Revelation 9 describes the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments, in which a fallen star opens a bottomless pit, a swarm of locusts torments unsealed people, and a vast army of horsemen kills a third of mankind. People read it because its imagery is vivid and unsettling, and because they want to know whether it predicts events they must watch for. Understanding the chapter starts with seeing what it is: a symbolic vision meant to show that God restrains evil and that human hearts stay stubborn even under judgment.
Revelation 9 Summary
The chapter opens with a star falling from the sky to receive the key to the abyss. When he opens it, smoke rises like a furnace and darkens the sun and air, and out of that smoke comes a swarm of locusts with the sting of scorpions. Their assignment is limited: they may not harm plants or any people who bear God’s seal, and they may torment rather than kill for five months. The description moves through their appearance, their king named Abaddon or Apollyon, and a note that the first woe has passed.
The second half of the chapter brings the sixth trumpet. Four angels bound at the Euphrates are released to kill a third of mankind, and an army of two hundred million horsemen appears, breathing out fire, smoke and sulfur. The chapter closes with a stark observation: the survivors still refuse to repent of their idols, murders, sorceries, sexual immorality and thefts.
Background and Setting
Revelation is the last book of the New Testament. Christian tradition attributes it to John, and the book presents itself as a prophecy written to seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, in what is now western Turkey. Most scholars date it to the later first century, during a period of pressure on Christians under the Roman imperial order, though some argue for an earlier date under Nero.
Chapter 9 sits in the central cycle of seven trumpet judgments, which follows the seven seals in chapters 6 and 8. The trumpets echo the plagues of Exodus and the warnings of the prophets, so the first readers would have recognized the pattern of God judging a hardened world while sparing his own people.
Revelation 9 Section by Section
Verses 1-6: The Locusts from the Abyss
1 The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. 2 He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Revelation 9:1-3 (WEB)
The chapter begins with a fallen star given the key to the abyss, a symbol of the realm of the dead and of demonic powers. The smoke that darkens the sky is less about literal fire than about confusion and oppression spreading over the earth. The locusts that emerge are given power like the scorpions of the earth, which echoes the plague of locusts in Exodus 10, but their target is not the crops.
The most striking limit in this section is that the locusts may not touch the grass, green things or trees, and may not kill those marked by God’s seal. The seal in Revelation 7 identifies God’s servants, so this detail teaches that God’s people are protected even within the judgment. The torment lasts five months, a limited span, and it is described as a sting rather than a death blow. Verse 6 adds that people will long for death and will not find it, a picture of despair that refuses to end.
4 They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads. 5 They were given power, not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. 6 In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
Revelation 9:4-6 (WEB)
Verses 7-12: The Appearance and King of the Locusts
7 The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people’s faces. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions. 9 They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war. 10 They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months.
Revelation 9:7-10 (WEB)
John describes the locusts in a mixture of images that would have been startling to first readers: horses prepared for war, golden crowns, human faces, hair like women’s hair, lion’s teeth, iron breastplates and wings that roar like chariots. The point is not that these creatures can be sketched precisely, but that they combine the features of several threats into one terrifying force. Their tails carry stings, which connects them back to the scorpions of verse 3.
Verse 11 names their king as the angel of the abyss, called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, both meaning destroyer. Verse 12 then marks a transition: the first woe is past, and two more are coming. This sentence gives the reader a sense of structure and steady escalation.
11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”. 12 The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
Revelation 9:11-12 (WEB)
Verses 13-16: The Four Angels at the Euphrates
13 The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” 15 The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
Revelation 9:13-15 (WEB)
The sixth trumpet sounds from the horns of the golden altar before God, which recalls the prayers of God’s people rising before him. A voice commands that four angels bound at the Euphrates be released. The Euphrates often marks the eastern frontier in Old Testament and Jewish imagination, the border from which invasions came, so this detail links the vision to the threat of armies from beyond the boundary.
The angels were prepared for a precise hour, day, month and year, which shows that God governs even the timing of judgment. Their assignment is to kill a third of mankind. The phrase “a third” recurs through the trumpets, signaling partial judgment rather than total destruction, a warning that is severe but still short of the final end.
