Revelation Chapter 9

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

A. The Fifth Trumpet Brings Demonic Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

1. Revelation 9:1, A Star Fallen from Heaven

Revelation 9:1, “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.”

The fifth trumpet begins a darker and more terrifying phase of judgment. The first four trumpets struck the created order, affecting the land, the sea, the rivers, the fountains of waters, the sun, the moon, and the stars. With the fifth trumpet, the judgment moves from ecological catastrophe into direct demonic torment. The scene changes from judgments upon the physical world to judgments involving the unseen realm. This is why the final three trumpets are also called woes, because they bring a deeper intensity of suffering upon the inhabitants of the earth.

The words, “And the fifth angel sounded,” show that this judgment comes in an ordered sequence under divine authority. These trumpet judgments are not random disasters. They are not accidents of history. They are the deliberate judgments of God during the coming Tribulation. The seven seals, the seven trumpets, and later the seven bowls all unfold under the sovereignty of God. Whether one sees overlap or thematic arrangement within Revelation, the point remains that heaven is directing events on earth. The angels sound, and judgment follows. God is not reacting to evil as though He has lost control. He is executing His will with precision.

There is a clear pattern between the seals and the trumpets. The first four seals brought judgment through the four horsemen, conquest, war, famine, and death. The first four trumpets brought judgment upon the natural order, vegetation, the sea, fresh waters, and heavenly light. Then the later judgments shift in focus. The final seals emphasized heavenly realities, including the cry of the martyrs, cosmic upheaval, and silence in heaven before the trumpet judgments began. Likewise, the final three trumpets move into the realm of hellish and demonic judgment. The fifth trumpet opens the bottomless pit, the sixth trumpet releases bound demonic powers near the Euphrates, and the seventh trumpet announces the kingdom authority of Christ.

This means Revelation is showing the reader that the Tribulation is not merely political, ecological, or military. It is spiritual. Behind the visible upheaval on earth is the reality of the angelic conflict. Satanic powers are active, demonic forces are real, and God will allow certain restrained powers of darkness to be released for judgment. This is not mythology. This is biblical prophecy. A literal hermeneutic requires the reader to take the text seriously as it is written unless the context demands symbolism. Revelation uses symbols, but it also explains many of them. Here, the star is clearly personal because the text says, “to him was given the key.” A literal star does not receive a key. A personal being does.

John says, “I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth.” At first glance, the word “star” could seem to refer to a heavenly body, but the rest of the verse shows that this star is a person. The text says “to him,” not “to it.” This star acts with personal agency and receives authority. In Revelation, stars can refer to angelic beings. Earlier in the book, Jesus explained the meaning of the seven stars in His right hand.

Revelation 1:20, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

Because Revelation itself has already used stars to symbolize angels, it is reasonable to understand the star in Revelation 9:1 as an angelic being. The question is whether this being is a holy angel carrying out God’s command, or a fallen angel being permitted to act under God’s sovereign restraint. The wording, “a star fall from heaven,” suggests a fallen condition. The King James wording says “fall,” while the idea in the original verbal form points to one who has already fallen. John does not merely see a star in the act of falling, but a star that has fallen from heaven to earth. This distinction matters because it leans toward identifying this being with a fallen angelic power.

Some have suggested that this star refers to Nero, an evil spirit, a fallen angel, Satan, the Word of God, a good angel, or even Christ Himself. The context does not support the idea that this is the Word of God or Christ. The action that follows is the opening of the bottomless pit and the release of demonic locusts. That does not fit the imagery of Christ as Redeemer, Shepherd, King, or Judge in His own direct glory. Christ holds the keys of death and hell, but Revelation 9:1 says this being is given a key. That distinction is important.

Revelation 1:18, “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.”

Jesus possesses ultimate authority over hell, death, judgment, and the unseen realm. In Revelation 9:1, the key is not possessed inherently by the fallen star. It is granted. This shows delegated permission. Whoever this being is, he acts only because God permits him to act. Hell is not an independent kingdom where Satan rules as a rival sovereign. That idea is common in popular culture, but it is not biblical. Satan is not the king of hell. He is not the master of final judgment. He is a condemned rebel who will one day be cast into the lake of fire.

Matthew 25:41, “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Those verses make the matter plain. Everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels. Satan is not the warden of hell. He is its future prisoner. He is not sovereign over judgment. He is subject to judgment. Therefore, when Revelation 9:1 says the key is given to this being, the authority comes from God. Even demonic powers cannot move one inch beyond the boundary God permits.

This also fits the broader biblical pattern. Evil beings may act wickedly, but they never overthrow divine sovereignty. Satan could not touch Job without divine permission. Demons could not enter the swine without Christ’s permission. Human rulers and spiritual powers may rage against God, but they are still operating inside the limits of God’s decree. During the Tribulation, God will use even the powers of darkness to judge a rebellious world. Their intentions are evil, but God’s judgment is righteous.

The words “to him was given the key of the bottomless pit” are therefore extremely important. The key represents authority to open what was previously shut. The bottomless pit was locked, and its inhabitants were restrained. This means the demonic powers released in Revelation 9 are not ordinary demonic influences already active in the world. They are a specially confined class of beings. They are imprisoned until the appointed time of release. That release occurs only when heaven permits it.

The phrase “bottomless pit” translates the idea of the abyss. The abyss is the place of confinement associated with certain demonic beings. It is not merely a metaphor for human depravity. It is not merely a poetic way of describing evil thoughts. It is presented as a real place of imprisonment in the unseen realm. Scripture elsewhere speaks of fallen angels being kept under restraint.

Luke 8:30, “And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.”

Luke 8:31, “And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.”

In Luke 8:31, the word translated “deep” carries the same idea as the abyss. The demons knew that Christ had authority to command them into that place. They feared being sent there before the appointed time. This shows that the abyss is not imaginary. Demons understood it as a place of confinement and dreaded it.

2 Peter 2:4, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”

Jude 1:6, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

Both 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6 teach that certain angels sinned in such a way that God confined them in chains of darkness until judgment. These are not merely demons roaming the earth. These are imprisoned beings. Revelation 9 shows a moment when some form of abyssal confinement is opened, and demonic torment is unleashed upon the earth. This is one of the reasons the fifth trumpet is so severe. The earth will experience a demonic plague unlike anything in ordinary history.

Romans also uses the language of the deep, connecting it generally with the realm of the dead.

Romans 10:7, “Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)”

In Romans 10:7, Paul uses “the deep” in connection with the realm of death. This does not mean every use of the abyss must refer to the exact same compartment or function, but it does show that Scripture associates the deep with the unseen realm below, death, confinement, and supernatural realities beyond normal human access. Revelation 9 narrows the focus to the bottomless pit as the place from which demonic locusts emerge.

The bottomless nature of the pit has been interpreted in different ways. Some understand it as a literal abyss located within the earth, perhaps connected to the idea that at the center of the earth every direction is upward, so in that sense it could be described as bottomless. Others see “bottomless” as emphasizing immeasurable depth, terror, confinement, and separation from the ordered world above. Either way, the text presents it as a real prison of demonic forces, not as an abstract symbol for human nature. The plain sense of Revelation 9:1 points to a real opening, a real key, a real abyss, and real demonic beings released under judgment.

A major interpretive error occurs when Revelation 9:1 is spiritualized beyond recognition. Some interpreters have suggested that the star represents the Word of God, the pit represents human nature, and the lesson is that rejecting the gospel unleashes inward horrors. That kind of interpretation may sound religious, but it does not arise from the text. It replaces the text with an idea imposed upon it. The verse says an angelic being receives a key to the bottomless pit. The following verses describe smoke rising from the pit and locust like creatures coming out with power to torment men. The passage is not about ordinary human nature responding badly to rejected truth. It is about divine judgment through the release of demonic forces.

A literal, grammatical, historical reading does not deny that Revelation contains imagery. It simply refuses to turn the imagery into something unrelated to the words on the page. When Revelation gives an image, the interpreter must ask what the text itself says about that image. Here, the star is personal, the key is delegated authority, and the bottomless pit is a real place of demonic confinement. The judgment is supernatural, terrifying, and under God’s control.

This fifth trumpet also demonstrates a sobering biblical truth, God may judge rebellion by allowing evil to taste the fruit of evil. A world that rejects God, worships idols, follows the Antichrist, and embraces satanic deception will experience the horror of demonic oppression in a concentrated form. Men often imagine that freedom from God means freedom to live as they please. Revelation shows the opposite. When God removes restraint, the powers of darkness do not bring liberty. They bring torment.

The fallen star, whether Satan himself or another fallen angelic being, does not act independently. The key is given to him. This means God remains sovereign even in the darkest moment of the Tribulation. The demonic realm may be unleashed, but it is unleashed by permission, for a set purpose, within a set limit, and for a set time. The fifth trumpet is not chaos defeating God. It is God judging the earth while demonstrating that even hell cannot operate outside His command.

2. Revelation 9:2-6, Locusts from the Bottomless Pit

Revelation 9:2, “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.”

Revelation 9:3, “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.”

Revelation 9:4, “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.”

