Revelation 9:1-21
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.
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.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
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.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
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.a
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
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,b 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.
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.
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:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
From Now to the End of Time
Revelation
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 9
The fifth (5th) *trumpet - Revelation 9:1-12
v1 The fifth (5th) *angel’s *trumpet sounded. And I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth. This star had received a key. And that key opens the entrance of the hole whose depth has no end. v2 Then this star opened the entrance to the deep hole. Smoke came up from the hole, like the smoke that comes from a great fire. The sun and the air became dark because of the smoke that came from the hole. v3 *Locusts came out of the smoke onto the earth. They received the same kind of power that *scorpions have upon the earth. v4 But these *locusts must not damage the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree. They must hurt only those people who did not have God’s mark on their heads. v5 They did not have the power to kill people. But they could cause them pain for 5 months. And the pain that people suffered was like the pain of a *scorpion sting. v6 In those days, people will want to die, but they will not be able to die. They will hope for death to come, but it will not.
v7 The *locusts seemed like horses that were ready for war. They wore something like crowns of gold on their heads. Their faces were like human faces. v8 Their hair was like the hair of women. Their teeth were like the teeth of lions. v9 On their bodies, they had what seemed to be iron shirts to protect them. Their wings made a great noise as they flew. This sound was like the sound of many horses and carts in a battle. v10 They had tails that sting like *scorpions. And their power to hurt people for 5 months was in their tails. v11 They have a king who rules them. He is the *angel in command of the hole whose depth has no end. His name in the *Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the *Greek language, he is Apollyon.
v12 The first trouble has happened. After this, there are two other troubles yet to come.
Verse 1 The fifth (5th) trumpet.
John saw a star. It had just fallen from the sky. The star came to the earth.
The star had fallen. This fact shows us that something terrible had happened. Stars belong in the sky. They should not fall. Isaiah uses a similar description in Isaiah 14:12-15. Isaiah seems to be referring to the events when the devil decided to oppose God.
This ‘star’ was really a person or an evil *angel. (In fact, John explains who the ‘star’ was in verse 11.) The ‘star’ had received a key. This key shows that the ‘star’ had authority. The key could open the hole, whose depth has no end. This is a description of hell.
Verse 2 This person (called the ‘star’) opened the door to the hole. Great clouds of smoke came out of the hole. As the smoke rose, it made the sky black. The light of the sun could not shine through the cloud.
The hole was the place where evil devils lived. They were in prison. The *angels who fell went there. It was a terrible place. The *Lord will send *Satan there when Jesus comes back again.
Verse 3 Out of the smoke, there came strange animals that seemed like *locusts. There was a great mass of them. *Locusts are insects. They fly together like great clouds. They destroy all the crops that they can find.
These *locusts were like *scorpions in the way that they sting. *Scorpions are insects that have poison in their tails. It is painful when they sting with their tails.
Verse 4 Unlike natural *locusts, these *locusts did not eat the grass or the trees. They must not damage any plants. But they had power to hurt people. However, these *locusts could not kill anyone. But the *locusts had to sting all those who did not have God’s mark on them.
These *locusts were evil. They came from the place of evil devils. But God would not allow them to hurt his people. God is in control. He sets limits on the power of evil things. Evil things cannot do anything that God does not permit them to do.
Verse 5 The *locusts came to hurt people. For a period of five months, they stung the people. The stings caused terrible pain. The pain was like a *scorpion sting. There was no way to ease the pain. But the *locusts could not kill.
Verse 6 The pain was so bad that people wanted to die. Death would be a freedom from the pain. They wished for death but it did not happen.
Verse 7 John tried to describe these *locusts. He says that they were like horses. They were as horses that were ready for battle. They were like a fierce army that was ready for war.
On the head of each *locust was something that seemed like a crown of gold. These were not the crowns of kings. Rather they showed that the *locusts were strong. They were able to overcome people.
The faces of the *locusts were like human faces. They were as clever as people are. They were not like insects or animals. They were from the devil and they were cruel.
Verse 8 They had long hair, which covered their heads. Their hair was like that of women. Women had long hair in the time when John wrote.
Their teeth were like lion’s teeth. They were strong and fierce. When a lion shows its teeth, people are afraid. The sight of these *locusts frightened the people.
Verse 9 There was no way to kill these *locusts. What seemed to be iron shirts protected them. No sword or arrow could cut the shirts.
As they flew, they made a terrible noise. The sound was like the sound of a great army. The sound was like many horses and carts during a battle. The sound frightened people.
Verse 10 They did not bite with their teeth. They had tails that sting. They were like the tails of *scorpions. The effect of a *scorpion sting is painful. So, these *locusts were able to hurt people. But the *Lord allowed them to do this for only 5 months.
Verse 11 The army of *locusts had a king. He was the *angel of the great hole. This *angel was not a servant of God. In fact, this *angel was a servant of the devil. Or perhaps, he was the devil himself. This evil *angel was the leader of the *locusts. He led them as a king leads his army.
His name in the *Hebrew language was Abaddon. He was the ruler of the world of the wicked devils. In the *Greek language, his name is Apollyon. His name means ‘the destroyer’.
Verse 12 This was only the first of the three troubles. There were two more *trumpets still to come.
