Revelation 9:1-21

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

These herald woes upon the ungodly and idolatrous, inflicted both by demonic and by human agency.

1-12. The fifth trumpet initiates the first of the three woes. A star fallen to the earth, i.e. an angel who has descended from heaven (cp. Revelation 1:20), not necessarily an evil angel (Revelation 9:1), opens the pit of the abyss. The 'abyss' is the abode of evil spirits or demons, and the 'pit' is the shaft which was supposed to lead to it. St. John uses this Jewish idea, which may have been derived from volcanoes, as a figure of spiritual things. At the opening of the pit smoke pours forth (Revelation 9:2), and from the smoke issue evil spirits with the appearance of locusts (Revelation 9:3). They are not to hurt green things, for they are not really locusts; but, besides being like locusts in their numbers and their devastating power, they are to be like scorpions in that they give pain to men, but only for a limited period—a visitation of locusts was usually limited to five months, from May to September. They are to afflict those who are not sealed: see on Revelation 7:1. (Revelation 9:4.). The description of the locusts is partly taken from Joel 1:6; Joel 2:1. No special significance need be sought in the details, which probably are only meant to increase the vivid terror of the picture (Revelation 9:7.). Unlike the locusts of Proverbs 30:27 they have a king, Abaddon or Apollyon, i.e. 'Destroyer' (cp. Job 26:6 RV; Proverbs 15:11 RV): names which at first signified the place of the lost, and afterwards, as here, the ruler of the hosts of evil (Revelation 9:11). This vision may be regarded as a picture of the mental and spiritual misery which follows sin. It is a contrast to the fifth seal; cp. Revelation 9:6, 'seek death and in no wise find it,' with Revelation 6:11, 'rest': cp. Isaiah 48:22.