The trumpets are not blasted until all those who will be sealed are sealed (7:1-3). John’s trumpet imagery has so far alluded to Old Testament judgments on Egypt, Babylon, and Israel. John used the national symbol of Rome, an eagle, to declare three woes upon the earth with regard to the blasting of the final three trumpets. The fifth angel now blasts his trumpet:

Revelation 9:1-12

Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.

Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The bottomless pit (v. 1-2)

Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.

John utilizes symbols from the first four trumpet blasts. The star that fell from Heaven was national Israel (cf. Isaiah 14:12; Amos 6:12; never is Satan described as a fallen star in Scripture). Darkness was a plague on the nation of Egypt (cf. Exodus 10:21-23). The key to the bottomless pit is given to Israel. Israel, Wormwood, symbolically opens the bottomless pit, or the shaft of the abyss. In the Old Testament, the keys of the kingdom were given to Israel, particularly the house of David (cf. Isaiah 22:22). Jesus, being Israel’s final king on David’s throne forever, held the keys of the kingdom (cf. 1:18; 3:7). In the Gospels, Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to His Jewish apostles (cf. Matthew 16:19) such that whatever they bound on the earth would have been bound in heaven and whatever they loosed on the earth would have been loosed in heaven. Never is such an authority given to Satan but only to Israel throughout Scripture. Somehow, national Israel’s place in the kingdom is that of key-holder. Those who are blessed through Israel are blessed. Those who are not are not.

Israel symbolically opens the shaft of the abyss, not Hell, and smoke rises that darkens the sun and air. Those who are not blessed through Israel are subject to the spiritual darkness we read about in verse 12, not being able to see the kingdom of heaven or seek after God.

The locusts (v. 3-6)

Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

In John’s vision, locusts are unleashed from the bottomless pit and power is given to them like that of scorpions. John’s Revelation is a picture, not a puzzle. The locusts either represent a military power (cf. Joel 1-2) or an army of demons. Since they symbolically come up from the abyss, John may be using Joel’s imagery of an invading army to illustrate an army of demons. We cannot gather that demons currently live in Hell. This vision concerns the state of spiritual reality, not a chronology of specific events. Israel holds the keys. The keys are the Law and Gospel. The Law is the thing by which the nations of the earth are judged. The locusts are not military helicopters. They represent the spiritual forces of darkness—they come from the darkness and live in the darkness. They are given authority like that of scorpions, whose poisonous sting aches and causes each victim to wish for death. The poison prolongs an achy, dim existence. To what extent is authority given to these demons?

They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.

If the grass has been burned up (cf. 8:7), why are the demons instructed not to harm the grass? Remember, Revelation is a picture and not a puzzle. John is seeing a vision about spiritual reality, not a vision containing specific events. The demons are not to harm any part of creation except for that unholy third. Remember, Christ is renewing His world and not destroying it. Further, the demons are not permitted to torment the sealed of God or kill anyone (which is why this passage cannot foretell the Jewish wars like certain theologians suggest); they are only loosed after the sealed of God are sealed (cf. 7:1-3). In the Old and New Testaments, demons were permitted to torment only those who are not in Christ (cf. 1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12) in such a way that the poison of darkness infects their hearts and blinds them to the Gospel. Demons are bound such that they cannot veil the Gospel from the elect, and only after those who will be converted are converted are the demons unbound to again bring darkness to the land.

The darkness is a poison so oppressive that people live life with no joy, in a state of death. People become so depressed that they wish they would die, but life goes on from day to day and seems like things will never get better. Hell on earth describes the life of those who are not in Christ. If we are in Christ, we are spared such darkness even on this earth.

The locust king (v. 7-12)

The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months.

In Joel 1-2, we see a description of an army that would invade Judah. Joes described the invading army as locusts with the teeth of lions and the noise of chariots, coming forth from darkness. They would be a consuming fire, and all faces would turn pale before them. John describes an army like Joel described, only the army John describes comes from the bottomless pit and is not permitted to harm the land or those who are sealed. It does, however, ravage those who are not in Christ like locusts ravaging the land. John’s locusts have tails like scorpions, with which they poison the reprobate. They have the power to hurt people for five months, oppressing them with spiritual darkness.

Why five months? Ten is the apocalyptic number of fullness. Five is half of ten. Something about the oppression of these demons is not full. Demonic oppression is not the fullness of judgment. Something worse is coming for those who are not in Christ. On this earth, demons oppress those who are not in Christ. That will not always be the case. One day, the demons and the reprobate will be thrown into the lake of fire (cf. 20:15).

They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

The king of the demons is the angel of the abyss. Who is the angel of the abyss? What is the abyss? The abyss is the bottomless pit (shaft of the abyss) mentioned in verse 1. It is the abode of the demons, a great watery netherworld. The angel of the abyss is the chief demon, Satan. John names Satan Abaddon and Apollyon, meaning destroyer. Why is Satan the angel of the abyss? Why does John portray the demons coming from the abyss here in Chapter 9 only after the sealed are sealed?

In Chapter 20:1-10, we read about Satan being bound and thrown into the abyss. After 1,000 years, he would be released from the abyss to again deceive the nations. Jesus claimed to bind up Satan during his bodily ministry in the First Century (Matthew 12:29-30). Only after those who will be converted are converted will the demons be loosed—possibly in each nation at the appointed time and certainly after the symbolic 1,000 years. This current passage of Scripture necessarily indicates that John is living during the 1,000 year period he describes in Revelation. The 1,000 year period is the period in which Satan is bound to the abyss and the Gospel is going forth producing converts. Israel is the star that fell from heaven. Satan is the demon who is bound to the abyss. Israel holds the key to the abyss. Satan is bound within the abyss from deceiving the nations concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The first woe, the loosing of the destroyer, is past. John likely viewed the loosing of the destroyer as an intermittent event. When God is no longer saving people from among the people of a nation or group, the destroyer, a deluding influence, is loosed upon that nation or people group with limited power (Satan does not have authority to kill at his pleasure). There will be a final loosing at the end of the symbolic 1,000 years. The loosing of Satan is God’s judgment upon the nations but not the worst of God’s judgments. Two woes are still to come.