Revelation 9 Studies

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each chapter is divided into a number of studies and each study or passage has a simple four-Part, verse-by-verse approach, to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Rev 9:1-12

1 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. 2 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. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 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. 5 They were not allowed 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. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 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. 10 They had tails with stings, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

A. Find Out:    

1. What was the star given? v.1
2. What happened when he used it? v.2
3. With what consequence? v.3
4. How were they restricted? v.4,5 (3 ways)
5. Who rules over them? v.11
6. How is their activity described? v.12

B. Think:

1. How would you summarise this first woe?
2. How does this passage distinguish between believers and unbelievers?
3. What or who do you think these locust-like creatures are?

C. Comment:

      The first four trumpets heralded death and destruction for a third of the world. The fifth trumpet heralds agony and torment for all the godless unbelievers (note that believers are still on the earth in the midst of this “tribulation”).

     The ‘star’ referred to as ‘he’ clearly is a personality, and we may suppose he is either Satan or another leading fallen angel. He appears to be given authority to release from the depths demonic beings that are permitted to come against the unbelieving population of the world and create extreme pain and agony, without ensuring death.

     The description of these creatures is confusing and horrific. Whether they can be actually seen by humans is not clear, but if they can be they present a picture of creatures that would conjure up immense fear. We will soon see that still the populace do not repent and call on God. The Lord is giving every opportunity, indeed is presenting every sort of pressure upon man almost to drive them to Himself and avoid eternal destruction, but still they refuse. Such is the foolishness of sin in mankind.

D. Application?

1. God loves us so much that He sometimes uses very strong disciplinary measures to drive us to Himself.
2. Sin’s foolishness means we sometimes need that!

Passage: Rev 9:13-21

13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulphur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood – idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.

A. Find Out:

1. What command was issued? v.14
2. What were the four angels to do? v.15
3. How, apparently, were they to do it? v.16
4. What specific methods would achieve it? v.18
5. What did the rest of mankind continue doing? v.20
6. Of what other things were they guilty? v.21

B. Think:

1. What, simply, was the effect of the 6th trumpet?
2. What is clearly the moral state of the world at this time?
3. What does this passage say about time and the purposes of God.

C. Comment:

      The end result off this trumpet being blown is that a third of the world is killed. The how and when of all of this is not fully clear and any detailed application is purely speculative. What we are told is that there were four angels, presumably fallen angels because they are ‘bound’, i.e. completely restricted in their activity, who had been restricted at some time in the past to be released for this specific moment in history. The area of the Euphrates is the area of Mesopotamia, the area of the garden of Eden and what is modern Iraq .

      Again the description of the destroying army under these four angels is horrific and mysterious, again presumably a demonic destroying host. Unlike the creatures of the 5th trumpet, these ones actually bring death, to a terrible ONE THIRD of the world!!!

      Still godless mankind refuses to repent. They will worship anything but God. Still they are bent on spiritistic occult activity, their destruction, their abuse of the gift of sex and their abuse of each other’s property. What a picture of much of the world’s activity today!

D. Application?

1. Yet again see the foolishness and stupidity and hardness of heart caused by sin.
2. All men have to die sometime and then face God. He has the right to make that earlier than later.