Revelation 9:5, “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.”

Revelation 9:6, “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.”

When the fallen star opens the bottomless pit, John sees smoke rising out of the abyss like the smoke of a great furnace. The imagery is heavy, dark, and terrifying. This is not the clean light of heaven, nor the glory cloud of God’s presence. This is the choking smoke of judgment rising from the place of demonic confinement. The smoke is so thick that “the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” The judgment affects visibility, atmosphere, and the whole sense of created order. God permits the realm of darkness to belch forth its imprisoned horrors into the visible world, and the physical environment reflects the spiritual darkness being released.

The comparison to “the smoke of a great furnace” connects this scene with the imagery of fire, judgment, and divine wrath. In Scripture, smoke often accompanies judgment. When God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham saw the smoke of the land rising like the smoke of a furnace.

Genesis 19:28, “And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and behold, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.”

That comparison matters because Revelation 9 is also a judgment scene. The smoke from the pit is not merely atmospheric. It signals that God has opened a terrifying chamber of judgment. The world that rejected the light of God will be subjected to darkness. The world that embraced sin will taste the consequences of rebellion. The world that followed satanic deception will experience demonic torment in a direct and dreadful way.

Out of that smoke, John sees locusts coming upon the earth. These are not ordinary locusts. Natural locusts devour vegetation. These locusts are specifically forbidden from harming the grass, green things, and trees. Their target is not agriculture, but men. Their power is not the chewing devastation of insects, but the tormenting sting of scorpions. The text says, “unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” This means their effect upon mankind is painful, venomous, and agonizing. They are locust like in appearance and swarm like movement, but scorpion like in their power to torment.

The fact that they come from the bottomless pit shows that they are not natural insects. They are best understood as a visual representation of demonic hordes released upon the earth under divine judgment. They are supernatural beings, or demonic instruments of judgment, previously confined and now permitted to descend upon the world. The Bible gives no warrant for identifying them with ordinary political groups, ethnic armies, historical religious movements, or human institutions. They are not heretics, Muslims, Turks, Saracens, Jesuits, monks, Protestants, or any other man made historical category. Such interpretations often reveal more about the interpreter’s historical moment than about the actual text. The plain sense of the passage is that demonic forces are released from the abyss and allowed to torment unbelieving humanity.

This point is strengthened by their abnormal behavior. Revelation 9:4 says, “And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing neither any tree.” This directly separates them from literal locusts. In the Old Testament, locusts were known as a devastating plague because they destroyed crops and stripped the land bare.

Exodus 10:14, “And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.”

Exodus 10:15, “For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.”

The plague of locusts in Egypt destroyed vegetation, but the locusts of Revelation 9 are forbidden to do that. This proves that Revelation 9 is describing something beyond natural insect behavior. The judgment is more personal and more terrifying. Instead of destroying crops, these beings torment people. The target is narrowed by divine command.

Revelation 9:4 says they are permitted to harm “only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” This is a crucial detail. The demonic locusts are not free to attack whomever they choose. They operate under restriction. God marks out those who belong to Him, and the demonic plague cannot touch them. This reflects a repeated biblical truth, God knows how to preserve His own even in the midst of judgment.

Earlier in Revelation, the sealing of the servants of God was clearly stated.

Revelation 7:3, “Saying, Hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”

Revelation 7:4, “And I heard the number of them which were sealed and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”

The sealed servants in Revelation 7 are the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. Revelation 9:4 shows that the seal of God has protective significance. These servants are preserved from this specific torment. It is possible that the protection may include more than the 144,000, depending on how broadly one understands those sealed by God during this period, but the clearest identified group is the 144,000 Jewish servants of God. At minimum, Revelation teaches that those bearing God’s seal are protected, while those without His seal are exposed to this judgment.

This also demonstrates that the fifth trumpet is an inescapable judgment for the unbelieving world. Men may hide from armies, flee from disasters, or attempt to endure famine, but they cannot escape what God permits to come from the abyss. The judgment is selective, supernatural, and controlled by heaven. The demonic locusts cannot harm vegetation. They cannot harm the sealed servants of God. They cannot kill their victims. They can only do what God allows.

The statement, “And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months,” shows both limitation and severity. Their authority is real, but it is not unlimited. God does not allow them to kill. He allows them to torment. The period is also limited, five months. This period may correspond to the normal life cycle or seasonal activity of locusts, but in Revelation the point is theological, God sets the duration. The torment does not continue one day longer than He permits. Even when the abyss is opened, God remains sovereign.

The torment is described “as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.” A scorpion sting can bring severe pain, burning, swelling, distress, and in some cases serious physical effects. Yet scorpion stings are commonly painful without being immediately fatal. That fits the passage. The victims suffer intensely, but they do not die. This is not quick destruction. It is prolonged agony. God uses a torment that exposes the horror of evil without granting the release of death.

The purpose of these judgments is later shown in Revelation 9:20-21, where mankind still refuses to repent.

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:21, “Neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts.”

These verses show that the trumpet judgments are not arbitrary cruelty. They expose rebellion, confront idolatry, and reveal the hardened condition of mankind. Even under horrific judgment, men do not naturally repent unless God’s grace breaks through their rebellion. The judgments of God are righteous. The refusal of man to repent is wicked. Revelation strips away all sentimental ideas about human goodness. Even when men know they are under judgment, many will still cling to demons, idols, murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft.

The phrase “they should be tormented five months” also reminds the reader that God is never out of control. Demons may hate God, hate mankind, and desire destruction, but they are chained to divine permission. They are told who they may harm, what they may not harm, what they may do, what they may not do, and how long they may do it. This is a devastating blow against any idea that Satan or demons are equal opposites of God. They are not. They are creatures, rebellious creatures, dangerous creatures, but still creatures under the sovereign rule of God.

Revelation 9:6 then gives one of the most chilling statements in the chapter, “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” The torment will be so severe that men will seek death as an escape. Yet death will not come. Their bodies will continue. Their pain will continue. Their desire to die will be frustrated. God will not allow death to serve as a doorway out of this judgment.

This is a terrifying reversal. Men often think of death as the final escape. They imagine that if life becomes unbearable, death will end the suffering. Revelation says that during this judgment, death itself will flee from them. They will desire to die, but they will not be able to die. This shows that life and death are in God’s hands, not man’s. A man may despise his life, but he does not control the boundaries of his existence. God gives life, God sustains life, and God appoints the time of death.

Job 14:5, “Seeing his days are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.”

Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I even I am he and there is no god with me I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.”

The people tormented under the fifth trumpet will want death, but God will not permit it. This is not because death is merciful. It is because God’s judgment has a purpose and a duration. Men will be forced to endure the reality of demonic torment without being able to escape into death.

This desire for death is entirely different from the apostle Paul’s desire to depart and be with Christ. Paul could speak of death as gain because he belonged to Christ. For the believer, death is not annihilation, and it is not judgment. It is departure from the body and presence with the Lord.

Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Philippians 1:22, “But if I live in the flesh this is the fruit of my labour yet what I shall choose I wot not.”

Philippians 1:23, “For I am in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better.”

Paul’s desire was holy, hopeful, and Christ centered. He did not despise life in rebellion against God. He knew that continued life meant fruitful service, and death meant being with Christ, which is far better. The tormented unbelievers in Revelation 9 desire death for a completely different reason. They seek death as an escape from judgment, not as entrance into the presence of Christ. For them, death would not bring relief. It would only move them from temporal torment into eternal judgment.

This must be stated plainly, death is not an escape for the unbeliever. Death does not erase guilt. Death does not cancel sin. Death does not move a rebellious soul into peace. The idea that death automatically leads to a better place is one of the most destructive lies Satan has ever promoted. Scripture teaches that after death comes judgment.

Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment.”

For the redeemed, death is swallowed up in victory because Christ has conquered sin, death, and the grave. For the unbeliever, death brings the soul before judgment. That is why the notion of death as escape is a demonic deception. The tormented men in Revelation 9 will want death, but even if death came, it would not deliver them from God. It would bring them closer to final accountability.

This truth has modern relevance because wicked men have often imagined death as a doorway to something better while remaining in rebellion against God. The infamous murderers at Columbine High School, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, left behind statements showing that they imagined their violent acts and deaths in terms of judgment and escape. Dylan Klebold said, “I didn’t like life too much. Just know I am going to a better place than here.” That statement reveals the deadly lie. A person cannot commit murder, reject God, destroy innocent life, and assume death will carry him into peace. That is not biblical hope. That is deception.

The Bible is clear that murder is sin, human life bears the image of God, and no murderer has eternal life abiding in him apart from repentance and saving grace.

Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man.”

1 John 3:15, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

This does not mean murder is beyond the reach of Christ’s blood if there is genuine repentance and faith. The grace of God can save the worst sinner who comes to Christ in truth. But it does mean no man should imagine that death itself cleanses sin. Only the blood of Christ cleanses sin.

1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

The proper response to sin is not self destruction, despair, violence, or fatalism. The proper response is repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now is the time to repent. Now is the time to flee from sin. Now is the time to be restored. During the judgments of Revelation, men will experience terrors that should drive them to repentance, yet many will harden their hearts. That is why the warning must be taken seriously before judgment falls.

