Revelation 9
Session 16 — The Study of Revelation
Keep your Bible open as you study with us. Also, while we won’t quote every passage in full, we’ll provide links to an online Bible for easy reference. Thanks for joining us!
Before you begin, if you have not already done so, visit the Victorious – Glorious Main Page for introductory materials that will enrich your study of Revelation. You’ll also find helpful articles on eschatology under Theology › End Times. If you missed any earlier sessions, be sure to review them first to stay connected to the flow of the study.
Overview:
Trumpets 5–6 continue God’s escalating judgments on the earth. The fifth trumpet (the first woe) unleashes locust-like creatures from the Abyss to torment those without God’s seal, illustrating the painful consequences of rebellion. The sixth trumpet (the second woe) releases four angels bound at the Euphrates, leading a massive army to bring widespread destruction. These judgments emphasize God’s justice, human accountability, and the reality of spiritual conflict. Even in the midst of terrifying events, God’s control is precise and purposeful, pointing toward the final climax of His plan in the seventh trumpet.
Exploring the Passage:
Take a moment to read through the whole passage for yourself. If you can, glance at the section before and after it as well—seeing the bigger picture will make the insights ahead even more meaningful. And if time allows, reading the entire book a few times will help you hear its flow and themes with even greater clarity.
Revelation 9:1
The Fifth Angel and the Key to the Bottomless Pit: The fifth trumpet introduces the first of the three woes (Rev 8:13). A star falls from heaven and is given the key to the Bottomless Pit (Abyss). “Bottomless Pit” emphasizes a place of confinement for demonic forces—deep, inescapable, and under God’s control. The star represents a heavenly being, an angelic agent authorized by God to open this prison. The key shows God’s sovereign authority: even terrifying judgments occur only at His command.
Revelation 9:2-3
Smoke and Locusts from the Bottomless Pit: When the Bottomless Pit is opened, smoke rises, darkening the sky, and locust-like creatures come out. The Bottomless Pit represents the domain of evil spirits restrained until God’s appointed time. The locusts symbolize God’s instrument of judgment, bringing torment to the unrepentant. Their emergence illustrates that evil is allowed to act, but only within God’s precise limits.
Revelation 9:4-6
Torment Limited to the Unsealed: The locusts are commanded not to harm those with God’s seal or the natural world, but only to torment humans who lack His seal for five months. The agony, like the sting of a scorpion, is intense but temporary. This demonstrates God’s measured justice: He allows suffering to accomplish His purposes but restrains it according to His sovereign plan.
Revelation 9:7-10
The Terrifying Appearance of the Locusts: The locusts look like horses prepared for battle, with crowns like gold, human-like faces, hair like women’s hair, teeth like lions, and tails with stingers like scorpions. The imagery emphasizes their intelligence, organization, and capacity for torment. While terrifying, these symbolic details point to spiritual realities rather than literal insects.
Revelation 9:11
Abaddon, King of the Locusts: The locusts have a king named Abaddon (Destroyer in Hebrew). The Hebrew term ’ăbaddōn appears in the Old Testament (Job 26:6; Prov 15:11) in connection with Sheol, destruction, or ruin. The Bible does not provide a clear identification of who Abaddon is. Some have suggested Satan, but most commentators do not attempt to identify this mysterious being. What is clear is that even demonic forces operate under God’s authority. The Bottomless Pit is not a chaotic, uncontrolled domain; it exists under divine restriction, reinforcing God’s sovereignty over judgment.
Revelation 9:12
The First Woe Completed: John identifies the fifth trumpet as the “first woe,” signaling the beginning of the three pronounced woes (Rev 8:13). In biblical literature, a “woe” is a pronouncement of intense judgment or calamity, often expressing God’s warning against persistent sin and rebellion. While the trumpet judgments are described in order, the vision of Revelation is largely telescopic and thematic rather than strictly chronological, meaning that the sequence highlights intensifying severity and thematic progression rather than literal, continuous timing. The designation of “first woe” emphasizes that God’s judgments are purposeful and connected to His broader plan, calling attention to the seriousness of sin and the need for repentance.
Revelation 9:13
The Sixth Trumpet and the Voice from the Golden Altar: The sixth trumpet signals the second woe. As John hears the trumpet sound, a voice comes from the four horns of the golden altar before God. The horns were projections at the corners of the altar, often associated with atonement and intercession (Ex 30:1–10; Lev 16:12–13). In the Old Testament, the golden altar of incense stood in the Holy Place and represented the prayers of God’s people ascending before Him. The four horns may symbolize God’s complete and perfect authority extending to all creation. The voice commanding the release of the four bound angels reveals that divine judgment proceeds in harmony with God’s purposes—and, symbolically, in response to the prayers of His saints. This scene underscores that God’s justice is sovereign, deliberate, and covenantal; His judgments are never arbitrary but unfold under His perfect control.
Revelation 9:14
The Command at the Euphrates: The voice from the golden altar commands the sixth angel “to release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” The Euphrates River often served in Scripture as the northeastern boundary of Israel (Gen 15:18) and a symbol of invading powers and divine judgment (Is 8:5–8; Jer 46:10). The binding of the angels indicates that their destructive power has been restrained until God’s appointed time. Their release at the command from heaven demonstrates that even the forces of chaos and destruction act only under divine authority. The imagery reminds readers that God governs all realms—natural and supernatural—and that no judgment occurs apart from His sovereign will.
