Revelation 9

As we open our Bibles to Revelation chapter 9, we are confronted with one of the most sobering and terrifying chapters in all of Scripture. The fifth and sixth trumpets sound, unleashing demonic torment and widespread death upon a world that has rejected God. The imagery is dreadful—locusts with the power of scorpions, and an army so vast and destructive that it brings death to a third of mankind.

But while this chapter reveals the fierce judgment of God, it also presents a stark contrast between those who are sealed by God and those who are not. In the midst of wrath and terror, there is still a message of hope—the believer is not appointed unto wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9), and through Jesus Christ, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

Christian, though the world may be overcome with fear and death, you are secure in Christ. The horrors of Revelation 9 are real, but they are not for those who have trusted in the Lamb. While judgment falls upon the earth, the child of God rests in the promise of eternal life.

Today, we will see how faith in Christ delivers us from fear, from judgment, and ultimately from death itself. Revelation 9 is a warning to the unbelieving world, but it is also a reminder to us: the safest place to be is in the will of God and under the blood of Christ.

Let us look into this chapter with reverence and urgency, remembering that today is the day of salvation—and that in Christ, we overcome terror and death not by our own strength, but by trusting in the One who conquered the grave.

This judgment parallels the ninth plague in Egypt (Ex. 10:21-23), which lasted three days. "The day of the Lord is darkness, and not light" (Amos 5:18). Think of the vast temperature changes and how these will affect human health and food growth.

This particular judgment may be temporary, for the fourth bowl judgment will reverse it, and the sun's power will be intensified (Rev. 16:8-9). Then, at the close of the tribulation, the sun and moon will be darkened again to announce the Savior's return (Matt. 24:29, 30; see also Luke 21:25-28).

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion ..." said the prophet Joel, "for the day of the Lord cometh ... a day of darkness and of gloominess" (Joel 2:1-2).

Darkness, indeed! Not only will nature suffer loss, but human nature will also take advantage of the long darkness and undoubtedly indulge in crime and wickedness. "Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light" (John 3:20).

At this point, a remarkable messenger will appear in the sky, proclaiming woe to the earth's inhabitants. Most manuscripts have "eagle" here instead of "angel," but either would get people’s attention!

Could this be the eagle-like living creature John saw worshipping before the throne (Rev. 4:7-8)? Will God send it on this special mission? We cannot say for sure, but it is a possibility.

The three "woes" in Revelation 8:13 refer to the judgments yet to come when the remaining three angels blow their trumpets. It is as though the messenger cried, "If you think this has been terrible, just wait! The worst is yet to come!"

The phrase "inhabitants of the earth" (or "them that dwell on the earth") is found twelve times in Revelation (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10 [twice]; 12:12;13:8, 12, 14; 14:6; 17:2, 8). It means much more than "people who live on the earth," for that is where all living people reside. Instead, it refers to a kind of people: those who live for the earth and the things of the earth. These are just the opposite of people with citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:18-21). John described this worldly sort well in his first epistle (1 John 2:15-17), and later in this prophecy, he again makes it clear that "earth-dwellers" are not born again (Rev. 13:8).

At the beginning of human history, heaven and earth were united because our first parents honored God and obeyed His will. Satan tempted them to focus on the earth, and they disobeyed God. Ever since, a great gulf has been fixed between heaven and earth. This chasm was bridged when the Son of God came to earth and died for the sins of the world.

3. LIBERATION (9:1-21)

The late Dr. Wilbur M. Smith, who made the book of Revelation his special study, once wrote: "It is probable that, apart from the exact identification of Babylon in Revelation 17 and 18, the meaning of the two judgments in this chapter represents the most difficult major problem in the Revelation" (Wycliffe Bible Commentary, 1509). Revelation 9 describes two frightening armies liberated at just the right time and permitted to judge mankind.

(1) TERROR FROM THE ABYSS

(w. Revelation 9:1–12 “1 And 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. 2 And 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. 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And 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. 5 And 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. 6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Rev 9:7 And 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.

Rev 9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

Rev 9:9 And 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.

Rev 9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

Rev 9:11 And 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.

Rev 9:12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The "bottomless pit" is "the pit of the abyss." Luke makes it clear that this "pit" is the abode of the demons (Luke 8:31), and John states that Satan will be temporarily "jailed" there during our Lord's reign on the earth (Rev. 20:1-3). The Antichrist (i.e., "the beast") will ascend out of this pit (Rev. 11:7; 17:8). It is not the lake of fire, for that is the final "prison" for Satan and all who follow him (Rev. 20:10), but part of that hidden underworld under the Lord's authority. Today, the fearsome army described here is already incarcerated, awaiting the hour of liberation.

This fallen star is a person, the king over the beings in the pit (Rev. 9:11).

He does not have complete authority, for the key to the pit had to be given to him before he could lose his army. This "star" is probably Satan and the army, his demons (Eph. 6:10f.).

One of the names for Satan is Lucifer, which means "brightness"; he also is compared to the "morning star" (Is. 14:12-14). Jesus told His disciples, "I beheld Saran as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18).

When the pit was opened, smoke emerged as though the furnace door had been loosened. Jesus compared hell to a furnace of fire (Matt 13:42, 50), an image that should make people stop and think before they jest about it. The smoke polluted the air and darkened the sun, which had already been darkened when the fourth trumpet sounded.

But what came out of the smoke truly terrorized mankind: an army of demons, compared to locusts.

The eighth plague in Egypt was a devastating swarm of locusts (Ex. 10:1-20). People who have never encountered these insects have little idea of the damage they can do. When God wanted to judge His people, He sometimes sent locusts to devour the harvests (Deut. 28:38, 42; Joel 2).

