Revelation 9:1–21

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

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

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

13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15And 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. 16The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The 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.

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

Original Meaning

Invasion, the Fifth Trumpet (9:1–11)

THE FALLING STAR (9:1) may represent an angel’s moral fall (cf. 12:4; the angel of the Abyss in 9:11), which then underlines God’s sovereign ability to use even those who are evil to accomplish his ultimate purposes. But more likely the image simply represents a geographical descent (cf. 20:1).

Knowing ancient traditions can help us better understand how John’s contemporaries would have heard his words about the Abyss (9:1–2). Many in John’s day assumed a real location on earth called the Abyss (1 Enoch 83:4); apocalypses sometimes indulged in exotic “geography” (1 Enoch 17–18; 21:7).1 Later texts also described guardians of the keys of hell (2 Enoch 42:1), described a great angel with charge over the Abyss and Hades and all the wicked souls imprisoned there (Apoc. Zeph. 6:15), or spoke of an antichrist figure ascending from Tartarus (Gr. Ezra 3:15). Some believed the wicked were “children” or “men of the ‘pit,’ ” i.e., those destined for damnation there (1QS 9.16, 22; CD 6.15; 13.14).

In Revelation (in contrast to the LXX) the Abyss is a place of evil (11:7; 17:8) and a place where evil entities are imprisoned (20:1, 3; cf. Luke 8:31). That creatures from there oppose the evil forces of the empire (Rev. 9:1–11) thus only emphasizes again God’s sovereignty: He employs even evil agents to destroy other evil agents (cf. 17:17).2

The fifth trumpet judgment may refer to a human invasion. “Locusts” undoubtedly appear because, in keeping with most of the other trumpet judgments, this one recalls a plague against Egypt (Ex. 10:13–14). Locusts cloud the sky when they come (Joel 2:2, 10; cf. Livy, 42.2.5). Most hearers in urban Asia, no less than in the countryside, would have recognized that scorpions strike with their tails. Emphasizing God’s sovereignty, Jewish people would recognize that God could use scorpions to execute his judgment (9:3, 10).3 Some existing creatures were considered composite,4 but such mixtures were more often considered frightening, sometimes supernatural. The centaurs of Greek myth mixed horses and humans; Babylonians portrayed mixtures of humans with scorpions or horses.5 Commentators point out that a locust’s head resembles that of a horse, sometimes also citing an Arabian proverb that makes this explicit.6

The specific description of these locusts, however, stems from the book of Joel (1:6; 2:4), where the locusts are described as an invading army (2:11, 20, 25; cf. 1:4), but an invading eschatological army also seems to be prefigured by the locusts (3:9–12). Clearly John does not envision normal locusts; locusts target the very sorts of vegetation that these locusts do not harm (9:4), but these locusts harm people. The human faces (9:7) may indicate the composite design of an angelic creature (Ezek. 1:10), but may also suggest that it is symbolic of a human army. That the locusts’ wings sound like chariots (9:9) may also suggest a human army, though that too comes directly from Joel (Joel 2:5).7

The “breastplates of iron” may compare locusts’ scaled bodies with the scales of eastern soldiers, as in some Jewish texts.8 “Crowns of gold” (9:7) usually designate royalty or high office (cf. Ex. 39:30; 2 Sam. 12:30; 1 Chron. 20:2; Ps. 21:3); hence they may suggest that each locust commands others, suggesting in turn an army far more vast than John can portray. Others argue that the crowns parody the bronze burnish on Roman soldiers’ bronze helmets.9

If Revelation has a particular army in view here, it is probably that of the Parthians. Some features that might recall the Parthians, such as the horses (9:7; cf. comment on 6:2), simply stem from Joel (Joel 2:4; cf. Jer. 51:27). But other details missing from Joel’s locusts but present here may point to the Parthians, especially their long hair (9:8; in the Roman empire, women’s hair was usually longer than men’s, cf. 1 Cor. 11:14–15).10

Ultimately, however, specifically Parthian connections are few, and whatever genuine connections are here may simply be borrowed from Roman fears about Parthia in order to intensify the composite picture of horror. Long hair may simply be part of a terrifying vision of monstrous or superhuman images.11 The “lions’ teeth” (Rev. 9:8) reflect Joel’s locusts (Joel 1:6), as does the appearance “like the thundering of many horses,” noted above (Rev. 9:9; Joel 2:4), and the sound of “chariots rushing into battle” (Joel 2:5; cf. Jer. 8:16).12 By contrast, the case for a Parthian background in the sixth trumpet is much stronger.

