Revelation Chapter 9
As Chapter 9 begins, we should note that John's position has not changed. He sees the instigation of the seal and trumpet judgments as they originate in heaven, near God’s throne, and whatever he sees on earth he sees from his position in heaven, looking down on events. His viewing of the seals rolls right into the blowing of the trumpets. He is watching a chronological unfolding of events. Some are perhaps very close together, and some overlay previous events still in progress. Even so, it seems clear at this point that the seals and trumpets are not simultaneous, nor are the trumpets simple amplifications of the seals.
In verse 1 the fifth trumpet is sounded and results in a fallen star receiving the key to the bottomless pit. Obviously, this “star” is not something like Rigel or Betelgeuse or Vega. As we have seen several times before, especially in Rev 6:13 where “the stars of the sky fell to the earth”, the word translated star is from the root word “aster” in Greek. This is not a complicated word to translate. It means “star”, either figuratively or literally. I think in this case it is quite obvious that we need to understand the word in its figurative sense. We are talking about an angel here.
There is also another detail we ought to notice. As it reads in ESV, the "star" was already on the earth. It doesn't say a star falls after the trumpet sounds. The KJV said that: 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. [Rev 9:1 KJV], but pretty much ALL later translations say it more like the ESV, where John saw a star “fallen from heaven to earth”.
The word translated “fallen” is in the perfect tense. This means it is an action completed in the past, once for all, with no need of repetition. This angel “fell” in the past, and is now about to perform a task. Since it is so obvious here that “aster” means angel, we ought to ask ourselves if, back in 6:13, all those stars that fell were in fact angels with assigned tasks and duties to carry out as we work our way through the wrath of God to the return of Christ. Perhaps these stars are not so much “falling” from the sky as translated in English, but “sent to earth” for very precise reasons. And if that is the case, we may see many of those angels doing things as we continue in Revelation.
So what is it that this angel is to do? As we understand it at this point, verse 1 says that an angel that was already here obtains THE key to THE bottomless pit. The definite article is present before both key and pit, meaning that there is ONLY ONE bottomless pit, and ONLY ONE key that can open it. Further, in the ESV where it says this key “was given” to an angel, the verb “was given” is in the aorist tense, which says the action took place but says nothing of the exact timing of the transfer. This angel may have been given this key before he fell from heaven to earth. In fact, this seems to be the most likely case.
This angel that has the key, then, must be a very trusted angel. This is not one of the angels that rebelled with Satan and somehow stole this key from heaven. If Satan had been in possession of this key since his fall, he surely would have used it to open the pit before now. So this angel is sent from God, and when the Fifth Trumpet sounds, he uses the key to open the bottomless pit. That pit is full of demons of all sizes, shapes, and ranks, and they have been locked in that pit perhaps since Satan’s initial rebellion. These demons also know they won’t be loose for very long unless they can overcome God’s plans, so they come out vengeful about their long incarceration and bent on the destruction of mankind. We need to understand here that though it is God unleashing wrath on the earth, these are not God's angels torturing unsaved man after the rapture, but angels who followed Satan, who hate man with an unquenchable hatred and without pity of any kind. This is why wrath is so merciless. Consider also that these followers of Satan are now tormenting those left on earth who are also followers of Satan. These people have ALL rejected God. What a twist that God would use Satan’s own angels as tormentors to sort of drive home to these people the error of the choice that they have made.
Let’s look closely now at what happens when the bottomless pit is opened: 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. [Rev 9:2 ESV] This sounds a bit like what we know as "nuclear winter". Before the nuclear bomb, this sort of “darkening of the sky” followed huge volcanic eruptions.
This section I think also gives us additional information about the signs in the heavens that accompanied the Sixth Seal. Remember that the sun turned black and the moon turned red. A black sun gives no light at all, so if now, in Revelation 9, the smoke from the bottomless pit darkens the sun, then the sun was no longer black. We can conclude from this that the signs at the Sixth Seal were temporary, as an eclipse is temporary, and not permanent changes in the sun, moon and stars.
Moving on then, from the smoke escaping from the pit come these creatures: 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. [Rev 9:3 ESV] This describes the release of previously sequestered supernatural creatures so that they are free to roam the whole planet. I think these creatures are fallen angels, demons in fact, from Satan's initial revolt. I think some of them may have been locked in this pit since before man was created. Perhaps their numbers grew when Jesus was given power over all things on heaven and earth before his crucifixion. Remember this appeal from Legion to Jesus? 30 Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. [Luk 8:30-31 ESV]. I think this abyss is the same pit that we see here in Revelation 9, and we see that Jesus had the power to confine demons to that pit. I think Jesus may have ultimately confined many more demons to that pit, and that is why we don’t have the cases of demon possession now that seem to have been so common in Jesus’ day.
