With this as a background, we come now to the fifth trumpet. Revelation 9:1 says, “And the fifth angel trumpeted, and I saw a star out of heaven fallen to the earth, and to him was given the key of the shaft of the abyss.” The star here refers to Satan, who will be cast down from heaven to earth. The angels are likened to stars (Job 38:7; Rev. 12:4). As the archangel, Satan was the daystar (Isa. 14:12, Heb.). In Luke 10:18 we see the judgment upon him. Here, and in 12:9-10, we see the execution of that judgment. The abyss is the dwelling place of the demons (Luke 8:31, translated deep in KJV).
When will Satan fall out of heaven to earth? The answer to this question is in chapter twelve. That chapter reveals that after the man-child is raptured to heaven, he will fight against Satan and seem to say to him, “Satan, now that we are here, there is no place for you. You must be cast down.” According to that chapter, Satan will fall from heaven at the beginning of the last three and one-half years. We have pointed out that this is a strong proof that the great tribulation will not begin before then, for, prior to this, Satan will still be in heaven.
When Satan falls from heaven to earth, the key of the abyss will be given to him that he may open the abyss to release the demon-possessed locusts to torment man for five months.
Because the great tribulation begins with the first woe at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, it includes neither the sixth seal nor the first four trumpets. The sixth seal will be a supernatural calamity, and the first four trumpets will be judgments upon the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the heavenly hosts. But these judgments are not a part of the great tribulation. The first four trumpets are very severe, but they do not injure man directly. Following them will come the great tribulation which will directly torment man. Prior to the fifth trumpet, man will not be touched directly; only the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the heavenly hosts will be directly damaged. This may be considered as a preliminary to the coming great tribulation. God’s judgment of the earth, the sea, the waters, and the heavens is a warning to man. At the time of the fifth trumpet, man himself will be directly tormented.
Verses 3 through 5 say, “And out of the smoke came forth locusts to the earth, and authority was given to them as the scorpions of the earth have authority. And it was said to them that they should not injure the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, except men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was given them, not that they should kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.” The locusts here are not like the locusts in Exodus 10:12-15, because they have tails like scorpions and stings and they injure man (v. 10). They must be demon-possessed ones, because they come out of the smoke which issues from the dwelling place of the demons (v. 2). The plagues of the first four trumpets are not directly upon man, whereas the woes of the last three trumpets are. Those who will not be injured by the demon-possessed locusts are the Israelites who have the seal of God on their foreheads (7:3-8).
In verses 7 through 10 we see the characteristics of these locusts. Verses 7 and 9 are very similar to Joel 2:4-5, 25, and 1:6, words spoken concerning Israel. This, with the fact that the Israelites need to be sealed by God to escape the injury of the locusts, may indicate that the woe of the fifth trumpet is especially upon the Israelites. Verse 7 says, “And the likenesses of the locusts were like horses prepared for war, and on their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as faces of men.” These locusts are like an army, similar to the locusts mentioned in the book of Joel, where we are told that God will send an army of locusts. While the locusts in Revelation 9 are not to be identified with the locusts in Joel, they are related. The likenesses of the locusts are like horses prepared for war, and they have crowns like gold on their heads. Their hair is as the hair of women, and their teeth are like the teeth of lions (v. 8). They have breastplates as breastplates of iron, and “the sound of their wings” is as “the sound of the chariots of many horses rushing into battle” (v. 9).
Verse 10 says that “they have tails like scorpions, and stings.” In the Bible, scorpions signify demons, the evil spirits that follow Satan. In Luke 10:19 the Lord said, “Behold, I have given you the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” We, the believers in Christ, have overcome the scorpions, Satan’s demonic servants. Verse 10 also says that “in their tails is their authority to injure men five months.” Although the torment of the first woe will damage man directly, the time will still be limited by God to a period of five months. The torment will be so excruciating that “in those days men shall seek death and shall by no means find it; and they shall long to die, and death flees from them” (v. 6). During these five months, those who are tormented by these dreadful, demon-possessed locusts would rather die than live. Surely the shaking of the earth and the blackening of the sun are nothing compared to this. This is the first of the three woes announced by the eagle from mid-heaven in 8:13.