Acts 17:30, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”

Acts 17:31, “Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

Revelation 9:2-6 therefore shows a judgment that is literal, demonic, restrained, selective, and terrifying. The bottomless pit is opened. Smoke rises like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and air are darkened. Locust like beings emerge from the smoke. They are given power like scorpions. They are forbidden to harm vegetation. They are permitted to torment only those who lack the seal of God. They cannot kill. They torment for five months. Their victims desire death, but death flees from them.

The theological weight of the passage is severe. God is sovereign over the abyss. God is sovereign over demons. God is sovereign over judgment. God is sovereign over death. The sealed servants of God are protected, while the unbelieving world is exposed. The demonic realm does not bring freedom. It brings torment. Death does not save the unbeliever. Only Christ saves. The fifth trumpet is a warning against sin, idolatry, demonic deception, and false confidence in death as an escape. It calls men to repentance before the day of judgment comes.

3. Revelation 9:7-10, The Appearance of These Locusts

Revelation 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.”

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

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:7-10 gives a terrifying description of the demonic locusts released from the bottomless pit. John does not describe ordinary insects. He describes supernatural beings whose appearance is unnatural, militarized, intelligent, cruel, and tormenting. The repeated use of comparative language is important. John says they were “like unto horses,” their crowns were “like gold,” their faces were “as the faces of men,” their hair was “as the hair of women,” their teeth were “as the teeth of lions,” their breastplates were “as it were breastplates of iron,” their wings sounded “as the sound of chariots,” and their tails were “like unto scorpions.” The repeated use of “like” and “as” shows that John is describing what they resembled, not reducing them to ordinary earthly creatures. He is using the closest earthly comparisons available to describe a demonic reality.

The phrase “And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle” presents them as militant and organized. These are not random insects drifting across the land. They appear like war horses ready for combat. Their movement is aggressive. Their presence is dreadful. Their purpose is hostile. In the ancient world, horses prepared for battle represented power, speed, intimidation, and organized warfare. These locusts are not merely a plague of discomfort. They are an invading force from the abyss. Their form communicates judgment, terror, and assault.

Some have tried to argue that Revelation 9:7-10 is simply a poetic description of natural locusts. It is true that locusts have sometimes been compared to horses in appearance, and some ancient observers used such language. However, that explanation fails to account for the total description and the context. These beings come out of the smoke of the bottomless pit. They are forbidden to eat vegetation. They are commanded to torment men. They have power like scorpions. They are under the authority of the angel of the bottomless pit. Their mission is demonic torment, not agricultural destruction. Therefore, the passage cannot be reduced to natural locusts without doing violence to the context.

The reason Scripture calls them locusts is not because they are ordinary insects, but because they swarm, invade, and devastate like locusts. In the Old Testament, locusts repeatedly appear as instruments of divine judgment. God used literal locusts in Egypt, and He warned Israel that locusts could come as covenant judgment for disobedience. Revelation uses that established biblical imagery, but intensifies it by showing a demonic plague that goes beyond anything seen in ordinary nature.

Exodus 10:4, “Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast.”

Exodus 10:5, “And they shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field.”

Exodus 10:6, “And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.”

Exodus 10:7, “And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?”

Exodus 10:8, “And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God but who are they that shall go?”

Exodus 10:9, “And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.”

Exodus 10:10, “And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones look to it for evil is before you.”

Exodus 10:11, “Not so go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.”

Exodus 10:12, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.”

Exodus 10:13, “And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.”

Exodus 10:14, “And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt very grievous were they before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.”

The plague of locusts in Egypt was a direct judgment from God against Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. It was devastating, public, and undeniable. Revelation 9 draws upon that background, but the fifth trumpet is worse in a different way. The Egyptian locusts devoured vegetation. The locusts from the abyss torment men. The Egyptian plague exposed Pharaoh’s rebellion. The fifth trumpet exposes the rebellion of the unbelieving world during the Tribulation.

Deuteronomy 28:38, “Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but little in for the locust shall consume it.”

This warning in Deuteronomy shows that locusts were covenant instruments of judgment. If Israel rebelled against the Lord, the labor of their hands could be devoured. The field might be planted, but the harvest would be consumed. This established the locust as a biblical symbol of divine chastening and judgment. Revelation takes that familiar symbol and shows a demonic judgment upon the unbelieving world.

1 Kings 8:37, “If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be.”

Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple recognized locusts as one of the judgments God might send upon the land. Locusts belonged in the category of plague, famine, sickness, and enemy oppression. They were not random natural inconveniences when sent by God. They were covenant warnings calling men to humility, prayer, and repentance.

2 Chronicles 7:13, “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people.”

2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

These verses show that God commands judgment and also offers mercy to the repentant. He can shut heaven. He can command locusts. He can send pestilence. Yet He also calls His people to humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from wicked ways. Revelation 9 carries the same moral seriousness. The demonic locusts are not uncontrolled chaos. They are released under divine command as judgment upon a rebellious world.

Joel 1:4, “That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.”

Joel uses locust devastation as an image of overwhelming judgment. The land is stripped in stages, and nothing is left untouched. Revelation 9 intensifies the image by showing not merely crops stripped away, but men tormented. The plague is no longer agricultural only. It is personal, bodily, spiritual, and demonic.

Amos 4:9, “I have smitten you with blasting and mildew when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.”

Amos shows the tragic pattern of judgment without repentance. God struck the people through agricultural disaster, yet they did not return to Him. Revelation 9 follows the same pattern on a larger and more terrifying scale. God allows torment, yet Revelation 9:20-21 later shows that men still refuse to repent. The human heart, apart from grace, does not soften merely because circumstances become severe. Judgment reveals the hardness already present.

The description continues, “and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold.” These crowns do not necessarily mean legitimate kingship. The wording says they were “as it were crowns like gold.” This suggests an appearance of authority, conquest, or victory. They look crowned, but their crowns are not described as true crowns of righteousness or glory. They are mock crowns, terrifying tokens of permitted domination. Their power is real, but temporary. Their authority is delegated, not inherent. They are allowed to torment, but only within God’s boundaries.

The phrase “their faces were as the faces of men” suggests intelligence, personality, and perhaps deceptive familiarity. These beings are not mindless insects. They have faces like men, which may point to rational awareness and demonic cunning. Demons are not impersonal forces. They are personal spiritual beings who think, desire, deceive, fear judgment, and act in rebellion against God. The human like face in this vision makes the plague more disturbing, because the creatures combine insect like swarming, animal ferocity, military strength, and personal intelligence.

The next phrase says, “And they had hair as the hair of women.” This detail has been interpreted in several ways, but the safest approach is to keep it within the total impression of the passage. Their appearance is unnatural and unsettling. The hair may suggest seduction, wildness, beauty corrupted, or an eerie human like quality attached to demonic horror. It contributes to the grotesque mixture John sees. These beings are not cleanly categorized within ordinary creation. They combine features in a way that communicates disorder, terror, and perversion of created beauty.

Their teeth are described “as the teeth of lions.” This communicates ferocity, violence, and predatory cruelty. The lion’s teeth are made for tearing. Even though these beings are not permitted to kill, their appearance communicates savage intent. Their nature is destructive. Their restraint comes from God, not from any mercy within them. If they could kill, they would. If they could go beyond five months, they would. If they could harm the sealed servants of God, they would. But they cannot cross the limits set by divine command.

The lion imagery also fits the broader biblical association of predatory danger. Satan himself is compared to a roaring lion seeking prey.

1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

The locusts from the abyss are not identified as Satan himself, but their lion like teeth fit the predatory character of the demonic realm. Satan and his forces do not seek man’s good. They seek deception, destruction, torment, and ruin. Revelation strips away the lie that the occult, demonic spirituality, or rebellion against God offers enlightenment. The powers of darkness are not liberators. They are devourers.

John then says, “And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron.” The breastplate suggests protection and battle readiness. Iron communicates strength, hardness, and resistance. These creatures appear armored. They are not fragile pests easily crushed by human effort. They come as a supernatural army. Their breastplates reinforce the military character already introduced by the comparison to horses prepared for battle. They are organized for assault and protected for their mission.

The sound of their wings is described “as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.” This is one of the most dreadful details in the description. John hears them coming like an army rushing into combat. The sound is overwhelming. It suggests terror before contact, dread before the sting, and panic as the swarm approaches. In the ancient world, the sound of many chariots and horses running into battle would have created fear and helplessness. It meant an army was coming with force, speed, and violence. These demonic locusts bring that same sense of unstoppable advance.

This sound also connects with Old Testament battle imagery where armies are compared to locusts and horses. Joel gives a powerful description of a locust like army.

Joel 2:4, “The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses and as horsemen, so shall they run.”

Joel 2:5, “Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.”

Joel’s imagery helps explain Revelation 9. The locusts are horse like, battle like, and terrifying in sound. Revelation does not require the reader to imagine ordinary insects. It presents a supernatural army whose appearance draws from established prophetic language. The fifth trumpet is a demonic invasion under divine restraint.