Some limitations are imposed on these supernatural creatures. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. [Rev 9:4 ESV] So they are not allowed to harm at all any green thing still alive on the earth. They also cannot kill men, but their stings, like scorpion stings, will hurt for five months. They can only sting those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. So they cannot touch the 144,000, but everyone else is a target. Now think about that…IF there are only 144,000 sealed with God’s seal on the whole planet, yet all Israel is returning to the Promised Land, then all those returning are subject to the stings of these creatures. They are not exempted…unless salvation in that day somehow results in this mark on the forehead. I find no verse anywhere that predicts such a generalized mark. Perhaps this statement is an indication that in fact, the remnant of Israel saved by God for the fulfillment of his promises to Abraham, is only 144,000 strong?
In verse 5 we are given a summary of what these creatures CAN do: 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. [Rev 9:5 ESV] I cannot tell whether this verse says these creatures can only be active for five months, or that the stings will hurt for five months. It is hard to know whether these creatures will roam the earth stinging and stinging again for five months, or attacking in a sort of blitz, and all those unlucky enough to be stung suffer for five months after they are gone? Looking back at Rev 9:3, these creatures are called locusts. Locusts do great harm in a short time and then disappear as quickly as they came. There is also this verse which comes just a little later in the chapter: 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. [Rev 9:10 ESV]. The English wording seems pretty clear that it is the sting that lasts five months. So if I had to pick one, I would say the pain from the stings will last five months, rather than the locusts stinging for five months.
We are also told that the unrelenting pain these creatures inflict will cause men to seek death. Then look at this next verse: 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. [Rev 9:6 ESV]. This seems to imply that no one will be allowed to die during the Fifth Trumpet, such that even suicide attempts will invariably fail. But I think it is more likely that those who have been stung will wish the stings would just go ahead and kill them, rather than making them suffer so much. I don’t think this verse is about suicide, but is instead driving home just how unrelentingly painful these stings are going to be.
Next, beginning in verse 7, we get a very prolonged and detailed physical description of these creatures. They do not belong to nature. They are unlike anything in nature. They have no riders guiding them but operate independently. We are not told how many creatures there are, but there would seem to be a lot of them.
They look like horses prepared for battle. I picture horses wearing armor like we see in depictions of jousting tournaments, but that is much too current. They would be decked out as they were in John’s time, perhaps as horses prepared by Roman cavalry. We actually have a pretty good idea what that looked like. There was no armor on Roman cavalry horses but we do learn from vs 9 that these horses will have breastplates like iron. There would be a saddle blanket, for lack of a better word, and there was a sort of banner that ran around the horse’s chest, showing perhaps the colors of the cavalry unit to which it belonged.
We also learn that these creatures, these horses, have crowns on their heads. Perhaps these crowns are a symbol of rank in the armies of Satan. If we understand that these creatures were confined in a pit with demons, then it makes sense that they also are demons, and given their power over men, they are likely high ranking demons. They were perhaps leaders in Satan’s revolt against God, and that is why they have crowns. In the next verses we see that the horses have men's faces and women's hair. Isn’t that an interesting contrast? Do we read this as beards and very long hair? Again, remember that as John describes these previously unseen and unknown creatures, he can only describe them in terms of what he has seen in his own lifetime. In that day, men had beards and women wore their hair long.
In verse 9 we learn that these creatures have wings and that they can fly. John is impressed with the sound that they make when they fly, like chariots with horses going into battle. Think thunder, rolling and at a constant pitch. The section concludes with a description of their tails and their sting. When we read this we picture a scorpion’s tail on a horse. A great huge stinger searching for victims.
Then lastly, we see that though these creatures have no riders, they do have a King over them. This King is known and named. He is “the angel of the bottomless pit”. The definite article here makes it clear that only one in the pit held this title. He is in charge of them all. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek he is Apollyon. Abaddon means destruction or ruin in Hebrew. Apollyon means destroyer in Greek.
From this detailed description, I think we can add a bit more to our understanding of these creatures that descend on earth from the smoke like locust onto a green field and yet are as large as horses. The horses have crowns and act individually but they are ruled over by a King, an angel-king who had charge of that bottomless pit, that abyss. We have to see all these creatures as angels. I think the verse mentioned above from Luke 8 tells us that these are all fallen angels. We have seen before that there is a hierarchy among the angels. Since these locusts/horses are all wearing crowns, we should put them pretty high up in the hierarchy. Note that in all the New Testament descriptions of demons being cast out, no one ever physically sees the demon. However, in this case, given John’s detailed description of these creatures, I think we have to conclude that men will “see” them. Perhaps this class of evil angels was created such that they are visible to mankind, and for that reason in addition to the horror that they inflict on men, God also created a place to confine them from the time man was created until the Fifth Trumpet should sound. Perhaps God created them in the first place knowing that they would be unleashed at this very time and for this very reason. Why wouldn’t we expect God to create angels for every purpose he might have on earth, including angels to carry out his wrath?
