, intelligent and able to reason – think, they were seductive and alluring, their mouths were powerful and deadly, and they were numerous and unable to be destroyed by man. The left destruction in their wake with the venom they inflicted on mankind.
Vs 11 They had as king over them, the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon , and in Greek, Apollyon.
There is a power demon over them named Abaddon or Apollyon which means “destroyer.” This demon is not Satan but one of his strong underlings. They were a united force with a mission under the commander of Apollyon who was under the rule of Satan.
Vs 12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
As bad as this is, there is more to come. It only escalates from bad to worse and yet we still see the loving outreached arm of God even in His powerful and swift judgment.
Vs 13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.
The sixth angel sounds his trumpet and John hears a voice coming from the altar in heaven. Could very well be the voice of the Lamb. His “Spirit shall not strive with man forever.” Genesis 6:3. The voice directs the next event in the judgment. From the altar where mercy was graciously delivered to those who believe in the sacrifice of the Lamb comes now judgment on those who refused that mercy. God is always in control, always was, always will be.
Side note: MacArthur believes that when this 6th trumpet is blown that “the time for mercy will have passed and the altar of mercy becomes the altar of judgment. Sinful men will have finally and completely rejected God’s gracious offer of salvation.”
Vs 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
The four angels who are bound are demons. The holy angels always do the bidding of God and do not need to be bound. The fact these four angels are bound indicates that they are evil. Notice where they were bound: the Euphrates. This is a river described in Genesis. It was here that the Garden of Eden was near, the fall of Adam nearby, the first murder nearby, the rise of the tower of Babel nearby. Sin nearby. The cradle of civilization.
Vs 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.
There are four angels (demons) who have been bound from some time in history past that God knows, who will be released at a predetermined year, month, day and hour. There is a time on the world’s calendar with this event will occur. And when they are released they will be given permission to kill a third of man. That is 1/3 of the total population of the world. It is a world-wide destruction.
Vs 16 The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.
John is saying that this is an actual number. He heard it – 200 million mounted troops. These again are demons. These are not Chinese or Russian soldiers as some have thought. The Chinese and Russians will be part of the slaughtered as well. The whole earth will be affected.
Vs 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.
As with the locusts, John describes the horses and riders in ‘like’ terms. The red, blue, and yellow are the colors of fire, these are the colors of hell. The horses are not real horses but like creatures; powerful with heads like lions that seek to devour and destroy. They breathed fire, smoke, and sulfur – they breathe the breath of hell.
Vs 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.
This could well be over 1 billion people; men, women, children. Remember how horrific the loss of life during Katrina, the Moore tornado, Newtown, the Vietnam and World Wars. Now imagine over a billion people dead in a matter of a few months. The stench of decaying bodies will be overwhelming as it will be a massive effort just to bury the dead.
Vs 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.
These horses were powerful. They killed coming and going. They breathed fire killing and the inflicted venom departing . Grotesque demons, bent on killing God’s most precious design – man.
Vs 20 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
And in spite of all the horror that is taking place and by now it is well-known that this is God’s judgment, man still will not repent. They will continue in their sin demon worship. There will be plenty of religion in this time period but it will be a false religion as we will learn more of when we study the beast and the false prophet in chapter 13. This false religion will also engulf idol worship; loving the works of their hands and whatever wealth they retain or gather. Their gods will be their guns, their weapons, their money.
Vs 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
They will murder at will. The evil demonic influence that is worse than any since the flood of Noah will so entice men to murder on a mass proportion. They will seek drugs and witchcraft on levels we have not ever noted. The word translated ‘sorcery’ in the Greek which some translations have in place of magic arts, is from the word pharmakia which means ‘the use of drugs.’ They will delve so deep into sexual immorality that nothing will be sacred. Sexual sins so deviate that anything and everything will be fair game to satisfy their thirst for such wicked lusts. And lastly theft will be commonplace. When there is no judge then there is no morality. Of course we know there is a Judge but these earth dwellers will live as if there is not one. “Every man doing that which is right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25.
