Question 1

Who is the fallen star that receives the key of the bottomless pit?

Accepted Answer

The passage describes a “star” that has fallen from heaven to earth and is given the key of the bottomless pit. This is not a literal star but a person of high position who has fallen from a place of light and honor. Faithful readers have seen this as a picture of a great leader who turns away from truth and becomes a tool for evil, opening the way for dark teaching and harm. The main point is that this fallen figure is allowed to open the pit, but only because God hands over the key and still rules over what follows.

Question 2

What is the bottomless pit and the smoke that comes out of it?

Accepted Answer

The bottomless pit is pictured as a deep prison of darkness where evil spirits belong. When it is opened, smoke comes out like from a huge furnace and darkens the sun and the air. This smoke points to dark, harmful teaching and lies that spread over people’s minds, blocking spiritual light and truth. It shows how evil does its work by blinding and confusing, not just by open violence. The scene warns that when the pit is opened, spiritual darkness spreads widely, unless God keeps someone in the light.

Question 3

Why are the locusts told not to hurt the grass, trees, or any green thing?

Accepted Answer

Normal locusts eat plants, but these are commanded not to touch grass, trees, or any green thing. Instead, they are allowed to hurt only people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. This points away from physical damage and toward spiritual harm. The picture shows that their main work is wounding souls, not crops or land. It also shows God’s care for his own people. Those who belong to God are marked as his, and he does not let these torments fall on them in the same way as on those who have turned away from him.

Question 4

What does it mean that people seek death but cannot find it?

Accepted Answer

The passage says that during these five months of torment, people will seek death, but will not find it, and will desire to die, but death will flee from them. This shows just how deep the inner pain and despair become under this spiritual and mental torment. It is not about brave suffering, but about misery that feels unbearable. Yet even then, their lives are held in God’s hand. They are not killed by this judgment, but kept alive in their distress. This underlines both the severity of the judgment and the fact that God sets its limits and outcome.

Question 5

Why are the locusts described with such strange features and armor?

Accepted Answer

The locusts are pictured like war horses, with crowns like gold, faces like men, hair like women, teeth like lions, iron breastplates, noisy wings, and scorpion tails. This mix of images shows their power to fight, their claim to authority, their show of wisdom, their outward beauty, and their real cruelty. They seem attractive and strong, but they have a hidden sting that harms people for a set time. The description helps us feel that these are not ordinary insects, but a picture of dark, deceptive forces that hurt people’s souls while pretending to help or rule well.

Question 6

Who is Abaddon or Apollyon, the king over the locusts?

Accepted Answer

The passage says the locusts have a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon. Both names mean “Destroyer.” This shows he is a powerful fallen spirit, once an angel, now ruling in the realm of darkness. His work is to ruin and destroy, especially souls, and he organizes and sends out the locust host to carry out this purpose. By giving his name, the text makes his character plain: he is not a helper or healer, but one who delights in spiritual destruction, yet is still under God’s final control.

Question 7

Why is the torment of the locusts limited to five months?

Accepted Answer

The text repeats that the locusts hurt people for five months. This number fits the usual life season of real locusts and here points to a limited, measured time set by God. The torment is sharp and intense, but it does not go on without end. God sets a boundary on how long these dark forces may work in this way. This reminds us that both times of gospel blessing and times of spiritual deception have their limits. Evil is real and painful, yet it cannot run beyond what God permits, and it cannot finally overthrow his care for those who belong to him.

Question 8

What does this passage teach about God’s control over evil powers?

Accepted Answer

This passage shows that even when very dark things happen, God still rules. The fallen star only receives the key, the pit only opens, and the locusts only act because it is “given” or “commanded” to them. They cannot touch the sealed people of God, they cannot kill, and they can only torment for a set time. Even the destroyer, Abaddon or Apollyon, is just a ruler of the pit, not of heaven. All this teaches that evil is strong and harmful, but never free from God’s hand. God can use even these judgments to expose lies and drive people to seek true light.

Question 9

How can this picture of locusts and the bottomless pit speak to us today?

Accepted Answer

This passage warns that spiritual harm often comes like smoke and stinging tails, not always like open war. It reminds us that not every show of power, beauty, or authority is from God. Some things that look impressive in religion or in public life may hide poison that hurts the soul. At the same time, it comforts believers that God knows those who are his, marks them as his own, and keeps them through seasons of confusion and false teaching. It encourages us to stay close to God, love his truth, and trust that no dark power can finally snatch us from his hand.

Question 10

Why do faithful readers sometimes differ on how to understand the locusts?

Accepted Answer

The wording and images in this passage are very strong and unusual, so it has been understood in more than one way. Some see the locusts as pictures of certain groups or movements in history that spread false teaching and spiritual harm. Others see them more generally as a symbol of dark spiritual powers at work in the world. What is clear for everyone is that they come from the opened pit, act under a destroyer, and are kept on a leash by God. Even when details are read differently, the main lessons about deception, judgment, and God’s control remain the same.

Revelation 9:1

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 Trumpet

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Revelation 9:1

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.

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The Fifth Trumpet

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