These creatures will, I think, enjoy inflicting pain on mankind. These creatures perhaps fell from positions of power, and expectations of high positions in Satan’s domain after God was defeated, who found themselves confined for millennia in a dark pit from which they could not hope to escape. Why were they there? Because God planned to create man, and to favor man though he was created weak and small compared to these angels, and so men walked on the earth while these creatures stayed in the dark. They will come out of that pit full of hatred and with not a shred of mercy in them.
Then verse 12. The first woe is over...but there are two yet to come. Again we see that the trumpets, like the seals, are in sequence rather than concurrent. They are coming in waves. As man begins to recover from the locust invasion, the next trumpet sounds, bringing more of God’s wrath, and we would expect each woe to be worse than the one before.
Next, presumably at the end of approximately five months, the Sixth Trumpet sounds. Here are the verses: 13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." [Rev 9:13-14 ESV]
So the trumpet is sounded, and then this voice from the altar gives a command to the angel who blew the trumpet. This angel is told to release four angels who are bound at the Euphrates. What can we say about these four angels? I think the tendency is to call them demons because of what they are doing and because it says they are bound. But let's remember that this is God's wrath, and let's remember the history of His wrath. He is patient beyond what any human being would call reasonable. He holds off and waits and forgives and exhorts and offers. But when the line is finally crossed, people get what they have earned, what they deserve. This is not random and arbitrary punishment. This is the end of time, predicted, foretold, and warned of throughout the Bible. And yet, mankind gets to it anyway. If these were prepared for this very time, then these are likely NOT demons, but God's angels carrying out his will.
Furthermore, no pit is mentioned, no key is necessary to release these four angels. They were bound, but not locked in a dark hole. In this context, I think we should see these as angels loyal to, and certainly subject to, the commands of God. These are not angels who followed Satan and wound up bound at this spot, but angels of great power, created for this moment in time, when they are to be released to do what they were created to do.
These angels are bound “at” the Euphrates. That word translated “at” is just a little preposition, and as such there are many different interpretations. At, on, upon, over, against and so on. The precise word used seems to be based on the case of the noun with which it is used. Here, the noun is in the dative case, is to be translated “at”, and has a connotation of “rest”. Again we see that these angels are bound, but not by chains or pits. They are “resting” at this place until the appropriate time for them to go to work, according to the command of God. The word translated “release” is translated the same way in this verse, and I think gives us a good sense of what is meant: 2 saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. [Mat 21:2 ESV]. The donkey is not tied up as punishment. The donkey is not incarcerated. It is restricted in its movements until such time as its master requires something. One last example to corroborate this understanding: 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. [Rev 9:15 ESV]. Surely this verse confirms that these four angels were created for this very time.
The voice comes not from God on his throne, though we know from previous descriptions that he is there. The voice is from the golden altar before the throne, just as the altar of incense was before the veil in the Tabernacle. This altar represents prayers offered to God, and perhaps this voice is the answer to all those suffering believers who have prayed for God to avenge them?
Verse 15 also tells us what these four were to do, and an awful task it is. These angels are to kill on a massive scale. This is not the first time in the Bible that an angel was sent to kill. This verse is an example: 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. [Exo 12:23 ESV]. Surely this destroyer – which is “bound” from carrying out his purpose if there is blood on the doorpost – was sent by God to kill massive numbers of Egyptians. We find a second example here: 15 So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men. 16 And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, "It is enough; now stay your hand." And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. [2Sa 24:15-16 ESV]. In the second verse here we see that the pestilence is in fact the work of an angel. And notice how God orders this angel to “stay your hand”. God “binds” the angel, so that no further harm is done. I believe these angels, created to carry out his aspect of God’s justice, are unstoppable by any but God himself.
Right along here, we should ask ourselves why God would create “death angels” and the troops they command. We need to understand the death angels as a “kind” of angel created to kill justly, indiscriminately and without remorse. We see this trait in some people – or a shadow of this trait. We must also understand that if God created angels with such characteristics, we know that it had to be “within God’s personality” that such a thing is occasionally necessary. And remember that we, too, are created in God’s image. What a thought that is!
One last point about these four angels. In contrast to the locusts released from the bottomless pit, the four angels from the Euphrates are ordered to kill. Those from the pit were ordered NOT to do so. The angels at the Euphrates were at rest until called for. They are obedient and will start and stop when commanded to do so. The locusts were under lock and key because they were rebellious angels of Satan, and would do as Satan commanded them. Therefore, I think we are looking at very different kinds of angels here.
