The Continuation of the Trumpet Judgments

In Revelation chapter 9, we see the continuation of the trumpet blasts. In chapter 8 we saw the first four trumpets and their judgments, now we will see what will happen during the next two trumpet blasts.


 ¹ The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. ² When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. ³And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
 ⁷ The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. ⁸ Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. ⁹ They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.¹⁰ They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. ¹¹ They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
 ¹² The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
 ¹³ The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. ¹⁴ It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” ¹⁵ And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. ¹⁶ The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
 ¹⁷ The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. ¹⁸ A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹ The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
 ²⁰ The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. ²¹ Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.


When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, John sees a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. This is obviously an angel. He is given a key to open the abyss. When he opens the shaft, smoke pours out of it that darkens the sky and the sun, and in that smoke are demonic beings. They are described as similar to locusts, but with stingers similar to scorpions. They were allowed to sting everyone that did not have God's seal on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill anyone, but to torment them for five months. These stings will cause incredible pain, people will want to kill themselves because of it, but will not be able to. Then John describes what these demonic creatures look like. They looked like horses prepared for battle, they were well prepared for their mission. They wore crowns of gold, this symbolizes the fact that they will be victorious in their mission. Their faces resembled human faces, you can see the cunning and intelligence in their expressions. They had hair like womens hair, some ancient warriors wore their hair long as a symbol of fierceness. They had teeth like a lions' teeth, another symbol for fierceness. They had breastplates of iron, they were invincible. The sound of their wings is like the thundering of many horses, in ancient wars the participants made as much noise as possible to intimidate their foes. They had tails and stings like scorpions, they were supernatural beings. They are also led by an archdemon, Apollyon or Abaddon, the Hebrew word for destruction. John reminds the reader that the first of these three woes is past, but there are still two more coming. 


The sixth angel sounds his trumpet. The altar before God commands the angel to release the four angels who are bound at the Euphrates river. These are evil angels that will lead a second demonic army. They were allowed to kill a third of mankind. They led an army of two hundred million. This demonic army is then described by John. They have breastplates of red, blue and yellow, this represents the red of fire, the blue of smoke and the yellow of sulfur. The breastplates symbolize their invincibility and the plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that they bring. The heads of the horses resembled lions heads, a lion is terrifying when it attacks. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur, a deadly attack. Their tails were like snakes, with biting heads. One third of mankind is killed by these demons. The other two thirds refuse to repent.