The First Woe: Demonic Locusts from Hell's Basement Text: Revelation 9:1-12
Introduction: When God Uses Demons
We now come to the fifth trumpet, and the first of the three woes. The trumpets, you will recall, are God's covenant lawsuits against apostate Israel. They are declarations of war, warnings of impending judgment. And with this fifth trumpet, the nature of the judgment intensifies dramatically. The previous judgments were terrible, affecting the land, the sea, the rivers, and the heavens. They were God using the natural order to strike His disobedient people. But now, God opens the door to His basement. He unlocks the abyss and lets the demons out. This is not just a natural disaster; it is a supernatural invasion.
Our modern sensibilities, what is left of them, recoil at this. We like to think of God as a genial grandfather who would never use such instruments. But the God of the Bible is the sovereign Lord of all things, including the demons. They are His demons, not in the sense that He is evil, but in the sense that they serve His ultimate purposes, whether they intend to or not. He used the Assyrians, His razor, to shave Israel. He used Babylon, His hammer, to smash Judah. And here, in the final death throes of apostate Jerusalem, He uses a demonic horde to torment the men who had rejected their Messiah and who were about to be destroyed.
This passage is not about helicopter gunships in the distant future. It is not about some far-off tribulation after a secret rapture. John was told that these things must "shortly take place." This woe, this demonic torment, was unleashed on the generation that crucified the Lord of Glory. Specifically, this is a vivid, symbolic description of the internal hell that Jerusalem became during the final five months of the Roman siege, from roughly April to September of A.D. 70. The Jewish historian Josephus, an eyewitness, describes the city not just as a warzone, but as a madhouse, a self-devouring snake pit of factionalism, murder, and insanity. John is showing us the spiritual reality behind Josephus's reporting. God handed the defenders of Jerusalem over to Hell, and they turned their own city into a suburb of it.
The Text
Then the fifth angel sounded. Then I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him. And he opened the pit of the abyss and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And they were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will never find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle. And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. One woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
(Revelation 9:1-12 LSB)
The Key to the Abyss (vv. 1-2)
The scene opens with the sounding of the fifth trumpet.
"Then the fifth angel sounded. Then I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him. And he opened the pit of the abyss and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit." (Revelation 9:1-2)
John sees a star that had fallen from heaven. Because a personal pronoun "him" is used, we know this is a personage, an angel. This is likely Satan himself, who Jesus saw fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18). But notice the critical detail: the key was "given to him." Satan does not own the key. He is not the master of the abyss. He is the jailer, but he only has the key because the true King, Jesus Christ, who holds the keys of death and Hades (Rev. 1:18), has handed it to him for a specific, limited purpose. Satan is on a leash. Hell itself operates only by divine permission.
He opens the pit of the abyss. The word for abyss is the same word used in Luke 8, where the legion of demons begged Jesus not to send them there. It is the holding pen for the most foul spirits. When it is opened, a thick, choking smoke billows out, darkening the sun and air. This is not literal smoke. This is the smoke of false doctrine, of demonic lies, of spiritual blindness and confusion. It is the suffocating atmosphere of Hell itself, released on earth. This smoke represents the moral and spiritual insanity that enveloped Jerusalem, blinding the people to any hope of repentance or escape. They were breathing the air of damnation.
A Demonic Plague (vv. 3-6)
Out of this spiritual smog comes a horde of creatures.
"Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And they were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." (Revelation 9:3-4)
These are not natural locusts. The first clue is their diet. They are commanded not to eat what locusts always eat, grass and green things. Instead, they are to attack men, specifically those "who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads." This tells us two things. First, these locusts are intelligent, spiritual beings, demons. Second, God's faithful people, the Christians who had fled Jerusalem before the siege as Jesus commanded, were protected from this torment. This judgment was precise and targeted. It fell upon the apostates, the covenant-breakers.
Their power is not to kill, but to torment.
"And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will never find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them." (Revelation 9:5-6)
The torment is specified as lasting for five months. This is a literal timeframe, corresponding to the most intense period of infighting and suffering within Jerusalem before the walls were breached. The pain they inflict is like a scorpion's sting, excruciating and agonizing. This was a spiritual and psychological torture. The men inside the city, possessed and agitated by these demons, turned on one another with a fiendish cruelty that Josephus documents in gruesome detail. The torment was so profound that death would have been a welcome relief. But they were not allowed to die yet. God's judgment had a schedule. The torment had to run its course before the final slaughter, which comes with the sixth trumpet.
The Anatomy of a Demon (vv. 7-11)
John then gives us a detailed description of these demonic locusts, and every detail is symbolic of their character.
"And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions." (Revelation 9:7-8)
They are like war horses, signifying their aggression and power. They have crowns like gold, a false, demonic authority. They have faces of men, indicating intelligence and cunning. They have hair like women, which in that culture was a sign of shame for a man. It points to effeminate perversion and a rejection of God's created order. And they have teeth like lions, revealing their savage, predatory ferocity. This is a perfect picture of the Jewish Zealots who ran the city: intelligent, arrogant, sexually perverse, and murderously violent.
"And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses running to battle. And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months." (Revelation 9:9-10)
They had iron breastplates, signifying their apparent invulnerability and hard-heartedness. The sound of their wings was like a massive army, representing the terrifying chaos and clamor they created. And their power was in their scorpion-like tails, meaning their sting was treacherous, deceitful, and delivered from behind. They were back-stabbers.
Finally, we are told they have a king, which is another sign they are not natural locusts, for Proverbs tells us that locusts have no king (Prov. 30:27).
"They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon." (Revelation 9:11)
This demon army is not a disorganized mob; it is an organized kingdom. And their king is the angel of the abyss himself. His name is given in both Hebrew and Greek to emphasize that this judgment is coming upon the Hebrews, but it is a judgment that all who reject Christ, Jew or Gentile, will ultimately face. Both names, Abaddon and Apollyon, mean the same thing: Destroyer. This is the very nature of Satan and his minions. They do not create; they only destroy. They are parasites who live to ruin God's good creation.
The First Woe Concludes (v. 12)
The section ends with a solemn pronouncement.
"One woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things." (Revelation 9:12)
As horrific as this demonic torment was, it was only the beginning. This was the woe of internal collapse, of a city tearing itself apart under demonic influence. Two more woes were yet to come, culminating in the final, fiery destruction of the city and its temple. This verse serves as a grim drumbeat, reminding us that God's judgments are progressive and relentless when repentance is refused.
Conclusion: The Unseen War
What are we to take from this? First, we must recognize the reality of the demonic realm. The spiritual world is not a fairy tale. There are intelligent, malevolent beings who hate God and hate those made in His image. They are organized, they are powerful, and their ultimate goal is to destroy.
Second, we must recognize the absolute sovereignty of God over this realm. The Destroyer is on a leash. The key to the abyss was given to him. The duration of the torment was set at five months. The targets were precisely defined. Our God is not wringing His hands in heaven, worried about what the devil will do next. He is the one who gives the orders.
Third, we must see the nature of sin. When men and women reject the liberating rule of Jesus Christ, they do not become free. They become enslaved to Abaddon, the Destroyer. The torment that Jerusalem experienced was a physical manifestation of the spiritual state of every soul that is outside of Christ. To be ruled by your sin is to be tormented by demons. It is to be filled with a self-destructive rage that makes you long for an escape that never comes.
But for those who have the seal of God on their foreheads, for those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, there is absolute protection. These locusts could not touch the Christians. And the Destroyer cannot touch us. For our King is not Abaddon, but Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer. He did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. The choice before every person is simple: you will have a king. Will your king be the Destroyer from the abyss, or the Savior from Heaven?