The
Fifth Trumpet
The
Locusts from the Bottomless Pit
Despite the destruction upon the Earth that’s come
up to this point, ‘a prophetic eagle of Heaven’ in midair warns that even more
devastating judgments are in ‘the wings.’
As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call
out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the Earth,
because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three
angels!"
Rev 8:13 NIV
Before this, the Earth already had:
· war
(second horseman)
· economic
depression (third horseman)
· a
fourth of humans killed (fourth horseman)
· a
great earthquake, massive storm, impaired sky, a population of the world hides
in caves and bunkers, and the effects of complete seizure of the Earth’s four
winds (Sixth Seal)
· a
third of the trees and all the grass is burned up (First Trumpet)
· celestial
body destroys a third of sea creatures and a third of ships (Second Trumpet)
· “Wormwood”
pollutes a third of fresh water, killing many (Third Trumpet)
· something
blocks out a third of light of the sun, the moon, and the stars (Fourth
Trumpet)
Despite all that, a
Heavenly messenger announces that the worst is yet to come on the inhabitants
of the Earth—three woes: "Woe! Woe!
Woe to the inhabitants of the Earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be
sounded by the other three angels!"
The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had
fallen from the sky to the Earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of
the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a
gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And
out of the smoke locusts came down upon the Earth and were given power like
that of scorpions of the Earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the Earth
or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the Seal of God on
their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture
them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of
a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but
will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their
heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human
faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions'
teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their
wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to
torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the
Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
Rev 9:1-12 NIV
This ‘star’ which comes down from Heaven to the
Earth and receives the shaft to the Abyss, is an angel—a mighty angel.
Locusts come from the smoke. But these are not
ordinary locusts—they are an army of demons [horde of hell] released from the
abyss to the Earth, to torment those who have not the Seal of God in their
foreheads.
And, much as mosquitoes carry heinous diseases,
these “locusts” will carry a disease that will cause five months of torment and
apparently weakness so sapping on the ungodly of the Earth.
When scorpions sting, they inject a neurotoxin—a
toxin that interferes with the brain’s ability to communicate through the
nerves to the rest of the body. Severe neurotoxins can kill by causing the
heart and lungs to stop working for lack of signals from the brain.
Venomous snakes use neurotoxins to kill their prey.
Spiders do, too. And so do scorpions.
The Bible says that these “locusts” will also
torment men in the same manner as a scorpion sting would torment them.
These “locusts” out of the bottomless pit have:
· likeness
of the armor war horses
· gold-like
crowns on their heads
· faces
like humans
· hair
like women
· teeth
like lions
· breastplates
like iron
· wings
· scorpion-like
tails
And they have a king over them, the angel of the
abyss. In Hebrew its name is “Abaddon” and in Greek he has the name “Apollyon.”
In Hebrew, Abaddon means “destruction.” In Greek,
Apollyon means “destruction.” In Greek, Apollyon means “destroyer.” This
‘destroyer’ is called “the angel of the abyss.”
This is how the Living Bible puts verse 9:11:
Their
king is the Prince of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and
in Greek, Apollyon [and in English, the Destroyer].
Observe that 9/11 [September 11] was the terror plot
against America, in which the “World Trade Center” twin towers were destroyed!
Revelation 9:11 reveals:
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the
bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek
tongue hath his name Apollyon (KJV).
In Luke 8, Jesus Christ delivered a demon possessed
man. In verse 30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"Legion,"
he replied, because many demons had gone into him.
And
they begged Him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss [the deep]
(v.31).
The man was possessed of 6,000 demons [legion]—they
begged Jesus not to order them into the bottomless pit; the deep of unlimited
terror, punishment and darkness.
Today, there is an island in the Persian Gulf called
Abaddon.
Verse 12 declares:
One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter
(KJV).
This verse makes a reference to the earlier
‘prophetic eagle’s’ declaration of three woes coming (see 8:13).