The monstrosities from the Abyss may represent angels of judgment, as some scholars suggest.13 This suggests a purely supernatural judgment; elsewhere God accomplished such judgment through his angels (Ezek. 9:1–7), but here apparently he unleashes evil forces to wreak their havoc. That God sets limits on their destructiveness, both in intensity (Rev. 9:6) and duration (9:10), may suggest his mercy and again underlines his sovereignty. Five months is approximately a normal locust’s life span, and God does not choose to extend it.14 Scorpion stings usually bring terrible pain but not death to humans, although these are not purely literal scorpions.15 By preventing their death God augments the pain of those who would rather be out of it (9:6), so one can read this limitation as an increase in the judgment’s intensity, which fits the context of fierce judgment. Other writers spoke of troubles so intense that sufferers simply wished to die.16

But the purpose of such judgments is to turn people to repentance, so even this limitation may also serve to allow repentance (9:20–21).17 Five months’ of torment (9:5), like 1,260 days of torment (cf. 11:10), thus contrasts with eternal torment (14:10–11; 20:10). That the locusts harm no vegetation but only people without God’s seal (9:4) also turns the attentive listener back to 7:3, where vegetation should not be harmed until God had sealed his servants. This connection reinforces the point: God specifically exempts his servants from this judgment, perhaps emphasized especially if this is a demonic army.

“Abaddon” was a subterranean place of the dead in the Old Testament (Job 31:12), which is regularly linked with death and the realm of the dead (Job 26:6; 28:22; Ps. 88:11; Prov. 15:11; 27:20). It is linked with the Pit in the Dead Sea Scrolls.18 It is thus equivalent to Hades, the sometimes-personified realm of the dead (Rev. 6:8), over which God (20:13–14) and Christ (1:18) have ultimate control. But here the control is delegated temporarily to an evil angel, who appears to have been imprisoned with the other spirits of the pit.

“Apollyon” is related to apollymi, the Greek verb meaning “to destroy” (cf. 17:8), but John may be adapting the title slightly to make his point. Thus, many suggest that this title is also intended to ridicule Apollo, the archer god, one of whose emblems (alongside mouse and lizard) was the locust (see Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1080–86.) More significantly, Domitian had sometimes portrayed himself as the god Apollo—which may imply here that the emperor himself or his patron deity will lead the demonic host in destroying Rome.19 The precise referents of these images may be less critical than their intended evocative impact: Judgment will be horrifying, and those who do not embrace God’s protection (9:4) may as well prepare for such horrors.

Bridging Contexts

DERIVING LESSONS FROM the Bible. Each part of the Bible is useful for teaching (2 Tim. 3:16), but different passages are useful for different circumstances. Passages like the fifth and sixth trumpets in this chapter usually will not comfort the bereaved or lonely, but they are useful for shaking us from our complacency. They provide a reality check, denouncing our fantasies that life will always continue as normal and summoning us to recognize the terrible suffering of the world around us.

Understanding the locusts and other prophetic symbols. Modern prophecy teachers differ in their specific approach to the locusts. Some view them as “demons who take the form of these unique locusts”;44 others allow that they may be literal, demon-possessed mutant locusts but seem to prefer the view that they are symbolic, perhaps for the sort of Cobra helicopters with nerve gas in the tail used in Vietnam.45

The Cobra helicopter analogy is something of a stretch, the sort of suggestion that can grow rapidly out of date. Yet it has more value than most of us scholars are inclined to appreciate. If Revelation employs one of the most graphic, fierce images of invasion in its day, perhaps images of attacking helicopters with nerve gas provides a rough modern equivalent in our day—provided we can recognize in such dramatic images judgments from the God who directs human history (1:8). That is, we should seek analogies that convey in modern images the same terror the first images would have conveyed: a devastating invasion. Restricting the terrifying images to the Parthians—though they plainly filled the role for John’s contemporaries and supplied some of the imagery—is inadequate, “reducing the book’s dramatic metaphor to the level of shallow prose.”46 That is not how much of the Bible’s prophetic symbolism functions.

Some interpreters may be troubled by this way of approaching biblical prophecy. Surely if John envisions a devastating Parthian invasion that has not yet materialized, we should expect a literal revival of Parthia so they can invade again (the way some expect a revived Roman empire).47 But if the point of John’s vision is sought in the message it conveys rather than in the details of the image, it may simply warn that God will use the empire’s fiercest enemies to judge it, wicked as they also may be. Persecuted Christians need fear no evil empire; Satan’s kingdom is divided, and God uses one evil empire to destroy another, while the church of Jesus Christ remains and grows.