John then says, “And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails.” This brings the description back to their actual function. They may look in part like war horses, crowned invaders, human faced beings, women haired figures, lion toothed predators, iron armored warriors, and winged chariot armies, but their tormenting power is in their scorpion like tails. The sting is the instrument of pain. Their mission is not to kill, but to hurt. Their power is not merely to frighten, but to torment.

The verse concludes, “and their power was to hurt men five months.” This repeats the limitation already given in Revelation 9:5. The repetition is important. God wants the reader to understand that their power is real, but bounded. They can hurt men, but they cannot kill them. They can torment, but only for five months. They can attack those without the seal of God, but they cannot harm those whom God protects. Their power is dreadful, but it is not sovereign. The Lord remains sovereign over the entire judgment.

This is where speculative interpretations must be handled carefully. Some have suggested that these locusts represent helicopter gunships, modern aircraft, advanced military technology, or the weapons of the Antichrist’s empire. Those suggestions may seem interesting because John describes wings, armor, battle sounds, and torment. However, they remain speculative and do not fit all the details. Helicopters do not come from the bottomless pit. Aircraft are not commanded to avoid vegetation while tormenting only unsealed men. Machines do not have a king over them identified as the angel of the bottomless pit in the next verse. The text points to supernatural demonic beings, not merely human technology.

The repeated comparative language also warns against wooden over identification. John is not saying they are horses, men, women, lions, scorpions, or chariots. He is saying they are like these things in certain respects. The total picture is one of unnatural and awesome cruelty. Their appearance communicates military power, false authority, intelligence, seduction, ferocity, protection, terrifying movement, and tormenting venom. No single earthly creature can account for the full description. The vision is intentionally monstrous because the beings themselves are demonic.

One explanation worth considering is that God may allow imprisoned demonic spirits to manifest in bodies suitable to their wicked nature. This would explain why they are not merely invisible spirits and not merely natural insects. They appear as embodied instruments of torment, fitted for their role in judgment. Scripture shows that demons desire embodiment and activity in the physical realm. In the Gospels, demons possessed men, and in one case requested permission to enter swine.

Mark 5:11, “Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.”

Mark 5:12, “And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.”

Mark 5:13, “And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, they were about two thousand and were choked in the sea.”

That passage shows both demonic desire for embodiment and Christ’s absolute authority over them. They could not enter the swine without permission. Likewise, the demonic locusts in Revelation 9 cannot emerge from the abyss without permission. They cannot torment without permission. They cannot continue beyond the appointed time. The Lord’s sovereignty over demons is total.

At the same time, the exact mechanics of this plague are not fully revealed. We can say with confidence that the plague is demonic, unprecedented, tormenting, and governed by God. We should be cautious about claiming more than the text gives. The identity and nature of these beings are described through symbols and comparisons, but the full reality will not be known until the prophecy is fulfilled. The interpreter should neither reduce the passage to ordinary locusts nor force it into modern military technology. The safest conclusion is that, immediately before the end, the wicked will be subjected to a period of unprecedented demonic torment.

The passage also teaches that evil is hideous when God allows its true character to be seen. Sin often disguises itself as pleasure, freedom, enlightenment, or personal autonomy. The demonic realm often presents itself through deception. But Revelation 9 pulls the mask away. The forces of darkness are grotesque, cruel, predatory, and tormenting. Their beauty is corrupted. Their authority is counterfeit. Their intelligence is wicked. Their strength is hostile. Their sting is agony. This is what rebellion against God ultimately serves.

The fact that these beings hurt men for five months also connects this description back to the moral purpose of the trumpet judgments. God is giving the rebellious world a foretaste of the horror of demonic dominion. Men who reject the rule of Christ will learn what the rule of darkness brings. Yet even this torment is restrained. God does not yet cast them into final judgment. He allows a period of suffering that should drive men to repentance. The tragedy is that many will still refuse to repent.

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:21, “Neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts.”

The description of the locusts therefore serves more than visual curiosity. It reveals the nature of the judgment, the nature of demons, the sovereignty of God, and the hardness of man. These creatures are terrifying, but they are still servants of judgment under divine limitation. They reveal that the abyss is real, demonic powers are real, divine restraint is real, and coming judgment is real.

The fifth trumpet should sober every reader. It shows that God can remove restraint and allow wickedness to experience the terror of the powers it has followed. It shows that the demonic realm is not a fantasy, nor is it harmless. It shows that spiritual rebellion has consequences that are not merely inward or symbolic, but bodily, historical, and eschatological. Most importantly, it shows that safety is found only under the authority and seal of God. The world without God’s protection is exposed, vulnerable, and unable to deliver itself.

4. Revelation 9:11, The Leader of These Locusts

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:11 gives another decisive reason these creatures should not be understood as ordinary natural locusts. John says, “And they had a king over them.” This directly separates them from literal locusts, because Scripture specifically says that natural locusts have no king, even though they move with remarkable order.

Proverbs 30:27, “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.”

Proverbs 30:27 shows the wisdom of God in creation. Literal locusts do not require a king to move in organized swarms. They operate according to the instincts God placed within them. But the locusts in Revelation 9 are different. They have a king. They are not merely insects. They are organized under a personal ruler. This reinforces the conclusion that they are demonic beings, or demonic instruments of judgment, released from the abyss under the authority of a wicked angelic leader.

The phrase “the angel of the bottomless pit” identifies their king as an angelic being connected to the abyss. He is not an ordinary earthly ruler. He is not merely a human military commander. He is not a political figure described in poetic language. He is the angel of the bottomless pit. His realm is the abyss, his subjects are the demonic locusts, and his work is destruction. This is a supernatural ruler over a supernatural plague.

The name given to him confirms his character. John says, “whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” The Hebrew name Abaddon and the Greek name Apollyon carry the idea of destruction, ruin, or the destroyer. This name is not accidental. In Scripture, names often reveal character, office, or function. This being is associated with destruction because destruction is his nature and work. He rules over a demonic plague that brings torment upon men, and his very name declares the ruin connected to him.

The Old Testament uses the word Abaddon in association with destruction, death, and the unseen realm.

Job 26:6, “Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.”

Job 28:22, “Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.”

Job 31:12, “For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase.”

Psalm 88:11, “Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?”

Proverbs 15:11, “Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?”

These passages show that destruction is associated with death, judgment, and the realm hidden from ordinary human sight. Yet Proverbs 15:11 is especially important because it states that “Hell and destruction are before the LORD.” Even the realm of destruction is not outside God’s knowledge or power. The abyss, its angel, and its demonic inhabitants are fully exposed before the Lord. Nothing in the kingdom of darkness operates beyond His sight.

The Greek name Apollyon means destroyer. This also fits Satan’s work more broadly. From the beginning, Satan has been a murderer and a liar. He destroys through deception, rebellion, idolatry, accusation, temptation, and death. Jesus described the devil’s character plainly.

John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

The destroyer’s work is always opposed to God’s truth and God’s life. Whether Revelation 9:11 refers directly to Satan himself or to another high ranking demonic ruler under Satan, the character is the same. This is a leader of destruction. He is not a misunderstood spiritual force. He is not a symbol of human psychology. He is not a mythological image detached from reality. He is a wicked angelic being associated with the abyss and the tormenting demonic army released during the fifth trumpet.

There is a reasonable question as to whether the angel of the bottomless pit is Satan himself or another high ranking demonic being. The text does not explicitly say, “This is Satan.” Therefore, caution is needed. However, the description certainly points toward a major ruler in the demonic hierarchy. He is king over the abyssal locusts. He bears the name Destroyer. He is directly connected to the bottomless pit. That makes him either Satan himself or one of the chief demonic powers under Satan’s authority.

Scripture teaches that the demonic realm has ranks and rulers. Satan is called the prince of the power of the air, and there are principalities and powers in the unseen realm.

Ephesians 2:2, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”

Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

These verses show that demonic evil is organized. It is not random. There are ranks, rulers, powers, and authorities in the kingdom of darkness. Revelation 9:11 fits that biblical framework. The demonic locusts have a king, and that king is a destructive angelic ruler connected to the abyss.

This is also why the passage should not be interpreted as merely describing human armies or political movements. Human rulers may be influenced by demonic powers, but Revelation 9:11 identifies the king of these locusts as “the angel of the bottomless pit.” That is not ordinary political language. The fifth trumpet reaches into the unseen realm and reveals a demonic chain of command. The torment on earth is connected to spiritual wickedness beneath the surface of human history.

At the same time, the presence of this demonic king does not mean he is sovereign. He rules over the locusts, but he does not rule over God. His army is released only after the key to the bottomless pit is given. His subjects can torment only those whom God permits. Their time is limited to five months. Their power is limited to hurting rather than killing. Their target is limited to those without the seal of God. Every part of this judgment is governed by divine restraint.

This matters because men often misunderstand the devil and demonic powers. Some deny their existence altogether. Others exaggerate them into near equals with God. Scripture does neither. The Bible presents Satan and demons as real, intelligent, wicked, dangerous, and destructive. But it also presents them as created beings under the absolute sovereignty of God. They are powerful compared to man, but they are nothing compared to the Lord.

