TOPIC:‌“The Fifth and Sixth Trumpet Judgments”

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌Revelation 9:1-21

 

‌‌“And the fifth angel sounded…And the sixth angel sounded” (9:1,13).

 

‌We come now to the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments which are referred to in the previous chapter verse 13 as the “woe” judgments. These two judgments are different in character from the first four trumpet judgments. They are described in much greater detail than the first four. Eleven verses are devoted to the fifth trumpet judgment and nine verses to the sixth trumpet judgment.

 

‌While the first four trumpet judgments are inflicted on natural objects on the earth, the last three are inflicted on people on the earth. The last three judgments are much more severe as they affect the whole earth and are directed by Satan and his demons on all who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads.

 

I.

 

‌Consider, to begin with, the FIFTH TRUMPET JUDGMENT. In verse 1 John writes of these words: “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”

 

‌The fifth angel blows the trumpet and there appears a star fallen from Heaven to earth having the key to the bottomless pit. The fifth trumpet is now set in motion. This judgment is very similar to the eighth plague poured out in Egypt as recorded in Exodus. Let us now look at three important aspects of the fifth trumpet judgment.

 

‌For one thing, the MYSTERIOUS PERSON John writes in verses 1 and 2: “And I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.”

 

‌That the star is a person, an intelligent being, instead of an ordinary star, is made clear by the use of the masculine pronouns “him” in verse 1 and “he” in verse 2. The word “fall” is in the perfect tense signifying the action was already completed and was a past event when John saw it. The star had fallen before and John sees it as already fallen. The words should be rendered: “I saw a star from Heaven fallen to the earth.” Not only that, but the expression “fall from heaven” is equivalent to the words “thrown down from heaven.” As to how this happened and when this happened the text is silent.

 

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