That Revelation can borrow Joel’s locusts for a plague different from Joel’s literal locusts does not invite us to freely recycle biblical images without attention to their meaning. Rather, it reminds us that God, whose character never changes, generally acts in history according to consistent patterns. The judgments he has sent in past eras thus provide warnings of analogous judgments he will continue to send for different societies until the end (1 Cor. 10:6–12). Our own life spans are too short to learn everything by experiencing it, but if we are wise we may learn from history. But history must be interpreted according to overarching perspectives, so the most useful history for moral instruction is in the Bible, which provides God’s perspective on history.

In bridging contexts, we should also be careful about how we apply the message of the texts. For Romans, Parthians were a feared menace, but their location to the “East” (16:12) was purely a matter of geography.48 Some American prophecy teachers in the late twentieth century appeal to contemporary fears about Communist China or Japanese economic competition. Hal Lindsey, remarking that China’s standing army is over two hundred million (9:16), regards the “kings from the East” (16:12) as an “Oriental” invasion of the Middle East.49

Without diminishing the importance of concerns about justice in recent Chinese history, an approach that equates the modern world’s “east” (as east Asia) with John’s “east” (as Parthia) misses the point and runs the risk of bolstering unjust prejudice against Asians (see comment on 16:12). In applying the text, it remains perfectly legitimate to compare modern fears of our contemporaries with those of the Romans, and thus to explain and evoke the same kind of emotional impact John’s contemporaries experienced when hearing his vision. It is not, however, legitimate or consistent to take the Parthian images symbolically but “east” literally and fixate on one group of people.50 For that matter, this Parthian invasion is meant not to terrify obedient believers so much as to provide them vindication against their Roman oppressors.

Reading of the fiery cavalry with lions’ heads in 9:17, Lindsey prosaically suggests, “My opinion is that he is describing some kind of mobilized ballistic missile launcher.”51 But there is no clear reason to prefer this interpretation when fire-belching creatures were standard fare in first-century images. Lindsey misses the point, for apocalyptic texts are not meant to be read the way we read straightforward narratives; they are more like the poetry of many biblical psalmists and prophets. The visionary imagery is intended to evoke images of terror more than to convey an exact, literal portrait of the threats’ appearance.

Yet at the same time, Lindsey’s reading of the text does catch its basic significance, insofar as he translates the horrifying images of John’s day into images that evoke analogous horror in our own.52 In so doing, he allows the text to speak with its intended impact more freely than some scholars who merely bury it in an analysis of ancient parallels. When we convey the text’s meaning for today, we should offer comparisons with graphic images that have the same effect on today’s audiences.

Contemporary Significance

GOD’S INVOLVEMENT IN HISTORY. Some older Christians in my church circles used to talk about “holding their peace” and “letting the Lord fight their battles.” That may be a primary moral of the present passage. We as the end-time army of God (7:1–8) will not slay others with physical weapons; we may even prove a host of martyrs (7:9–17). But God has other armies to overthrow worldly empires, whether he uses supernatural or human armies. God raised up Babylon to judge Judah, then judged Babylon for its own sins. Sometimes today evil acts of terrorism even turn public opinion against the terrorists, producing at least a temporary diminution of bloodletting.53

The militia movements that seek to arm themselves to survive the end-time battles misunderstand Revelation.54 The Lord does not depend on our carnal means to accomplish the purposes of his kingdom (Matt. 26:52; Luke 22:51).

A message for Christians. The intended impact of Revelation’s images on those who deliberately reject its truth is harsh: John is not like some refined modern preachers unwilling to “scare” someone into repentance. But few who reject Revelation’s message will read this far; its main audience is Christians, and its main message at this point may therefore be twofold. (1) Christians flirting with compromise with the world should think twice, because the entire social order will be destroyed in the awful catastrophes of war; Christ alone is an adequate security.

(2) Christians suffering at the hand of the world should never envy the position of their persecutors. Their persecutors will suffer too; invasions by other ungodly persons or spirits function as God’s judgments on a wicked society, hence active vindication of his persecuted people. Of course, Christians often die in wars, such as during the genocide in Rwanda in the 1990s. John does not promise specific, total immunity for God’s servants from all the ravages of war, but the demonic predators, at least, can not touch them (9:4).55

Furthermore, John provides one perspective on troubles in the world that complements other biblical perspectives: God is not absent in times of the world’s hardship, but remains in control. Christians must also recognize another biblical perspective that summons us to work to heal the pain around us: The cross testifies that God loves a world hostile to him and even shared our pain to ultimately liberate us from it. Yet we also need Revelation’s perspective, which addresses the stark division between God’s martyrs and their persecutors: God does not merely wait until Christ’s return to act in history on behalf of justice.

