Bible Study Revelation 9
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Revelation 9 · WEB

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him.
2He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit.
3Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads.
5They were given power, not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person.
6In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people's faces.
8They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like those of lions.
9They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
10They have tails like those of scorpions, with stings. In their tails is their power to harm men for five months.
11They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is "Abaddon," but in Greek, he has the name "Apollyon."
12The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
13The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!"
15The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
16The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
17Thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses resembled lions' heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
19For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads; and with them they harm.
20The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn't worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk.
21They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.
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Summary

The fifth trumpet releases a demonic horde of locusts from the abyss, led by Abaddon/Apollyon, to torment unsealed humanity for five months without killing them. The sixth trumpet looses four angels bound at the Euphrates, who command an army of two hundred million whose fire, smoke, and sulfur kill a third of humankind. Astonishingly, the survivors still refuse to repent of their idolatry, murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and thefts.

Themes

  • Demonic torment unleashed from the abyss
  • God's seal as protection for His people
  • Limited but terrifying power of evil
  • Hardened hearts that refuse repentance
  • The escalating intensity of the trumpet woes

Key verses

  • Rev 9:11 — “They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is 'Abaddon,' but in Greek, he has the name 'Apollyon.'”
  • Rev 9:20 — “The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn't repent of the works of their hands.”
  • Rev 9:21 — “They didn't repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts.”
  • Rev 9:6 — “In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.”

Context & background

John wrote Revelation c. AD 95 from exile on Patmos, a small Aegean island off the western coast of modern Turkey. The Euphrates River (modern Iraq/Syria/Turkey) was the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire and the traditional frontier from which invading armies (Assyrians, Babylonians, Parthians) had historically attacked Israel and Rome. "Abaddon" is the Hebrew word for "destruction" or "place of the dead" (Job 26:6; Prov. 15:11); "Apollyon" is its Greek equivalent meaning "destroyer." The locust imagery draws heavily from Joel's prophecy of a devastating locust plague.

Cross-references

  • Exodus 10:12-15 — Plague of locusts on Egypt foreshadows this trumpet
  • Ezekiel 9:4-6 — Those marked on the forehead are spared judgment, parallel to the seal in v. 4
  • Genesis 15:18 — The Euphrates marks the boundary of God's promise; armies from there bring judgment
  • Joel 1:6; 2:4-10 — Locust army imagery echoes Joel's invading horde
  • Romans 1:21-32 — Hardened hearts refusing to honor God despite knowing Him parallel v. 20-21

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    Who is protected from the locust torment unleashed by the fifth trumpet, and what are the locusts forbidden to do?

  2. Observe

    What are the four specific sins that the survivors of the sixth trumpet refuse to repent of?

  3. Interpret

    Why might God allow five months of torment without death — what purpose could prolonged, inescapable suffering serve?

  4. Interpret

    What does the refusal to repent in verses 20-21, after such catastrophic devastation, reveal about the nature of sin and the human heart?

  5. Apply

    Are there areas of your life where God has sent painful warnings that you have pushed through or ignored rather than turning from the behavior causing harm?

  6. Apply

    What does it mean practically today to have "God's seal on your forehead," and how can you live in that security without becoming spiritually passive?

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