Colossians 1:16, “For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him.”

Colossians 1:17, “And he is before all things and by him all things consist.”

All invisible powers, including angelic beings, were created by Christ and remain subject to Him. Even fallen powers cannot exist apart from His sustaining authority. The king of the abyss may be called Destroyer, but he is still a creature. He can destroy only where God permits, and he will ultimately be judged.

The name Abaddon or Apollyon also highlights the moral nature of Satanic rule. God’s rule brings life, order, holiness, truth, and righteousness. Satanic rule brings ruin, torment, deception, and death. During the Tribulation, the unbelieving world will increasingly align itself with the kingdom of darkness. Revelation 9 shows what that kingdom truly offers. It does not bring freedom. It brings destruction. It does not bring enlightenment. It brings darkness. It does not bring peace. It brings torment. The ruler of this abyssal army is rightly named Destroyer.

This verse also exposes the foolishness of flirting with the demonic realm. Men sometimes treat occultism, idolatry, sorcery, and demonic spirituality as harmless curiosity or forbidden excitement. Revelation shows the end of that road. The demonic realm is not man’s friend. Its king is a destroyer. Its army torments. Its power is cruel. Its nature is ruin. The only safety is found under the authority of God and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

For believers, Revelation 9:11 should not create fear of demonic powers, but sober confidence in God’s rule. The same Lord who seals His servants also governs the abyss. The same Christ who holds the keys of hell and death also limits the activity of demonic beings. The fifth trumpet is horrifying, but it is not outside the control of God. The destroyer is not free to do as he pleases. He is under judgment, and his final end is already written.

Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

If Abaddon is Satan, then Revelation 20:10 declares his final destiny. If Abaddon is another high ranking demonic ruler, the same principle still applies. The kingdom of darkness will not endure. Its rulers will not escape. Its tormentors will themselves be judged. God’s judgment is certain, and His victory is absolute.

5. Revelation 9:12, The Worst Is Yet to Come

Revelation 9:12, “One woe is past and behold there come two woes more hereafter.”

Revelation 9:12 serves as a solemn transition. The fifth trumpet, with all its terror, is only the first woe. The verse says, “One woe is past.” This means the demonic locust plague has run its appointed course. The five months of torment are completed. The first of the three final trumpet woes has passed. Yet the verse immediately warns, “and behold there come two woes more hereafter.”

The word “behold” demands attention. The reader must not relax after the fifth trumpet. The judgments are not finished. The suffering already described is dreadful, but worse judgments are still coming. This is one of the most sobering features of Revelation. Judgment intensifies. The warnings become more severe. The rebellion of man becomes more exposed. The patience of God is real, but so is the certainty of His wrath.

The fifth trumpet brought torment without death. The following woe will bring death on a massive scale. Revelation 9:12 therefore functions like a warning siren in the middle of the chapter. It tells the reader that the horrors of the abyssal locusts are not the end of the matter. The world is moving deeper into judgment.

The phrase “two woes more hereafter” also reminds the reader that these events are ordered. They are not vague symbols of general trouble. They are specific judgments within the prophetic structure of the trumpet sequence. Heaven announced three woes after the fourth trumpet, and Revelation now marks the first as completed.

Revelation 8:13, “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice Woe, woe, woe to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound.”

Revelation 8:13 announced three woes connected to the final three trumpets. Revelation 9:12 confirms that the first woe has passed and that two still remain. This reinforces the structure of the passage. God is moving through an announced sequence of judgment. Nothing is accidental. Nothing is improvised. The trumpet judgments unfold according to divine decree.

Theologically, Revelation 9:12 teaches that judgment should never be treated lightly. If men refuse to repent under one judgment, worse judgment may follow. The proper response to divine warning is not delay, hardness, or presumption. The proper response is repentance. Yet Revelation shows that the unbelieving world does not respond rightly. Even after demonic torment and catastrophic death, mankind continues in idolatry, murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft.

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:21, “Neither repented they of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts.”

This is one of the clearest demonstrations of human depravity in Revelation. Severe judgment by itself does not regenerate the heart. Men can suffer under the hand of God and still refuse to bow. Men can know that judgment is falling and still cling to their sins. Apart from grace, the human heart does not naturally surrender. It hardens itself further.

Revelation 9:12 also presses the urgency of the gospel. If one woe can be so terrible, and two more still remain, then no man should presume upon time. The world is not moving toward man made utopia. It is moving toward the day of the Lord, the return of Christ, and the final judgment of rebellion. The only secure refuge is Christ Himself.

John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

The fifth trumpet exposes the horror of demonic torment, but Revelation 9:12 warns that more judgment is coming. The unbelieving world will not be able to say it was not warned. God announces judgment before it comes. God marks its sequence. God limits its duration. God protects His sealed servants. God gives space for repentance. Yet when men reject His mercy, they face His wrath.

B. The Sixth Trumpet, An Army of Destruction

1. Revelation 9:13, A Voice from the Altar

Revelation 9:13, “And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.”

The sixth trumpet begins when “the sixth angel sounded.” This follows the first woe of the fifth trumpet, where demonic locusts from the bottomless pit tormented men for five months but were not permitted to kill them. The sixth trumpet intensifies the judgment. The fifth trumpet brought torment. The sixth trumpet brings death on a massive scale. Revelation 9:13 introduces this judgment not by first describing the army, but by drawing attention to a voice from the golden altar before God. This is important because the judgment about to unfold is connected with heaven, worship, prayer, and divine justice.

John says, “I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.” The golden altar points back to the altar of incense in the tabernacle and temple. In Israel’s worship, the altar of incense stood before the veil, near the presence of God, and incense was offered upon it continually. The incense represented the prayers of God’s people rising before the Lord. This means the sixth trumpet is introduced in connection with prayer. Judgment on earth is connected to intercession in heaven. The prayers of the saints are not ignored. God hears them, remembers them, and answers them according to His perfect timing.

Exodus 30:1, “And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.”

Exodus 30:2, “A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.”

Exodus 30:3, “And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.”

Exodus 30:6, “And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.”

Exodus 30:7, “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.”

Exodus 30:8, “And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.”

The altar of incense was not an ordinary piece of furniture. It was placed before the veil, close to the ark of the testimony and the mercy seat. It stood in the place associated with access, mediation, prayer, and worship. The priest burned incense there morning and evening. This continual incense pointed to the continual need for prayer and communion with God. In Revelation, the heavenly altar shows that the prayers of God’s people are present before Him in the final drama of judgment.

Revelation has already connected incense with the prayers of the saints.

Revelation 5:8, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.”

Revelation 8:3, “And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.”

Revelation 8:4, “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”

Revelation 8:5, “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”

These verses show that prayer is not passive. The prayers of the saints ascend before God, and judgment proceeds from the altar. Revelation 8:5 shows fire from the altar cast into the earth, followed by voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Revelation 9:13 continues that theme. A voice comes from the four horns of the golden altar, commanding the release of judgment. God’s people may seem weak on earth, but their prayers are weighty in heaven. Their cries for justice, vindication, deliverance, and the coming kingdom are heard by God.

The mention of “the four horns of the golden altar” also matters. The horns stood at the four corners of the altar. In Scripture, horns often symbolize strength, power, and authority. On the altar, they were also associated with blood atonement. Blood was applied to the horns of the altar in the sacrificial system. This connects the altar not only with prayer, but also with atonement, mediation, and judgment.

Exodus 30:10, “And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.”

Leviticus 16:18, “And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.”

The horns of the altar were marked by atoning blood. This points ultimately to the finished work of Christ, whose blood alone provides true and final cleansing from sin. In Revelation 9:13, the voice comes from the four horns of the golden altar. That location reminds the reader that judgment is not detached from holiness. God’s wrath proceeds from the same heavenly reality where prayer, atonement, and worship are known. The God who saves by blood also judges sin in righteousness.

This is especially important in Revelation because the martyred saints have already cried out for God to judge and avenge their blood.

Revelation 6:9, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.”

Revelation 6:10, “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

Revelation 6:11, “And white robes were given unto every one of them and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

The voice from the golden altar in Revelation 9:13 should be understood in light of this repeated altar theme. The prayers of the saints, especially the cries of the persecuted and martyred, are not forgotten. God’s delay is not indifference. He acts in His appointed time. When the sixth trumpet sounds, judgment proceeds in answer to heavenly authority, and the altar reminds the reader that God’s judgments are bound to His holiness, His covenant faithfulness, and His response to the prayers of His people.

2. Revelation 9:14-15, The Angels and Their Mission

Revelation 9:14, “Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”

Revelation 9:15, “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.”

The voice from the four horns of the golden altar gives a command to the sixth angel who had the trumpet. The command is direct, “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.” These four angels are bound, which strongly suggests they are evil angels. Holy angels are not normally described as bound in restraint. Scripture does describe certain fallen angels as bound because of grave rebellion.