These are not literal locusts, because locusts do not have scorpion-like stings in their tails. These creatures do not devour the green vegetation; they are prohibited from doing so. This demonic army is given the assignment of tormenting all whom the seal of God has not protected. The 144.000 men from the tribes of Israel would therefore escape this painful judgment (Rev. 7:1-8). All who have trusted the Lord will likely be sealed in some special way and protected from torment.

The locust's normal lifespan is about five months (May to September), and this is the length of time that the judgment will last. These demons will sting people and thus create such pain that their victims will want to die, but death will flee from them (Jer. 8:3).

Reading the detailed description of these creatures, we realize that John is not writing about ordinary locusts. Yet, despite its obvious symbolism, it

aptly portrays a powerful enemy armed for battle. With bodies like horses but faces like men, the demons' heads are crowned and covered with long

hair. Their teeth are like those of lions, and their skin is like a coat of mail.

When they fly, the noise is like an army of chariots rushing. It is unnecessary to try to "spiritualize" these symbols or interpret them in light of modern means of warfare. John is heaping image upon image to force us to feel the horror of this judgment.

Real locusts do not have a king (Prov. 30:27), but this army follows the rule of Satan, the angel of the bottomless pit. His name is "Destrover."The thief (Satan) cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). Real locusts are pervasive destroyers, but this army only tortures those who do not belong to the Lord.

As God's people, we can be thankful that Jesus Christ holds the keys of bell and death (Rev. 1:18) and exercises divine authority even over Satan.

God has a timetable for all these events, and nothing will happen too soon or too late (2 1 Hess, 2:6; note also Rev. 9:15).

(2) DEATH FROM THE EAST

(w. Revelation 9:13–21 “13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And 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. 16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17 And 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. 18 By 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.

Rev 9:19  For 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.

Rev 9:20  And 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:

Rev 9:21  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

At the golden altar of incense, the angel offered the prayers of the saints (Rev. 8:3-5); now, from this same altar, a voice speaks, commanding that four angels be loosed. These angels are wicked because no holy angel would be bound.

Each angel is in charge of part of the vast army that follows them at their liberation, an army of 200 million beings! The army is released at a precise time, for a special purpose: to kill (not just torment) a third of the world's population. Since a fourth of mankind has already been destroyed (Rev. 6:8), this means that half of the world's population will be dead by the time the sixth trumpet judgment is completed.

Can we identify this as a literal army of men, moving in conquest across the globe? Probably not. For one thing, the emphasis in this paragraph is not on the riders, but on the horses. The description cannot fit war-horses as we know them or, for that matter, modern warfare equipment, such as tanks. To assert that this is a literal army, and to point to some nation (such as China) claiming to have 200 million soldiers, is to miss the message John seeks to convey.

The deadly power of these horses is in their mouths and tails, not in their legs. Fire, smoke, and brimstone come from their mouths, and their tails are like biting serpents. They can attack men from the front as well as from the rear.

I take it that this is another demonic army, headed by four fallen angels, and that all of them are today bound by the Lord, unable to act until God permits them. Why they are bound at the Euphrates River is not explained, though that area is the cradle of civilization (Gen. 2:14), not to mention one of the boundaries for Israel (Gen. 15:18).

One would think that the combination of five months of torment and then death (from fire, smoke, and brimstone) would bring men and women to their knees in repentance, but such is not the case.

GOD UPHOLDS HIS LAW

These judgments are not remedial but retributive: God is upholding His holy law and vindicating His suffering people (see Rev. 6:9-11). 

Even a casual reading of Revelation 9:20-21 reveals the awful wickedness of mankind, even amid God's judgments.

The most frightening thing about Revelation 9 is not the judgments that God sends but the sins that men persist in committing even while God is judging them. Consider the sins that men and women will be committing:

Demon worship, 

Which goes hand-in-hand with idolatry (see 1 Cor. 10:19-21), will be the leading sin. Satan will be at work (always under the permissive will of God), and Satan has always wanted to be worshipped (Isa. 14:12-15; Matt. 4:8-10). A great deal of "religion" will be practiced now, but it will be false. People will worship the works of their own hands, which could well include the buildings they construct, the machines they make, the cities they build, and their idols.

Here are dead sinners worshipping dead gods (see Ps. 115)! Their gods will not be able to protect or deliver them, yet these people will continue to reject the true God and worship Satan and idols!

Murder and theft 

will also be rife in those days. So will various kinds of sexual immorality. The word translated as "sorcery" is the Greek word pharmacon, which means "the use of drugs." 

Drugs

are often used in pagan religious rites and demon worship. As we see the expansion of today's "drug culture," we have no problem envisioning a whole society given over to these demonic practices.

Mankind will be breaking the first two Mosaic commandments by making and worshipping idols.

In their murders, they will violate the sixth commandment, and in their thefts, the eighth. 

By their fornication, they will break the seventh commandment. It will be an age of lawlessness with “Every man doing that which is right in his own eyes" (see Judges 21:25 “25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”

When God is not on the throne in man’s heart, that position will be taken by something - and it’s usually not good.

But God is working out His plan, and neither the sins of mankind nor the schemes of Satan will hinder Him from accomplishing His will.

We have come now to the midpoint of the tribulation (Rev. 10-14), a time during which some important events must occur. Thus far, we have covered about three-and-a-half years of these seven years (Dan. 9:27). During this time, the Antichrist began his career as a peacemaker and a special friend to Israel, but now, his true character will be revealed. He will become a peace-breaker and a persecutor of the people of God.

Things will not look bright for God's people during this middle stage of the prophetic journey, but they will still be overcomers through the power of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!