Finally, the message of repentance (9:20–21) is not only for the world, but for professing Christians who have grown too comfortable with the world’s values (2:5, 16, 21–22; 3:3, 19; cf. 18:4).

Original Meaning

A Parthian Invasion (9:12–21)

WHEN THE SIXTH angel sounds, a voice from the golden altar addresses him (9:13). The golden altar represents the incense altar (Ex. 30:1–3; Heb. 9:4) rather than the sacrificial altar (Ex. 35:16), hence implying that this judgment represents a further response to the prayers of the saints (8:4–6). By reminding the audience that the final three trumpets are “woes” (cf. 8:13), 9:12 reinforces the dramatic nature of this sixth trumpet, equivalent to the sixth bowl of God’s anger, that of Armageddon (16:12–16). That bowl also involves “kings from the East” from across the Euphrates; as here, an audience in the eastern Mediterranean would think especially of the Parthians.20

The mention of “the great river Euphrates” leaves no doubt that Parthians are in view, for the Euphrates repeatedly appeared as the traditional boundary between Roman and Parthian territories throughout Mediterranean literature.21 Pompey had established this boundary in the first century B.C., and it remained in John’s day.22 When Parthians crossed the Euphrates, it was to fight Romans. A later writer observes that these two most powerful empires in the world were separated only by a river.23

Parthians were the archrivals of the Roman empire, far more feared than the Germanic barbarians on the northern frontier. Early imperial propaganda celebrated Augustus’s defeat of Parthia, but not every generation since had met with equal success.24 Though Rome claimed to subject the north, west, and south, they admitted that they could not defeat the Parthians to the east. Parthians were known for boldness in battle and could not be trusted; they were considered the appropriate enemies of Rome. Parthian kings were known for their power and authority.25

Earlier, pagan prophecies of an Asian invasion of Rome had terrified the Romans, but nothing had come of it.26 Now God was speaking and they had real reason to fear! Some Jewish speculation believed that Nero, whom Christians saw as a precursor of the Antichrist, would cross the Euphrates into Parthia, betraying Rome (Sib. Or. 4.119–24). Palestine was close to the eastern frontier of the Roman empire, making it, with the rest of the Roman province of Syria, a natural place for them to strike.27 Thus some first-century Jewish traditions also suggested that God’s angels would call together a Parthian invasion of the holy land (1 En. 56:5–6).28

Evil angels were thought to be bound in various places (9:14; 20:2, 7), including subterranean chasms (1 En. 10:4–6, 12–13; 88:1–3; Jub. 5:6) and bodies of deep water (Test. Sol. 6:3–6; 25:7).29 Jewish people also understood about angels stirring the eastern kings of the Parthians and Medes to war, invading Palestine (1 En. 56:5–6). The four angels bound in the Euphrates River (Rev. 9:14–15) are thus likely evil angels whom God will use as agents of judgment on a wicked world, undoubtedly by their stirring of the Parthians.

These angels have stings in tails (9:19), as in the previous plague (9:10). Parthian archers had perfected the art of riding forward while shooting backward. They often retreated up hills, and when the Romans followed, the mounted archers devastated them with a volley of arrows. They destroyed a couple legions before the Romans learned not to pursue Parthians up hills! Romans had long remembered and feared them for this technique.30

But are these “mounted troops” actually the Parthians (9:16)? Some suggest that the symbolic images of the Parthians blend with horrific imagery for a demonic army, hence producing “a nightmare version of a familiar first-century fear.”31 John heard their number, just as he had the godly army of the 144,000 (7:4); but as when he “saw” the 144,000 they turned out to be literally something different (7:9), perhaps this army will also turn out to be something other than mere Parthians (9:17). Smoke-belching fiery creatures (9:17) may symbolize the ultimate form of God’s judgments on humanity, an intensification of the plagues against Egypt (Wisd. 11:18). The closest approximation to these creatures in Greek literature was the horrifying monster called the Chimaera, which had “the head of a lion, the tail of a dragon or serpent, and the body of a goat and belching fire”; in ancient pictures, it could have a lion body with a goat head.32 In contrast to their predecessors (Rev. 9:5), these invaders kill (9:18). In short, Revelation portrays an invasion of terrifying monsters. That fire comes from their mouths indicates that like God’s true prophets (11:5), this demonic army also exhibits supernatural power to execute judgment on the world.