2 Peter 2:4, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”

Jude 1:6, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

These passages show that some fallen angels have been confined. While many demonic powers remain active in the world, some terrible offenders have been bound for judgment. Revelation 9:14 describes four angels who are bound at the Euphrates, then released at the appointed moment to execute a massive judgment. Whether they are the same class of confined angels mentioned in 2 Peter and Jude, or a specific group bound for this particular judgment, the point is clear. They are restrained until God commands their release.

This also distinguishes them from the four angels in Revelation 7:1. Those angels held back the four winds of the earth until the servants of God were sealed. Revelation 9:14 does not require these to be the same four angels. The number four appears in both passages, but the missions are different. The angels in Revelation 7 restrain judgment. The angels in Revelation 9 are released to bring death. Therefore, they may be the same, but there is no necessary connection. It is more natural to see Revelation 9 as describing a separate group of bound angels prepared for a specific act of judgment.

Revelation 7:1, “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.”

Revelation 7:2, “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea.”

Revelation 7:3, “Saying, Hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.”

The four angels in Revelation 7 are involved in restraining harm until God’s servants are sealed. The four angels in Revelation 9 are bound at the Euphrates until the exact time of their release. The common theme is divine control. Angels, whether restraining judgment or executing judgment, act only under God’s authority.

The statement “which are bound in the great river Euphrates” is significant. The Euphrates is not a minor geographical detail. It is one of the great rivers of biblical history and prophecy. It is tied to Eden, early human civilization, Babylon, rebellion, empire, and the boundaries of Israel’s promised inheritance. The fact that these angels are bound at the Euphrates shows that the sixth trumpet judgment is connected to a region with deep biblical significance.

The Euphrates appears in the description of the garden region in Genesis.

Genesis 2:10, “And a river went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.”

Genesis 2:11, “The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.”

Genesis 2:12, “And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.”

Genesis 2:13, “And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.”

Genesis 2:14, “And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.”

The Euphrates is mentioned in connection with the earliest geography of man. While the Flood would have greatly altered the world’s surface, the biblical association remains important. The region of the Euphrates is tied to the earliest biblical world, and later it becomes associated with the rise of rebellion, empire, and false worship.

The Euphrates region is also connected with the early movement of sinful mankind eastward after the fall. Cain, after murdering Abel, went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Genesis 4:8, “And Cain talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”

Genesis 4:16, “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.”

While Genesis 4:16 does not name the Euphrates directly, the movement eastward from Eden contributes to the broader biblical pattern of man’s departure from God and the development of civilization in rebellion. The first murder came early in human history, and the region east of Eden becomes associated with alienation from God’s presence.

The Euphrates region is also tied to Babel, the first great organized revolt against God after the Flood. In Genesis 11, mankind gathered in Shinar to build a city and tower in defiance of God’s command to fill the earth.

Genesis 11:1, “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.”

Genesis 11:2, “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they dwelt there.”

Genesis 11:3, “And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly and they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.”

Genesis 11:4, “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

Genesis 11:5, “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.”

Genesis 11:6, “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language and this they begin to do and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

Genesis 11:7, “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Genesis 11:8, “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth and they left off to build the city.”

Genesis 11:9, “Therefore is the name of it called Babel because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

Babel represents organized human rebellion against God. It was man’s attempt to build unity, identity, and security apart from obedience to the Lord. It was religious, political, and cultural rebellion combined. The Euphrates and Babylonian region therefore carry the memory of man’s organized defiance against God. Revelation later uses Babylon as the great symbol of corrupt world religion, economic arrogance, political rebellion, and persecution of God’s people.

The Euphrates region is also associated with early empire and dictatorship through Nimrod.

Genesis 10:8, “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.”

Genesis 10:9, “He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.”

Genesis 10:10, “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”

Nimrod’s kingdom began in Babel, in the land of Shinar. This is the beginning of organized kingdom power in rebellion against God. The phrase “before the LORD” likely carries the sense of defiance before the face of the Lord, not humble service. Nimrod becomes a prototype of the rebellious empire builder. The Euphrates region is therefore associated not only with geography, but with the spiritual pattern of man gathering power against God.

The Euphrates region is also tied to early war confederation.

Genesis 14:1, “And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations.”

Genesis 14:2, “That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.”

Genesis 14 describes organized kings making war. This is the first war confederation recorded in Scripture. The mention of Shinar again ties the early history of organized conflict to the same broader Mesopotamian and Babylonian world. Revelation 9’s reference to the Euphrates therefore carries a heavy biblical background. It is a region tied to early sin, murder, rebellion, empire, war, and false human unity apart from God.

The Euphrates also marks the frontier of the land promised to Abraham. God promised Abraham’s descendants land extending to the great river Euphrates.

Genesis 15:17, “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.”

Genesis 15:18, “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.”

Genesis 15:19, “The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites.”

Genesis 15:20, “And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims.”

Genesis 15:21, “And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

This promise is important in a dispensational reading of Scripture. The land promise to Abraham is not erased or spiritualized into the church. God made covenant promises to Abraham and his seed, and the Euphrates is named as a boundary. Revelation’s mention of the Euphrates reminds the reader that the geography of the end times is tied to the same covenantal and prophetic world of the Old Testament. God’s dealings with Israel, the nations, Babylon, and the land are not accidental.

Historically, the Euphrates was also connected to imperial boundaries. It functioned as a major frontier in the ancient Near East and later marked an eastern boundary of Roman influence. In prophetic interpretation, this has significance because the final world empire of the Antichrist is often understood as a revived form of Roman power. While one must be careful not to build doctrine on speculation, the Euphrates is plainly a prophetic marker in Revelation. It appears again later in connection with end time military movement.

Revelation 16:12, “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”

The Euphrates is therefore not incidental. It is a boundary, a historical marker, a prophetic landmark, and a region loaded with biblical meaning. Revelation 9:14 says four bound angels are located there, and Revelation 16:12 later shows the Euphrates involved in the preparation for end time movements of kings. God’s prophetic word is geographically serious. The Bible does not present prophecy as floating symbolism detached from real places.

Revelation 9:15 then says, “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year.” This is one of the strongest statements of divine timing in the passage. These angels are not released at a vague season. They are prepared for an exact moment. The wording stacks time categories together, hour, day, month, and year. This shows precision. God has appointed the exact time of their release.

This should be read carefully. The four angels are bound, prepared, and released. Their activity is not spontaneous. It is not random demonic chaos. It is not Satan deciding independently to advance his own timetable. They are released when God’s appointed moment arrives. Even wicked angels unknowingly serve the purposes of God. They may intend destruction out of hatred, but God uses their release as judicial judgment upon a rebellious world.

This same truth is seen throughout Scripture. God can use wicked nations, wicked rulers, and wicked spiritual powers to accomplish judgment, while still holding them responsible for their evil. The Lord used Assyria as the rod of His anger, but then judged Assyria for its pride.

Isaiah 10:5, “O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.”

Isaiah 10:6, “I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”

Isaiah 10:7, “Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.”

Assyria acted wickedly, yet God used Assyria in judgment. Likewise, the four angels of Revelation 9 may be evil angels, but they are still servants of divine purpose. They execute judgment only because God permits it, only when God appoints it, and only to the extent God allows.

The mission of these four angels is severe. Revelation 9:15 says they are released “for to slay the third part of men.” This marks a major escalation from the fifth trumpet. The demonic locusts were not allowed to kill. These four angels are released to kill a third of mankind. This is catastrophic beyond ordinary imagination. A third of the human population dies under this judgment.

This is not symbolic discomfort or spiritual anxiety. This is death on a massive scale. The text says “to slay the third part of men.” The judgment is global in consequence, though it is connected to the Euphrates in its release point. The scale is staggering. Earlier in Revelation, under the fourth seal, authority was given over a fourth part of the earth to kill.

Revelation 6:8, “And I looked, and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Now, under the sixth trumpet, a third of mankind is slain. Revelation presents intensifying judgment. The longer the rebellion continues, the more severe the judgments become. Yet even in this, God is measured. He does not kill all mankind. He judges a third. This is severe judgment, but it is still not final judgment. There remains testimony, warning, and opportunity for repentance, though many will still refuse.

The four angels have a specific sphere of activity. They are released to kill a third of mankind, not more and not less. This again shows divine limitation. The same God who permits judgment also sets its boundary. The angels do not choose the percentage. They do not expand their mission. They are released for the exact purpose God has ordained.

This passage also reinforces the reality of spiritual warfare. The modern mind often wants to reduce evil to social causes, psychological dysfunction, political systems, or economic pressure. Those things may be involved in human sin, but Scripture goes deeper. There are real principalities and powers behind the visible world. The sixth trumpet shows angelic forces unleashed in judgment, and their activity results in death on earth.

Ephesians 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Revelation 9:14-15 unveils that reality in terrifying form. The unseen realm is real. Angelic powers are real. Demonic powers are real. Divine restraint is real. End time judgment is real. The sixth trumpet is not merely a political crisis. It is a supernatural judgment that manifests in massive death among mankind.

The voice from the altar, the release of the four bound angels, the location at the Euphrates, and the exact timing all show that God rules over history with absolute precision. The world may appear chaotic, but heaven is not confused. God knows the hour, the day, the month, and the year. He knows the boundaries of nations. He knows the location of bound angels. He knows the prayers of His people. He knows the sins of mankind. He knows when judgment must fall.

