Note: I used many sources to study this book, one of my favorites is Revelation: God’s Word for the Biblically-Inept by Daymond Duck and some out of different study bibles.
Title: The Fifth & Sixth Trumpet
Theme: Still will not repent
Text: Rev 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.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. (Luke 10:18 AV) also see Is 14:12
It would seem that this fallen angel is Satan himself. Some people translate this verse as “had fallen” instead of “fall”. In either case it could easily refer to Satan. It could be a symbol to John.
We will see the bottomless pit mentioned again in 11:7 which is where the beast comes from and in 20:3 where Satan will be thrown for 1000 yrs.
And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. (Luke 8:30-31 AV)
The demons don’t like the “deep” or the abyss.
Who holds the key?
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Revelation 1:18 AV)
Notice that Satan has to be give the keys.
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.
When the pit is opened it causes a great cloud of smoke. It is so great that it darkens the sun. This is probably literal but there is also a spiritual application. Satan when he comes causes a great deception over the minds of the people.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 AV)
It would not be hard to imagine a swarm of locusts that are so thick they blot out the sun.
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.
They were not normal locusts but they had power as scorpions. Scorpions rarely kill but they sting.
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. (Rev 7:3)
Remember the ones that the last plagues avoided (Ex 8:22) They could bother only those who did not have the mark. 144,000 had the mark.
Was there any others that served God that did not have the mark but was not sealed? I wonder. It seems that anyone that did trust Christ were persecuted and killed
Notice that God is in control of them. He tells them what to do. They could not eat the grass. Which is surprising because this is what they would naturally do but instead they attack man. 1) they are demon possessed 2) after the condition of the society after war then if they did eat the green with this number of locusts and the size it would probably destroy the earth.
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.
Time is 5 months. Scorpions rarely killed people (only children) but there stings were very painful but only for several days here it is 5 months.
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.
Satan's desire is not to kill people but to torture them. Here is the true side of Satan.
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.
Notice the symbolic language: “like unto” “as it were” “as the”
So this could be symbolic, it could be John describing to us what he saw in his language.
horses-strength
crowns-conqueror
faces of men-intelligence
In Italy and some foreign countries locusts are called “little horses” because of their similarities.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Joel 1:6 teeth as the 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.
Breastplates for war.
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.
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; 0 (Proverbs 30:27 AV)
It is unnatural for locusts to kings but they are not natural locusts
Abaddon-Hebrew-Israelites-destruction
Apollyon-Greek-gentiles-destroyer
Seems to be one of Satan’s top henchmen.
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
Rev 8:13 But notice that there is a sequentiental order to this book. There is an order.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Remember the golden altar in chapter 8. It contained the prayers of the saints. He it is again.
Four horns were used to tie the animal down. This altar is normally a place of mercy which will cry for God’s vengeance. But it will be for the mercy of the saints. Where God seems to be just, wrath and angry in one point he is actually answering the prayers and cries of his people. Are we a part of his mercy of wrath?
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Marked the boundaries of the Israel-Gen 15:18
River of Euphrates are symbols of military invasion (Is 8:5-8; 10:5-7)
Here we see bound angels. Why are they bound? We know they are not of God because God is freedom. They must be some more of Satan’s co-horts. Serving Satan is bondage to a person.
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.
a third part of this is plus what was menioned earlier is over half the earth.
Lets see.
1) close to a few 100 million will leave in the rapture.
2) ΒΌ are killed in the 4th seal. Rev 6:8 then others will die in famine and wars and natural disasters
3) here was see 1/3 of the people who will die.
This is a cataclysmic event.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:22 AV)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Which nation could put this kind of army together? China
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth,(blue) 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.
It would not be hard to imagine that these horses are machines. We do know they are not normal.
What an amazing force!! All released by God himself. Still under His control
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.
Remember Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:24,28; Jude 7)
This seemed to be impossible until the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Now people are talking about destroying the whole earth with nuclear bombs.
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.
Can we name these? No all we can do is speculate. But honestly we don’t know what weapons governments are preparing. Most were surprised by the scud missles.
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:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9 AV)
1) worship of demons-Dt 32:17; 1 Cor 10:20
2) murder and violence
3) sorcery-involves drugs, occult worship, and witchcraft (18:23;21:8;22:15; Gal 5:20)
4) immorality, sexual lust, and pornography
5) thefts and lawlessness (Rom 1:24, 28-31
Sorceries-contact with dead, supernatural powers, paranormal energies, or demonic forces in order to acquire power to manipulate or influence people.
It is sad that even in our White House we read of the invasion of the occult. We know of the new reports of Hillary Clinton’s contact with the dead through “psychic spiritualists” Jean Houston. Our nation more and more is getting involved in this in the desguise of the “New Age” religion. It is very popular in Hollywood.
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:1-21 AV)
Man just can not repent no matter how hard God tries to convince them to. Crime today is at one of its highest levels and jail time is at one of its lowest.
