Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. - Revelation 9
Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit
The fifth trumpet is a painful one. Those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads will be tormented by locus for five months. If you think gnats are bad, imagine locus that have the same power as scorpions. "In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them." (verse 6). This is a glimpse of what awaits those who do not receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they will be tormented in hell for eternity with no death or relief in sight. Notice the description of the locus, it gives a horrifying portrait of these creatures from hell. Also, note that the one who is their king is the angel of the bottomless pit.
Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates
The sixth trumpet releases the four angels "who are bound at the great river Euphrates." (verse 14). Notice these angels are bound, this passage also mentions that these four angels were created for this purpose. They are released to kill 1/3 of mankind! Whenever the Bible mentions numbers, pay attention, every detail is provided for a reason. In verse 16, there are 200 million horsemen in the army. It also mentions the appearance, again John is describing what he is seeing and does not understand completely, so he is giving visual examples to give us an idea. The horsemen have breastplates that are fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow. The horse's heads are like a lion's head and fire, smoke, and brimstone come out of their mouths. Another 1/3 of the human population during that time is killed by the fire, smoke, and brimstone that comes out of the horsemen's mouths. "For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm." (verse 19). Notice that John tells us that the rest of mankind are not killed by these plagues however they STILL do not repent of their sins, they STILL do not accept the redemption Jesus provides freely. Instead, they continue to worship demons, idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood; they continue to murder, practice sorceries, are sexually immoral, and steal.
It is important to note that God is giving them over to their own evil. These horrible creatures are from hell, not heaven. God is giving them a taste of what is coming if they continue in their sin and continue to follow after Satan.
Are you ready? If Jesus Christ came back today, would you go to Heaven with the Church or would you be left on the earth to go through the Great Tribulation? If Jesus Christ came back today, would your loved ones, family, friends go with you to Heaven or would they be left on this earth? This is the time to make sure you are ready for eternity and to witness to those you love and to those you meet so they will not have to go through eternal torment, but will live in eternal glory where God wipes away all tears and we live in perfect, sinless, holy beauty face to face with Jesus Christ forever.