Theologically, this should produce reverence. God’s patience should not be mistaken for weakness. His delay should not be mistaken for forgetfulness. His restraint should not be mistaken for inability. When the appointed time comes, the voice from the altar commands, the sixth angel acts, the bound angels are released, and judgment falls exactly as God decreed.

3. Revelation 9:16-19, Description of the Army Led by These Angels

Revelation 9:16, “And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.”

Revelation 9:17, “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.”

Revelation 9:18, “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.”

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:16-19 describes the army connected with the four angels released at the great river Euphrates. The four angels were prepared for a specific hour, day, month, and year, and their purpose was to slay the third part of mankind. Now John is shown the instrument of that judgment, an army of horsemen numbering “two hundred thousand thousand.” In modern terms, this is two hundred million. John emphasizes the number by saying, “and I heard the number of them.” This detail matters because John does not appear to be estimating the number by sight. He hears the number given. The number is revealed to him.

The question often raised is whether this number should be taken literally or symbolically. Some interpreters understand the number as symbolic, meaning an army so vast that it is beyond ordinary human comprehension. In that view, “two hundred thousand thousand” communicates overwhelming size rather than an exact head count. There is some reason people argue that way, because Revelation often uses numbers with symbolic weight. However, the fact that John specifically says, “I heard the number of them,” gives weight to the idea that the number is intended to be taken seriously. A literal reading does not require embarrassment here. If God says the number is two hundred million, then the safest starting point is that the number means what it says.

At the same time, the nature of this army must be examined carefully. Is this a natural human army, a supernatural demonic army, or a prophetic description of modern mechanized warfare in terms John could understand? These are the main possibilities. A human army of two hundred million would be unprecedented in ancient history and still staggering in modern terms. The combined armies on both sides at the height of the Second World War are often estimated far below that number. Even modern states with enormous populations would find such a force difficult to assemble, supply, move, and employ. It is not absolutely impossible in an end time world under extreme conditions, but the details of the passage push the reader beyond an ordinary human army.

John says, “And thus I saw the horses in the vision.” That phrase reminds us that this is visionary prophecy. John sees horses and riders, but the description is grotesque, unnatural, and terrifying. The riders have “breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone.” The colors correspond to the plagues that come from the horses, fire, smoke, and brimstone. Fire suggests burning judgment. Jacinth, often understood as a dark blue or smoky blue color, corresponds to smoke. Brimstone suggests sulfur, the yellowish substance associated with burning judgment. The colors themselves reinforce the destructive nature of the army.

The use of fire and brimstone has deep biblical associations with divine judgment. God rained brimstone and fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Genesis 19:24, “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven.”

Genesis 19:25, “And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.”

That judgment was literal, historical, and devastating. It became a standing biblical example of God’s wrath against wickedness. Revelation uses the same language of fire and brimstone to show the severity of end time judgment. This is not mild correction. It is catastrophic divine wrath.

Fire and brimstone are also connected with final punishment.

Revelation 14:10, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”

Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

The sixth trumpet is not the lake of fire, but its imagery anticipates final judgment. Fire, smoke, and brimstone are signs of divine wrath, destruction, and torment. The army in Revelation 9 becomes an instrument through which these plagues kill a third of mankind.

John says, “the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions.” This description communicates ferocity, violence, and predatory terror. Lions are powerful, dangerous, and destructive predators. In Revelation 9, the horse heads are not normal horse heads. They are lion like. This is another reason the army appears supernatural or at least symbolically described in deeply unnatural terms. The army is not merely large. It is horrifying.

The horses’ mouths issue “fire and smoke and brimstone.” The destructive power comes from their mouths. Verse 18 explains the result, “By these three was the third part of men killed.” The three plagues are fire, smoke, and brimstone. These are not merely frightening visual features. They are lethal. Through them, a third of mankind dies. This is the stated mission of the four released angels, and the army carries it out.

The scale of this judgment is almost beyond comprehension. Earlier in Revelation, the fourth seal gave power over a fourth part of the earth to kill.

Revelation 6:8, “And I looked, and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Now, under the sixth trumpet, a third part of mankind is killed. If taken at face value in relation to the global population living at that time, the death toll would be staggering. It would be one of the most devastating judgments ever experienced by mankind. The fifth trumpet tormented men without killing them. The sixth trumpet kills on a scale that no ordinary war has matched.

The verse says, “by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths.” The mouth imagery is important. The source of destruction is not merely the riders, but the horses themselves. Their power is strange and unnatural. It does not fit ordinary cavalry. Ancient horses did not breathe fire, smoke, and brimstone. Modern weapons may produce fire, smoke, and explosive destruction, which is why some interpreters have suggested that John is describing modern mechanized warfare, perhaps tanks, aircraft, missiles, or other military technology using the only language available to him. That possibility is understandable as an attempt to reconcile the imagery with modern warfare.

However, while the modern warfare view is interesting, it remains speculative. The passage does not say these are machines. It says John saw horses in the vision. The horses have lion like heads, destructive mouths, and serpent like tails with heads. Their power is in both mouth and tail. These features do not fit modern mechanized equipment neatly. One can force comparisons, but they do not account for all the details. The text itself is more naturally read as describing a supernatural army associated with demonic judgment, especially because the same chapter has already described demonic locusts from the bottomless pit.

The description in Revelation 9:19 strengthens the supernatural interpretation. John says, “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.” These horses have serpent like tails, and the tails have heads. This is grotesque and demonic imagery. The mouth kills with fire, smoke, and brimstone. The tail harms like a serpent. The army is deadly from front and rear. Everything about it communicates unnatural destruction.

Serpent imagery immediately recalls Satanic deception and danger from the beginning of Scripture.

Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

The serpent like tails in Revelation 9:19 therefore contribute to the demonic atmosphere of the passage. The army is associated with deception, poison, harm, and Satanic ruin. These are not noble warriors. They are instruments of judgment and destruction.

The safest interpretation is that this is a literal army of two hundred million, but supernatural and demonic in character. This continues the flow of Revelation 9. The fifth trumpet released demonic locusts from the abyss to torment men. The sixth trumpet releases four bound angels at the Euphrates, and an immense army brings death to a third of mankind. The chapter consistently opens the unseen demonic realm and shows God allowing restrained powers of darkness to become instruments of judgment.

This does not mean every detail can be exhaustively explained before fulfillment. John saw what God revealed. He described it faithfully using the language given to him. Some details may only become fully clear when the prophecy unfolds in history. The interpreter should be cautious, but not evasive. The army is vast. The description is grotesque. The destruction is literal and massive. The association is demonic. The timing is appointed by God. The result is the death of a third of mankind.

The phrase “I heard the number of them” also warns against reducing the passage to vague symbolism. John was given a number because God wanted the scale known. The sixth trumpet judgment will be vast beyond ordinary military history. Whether the number functions as a precise count or as a divinely revealed number communicating an army beyond human comparison, the effect is the same, mankind faces an overwhelming judgment from which it cannot deliver itself.

This army also reveals that when God removes restraint, human civilization cannot protect itself from the powers of judgment. Technology, military power, government systems, wealth, medicine, communication networks, and human planning cannot stop what God releases. The world may believe itself advanced, but Revelation shows that mankind remains vulnerable before the throne of God. When the appointed hour arrives, the forces of judgment move, and man cannot negotiate his way out of divine wrath.

4. Revelation 9:20-21, The Response of Man

Revelation 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.”

Revelation 9:21, “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

Revelation 9:20-21 gives one of the most sobering responses in the entire chapter. After demonic torment from the fifth trumpet and mass death from the sixth trumpet, the survivors still do not repent. The text says, “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not.” This means that overwhelming signs, terrifying judgments, supernatural plagues, and mass death do not automatically produce repentance. Men may tremble under judgment and still cling to sin. They may suffer terribly and still refuse to bow before God.

This passage destroys the sentimental idea that mankind is basically good and only needs better circumstances. Under the judgments of Revelation, circumstances become unbearable, but the human heart remains hard. Men see the consequences of rebellion, yet they refuse repentance. They survive plagues that should drive them to their knees, but they continue in idolatry, demon worship, murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft. Judgment exposes what is already in the heart.

The phrase “the works of their hands” points especially to idolatry. Men make idols, then bow before what they have made. This is spiritual insanity. The creature makes an object from gold, silver, brass, stone, or wood, then treats that object as though it has divine power. Scripture repeatedly mocks the stupidity and wickedness of idolatry. Idols cannot see, hear, walk, speak, save, or judge. Yet fallen man still worships them because idolatry is not mainly an intellectual problem. It is a moral and spiritual rebellion.

Psalm 115:4, “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.”

Psalm 115:5, “They have mouths, but they speak not eyes have they, but they see not.”

Psalm 115:6, “They have ears, but they hear not noses have they, but they smell not.”

Psalm 115:7, “They have hands, but they handle not feet have they, but they walk not neither speak they through their throat.”

Psalm 115:8, “They that make them are like unto them so is every one that trusteth in them.”