Revelation 9:15
The Four Angels Released for Judgment: When released, the four angels—previously bound—are prepared for a precise moment, “for the hour, the day, the month, and the year,” to kill a third of mankind. The specificity of timing underscores God’s absolute control over history and events. This destruction, though terrible, is measured and purposeful. The phrase “a third” indicates limitation; God’s wrath is real but restrained, allowing opportunity for repentance. The release of these angels portrays judgment that is neither random nor premature but unfolds according to divine wisdom and justice.
It is important to note that angels do not serve merely as messengers or heralds of praise but are also actively involved in carrying out God’s judgment. Throughout Revelation, angels are shown fulfilling diverse roles and duties—announcing, restraining, protecting, and executing judgment—all by the will of God and in complete obedience to Him.
Revelation 9:16
The Vast Army of Two Hundred Million: John hears the number of mounted troops—two hundred million—a number likely symbolic of an innumerable host rather than a literal count. Such an army conveys the overwhelming scale and intensity of the judgment unleashed at the sixth trumpet. The description suggests not earthly forces alone but a vast demonic or spiritual army operating under divine allowance. The vision communicates that evil’s reach can be immense, yet it still operates within boundaries set by God’s sovereignty.
Revelation 9:17–18
The Horses and Their Deadly Power: John describes the horses in this army as having heads like lions, with fire, smoke, and sulfur issuing from their mouths—imagery recalling the plagues on Egypt and the destruction of Sodom (Ex 9:23–24; Gen 19:24). These elements symbolize fierce, consuming judgment. The lions’ heads portray strength and ferocity; the fire and sulfur represent divine wrath poured out through terrifying means. A third of mankind is killed by these plagues, revealing the devastating reality of judgment against unrepentant humanity. Even in such scenes, the control remains God’s—these destructive forces act at His command, not their own.
Revelation 9:19
The Weapons of Judgment: John observes that “the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.” This imagery intensifies the terror of the vision—harm comes from every direction, leaving no escape. The serpent imagery recalls the wilderness account in Numbers 21:4–9, where Israel’s rebellion led to a plague of fiery serpents, and healing came only by looking to the bronze serpent God provided. In both cases, the serpents serve as agents of divine judgment meant to turn people back to God. Here, however, humanity refuses to look up for mercy. The serpentine tails also allude to Satan as first depicted in Genesis 3 and later described as “that ancient serpent” (Rev 12:9), showing that demonic deception and destruction are intertwined. Yet even these fearsome forces remain under God’s sovereign control—instruments within His righteous plan.
Revelation 9:20–21
Humanity’s Hardness of Heart: Despite the terror and loss, the survivors do not repent. They persist in worshiping idols “of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood,” clinging to lifeless substitutes for the living God. Their sins—murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and thefts—reveal rebellion not just in religion but in moral conduct. The refusal to repent highlights the depth of human hardness and the tragedy of willful blindness. Even after catastrophic warnings, people reject God’s call to turn from sin. This passage shows that judgment alone cannot change hearts; only the transforming grace of God through Christ can lead to true repentance and renewal.
Bringing It Together:
The fifth and sixth trumpets unveil the frightening reality of divine judgment and the depth of human rebellion. These scenes reveal that the judgments of God are not merely future events waiting for fulfillment but represent the ongoing reality of divine justice breaking into the world throughout this present age. The trumpet judgments portray recurring patterns of suffering, deception, and destruction that characterize life in a fallen world—a world under God’s restraint yet experiencing the consequences of sin.
Through these visions, John shows that even demonic forces operate under divine authority; the Bottomless Pit, the armies, and the plagues are all instruments within God’s sovereign plan. Evil is not ultimate—its reach is limited, its time appointed, and its purpose ultimately redemptive. These judgments are not random acts of wrath but calls to repentance, warning humanity of the seriousness of sin and the futility of rebellion.
Yet the tragedy of the vision lies in humanity’s continued refusal to repent. Even when confronted with the horrors unleashed by sin and spiritual deception, many harden their hearts instead of turning to God. Revelation 9 reminds believers that the judgments of God in history—whether through war, disaster, or moral decay—are not signs of chaos but of divine justice and mercy at work, urging all people to seek refuge in the Lamb who alone can save from the wrath to come.
Consider Your Part:
When we witness the brokenness, deception, and suffering in our world, do we see only chaos and despair—or do we recognize God’s sovereign hand calling humanity to repentance and trust in Christ? How might understanding these trumpet judgments as part of God’s ongoing work in this present age change the way we respond to the world’s troubles and to our own need for daily repentance?
Takeaway:
The trumpet woes reveal the consequences of sin and rebellion. Life’s darkest moments are not outside God’s authority. Stand firm in faith, and take comfort that He remains sovereign over all things.
At Cultivating Faith, our desire is to help you grow deeper in God’s Word. You are free to use or adapt this study for personal or group study. May God bless your time in His Word and cultivate faith, hope, and love in your life.
Until the next time we see you here at CultivatingFaith.org, God Bless!
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