The specific images do transcend a mere army of Parthians from across the Euphrates. In contrast to the mere iron breastplates of their predecessors (9:9), these warriors bore breastplates of (literally) “fire and brimstone” (9:17). Although the NIV is probably partly right to render this description in terms of color (red, blue, and yellow)—sulfur is yellow and burns with a blue flame—the literal rendering cannot be ignored here, for “fire, smoke and sulfur” also “[came] out of their mouths” (9:17; probably also symbolic in 11:5; cf. 12:15–16).33 That the horses’ heads are like those of lions recalls the earlier army in 9:8 and appeals to the standard ancient image of the lion as a fierce and dangerous predator (cf. 1 Chron. 12:8; see comment on 5:5). The serpent-like tails may evoke hideous pictures in Greek mythology, like the Medusa or various demons with snake hair;34 they may also allude to the strong-tailed dragon of 12:3–4, although a first-time reader would not yet catch this comparison.

Then again, John explicitly says that what he saw was a “vision” (9:17), which probably allows for considerable symbolic elements and enables us to hold that he is describing in horrific terms a literal human army. Whether the vision focuses on a demonic army portrayed with features of Parthians, or Parthians portrayed as a hideous symbolic army alters the final effect only slightly: in either case, the images evoke terror.

The killing of one-third of the world’s population (9:15, 18) is unparalleled catastrophe. At the same time, it is less than many other apocalyptic traditions—for instance, the Jewish tradition that a revived Nero would attack the west and kill two-thirds of the people (Sib. Or. 5.102–3), or that God’s judgments would destroy two-thirds of humanity (3.540–44), or a prophetic warning that two-thirds of God’s people Israel would be slaughtered (Zech. 13:7–8). Often in Revelation God’s judgments strike only one-third (Rev. 8:7–12; cf. 12:4) or even a tenth (11:13), indicating that he strikes a remnant rather than the majority, hoping that others will come to repentance (9:20–21). The death of one-third of the world is judgment, but it is also mercy.35

That the angels of judgment are prepared (NIV, “kept ready”) for a designated time (9:15; cf. perhaps 9:7; 12:6; 16:12) reinforces Revelation’s emphasis that God controls all judgments on earth; believers need not fear the world’s sufferings as if God is not in control.36 Some commentators think that the number of the army, two hundred million, reflects computations based on God’s own host in Psalm 68:17; Daniel 7:10, arguing that though this is a demonic army, it also must serve the commands of God.37 This number may offer a contrast to the much smaller number of the 144,000 (Rev. 7:4–8), who will not need to take up arms against Rome; God, who hears their cries, will raise up evil ones to fight other evil ones. In any case, the number will be terrifying: These troops probably outnumbered the entire population of the Mediterranean world.

The climax of the account comes in 9:20–21. God allows one-third of humanity to die and spares the remaining two-thirds to invite their repentance. Like Pharaoh during the plagues on Egypt, however, the world refuses to repent (Ex. 7:22–23). They worship and probably seek help from false gods rather than the true God, frustrating his powerful designs to offer them repentance and explaining why God’s patience with them will ultimately justly run out (cf. Rom. 2:4; 9:22).

Many philosophers believed that the gods sent punishment to produce repentance.38 Most people in the Roman world attributed plagues to the anger of their deities, but some objected that such events merely occurred by chance.39 Jewish teachers also recognized that God often sent signs or judgments to seek repentance before bringing harsher judgment; some later teachers even declared that those addicted to their sin would not repent even at the gates of hell.40 Jewish writers sometimes complained about those who refused to repent despite seeing God’s works (Ex. 7:23; 2 Chron. 28:22; Ps-Philo 7:1), or noted that because of the wicked plagues afflicted the world, causing everyone to suffer (ARN 9A). They recognized that God sent plagues on Egypt to invite repentance.41 He continues to seek repentance through judgments (Amos 4:6–11; Hag. 2:17).

Jewish texts condemn those who worship gods of wood, stone, and precious metals (Isa. 37:19; 44:19; 1 Enoch 99:7; Sib. Or. 3.586–90; 5.82–83). Both early Christians (1 Cor. 10:20) and many Jews (Bar. 4:7; 1 En. 19:1; 99:7; Jub. 1:11; 22:17) would have shared Revelation’s view that pagans worshiped demons (Rev. 9:20).42 That Revelation connects mistreatment of people made in God’s image with rejection of the true image of God by idolatry (9:20–21) also should not surprise us (Rom. 1:23–27).43

Bridging Contexts

Contemporary Significance

Finally, the message of repentance (9:20–21) is not only for the world, but for professing Christians who have grown too comfortable with the world’s values (2:5, 16, 21–22; 3:3, 19; cf. 18:4).