The sixth (6th) *trumpet - Revelation 9:13-21
v13 Then the sixth (6th) *angel’s *trumpet sounded. I heard a voice speak. It came from the four (4) corners of the gold *altar that stands in front of God. v14 The voice spoke to the sixth *angel who had the *trumpet. The voice said, ‘There are four *angels at the great river called the Euphrates. Someone has bound them. Undo them and free them.’ v15 And he freed the four *angels. These *angels had been ready for this hour, this day, this month and this year. Now they were free so that they could kill a third of all people. v16 I heard how many soldiers on horses there were. The number was 200 million.
v17 As I looked, I saw the horses and their riders. Each rider had an iron shirt to protect him. These were red as fire, dark blue and pale yellow. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions. Fire, smoke and *sulphur came out of their mouths. v18 The fire, smoke and *sulphur killed a third of the people on earth. v19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails were like poisonous snakes. Their tails could bite and they could hurt.
v20 The people, who did not die in these troubles, did not *repent. They did not turn away from the *idols that they had made. They *worshipped *demons and *idols. They made the *idols from gold, silver, metal, stone and wood. These *idols cannot see. They cannot hear or walk. v21 The people did not *repent of their murders or of their magic. They did not *repent of wrong sex or the fact that they stole from other people.
Verse 13 The sixth (6th) *trumpet.
When the sixth (6th) *angel sounded his *trumpet, John heard a voice. It came from the gold *altar.
Verse 14 There were four (4) *angels at the river Euphrates. They had control over a vast army from the east. Until now, that army could not cross the river. The voice told the *angel with the sixth *trumpet to free the four *angels.
We think that these four *angels were evil *angels. They wanted to send the army across the river. But God would not let them do it. They could not do their evil work until the time had come.
Verse 15 The four *angels were ready for the task that God would give them. They had to wait until the exact moment that God had chosen. They could not do anything until the exact time in God’s plan. Then they would lead their army to kill a third of the people.
Verse 16 At the time that John was writing, an army of this size was not possible. Since that time, there has been an increase in the number of people on earth. There could now be an army of this size east of the river Euphrates.
Such an army would spread out as far as the eye could see.
Verse 17 John describes what he saw. This vast army was of riders on horses. Each soldier wore an iron shirt. The colour of these shirts was red, dark blue and yellow. These matched the fire, the smoke and the *sulphur. (*Sulphur is yellow. When it burns, the smoke is blue. But the flames are red.)
The horses were not normal horses. Their heads were like lion’s heads. They were fierce and cruel. Fire, smoke and *sulphur came from their mouths.
Verse 18 The riders did not kill people. The horses killed a third of the people. They breathed out fire with smoke and *sulphur.
Verse 19 The power of the horses to kill was in their mouths. But like the *locusts, they had power to hurt in their tails. The tails were like snakes and they had heads. The horses could bite with their tails. When they did, it was like the bite of poisonous snakes. These bites were painful but they did not kill.
Verse 20 God’s purpose in these troubles was that people should *repent. The awful things that happened should have caused them to turn to God. But the people still did not *repent. They still trusted in the things that they had made rather than in God.
The people chose things that they made from gold, silver, metal and wood to be their gods. These gods have no life in them. They cannot hear or do anything. They cannot help and they are not useful. But people turn to these and not toward God.
Verse 21 The people did not *repent of all the evil things that they had done.
trumpet ~ a musical instrument; it makes a sound when a person blows into it.angel ~ a servant of God from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages. So, angels are God’s servants from heaven. But there are evil angels who opposed God. These evil angels now serve the devil.
locust ~ an insect that eats the crops.
scorpion ~ an animal that is like a large insect. It stings with its tail.
locust ~ an insect that eats the crops.
Hebrew ~ the language of the Jews and of the Old Testament.
Jews ~ people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the families of their children.
Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible; the holy things that the writers wrote before Jesus’ birth.
Greek ~ the original language of the New Testament.
New Testament ~ the last part of the Bible, which the writers wrote after the life of Jesus on earth.
Lord ~ a title for God, or Jesus, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ a title for someone who rules.
Satan ~ the name of the devil.
scorpion ~ an animal that is like a large insect. It stings with its tail.
altar ~ the special table where priests burned animals and other gifts that they offered to God.
sulphur ~ sulphur is a chemical. A fire that burns with sulphur is extremely hot. And sulphur burns with an awful smell.
repent ~ to change one’s mind and heart. To turn away from sin and turn to God. To turn one’s mind and heart away from sin is to repent.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are called sinners.
idols ~ objects that people worship instead of God.
worship ~ the act when someone shows honour to God (or to an idol). Someone who worships, praises God. That person thanks God. And that person respects God.
worship ~ the act when someone shows honour to God (or to an idol). Someone who worships, praises God. That person thanks God. And that person respects God.
idols ~ objects that people worship instead of God.
demons ~ evil angels that serve the devil.
angel ~ a servant of God from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages. So, angels are God’s servants from heaven. But there are evil angels who opposed God. These evil angels now serve the devil.
sulphur ~ sulphur is a chemical. A fire that burns with sulphur is extremely hot. And sulphur burns with an awful smell.