THE FIFTH AND SIXTH
TRUMPET JUDGMENTS OF THE DAY OF YAHWEH
Revelation 9:1-21
As taught by Dave
Lindstrom
I. The fifth trumpet (woe 1) brings a
swarm of stinging demonic locusts that terrorize the earth for five
months (Rev. 9:1-12).
A. At the sounding of the fifth
trumpet, a star (most likely an angel in this context, see also
Judges 5:20, Job 38:7, and Rev. 20:1) descends from heaven onto the
earth with a key to the Abyss or bottomless pit. This angel was
given the key by Yahweh’s authority just like the one in
Revelation 20:1 and, therefore, does not seem to be Satan. The
bottomless pit seems to be a prison for many of the fallen angels
(Luke 8:31; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) while events on this earth unfold
(vs 1).
B. As the angel with the key opened
the bottomless pit, smoke came out darkening the sun and the air.
Out of the smoke came a massive swarm of demonic locusts to the
earth. The authority given to them by Yahweh was to sting
non-believers for a period of five months to the point where people
will feel like giving up on life itself (but are unable to).
However, they did not have any authority to hurt the vegetation of
the earth as the first trumpet did. The 144,000 (Rev. 7:4) Jewish
believers (as well as probably any new believers) with God’s seal
were not harmed by this judgment (verses 2-6).
1. The eighth plague of Egypt (Exodus
10:1-20) was a plague of actual locusts that brought misery to the
land of idolatry and slavery. The fifth trumpet brings misery to
the people of idolatry and slavery on the whole earth for five
months (the life span of a natural locust or the time of the early
and latter rains which is April to August).
2. There are many parallels to the
Day of Yahweh found in Joel 1:4 - 3:21 to these trumpet judgments.
C. John next describes in detail the
appearance of these demonic locusts (vs 7-11).
1. For the Bible expositors who teach
this as primarily symbolic and historical (idealists and
preterists), the interpretation of these locusts are usually either
the iron clad Roman armies, the long-haired Parthians to the east
of Rome, or the turban wearing Muslims.
2. For futurist expositors, some try
to bring in modern warfare but most believe these to be actual
mutated-in-form locusts under demonic control. Evidently from a
sight sound and touch standpoint, they were designed to bring fear
and pain.
3. This demonic swarm seems to be
intelligent and well organized with the name of its leader-king
being “Destroyer” (Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek).
This might be another name for Satan but probably is a high
ranking fallen angel in Satan’s army who is in charge of the Abyss
(this is not one of the names listed for Satan in Rev. 12:9). By
the way, regular locust swarms “have no king,” Proverbs 30:27.
D. The fifth trumpet judgment is the
same as the first woe. Trumpets six and seven are the same as the
next two woes (verse 12).
II. The sixth trumpet judgment (woe 2)
brings a demonic cavalry with the authority to kill one- third of
the earth’s population (Rev. 9:13-19).
A. At a specified and predetermined
exact time, Yahweh gives the word through the same angel from
Revelation 8:3-5 who attended to the heavenly altar of incense and
the prayers of the saints (verse 13). The altar angel gave the word
to the sixth trumpet angel to loose four specially created angels
(probably fallen since they were bound) who were bound at the
Euphrates River. The Euphrates River is the eastern border of
Israel (Gen. 15:18), is now running through modern Iraq, is the
starting point of many of Israel’s historical invasions (Isaiah 8:5-8), and the possible area
of the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:10-14)
(verses 13-15).
B. A 200 million strong demonic
cavalry were possibly assembled or led by the four angels or the
four angels transformed themselves into this cavalry. The
characteristics of this cavalry goes way beyond the description of
a normal cavalry relegating this to the realm of the supernatural
demonic cavalry (verses 16-19).
1. The riders (and possibly horses)
had breastplate armor on consisting of three colors (which might
have been mixed or separated out into three color groups) fiery
red, dark blue, and light yellow.
2. The heads of the horses looked
like the heads of lions with the ability to open their mouths and
breath out fire, bluish smoke, and sulphur. It was by these three
substances that could be breathed out by the horses in which a
third of humanity will be killed in the sixth trumpet. The horses
tails can also strike and wound people.
3. The tenth plague of Egypt (Exodus
11:4-6, 29, 30) killed all the firstborn. This plague during the
Day of Yahweh kills one third of humanity (possibly 1 to 1 ½
billion people by today’s count – after already taking out around 2 billion people due to deaths in
Revelation 6:4, 8; 8:11 and the possible rapture of the church).
III. Yahweh’s judgment is seen during
His Day but also His tender heart of mercy. Just as in Egypt, He
desired for people to repent of their idolatry and self-imposed
slavery to demons. He ultimately desires for people to believe that
He alone is their only hope. Yet people still harden their hearts
and refuse to repent, believe, and be saved (Rev. 9:20, 21). One
day it will be too late (Rev. 22:13-15).
“The great Day of Yahweh is near,
near, and hastening fast; the sound of the Day of Yahweh is bitter.
The mighty man cries aloud there…” Zeph. 1:14
“Seek Yahweh all you humble of the
land…perhaps you may be hidden on the Day of the anger of
Yahweh.” Zeph. 2:3
