Revelation 9

1. Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. And I saw a star [that had fallen] from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep hole that leads down to the bottomless pit.

This is a place where the demons hate to go and they begged Jesus not to send them there. When we are helping someone to get free from an evil spirit, we can ask Jesus to send that spirit to the abyss. Luke 8:31

2 – 4

Then it opened the bottomless pit. Smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. The sun and sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole.

Then [demon creatures which looked like] locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke. They were given the power to sting like scorpions.

They were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or tree. They could harm only the people who did not have the sign of God on their foreheads.

The 144,000 Jews would not be stung and people could see this and would know that they could be saved from this torture by asking God to save them.

5 – 6

These locusts were given the power to cause pain to the people for five months. But they were not given the power to kill anyone. And the pain they felt was like the pain that a scorpion gives when it stings a person.

During those days people will look for a way to die, but they will not find it. They will want to die, but death will run away from them.

God does not want to kill people. He is willing to make life uncomfortable for them so that they will turn away from evil. They cannot even hide from God by trying to kill themselves. They will know the truth and decide torture is better than asking God to help them.

7 – 10

The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore things that looked like crowns of gold. Their faces looked like human faces.

Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. Their chests looked like iron breastplates. The sound their wings made was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle. The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions. The power they had to hurt people for five months was in their tails.

The life cycle of a locust is five months. There are always men who think that they can escape to the mountains and hide but there will be no escape.

11. The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon. In the Greek language his name is Apollyon [destroyer].

This should make us all ask ourselves if we would be ready in case of an attack by evil spirits. There are many Scriptures that show us how to defeat evil if we are willing to prepare ourselves.

12 – 14

The first great trouble is past. There are still two other great troubles that will come. The sixth angel blew his trumpet. Then I heard a voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God. The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four [fallen] angels who are tied at the great river Euphrates.”

These four [fallen] angels had been kept ready for this hour and day and month and year. They were freed to kill a third of all people on the earth.

With the other judgments. This means that now half of the people on the earth have been killed.

16. I heard how many troops on horses were in their army. There were 200,000,000.

The only army that is that large today is the Chinese army.

17 – 19

In my vision I saw the horses and their riders. They looked like this: They had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow like sulfur. The heads of the horses looked like heads of lions. The horses had fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths.

A third of all the people on earth were killed by these three terrible things coming out of the horses’ mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur.

The horses’ power was in their mouths and also in their tails. Their tails were like snakes that have heads to bite and hurt people.

With one cry to God all of this could be stopped.
Do you not see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can you not see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? Romans 2:4

20. The other people on the earth were not killed by these terrible things. But they still did not change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—things that cannot see or hear or walk.

They go back to what they used to know. Early Christian churches have been found with idols inside of them. Men who looking for excuses to run from God will always try to mix the things of God with their own ideas.. This reminds us of a drug addict cannot stop using drugs. Anyone who cannot stop doing things that he does not want to do should know that something evil is controlling his life.

21. These people did not change their hearts and turn away from murder or evil magic, from their sexual immorality or stealing.

They will turn to witchcraft. They will turn their anger against each other. They are living in a time when nobody can trust anyone.