This passage from Psalm 115 directly parallels Revelation 9:20. Idols are the work of men’s hands. They have features, but no life. They are shaped by men, but cannot help men. The tragedy is that those who worship idols become spiritually like them. They become blind, deaf, lifeless, and hardened. Revelation 9 shows that even after divine judgment, mankind refuses to abandon idols.

Isaiah also exposes the foolishness of idol making.

Isaiah 44:14, “He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.”

Isaiah 44:15, “Then shall it be for a man to burn for he will take thereof, and warm himself yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.”

Isaiah 44:16, “He burneth part thereof in the fire with part thereof he eateth flesh he roasteth roast, and is satisfied yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.”

Isaiah 44:17, “And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me for thou art my god.”

Isaiah 44:18, “They have not known nor understood for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see and their hearts, that they cannot understand.”

Isaiah shows the absurdity plainly. A man cuts down a tree. Part of it he burns for warmth. Part of it he uses to cook food. The leftover piece he turns into a god and prays to it for deliverance. That is idolatry. It is not merely primitive religion. It is the fallen heart choosing the work of its own hands over the living God.

Revelation 9:20 adds something even darker. It says that men did not repent “that they should not worship devils, and idols.” Behind idol worship is demon worship. This is a critical biblical point. Idols themselves are nothing as objects. A piece of stone is stone. A piece of wood is wood. Gold and silver are created materials. But when men worship idols, demonic powers stand behind that false worship. Idolatry becomes a point of contact with demons.

Deuteronomy 32:16, “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.”

Deuteronomy 32:17, “They sacrificed unto devils, not to God to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.”

1 Corinthians 10:19, “What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?”

1 Corinthians 10:20, “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.”

These verses explain the spiritual reality behind idolatry. The idol itself is nothing, but the worship connected to it is demonic. Paul says plainly that pagan sacrifices are offered to devils and not to God. Revelation 9 shows that in the Tribulation, even after demonic plagues have tormented and killed mankind, people still refuse to abandon demon worship. They cling to the very powers that destroy them.

This has direct application to every age. Idolatry is not limited to carved statues in ancient temples. Modern man worships money, power, pleasure, government, technology, ideology, fame, the body, sex, self, and false spirituality. He may not bow before a carved image, but he gives ultimate loyalty to created things rather than the Creator. That is idolatry. When men reject God, they do not become spiritually neutral. They become enslaved to false gods.

Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

Romans 1:23, “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”

Romans 1:24, “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.”

Romans 1:25, “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

Romans 1 explains the same downward movement Revelation displays. Man rejects the knowledge of God, becomes vain in his imaginations, turns to idols, and is given over to moral corruption. Revelation 9 shows the final intensification of that rebellion. Even under judgment, men continue worshiping demons and idols.

Revelation 9:21 then lists the sins from which mankind refuses to repent, “Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” This is not a random list. It describes a civilization that is spiritually corrupt, morally violent, sexually perverse, occult influenced, and socially lawless. It is a striking indictment of the last days, and it also accurately exposes the character of every age that rejects God.

The first sin listed is “murders.” Human life is sacred because man is made in the image of God. Murder is not merely a crime against society. It is a sin against God, whose image man bears.

Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God made he man.”

Exodus 20:13, “Thou shalt not kill.”

The world under judgment still refuses to repent of murder. This includes the culture of violence, bloodshed, hatred, assassination, persecution, and the shedding of innocent blood. Revelation later shows that the end time world system is drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs.

Revelation 17:6, “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”

A world that rejects God will eventually cheapen human life. It may speak loudly about compassion while tolerating bloodshed, cruelty, and persecution. Revelation 9:21 says the survivors do not repent of their murders. Even catastrophe does not cure their violence.

The second sin listed is “sorceries.” The word translated sorceries is associated with occult practice and is often connected with drugs, potions, spells, and magical arts. The Greek term behind this word is related to pharmakeia, from which the English word pharmacy is derived. This does not mean ordinary medicine is sinful. Scripture does not condemn legitimate healing. The issue is the use of drugs, potions, and occult practices in connection with false worship, spiritual deception, manipulation, and rebellion against God.

Sorcery is repeatedly condemned in Scripture.

Deuteronomy 18:10, “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.”

Deuteronomy 18:11, “Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.”

Deuteronomy 18:12, “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.”

Galatians 5:19, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness.”

Galatians 5:20, “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.”

Galatians 5:21, “Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

In Galatians 5:20, witchcraft belongs among the works of the flesh. In Deuteronomy 18, occult practices are called abominations. Revelation 9:21 shows that the end time world will refuse to repent of sorcery. This fits a civilization fascinated with altered states, occult spirituality, demonic power, mystical deception, and rebellion against biblical truth. In a modern context, this may include the occult, witchcraft, spiritism, demonic religions, drug fueled spirituality, and every attempt to access spiritual power apart from God.

The third sin listed is “fornication.” This refers to sexual immorality broadly. It includes sexual sin outside the boundaries God established in marriage. Scripture is clear that God created marriage as the covenant union of one man and one woman, and sexual expression belongs inside that covenant.

Genesis 2:24, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh.”

Matthew 19:4, “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female.”

Matthew 19:5, “And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh?”

Matthew 19:6, “Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.”

1 Corinthians 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God and ye are not your own?”

1 Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Revelation 9:21 says mankind refuses to repent of fornication. That means sexual rebellion remains entrenched even under judgment. This is consistent with the pattern of Romans 1, where rejection of God leads to dishonoring the body. Sexual immorality is not merely private weakness. It is part of man’s larger rebellion against God’s created order.

The fourth sin listed is “thefts.” Theft is the taking of what belongs to another. It violates God’s law, destroys trust, and reveals covetousness in the heart.

Exodus 20:15, “Thou shalt not steal.”

Ephesians 4:28, “Let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”

The refusal to repent of thefts shows that social corruption continues even under catastrophic judgment. Men still take what is not theirs. They still exploit. They still defraud. They still operate according to greed rather than righteousness. A society may be collapsing under divine judgment, but sinners still cling to selfish gain.

This list, murders, sorceries, fornication, and thefts, is a striking accusation against the modern world as well. Our age is marked by bloodshed, occult revival, drug culture, sexual perversion, pornography, broken homes, theft, corruption, fraud, and institutionalized greed. The sins listed in Revelation 9 are not ancient relics. They are present realities. The end time world will not become morally enlightened. It will become more hardened, more rebellious, and more demonically deceived.

The most sobering phrase is repeated, “repented not.” Verse 20 says they “repented not” of idolatry and demon worship. Verse 21 says they “repented” not of their moral sins. This shows that true repentance includes turning from false worship and turning from wicked conduct. A man cannot claim repentance while clinging to demons and idols. He cannot claim repentance while refusing to forsake murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft. Biblical repentance is not mere regret over consequences. It is a turning from sin toward God.

Acts 26:20, “But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.”

True repentance turns to God and bears fruit consistent with that turning. The survivors in Revelation 9 do neither. They experience judgment but do not turn to God. They suffer plagues but do not abandon their sins. They see death on a massive scale but continue in business as usual rebellion. This is human depravity exposed in the light of divine judgment.

There is a practical warning here. Calamity does not automatically make people holy. After disasters, wars, attacks, economic collapses, or personal crises, people may briefly speak of God, mortality, and prayer. But without true repentance, they quickly return to normal. The heart wants relief from pain, not necessarily reconciliation with God. Men often want judgment removed while keeping the sins that brought judgment. Revelation 9 shows that pattern at its most extreme.

Theologically, this passage teaches that judgment alone does not save. Signs and wonders alone do not save. Fear alone does not save. Pain alone does not save. Only the grace of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ saves. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. The same judgment that should humble men instead reveals their hardened rebellion when they refuse God.

This also magnifies the mercy of God in the present age. The proper time to repent is now, before judgment falls in its fullness. Men should not wait for catastrophe to awaken them. They should heed the Word of God while mercy is extended.

2 Corinthians 6:2, “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee behold, now is the accepted time behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Revelation 9 ends not merely with death, but with defiance. That is the horror of the chapter. The abyss is opened, demonic torment is unleashed, four bound angels are released, a vast army kills a third of mankind, and the survivors still refuse to repent. The problem with man is not lack of evidence. The problem is sin. The issue is not that God has failed to speak. The issue is that man hates the light and will not come to it.

John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

John 3:20, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

That is the condition Revelation 9 exposes. Men love darkness, even when darkness torments them. Men cling to demons, even when demons destroy them. Men worship the works of their hands, even when those works cannot see, hear, or walk. Men persist in murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft, even when judgment is falling around them. This is why salvation must be by grace. Man does not merely need information. He needs regeneration.

The sixth trumpet therefore reveals both the severity of God’s judgment and the stubbornness of human rebellion. The army of two hundred million shows that God can unleash destruction on a scale beyond human control. The refusal to repent shows that man’s heart is harder than men like to admit. Revelation 9 is not designed to satisfy curiosity about end time armies. It is designed to warn, sober, and call men to repentance before the wrath of God is poured out in its fullness.