What will the coming of Christ be like for those who continue to refuse His grace and who reject His claims of authority? That’s the what the fifth blast of the trumpet seems to describe, as its devastation is specifically limited to “those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (9:4, cf. 7:3). And the short answer is, it won’t be good.

In fact, Jesus Himself said that “all the tribes of the earth will mourn” when they “see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). What John saw at the sound of the fifth trumpet thus spells out the first reason for their woe – a terrible plague of locusts.

Now, much of the imagery of this passage is drawn from the prophet Joel, who described locusts with teeth like lions (Joel 1:6; cf. Revelation 9:8), and whose appearance was like war horses heading into battle (Joel 2:4; cf. Revelation 9:7). Ancient people feared these devastating swarms of insects which stripped the earth of all vegetation: “The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them” (Joel 2:3).

But the locusts of John’s vision are even worse – because instead of attacking the plants and trees, these terrible creatures zero in on those who have spurned God’s protection (9:4). And that’s because they come from the abyss (9:2-3), and are led by “the angel of the bottomless pit,” the destroyer (9:11).

In short, those who have turned away from Christ, their rightful King, will eventually find themselves at the mercy of the king they have chosen for themselves, the ultimate rebel against God’s authority, Satan himself. But, as all too many people today can testify, Satan’s promises of so much pleasure and freedom end up yielding only pain, the sort of torment that makes people want to die (9:5-6).

Yes, the good news is that those who belong to Christ will not be harmed, even by such supernatural plagues (7:3). But let us urge those who continue to fall prey to Satan’s lies to surrender to Jesus’ grace and accept His protection – before they are swallowed up by the demonic forces in which they trust.

Revelation 8:13-9:12 (ESV)

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth;
9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.
11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.