The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
Revelation 9:16 (WEB)
Verses 17-19: The Horsemen and Their Mouths
17 Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18 By these three plagues were one third of mankind killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths, and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they harm.
Revelation 9:17-19 (WEB)
The horsemen wear breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue and sulfur yellow, and their horses have lion-like heads that breathe out fire, smoke and sulfur. The three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur tie the vision to the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah and to the imagery of judgment in the prophets. Verse 19 says the power of the horses lies in both their mouths and their tails, which are like serpents with heads, so harm comes from front and back alike.
The effect is devastating, yet the section stays focused on its theme: the destruction is real, and its source is God’s sovereign judgment carried out through created powers.
Verses 20-21: The Refusal to Repent
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can’t see, hear, or walk. 21 They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
Revelation 9:20-21 (WEB)
The chapter ends not with the death toll but with the response of the survivors. John notes that they did not repent of the works of their hands. They kept worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, objects that can neither see nor hear nor walk. They also kept their murders, sorceries, sexual immorality and thefts. This refusal is the chapter’s sharpest observation: judgment alone does not produce a change of heart, because the deeper problem is a disordered devotion.
The verses invite readers to examine what they trust and worship today. Idolatry in Revelation is rarely only about statues; it is anything that takes the place of God in the heart.
Key Themes in Revelation 9
- God’s restraint: Even in the midst of judgment, the locusts are forbidden to harm plants or God’s sealed people, showing that God limits evil according to his purpose.
- Judgment with a limit: Five months of torment and a third of mankind killed mark the judgments as severe but not total, pointing toward a call to turn back before the final end.
- Hardened hearts: The survivors’ refusal to repent shows that suffering alone does not change people unless their devotion is changed.
- Idolatry exposed: The lifeless idols that cannot see, hear or walk contrast sharply with the living God who sees and acts in history.
- The reality of the spiritual realm: The angel of the abyss, the bound angels and the demonic imagery remind readers that the conflict described in Revelation is more than political.
Lessons From Revelation 9 for Today
A family facing a hard diagnosis or an unexpected loss may feel that the world has gone dark, like the sky under the smoke. Revelation 9 reminds such readers that God sets limits on what troubles can do, even when those limits do not feel visible. The seal that protected God’s people in the vision is a picture of belonging to God, which remains a source of security when circumstances feel chaotic.
Someone who has noticed a pull toward a habit, a grudge or a possession they cannot put down may recognize the chapter’s warning about idols. The question is not whether the idols are carved, but whether they receive the trust that belongs to God. Asking that question honestly, with a friend or a pastor, is one way of responding to the call to repent that the chapter describes as missing.
Questions for Reflection
- What does the image of God’s seal on the foreheads of his people mean to you in a season of fear?
- Where in your daily life do you notice a temptation to trust something other than God?
- How does the limit placed on the locusts change the way you think about present suffering?
- What would genuine repentance look like in an area of your life where you have hardened your heart?
- How might you pray for people who seem unmoved by hardship, without writing them off?
A Prayer From Revelation 9
Lord, you hold the keys to every abyss and set the limits on every trouble that comes near us. When the world feels dark and the smoke of anxiety covers the sky, remind me that you have sealed me as your own and that you guard what belongs to you. Show me any idol I have quietly placed above you, and give me the humility to turn from it. Soften my heart where it has grown stubborn, and let my life point others toward the living God who sees, hears and acts. Keep me steady until the day you make all things new. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the locusts in Revelation 9 literal insects?
Most readers take the locusts as symbolic creatures rather than ordinary insects, since they combine features of horses, scorpions and humans. The imagery draws on the locust plague of Exodus to show a judgment that comes from beyond the normal order. The details are meant to convey a sense of terror and divine authority.
Who is the angel of the abyss named Abaddon or Apollyon?
The text identifies him as the king over the locusts, and he is called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, both meaning destroyer. Many interpreters see him as a figure of destructive evil under God’s permission. The chapter does not present him as equal to God.
Why does Revelation 9 say a third of mankind was killed?
The phrase “a third” appears repeatedly in the trumpet judgments and signals partial rather than total destruction. Its purpose is to warn people to repent while there is still time. The survivors’ continued refusal to turn to God is the chapter’s main concern.
