Rev 9 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Rev 9:1-21: 9:1-21 The fifth and sixth trumpets demonstrate how God’s judgment affects the people of the world and detail how futile it is to resist God. While these judgments should lead to repentance, they do not. Sin has such control over people that they choose to worship the evil forces that torture and murder them rather than repent and turn to God. Summary for Rev 9:1-12: 9:1-12 The fifth ... trumpet , the first of the three terrors (8:13 ), brings the judgment of locusts from the bottomless pit , a place of horror. Ancient cultures viewed the oceanic depths, or the “abyss,” as a dwelling place of demonic forces (see study note on Gen 1:2).

Summary for Rev 9:1-21: 9:1-21 ^a The fifth and sixth trumpets demonstrate how God’s judgment affects the people of the world and detail how futile it is to resist God. While these judgments should lead to repentance, they do not. Sin has such control over people that they choose to worship the evil forces that torture and murder them rather than repent and turn to God.
Summary for Rev 9:1-12: 9:1-12 ^b The fifth ... trumpet, the first of the three terrors (8:13 ^c), brings the judgment of locusts from the bottomless pit, a place of horror. Ancient cultures viewed the oceanic depths, or the “abyss,” as a dwelling place of demonic forces (see study note on Gen 1:2).
9:2 ^d The smoke from the pit turned the sky dark, as in the plague on Egypt (Exod 10:21-29 ^e; see Matt 27:45 ^f).
Summary for Rev 9:3-4: 9:3-4 ^g The locusts ... from the smoke with their power to sting like scorpions are fiercer than those of the Egyptian plague (see Exod 10:14-15 ^h). Rather than eating plants, these locusts are like stinging scorpions that viciously attack people. Only people without the seal of God (see Rev 7:1-8 ⁱ) receive this painful judgment. While the stings cause painful torture, they are not life-threatening (9:5-6 ^j).
9:5 ^k torture them for five months: This time period is a symbolically complete number based on the fingers on a hand. It is also the normal life span of locusts, suggesting that their entire purpose was to torture people.
Summary for Rev 9:7-10: 9:7-10 ^l While some see these locusts as symbolic of attack helicopters, missiles, or other modern armaments, they come from the “bottomless pit” rather than from human engineering. The description of these creatures, derived from the physical appearance of locusts, is intended to cause revulsion and terror.

• Their gold crowns indicate that their torment dominates much of the earth.
9:11 ^m The king of the locusts is identified in three ways: (1) as the angel from the bottomless pit (probably different from the fallen star, 9:1 ⁿ, who unlocked the abyss rather than coming from it); (2) as Abaddon (“destruction”), often paired with death (see Job 28:22 ^o; Ps 88:11 ^p); and (3) as Apollyon—the Destroyer (see 1 Cor 10:10 ^q).

• Although John makes no direct connection between the devil and this king of the locusts, the prince of demons is linked with Satan in the Gospels (Mark 3:22-26 ^r; see Matt 12:24-27 ^s; Luke 11:15-18 ^t). The New Testament also identifies the devil as the prince of this world (John 12:31 ^u; 14:30 ^v; 16:11 ^w) and as the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2 ^x), so he probably represents Satan. There is also a connection with the Roman emperor Domitian, whose patron god Apollo was symbolized by the locust.
Summary for Rev 9:13-14: 9:13-14 ^y The four horns of the gold altar (see 8:3 ^z) are introduced with the sixth trumpet blast. Many excavations have uncovered altars with pointed horns at their four corners (see study note on Exod 27:2).

• The voice carries the authority of God in the command to release the four angels.

• These angels have been bound, suggesting their evil nature (cp. Rev 20:2 ^aa; 1 Enoch 10; contrast Rev 7:1 ^ab). Their location at the great Euphrates River probably refers to Assyria and Babylon, empires that had devastated the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and thus were symbols of destruction (see 2 Kgs 17:22-24 ^ac; 25:1-11 ^ad).
9:15 ^ae hour and day and month and year: The fourfold time designation for releasing the four angels confirms that even evil forces must observe God’s timing.
9:16 ^af The relationship of the four angels to their army is not clear.

• 200 million: This figure represents an innumerable multitude. Even at its greatest strength, the ancient Roman army with twenty-one legions numbered only about 126,000 soldiers. It is unproductive to use this number in attempting to identify any specific country with such an overwhelming destructive force.
Summary for Rev 9:17-19: 9:17-19 ^ag The riders had armor in colors that matched the plagues of their horses, with red for fire, blue for smoke, and yellow for sulfur—all of which are signs of judgment in Scripture (see 14:10-11 ^ah; 19:20 ^ai; Gen 19:24-28 ^aj; Ps 11:6 ^ak; Ezek 38:22 ^al; Luke 17:29 ^am).

• The horses are reminiscent of the terrifying monsters of Greek tales pictured on ancient buildings and celebrated in ancient dramas.

• One-third: See study note on Rev 8:7-12.
Summary for Rev 9:20-21: 9:20-21 ^an Even when humans are faced with plagues and death, repentance is not automatic. People tend to continue in their evil deeds and to worship demons and idols—things that belong to the created order—rather than worshiping the Creator (see 13:4 ^ao; 14:9-10 ^ap; Rom 1:25 ^aq; 1 Cor 8:4 ^ar; 10:19-22 ^as).

• murders ... witchcraft ... immorality ... thefts: What people worship parallels the ways in which they live (see Rev 21:8 ^at; 22:15 ^au; Rom 1:23 ^av, 29-32 ^aw).

• Revelation portrays the extent to which depravity controls unbelievers. It is not logical for people to worship powers and beings that torture and kill them; the powers of sin and rebellion against God are deceptively captivating.