Next, we get this verse: 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. [Rev 9:16 ESV]. If you do the math on that you get 200,000,000. Two hundred million mounted troops. This is not just “a big number” to say that the troops were uncountable, as we sometimes see because John goes to the trouble of telling us that he “heard their number”. So four “death angels” if we may call them that, given 200,000,000 mounted troops with which to kill 1/3 of the people remaining on earth. So how many is that? As I write this in 2023, the population of the planet is approaching 8 billion, so let’s start there. We saw back in Revelation 6 that ¼ of mankind was killed. So that would be 2 billion, leaving 6 billion. Now a third of those who remain are to be killed. That’s another 2 billion, and when completed, the world’s population will have been reduced by half in only a few years. If 200,000,000 mounted troops are to kill 2 billion people, the average soldier would need to kill ten people. Though the numbers are staggering, we should note that in practical terms, this probably won’t take a very long time. It is also possible that with this many troops, the locusts may also be defeated or pushed back into the pit. We really aren’t told why the locusts stop their stinging.
Beginning in verse 17, John describes these troops in detail just as he did the locusts. The first thing we learn is that there are “horses” once again, but this time the horses have riders. And we’re told how the riders are dressed. They have breastplates the color of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. Let’s take these one at a time.
First, let’s think about the color of “fire”. We probably think of red or orange or a combination of those two. Both carnelian and jasper have these colors. Remember this verse…3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. [Rev 4:3 ESV]. That is in the first description John gives us of the throne room in heaven. Those colors are associated with the appearance of God Himself. So we might see this as indicating the authority by which these troops are directed.
Second, we have previously seen sapphire in these verses:
10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. [Exo 24:10 ESV]
26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. [Eze 1:26 ESV]
1 Then I looked, and behold, on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something like a sapphire, in appearance like a throne. [Eze 10:1 ESV]
Saphhire then is always mentioned as being near the throne of God. So we might conclude from this that sapphire identifies these troops as servants of God, perhaps as those worthy to be very close to his throne.
And third, there is sulfur. There are many references to sulfur in the Bible. Here are a few that should be familiar:
24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. [Gen 19:24 ESV]
33 For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it. [Isa 30:33 ESV]
22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. [Eze 38:22 ESV]
Sulfur is invariably associated with God’s vengeance. I think it is clear that the colors of these breastplates are not just random, and not just pretty. The breastplates identify the wearers as loyal servants of God, and their purpose is to effect God’s vengeance.
Next we learn that the heads of these “horses” look like the heads of lions. Think heavy manes and fearsome teeth and fear-provoking roars. These lions sort of “breath fire” in that fire, smoke and sulfur come out of their mouths.
We might also note a contrast between the deaths that occur during the trumpets and what we previously saw with the seals. In the seals, Death and Hades were given power to kill a fourth of the earth with sword, famine, pestilence, and sword. So the seals, in the tribulation period if you will, death was indirect in that it was cause and effect from the unfolding events of world government, war, economic collapse, starvation, disease and so on. In Chapter 9, a third are to be killed with fire, sulfur, and smoke by horses with lion’s faces and snakes for tails, let loose specifically for that purpose. These are God's own angels doing His own will, and dealing out death directly, purposefully, specifically.
Before we move on, we need to look at the way these troops carry out their instructions. We don’t have a lot of random riding about and chopping people up with swords, nor do we have flamethrowers or machine guns. Remember that the horses ridden by these troops have lion’s heads and they “breath out” fire, smoke and sulfur to kill. It is this breath from the lion’s mouths that kill. But why would anyone stand around waiting for that to happen to them? Well there is one more thing to consider here. As the locusts had scorpion’s tails, these horses have snakes for tails. And the snakes bite and wound all who get near, but the snakebite doesn’t kill. What then does it do? Perhaps it paralyzes. The snakes bite, and people fall down paralyzed so that they cannot run, they cannot escape, and then the lions breathe out their fire, smoke and sulfur, suffocating those who lie their powerless. They die, and they know they are dying. What a horrible, awful scene!
Given all these things, what we learn in the last two verses is practically incomprehensible: 20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. [Rev 9:20-21 ESV] The direct action of God, the visibility of unnatural creatures, misery, suffering, and unprecedented death are insufficient to affect repentance in those left behind at the rapture. There is no persuasion that will be effective in the face of such irrational stubbornness and pride. Those left after the rapture could never be saved. All that is left for them are the events of the seventh trumpet, the thunders, and the bowls. Only God’s judgment on earth remains for these.