Revelation 9
1 Then 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.
2 He 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.
3 Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 They 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.
5 They 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.
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.
7 The 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.
8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions.
9 They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
10 They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months.
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”.
12 The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
13 Then the sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”
15 The 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.
16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
17 Thus 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 horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18 By these three plagues, one third of mankind was killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
19 For 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.
20 The 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’t see, hear, or walk.
21 They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
Revelation 9 Commentary
Chapter Overview
Revelation 9 continues the trumpet judgments announced in Revelation 8. The first four trumpets struck the land, sea, fresh water, and heavenly lights. The fifth and sixth trumpets move closer to human life. A fallen star opens the abyss, a terrifying locust-like force torments those without God’s seal, and four bound angels at the Euphrates release an immense cavalry that kills one third of humanity.
The chapter is filled with visionary comparisons: the locusts are “like” war horses, their crowns are “like” gold, and their breastplates are “like” iron. John is describing a supernatural and symbolic scene, not providing engineering specifications for a modern weapon. The imagery draws heavily from the locust plague in Exodus 10, the invading army in Joel 2, and biblical teaching about imprisoned evil powers.
Although demonic forces appear fearsome, the repeated language of permission and limitation is crucial. The key is given, the locusts are granted power, their targets are restricted, their torment lasts five months, and the four angels are released at an appointed moment. Evil does not control the timetable. God permits judgment within boundaries that his enemies cannot cross.
The most sobering verses come at the end. Survivors do not repent of idolatry, murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, or theft. Catastrophe alone does not automatically soften the human heart. Revelation 9 therefore warns against both fascination with frightening symbols and confidence that suffering by itself produces faith. The chapter calls readers to repent while the warning can still be heard.
Key Themes
The fifth trumpet is also the first of the three woes announced in Revelation 8:13. The word “woe” signals judgment of unusual severity. The sequence intensifies, but the fifth trumpet is not the final end. Revelation combines escalating consequences with pauses that expose God’s patience.
John sees a star that “had fallen” from heaven to earth. Because the star receives a key and acts personally, it represents an angelic being rather than merely a physical object. Interpreters differ over whether this is a faithful angel carrying out judgment or a fallen spiritual power placed under divine authority. The text emphasizes the granted key more clearly than the being’s precise identity.
The abyss is portrayed as a prison or holding place for hostile spiritual powers. In Luke 8, demons beg Jesus not to command them into the abyss, and Revelation later connects it with destructive forces. The abyss is not equal to God’s throne and is never self-opening. Its inhabitants emerge only when the key is given and the pit is unlocked.
Smoke rises like the smoke of a great furnace and darkens the sun and air. The image communicates corruption, obscurity, and suffocating judgment. Earlier trumpets darkened the created order from above; here darkness rises from below. Evil promises illumination and freedom, yet its true atmosphere is confusion, bondage, and loss of light.
The locusts recall Egypt’s plague, but they behave unlike natural locusts. They do not eat grass, plants, or trees. Instead, they torment people who lack God’s seal. Their supernatural assignment makes them agents of judgment rather than insects that can be neatly matched with one known species or military machine.
God’s seal, introduced in Revelation 7, marks those who belong to him. Revelation 9 does not promise that sealed believers avoid every form of earthly suffering, but it does show that they are under God’s ownership and protection from this specific judgment. The seal stands in deliberate contrast to the beast’s mark later in the book.
The locusts may torment but not kill, and their activity is limited to five months. Five months roughly corresponds to a natural locust season, but the symbolic point is restraint. The suffering is severe enough that people desire death, yet even death is withheld. The creatures cannot extend their authority beyond the boundary assigned to them.
The torment resembles a scorpion sting. Scripture does not invite believers to imitate such cruelty or to celebrate human anguish. The image reveals the destructive character of the kingdom people have chosen when they reject God. Separation from the giver of life eventually exposes people to powers that hate human flourishing.
Verse 6 presents a terrifying reversal: people seek death, but death flees from them. Human beings often imagine death as an escape they can command. In this judgment, even that assumed control disappears. The verse should awaken compassion for sufferers and sober recognition that neither life nor death is finally mastered by human choice.
John combines features of cavalry, royalty, humanity, wild animals, armor, chariots, scorpions, and serpents. The piling up of comparisons communicates intelligence, ferocity, speed, organization, and unnatural menace. Attempts to assign each body part to a component of a helicopter, tank, or other modern technology usually ignore how apocalyptic imagery works and produce interpretations that age poorly.
The locusts have a king, unlike ordinary locusts in Proverbs. He is called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, both meaning “Destroyer” or “Destruction.” The bilingual naming makes the meaning clear to different readers. The figure embodies the ruin produced by the abyss, but the chapter does not require every later reference to Satan, the beast, or another evil angel to be treated as the same individual.
The sixth trumpet begins with a voice from the horns of the golden altar before God. The altar recalls the prayers of the saints and the fire cast to earth in Revelation 8. Judgment again proceeds from the heavenly sanctuary. The violence that follows is not random warfare outside God’s awareness; it is connected to his answer to persistent evil.
Four angels are bound at the Euphrates. Their restraint suggests that they are hostile powers, since faithful angels are not normally described as imprisoned. Scripture elsewhere speaks of rebellious angels kept for judgment, as in Jude. Their release does not mean they have escaped God’s authority; it means their appointed restraint is temporarily removed.
The Euphrates marked a significant boundary in Israel’s world and was associated with powerful empires that invaded from the east and northeast. For John’s first readers, it could evoke fear of invasion beyond Rome’s frontier. Revelation uses that historical geography within a larger vision of worldwide judgment rather than supplying a simple map for identifying one modern army.
The four angels have been prepared for “the hour and day and month and year.” The phrase stresses exact divine timing. They are not merely prepared for a vague era, and history is not running on an uncontrolled countdown. God knows the moment, limits the mission, and remains sovereign even when destructive beings are released.
The mounted troops number two hundred million, literally “twice ten thousand times ten thousand.” John says he heard the number, emphasizing immensity. Some interpreters take it as an exact total and others as a symbolic expression of an overwhelming host. Either way, the text does not identify the army with the present population or military forces of any named nation.
The horses and riders are described in colors associated with fire, smoke, and sulfur. Their lion-like heads and destructive mouths make them unlike ordinary cavalry. Fire and sulfur recall divine judgment, including the destruction described in Genesis 19. The imagery portrays lethal, hellish violence rather than admirable military strength.
One third of humanity dies, continuing the partial judgments of the trumpets. The scale is almost unimaginable, yet it is still not the final judgment. The surviving two thirds receive an opportunity to respond. Revelation presents warning as severe mercy: God exposes the end of rebellion before the final end arrives.
The survivors refuse to repent of “the works of their hands.” This phrase connects idolatry with human manufacture. People create objects, systems, wealth, or ideologies and then give them the trust, fear, and devotion that belong to God. Idols cannot see, hear, or walk, but they shape societies because worshipers organize life around them.
The final list—murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and thefts—shows that false worship produces social evil. The Greek word translated “sorceries” is related to practices involving magic, occult manipulation, and potions; it should not be carelessly applied to all legitimate medicine. The chapter condemns attempts to gain spiritual power apart from God and the destructive behaviors flowing from rebellion.
Important Verses
Verses 1–2 reveal that the abyss opens only with a given key. A personal star unlocks the pit, and smoke darkens the air. The verses portray real spiritual danger while denying evil independent sovereignty. God’s enemies act under permission, and the darkness they release cannot overturn the authority of heaven.
Verses 3–5 define the locusts’ assignment. They receive scorpion-like power, must spare vegetation, target only the unsealed, may torment but not kill, and operate for five months. Every element is bounded. Readers should notice the repeated limits before becoming consumed by the creatures’ frightening appearance.
Verse 6 describes people longing for death without finding it. The line communicates suffering so severe that ordinary instincts are reversed. It should not be used to shame people experiencing despair. Instead, it warns about judgment while calling believers to respond to present suffering with compassion, prayer, and practical care.
Verse 11 names the locust king Abaddon and Apollyon. Both names identify him with destruction. The verse strips evil of attractive disguises: the ruler of the abyss is not a liberator but a destroyer. Yet he remains beneath God, who owns the key and determines the duration of his activity.
Verses 14–16 release the four bound angels and introduce the vast cavalry. Their preparation for a precise moment highlights divine control, while the enormous number communicates overwhelming force. The passage warns against confidently turning biblical symbols into predictions about a particular country, troop count, or current geopolitical conflict.
Verses 17–19 portray the cavalry’s deadly power through fire, smoke, sulfur, lion-like mouths, and serpent-like tails. John’s language is openly visionary. The imagery communicates comprehensive destruction, not a coded technical drawing. Its theological message is that rebellious powers eventually bring death from every direction.
Verses 20–21 state the chapter’s central moral tragedy: survivors still refuse to repent. They cling to idolatry and the sins it produces. The verses show that witnessing judgment does not automatically create worship. Repentance involves turning from false gods and abandoning the practices that injure other people.
Practical Applications
Resist sensational interpretations. Revelation 9 is vivid enough without attaching the locusts to helicopters, drones, diseases, secret technologies, or a modern ethnic group. Read the images through Scripture’s own patterns, hold uncertain details humbly, and judge teaching by whether it produces faithfulness rather than fear-driven speculation.
Remember that evil is limited. The abyss needs a key, destructive powers receive permission, and their time and targets are restricted. This does not make suffering unreal, but it prevents despair. Christians can acknowledge spiritual opposition without treating Satan, demons, armies, or political powers as rivals equal to God.
Take idolatry seriously in ordinary life. Modern idols may be made from money, status, nation, pleasure, technology, ideology, or personal control rather than carved metal. Ask what receives ultimate trust, shapes moral decisions, and demands sacrifice. Repentance begins by returning worship to the Creator and the Lamb.
Let warning lead to repentance now. Revelation 9 shows that people can survive catastrophe and remain unchanged. Do not assume a future crisis will make obedience easier. Confess known sin, seek reconciliation, abandon occult practices and exploitation, and receive God’s mercy while the call to turn remains open.
Respond compassionately to despair. Verse 6 depicts people wanting death, but Christians should never romanticize that condition or treat it merely as a prophetic curiosity. Listen carefully, remain present, encourage professional and pastoral support, and seek immediate help when someone may be in danger. Faithful interpretation should deepen care for suffering people.
Continue faithful witness despite frightening events. Revelation does not give the church a mandate to identify every disaster but to worship God, reject idols, endure, pray, and call people to repentance. The chapter ends with hard hearts, while Revelation 10 returns to prophetic witness. God’s people must speak truth without surrendering hope.