Revelation 9:1-12 – The sounding of the fifth trumpet

When we were young, we must have watched horror movies and were frightened by the effect of those shows. Reading these events being played out at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, brings us back to those effect. It must have been John’s intention to let us feel a similar impact and effect like those produced by the horror movies.

The sounding of the fifth trumpet introduces a falling star from heaven to earth. He is given the key to the bottomless pit. This suggests to us that the ultimate source of evil is usually kept firmly locked up. But now the fallen star has been given the key to unlock that pit and release horrendous evil. The smoke, the darkened sun and air provide the cover for these evil, symbolized by these locusts, to be unleashed. Didn’t the Lord Jesus say that in the depth of the human heart lies all kinds of evil – pride, murder, wickedness, sexual immorality, debauchery, treachery, and on and on?  There is a black hole within the human heart much like the abyss. This is where all these evil would come bubbling up. Humans were made to reflect God, but our hearts have become cold, callous, and rebellious and filled with all kinds of wickedness. They came out of this abyss. At a cosmic level, the same is true. Though made and love by God, the world also harbors within it rebellious and anti-creation destructiveness and its true color must be revealed.  

The plague of locusts are also released at the sounding of the fifth trumpet. They are being described in verses 7-10 lucidly. Some have interpreted them to be some kind of modern military machineries such as the super-tanks or helicopters. This again is failing to see that John’s depiction is merely symbolic. John is pointing to the hellish experience of a terrible nightmare. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, there came an onslaught of destructive ugly hideous looking locusts. They all have a demonic dimension. Not only that, they also have stings like scorpions in their tails. Their appearances are gruesome, having faces like human with crowns of gold, women’s hair, lions’ teeth, something like breastplates of iron, and thunder-sounding wings. They have as their leader, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, meaning place of destruction, in Greek it is Apollyon, meaning destroyer.

The locusts are here to act strictly under instruction. They cannot destroy vegetation or those sealed with God’s seal. Their mission is not to kill anyone but to torment them for a duration of five months. John probably knew the life cycle of a locust is only for that duration. So intense would be the torture that the people would be continuously tormented by their unfulfilled death wishes. This is only the first woe, two more to go.

God remains sovereign despite the ravaging evil. He is still in control. And evil must first be allowed to do its work before it could be totally dealt with and finally conquered.  Let’s brace up and keep looking up. For He is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make us stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy!