When Trumpets Sound Woeful

REVELATION:

God’s Last Words for Earth’s Final Days

“When Trumpets Sound Woeful” (Revelation 9)

Many of you know the stories of Jesus and His interaction with people who were demon-possessed. One of the most familiar is when he encountered the man who walked around naked and lived in a cemetery. When the man first met Jesus, he cried out loudly, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” But it wasn’t the man talking; it was a demon inside the man.

The demon made the man so violent that his neighbors and the authorities tried to keep him bound with chains and shackles, but by the power of the evil spirit, he would break the chains and be driven into the desert. With the man groveling at Jesus’ feet, Jesus asked him his name. And with a voice that undoubtedly sounded evil, he said, “My name is Legion!” And that’s because many demons had entered him.

Those demons then begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss. Instead, they begged him to let them enter a large herd of pigs feeding there on the hillside. Shockingly, Jesus granted their request. That’s when the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. Bizarre, right? But no more so than what we’ll read in Revelation 9!

While the demons in Luke 8 didn’t want to be thrown into the abyss, in Revelation 9, that abyss is opened so that demons can escape and wreak unprecedented havoc on humanity. Today’s text tells us who will open it and what happens once it’s opened.

Revelation 9 puts us midway or a little beyond midway the Tribulation. The scroll containing God’s plan for the culmination of human history is in Jesus’ hand. He has opened the seven seals, and His end-time judgments have begun. With the opening of the seventh seal, there were seven trumpet judgments. We looked at the first four of those last week in chapter 8. Let’s revisit the last verse in chapter 8 because it sets the stage for chapter 9…

Revelation 8:13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

Notice again that all-important phrase, “Woe to those who dwell on the earth.” Every time you see in Revelation, it’s a reference to the wicked, the unbelieving, the ungodly, those who do not know Jesus as their Savior.

With these last three trumpet blasts and the judgment accompanying them, there is a corresponding “WOE!” We will hear and see two of those “woes” in chapter 9. John only needed six verses to reveal the first four trumpets, but he’ll use 21 verses to deal with the next two. The imagery will be terrifying because we will see the spiritual world invade the physical world in ways never before experienced. Once unleashed, devastation, destruction, and death will be experienced over all the world.^[1]

Revelation 9:1-2 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. [2] He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.

So, John sees a star fallen from heaven to the earth. The tense of the verb “fallen” emphasizes an event in past time with continuing results. Unlike the star that plunged to the earth in chapter 8, this star is a person, with personal pronouns applied throughout the passage.

This statement is very similar to Luke 10:18, where Jesus said, “I saw SATAN fall like lightning from heaven.” Isaiah 14 also depicts Satan as one “fallen from heaven,” and I think that’s who this probably is. Satan and a third of all the angels were kicked out of heaven when sin welled up in Lucifer’s mind. Now, as we’re getting closer to the end of the age, Satan and his demons will be given some freedom they’ve never had before.

Assuming Satan is the fallen star, he is given the key to the bottomless pit, sometimes transliterated as “the abyss.” This is a “supermax prison” for demons. It’s where the legion of demons in the man from Gadara did not want to go. One day, Satan will be ‘imprisoned’ here for a thousand years (20:1-3).

Just as Hades is the preliminary place of suffering for unbelievers, the Abyss is the preliminary place of incarceration for many fallen angels – otherwise known as demons – who await God’s commands and God’s final judgment.^[2]

Let’s focus more on this fifth trumpet judgment…

5^th Trumpet and 1^st Woe: Infernal Locusts ( , 1-12)

When Satan takes the key and opens the shaft to the bottomless pit, demons emerge, and in the apocalyptic nature of John’s vision, he sees them as a swarm of locusts.

Their attack is and (3-5)

[3] Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. [4] They were told [to harm]…only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. [5] They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

John’s vision draws from Joel 2, which speaks of an end-time locust invasion. We also hear an echo of the locust plague, which was the eighth plague in Egypt. So, for John’s initial readers, a locust invasion would have been very familiar. It seems strange to us, but in the ancient world, one of the worst things that could happen is a plague of millions of locusts that devour your harvest. It would seem to you like a conquering army was coming your way, and there was nothing you could do. No pesticides, no walls of defense, no resistance or protection whatsoever. When the locusts came, you knew famine, death, and disaster were upon you. Here, however, it’s a swarm of demons!

THEIR TARGETS: “only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (4)

Those who are sealed could be a reference to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists only. Or, at this point in the Tribulation, it could refer to all other believers who have come to place their trust in Christ after the rapture and who have survived thus far in the Tribulation.

THEIR TORTURE: “their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone” (5)

Yes, these demons are fulfilling God’s judgment against these rebels; nonetheless, they are doing what demons do. In the NT, for example, we see them causing one woman a physical deformity that lasted 18 years (Lk. 13:11). They kept another victim mute (Mt. 9:33). A demon caused another man to be both deaf and mute (Mt. 12:22). And yet another—probably a young teenager boy—the demon kept throwing him into fires and tried to drown him more than once (Mt. 17:15-18). These demons in Revelation 9 are doing what demons do—their torture. And in all their destructive tendencies, they are acting in concert with their leader, the devil, who only seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.

Folks, please hear me clearly: is not your ! The devil is not on your side! Oh, sure, he makes promises, but they are always full of lies! He never has your best interest in mind. Never! Even those who follow his lead and do wicked stuff here on earth…He hates their guts! Do not try to bargain with the devil. You’ll lose every time. You’ll pay a steep price every time. And he will laugh his head off at you every time.

He knows the plans he has for you, plans to harm you, not to prosper you! He has no legitimate hope to offer you and certainly no future. He’s the Father of Lies, and he hates your soul! His temptations are always false advertisements. He promises a full and free life if only you’ll break free from mom and dad, break free from the church and the Bible and all those rules. Break free from your marriage. Break free from God, and you’ll finally have the freedom you long for. NO, YOU WON’T!! He’ll destroy your life now and damn your soul when you die!

Verse 6 further illustrates how awful this torture will be…

[6] And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

For thousands of years, people have run from the Grim Reaper only to find him too swift to evade. Now, men are chasing after death with all their might and can’t catch him regardless of how hard they try. Death has gone on vacation. All suicide attempts are futile.

Back to this 5^th trumpet judgment and this first woe and the demonic invasion that’s coming…

Their activity is

On the one hand… (1) Satan their activity (11)

[11] They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

He’s given two names, one in Hebrew, Abaddon, and one in Greek, Apollyon, and they both mean destruction or destroyer.

You see, that’s the difference between God and Satan. Listen to what Jesus said in John 10…

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (ESV)

Again, the devil only wants to steal your joy, steal your soul, and destroy anything good about your life. He hates. He destroys. He devours. And he’s the leader of this demonic army. Thank God he’s not all-powerful, and thank the Lord, the power he does have and these demons have will be regulated…

(2) God their activity (1, 3, 4, 5)

Do not miss this—these demons only operate with divine permission and for divine purposes.^[3] You see, God is in complete control of the whole scene. The mayhem and the misery are all taking place under God’s sovereignty and supervision. Chapter 9 contains several “divine passives.” In verse 1, the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit was given to the fallen star. Satan did not have the key already, and he could not get it if he wanted to. It will be given to him when God’s ready for him to have it.

In verse 3, these infernal locusts—these demons—were given power. In verse 4, the demons were told what they could and could not do. And in verse 5, they were allowed to torment their victims for five months.

Without exception, when you read the gospels and see Jesus interacting with demon-possessed people, the demons always obey His commands. Yes, they sometimes beg for mercy, but the Lord is always sovereign in granting it. Every time Jesus commanded a demon to leave a person, the demons obeyed. They had no choice.

When this scene actually takes place during the Tribulation, all the major news outlets will say that the world is spinning out of control, that aliens have invaded, and some alien power has taken over the planet. NOT TRUE! That’s never been true, and it won’t be true then. GOD WILL BE IN CONTROL. Always has been. Currently is. Always will be. So says the sacred scriptures!

Your world might be in total chaos, but God is in total control of the chaos. He knows how long it will last – five hours, five months, or perhaps five years. In your times of tribulation, it is true as well that God has determined the depth of its pain and the extent of its sting. He has told it to go only so far and no further. Even in total chaos, Christ is in total control. Though the world is very unsettled, God is not unseated!^[4]

In this case, these demons were allowed to torment their victims for five months. You might think, “It’s only five months.” However, five months is a long time if you are waiting for something exciting to happen, but it is an eternity if you are waiting for something terrible to end!^[5]

Their appearance is (7-10a)

Notice John’s description of this demon terror from the Abyss. Over and over, John uses the word “like.” In other words, John will use several similes to describe this supernatural scene with familiar analogies.^[6]

[7] In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, [8] their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; [9] they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. [10] They have tails and stings like scorpions…

Some have tried to lessen the strangeness of this judgment by interpreting these as missile-spitting helicopters and tanks whose bullets sting. There is no reason to interpret this any other way than plainly – at face value. The demons will assume the form of a most terrifying, painful, destructive creature and will be given God-delegated time to chase, corner, bite, sting, and terrorize the human race.^[7]

So, when you read verses like this, remembering this is an apocalyptic vision full of symbols and imagery, it’s futile to try and assign specific meaning to every detail. Don’t try to assign spiritual meaning to the lion’s teeth or the breastplate. Seeing helicopters and missiles shot from them adds nothing to our understanding of the text. Instead, you’re just supposed to have a terrifying picture where this demonic army is like a locust invasion, grotesque, with soldiers, armor, and faces of men and hair of women. It’s an apocalyptic vision.^[8]

These are demonic creatures with intelligence, emotion, rationale, intent, strategy, organization, and a desire to inflict pain.^[9]

Kevin DeYoung reminds us that much of Revelation should be read and viewed like paintings in a museum.  So, just as you look at a painting and many fine works of art, it’s not that every single piece there is meant to be an allegory to point to something else back in reality, but sometimes it’s more impressionistic than that. It’s supposed to wash over you with a sense of joy or gloom or fear.^[10]

And that same kind of imagery continues with the 6^th trumpet…

6^th Trumpet and 2^nd Woe: Infernal Horsemen ( , 13-19)

[13] Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, [14] saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

The Euphrates River is the longest and most important river in the Middle East. It was one of the four rivers into which the river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden divided (Gen. 2:14). The Euphrates was the easter boundary of the Promised Land (Gen. 15:18). It’s also the river over which the enemies of God will cross to engage in the Battle of Armageddon (16:12-16).

With the blowing of the sixth trumpet, the sixth angel is told to “release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” Who are the four angels who are bound? We first saw a group of four angels back in chapter 7. Those are good angels who are “holding back the four winds of the earth.” They’re preventing any cosmic disturbance. We could even say that that vision paints a picture of those four angels preventing evil from having its way. Now, here in chapter 9, it’s as though those “four winds” begin to blow, and they do so in the persons of these four evil angels. 

The definite article suggests that these four angels form a specific group. While they are not specifically identified, they may be the powerful demons who had geographical power over the four major world empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (cf. Dan. 10).^[11]

Their authority is (14, 16, 18-19)

Again, notice that these angels are bound (v. 14). The verb indicates that this has been their condition for some time. We never find any reference in Scripture to good angels ever being bound. These are fallen angels who have been kept bound until this divinely appointed time for them to perform as agents of God’s wrath.^[12]

The fact that they are fallen angels lets us know that their authority, their power source, is satanic. These four angels are powerful demons. I think it’s probable that if God has his archangels, then Satan has his demonic versions of the same.

Whoever these four mighty but fallen angels are, they control a massive demonic army that engages in war against unbelievers.

[16] The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number.

Now, keep this in mind: when John saw this vision, there were not two hundred million people living on the Earth! That’s probably why he adds the commentary for his readers, “I actually heard this number verified. I knew some of you wouldn’t believe it.”

Let’s be thankful to God that there are not more demons on this earth than there are right now!

This massive army will probably be divided into four troops, each commanded by one of the formerly bound fallen angels.

Some suggest that this is a human army like the one mentioned in 16:12, but that army arrives on the scene during the sixth bowl judgment. Plus, the figurative language used to describe this army’s horses strongly suggests that this is a supernatural rather than a human force, as does the fact that it is commanded by the four newly released demon angels.^[13]

The figurative language used to describe the troops’ horses suggests that this is a supernatural rather than a human force, as does the fact that they are commanded by the four recently released power angels.

Their attack is (15, 18)

[15] So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.

This verse speaks of a precise time and a precise purpose for the release of these four angels. Earlier, with the breaking of the fourth seal, a fourth of the earth’s population was killed. Now, another third of mankind is killed. Combined, half of the total population of the world is killed!

This slaughter will completely disrupt human society. Just think about the challenge of disposing of all those bodies! The sickly stench of decaying corpses will be unbearable, and it will permeate the whole world. What an enormous task to bury them in mass graves or burn them.^[14]

Their appearance is (17)

[17] And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.

The imagery here vividly demonstrates one thing: this demonic army will be fierce, cruel, and have destructive strength and power. Fire-breathing monsters were common in ancient mythology. Fire-breathing demons will be a reality during the great tribulation!^[15]

Whenever you read of fire and sulfur in the Bible, it means bad things are happening. It means God is angry. The only other time you read of all three—fire, smoke, and sulfur—is in Genesis 19 when the Lord reigned sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, and the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

[18] By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming 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 with heads, and by means of them they wound.

Somehow, the tails of these demonic creatures can bite like a serpent. Just imagine this terror. With bodies that can run as fast as horses and teeth that can kill as quickly as their riders can ride, these demons and their animals will look like they are armored with fire, equipped with flamethrowers that will kill everyone in their path. Remember, twenty-five percent of the world’s population has already died during the first four seals. Millions more were martyred for their newfound faith in Christ. Still more died from drinking embittered water in a previous trumpet judgment. And now, demons kill one-third of those remaining alive and the fire-breathing animals upon which they ride. No one in their right mind wants to be here when all this occurs.

(20-21)

These last two verses paint a picture of depraved, unrepentant rebels. This is not an apocalyptic image. It’s a sad and tragic statement of fact…

[20] The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, [21] nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Tragically and sadly, many will be hardened instead of chastened. They will rebel more rather than repent. Just like the Pharaoh of Egypt, these “plagues” only harden the hearts of these unbelievers. And like the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart after he hardened his own heart, that’s probably what we’re seeing happen here.

They continue their idolatry, which is always an exercise in futility since idols can’t see, hear, or walk, let alone do anything beneficial for their worshippers. Do not think, however, that idolatry is reserved for faraway places around the world. It is down the street. It’s next door. It may be in your own home and heart.^[16]

Recognize how it is to say “” to the Lord.

The most frightening thing about Revelation 9 is not the judgments that God sends but the sins that men persist in committing even while God is judging them.^[17]

These earth dwellers are hell-bent against God. They said “No” to the gospel. “No” to Jesus. “No” to the possibility of salvation. You can hardly find sadder verses in all the Bible than verses 20-21. Think of everything that we’ve just seen. This terrifying demonic war, with a third of mankind killed. The rest who weren’t killed watched their friends, family, and neighbors get slaughtered by demonic soldiers. Yet they did not repent. Previews of hell didn’t scare hell out of them. Even with such graphic warnings, they still did not give up their idolatry, their anger, their witchcraft, and their immorality.

I’m begging you not to underestimate the potential harm that will be done when you say “No” to God. “Just Say No” is fine for a campaign against drugs and alcohol. It is demonic and dangerous to listen to Satan telling you “just say no” to the Lord!

If you say “No” to the Lord, you are choosing death rather than life, darkness rather than life, bondage rather than freedom, guilt rather than peace, shame rather than honor, and Hell rather than Heaven.^[18]

Rejoice in God’s sovereignty.

Revelation 9 has given us an incredible picture of the death, devastation, and destruction Satan and his demons can and will one day cause for mankind. Imagine how swiftly the world would be devoured and destroyed if God was not sovereign! Imagine the carnage if Satan possessed the key to the bottomless pit! Imagine how awful life would be if God dialed back His mitigation of evil. Imagine how much more evil we would hear about in the news if God didn’t keep Satan’s demons under control. As I said earlier, let’s be thankful to God that there are not more demons on this earth than there are right now! Rejoice in God’s sovereignty.

and take in Jesus.

Don’t be presumptuous about your future. Just because God speaks, convicts, and draws you today does not guarantee He will do so tomorrow. Just because you are struggling with the desire to give your life to Christ does not mean you’ll have that struggle tomorrow. Repent now! Believe today! Don’t delay. Delay could lead to damnation.

There are few things more important in life than repentance. Revelation reminds us that you do not go to heaven without it. Let the fifth and sixth trumpets so frighten you that you flee to God and cry out for mercy.^[19]

1. Adapted from Daniel Akin, Christ-Centered Exposition: Revelation, p. 179. ↑

2. MacArthur, p. 262. ↑

3. Gordon, p. 308. ↑

4. Adapted from Stephen Davey. ↑

5. Sam Gordon, Revelation: Worthy Is the Lamb, p. 210. ↑

6. MacArthur, p. 262. ↑

7. Ibid. ↑

8. Kevin DeYoung. https://clearlyreformed.org/sermon/doom-and-gloom ↑

9. Stephen Davey. ↑

10. Kevin DeYoung. https://clearlyreformed.org/sermon/yet-they-did-not-repent ↑

11. John MacArthur, Revelation: 1-11, p. 269. ↑

12. Robert L. Thomas, Revelation: Volume 2, p. 43. ↑

13. MacArthur, p. 271. ↑

14. Adapted from MacArthur, p. 270. ↑

15. Akin, p. 185. ↑

16. Adapted from Akin, p. 186. ↑

17. Warren Wiersbe, Be Victorious, p. 83. ↑

18. James Hamilton, Revelation: The Spirit Speaks to the Churches, p. 217. ↑

19. Joel Beeke, Revelation, p. 288. ↑