1.  What did John see happen when the fifth angel sounded his trumpet?  See Revelation 9:1.

Answer: A from unto the earth.

2.  What was given to this star referred to here as “him”? See verse 1 again.

Answer: The to the .

3.  What did he do with the key?  See verse 2.

Answer: He up the , and there arose out of the .

4.  What did the smoke do?  See verse 2 again.

Answer: The and the were by reason of the of the .

Concerning the historic fulfillment of this prophecy, a number of commentators have identified the fifth and sixth trumpets with the ravages of the Saracens and the Turks.  The star fallen from heaven may refer to Mohammed and the Moslem religion that obscured the sun of Christianity during this age!  The "bottomless pit" might also refer to the vast waste places of the Arabian deserts.

The last day fulfillment of this prophecy might be the final working of Satan in the last days when his demons (the locusts) go to the world to perform their acts of deception and to encourage the acceptance of false doctrines!  See Revelation 16:14.   In that case, the “bottomless pit” would refer to the dark places of Satan from whence his hellish doctrines originate!

5.  What came out of the smoke, and what were they given?  See verse 3.

Answer:  , and they were given .

6. What command was given them?  See verse 4.

Answer: "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the of the , neither any thing, neither any ; but only those which have the of God in their ."

The historical fulfillment of this prophecy can be seen in the Moslem invasions which overran many formerly Christian countries like locusts!

Unlike locusts which destroy every green thing, these locusts went after men who had not the seal of God!  The Moslems warred against the Christianity of the day (many feel the Moslems were used by God as a judgment against apostate Christianity) which had already contained many false teachings and doctrines from paganism.  There is good evidence that Moslems left seventh day Sabbath keepers alone!  Hence, the command to hurt only those “who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads”! The Moslems warred mainly against the Roman Church.   Seventh-day Sabbath keepers were also considered enemies of Rome, and therefore friends of the Moslems!

7.  For how long were these “locusts” given license to “torment” men?  See verses 5-6.

Answer: .

The historical fulfillment of this prophecy has been understood by commentators as describing the 150 years in which the Ottoman Turks tormented the Byzantine Empire, from 1299 through 1449.

A last day fulfillment of this prophecy is the subject of speculation and conjecture with no definite consensus as to the correct interpretation beyond the historical.  In fact, chapter nine and ten have literal historical fulfillments so clear, it makes no sense to try and apply last day interpretations, because the prophecies themselves occur in what the Bible calls the “time of the end,” which began in 1798!  We will learn more about this in a future lesson!

8.  How did John describe these “locusts”?  See verses 7-9.

Fill in: "And the shapes of the locusts were like unto prepared unto ; and on their heads were as it were like , and their faces were as the faces of .

[8]: And they had as the hair of , and their teeth were as the teeth of .

[9]: And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of ; and the sound of their was as the sound of of many running to ."

The fact that John described the shape of the locusts as horses may be a clear reference to the Arabian horses the Moslem hordes were famous for!  The crowns of gold could very well be the turbans that was the traditional headdress of the Arabians! John saw them with the “faces of men” which shows these are not literal locusts, but rather human beings.  And lastly, John saw them having "hair as the hair of women."  The Arabians of that day were famous for their long hair.  How accurate the word of the Lord is!  And these words were written hundreds of years before the events took place!

9.  What did John say the tails of these horse-like locusts were like?  See verse 10.

Answer: .

John said "there were stings in their tail."  This may well describe the use of gunpowder and firearms which were introduced about this time.  This is probably also the “fire and smoke and brimstone” John saw come out of the heads of the horses mentioned in verse 17, which we shall examine shortly!

10.  What was the name of this locust king in Hebrew and in Greek?  See verse 11.

Answer: In Hebrew his name was , and in Greek it was .

Historically this probably refers to Othman I, founder of the Ottoman Empire.  But of course the real king of this counterfeit religion with its false doctrine is Satan!  He is the destroyer!  See John 10:10.   The name “apollyon” means "destroyer" in Greek!

11.  What happened when the sixth angel sounded his trumpet? See verses 12 through 16.

Answer: He released the four which were bound in the great .

12. What was the time period in which these ‘four angels’ were especially prepared for?  See verse 15.

Answer: "an , and a , and a , and a ..."

If we take this period and compute it into prophetic time, using the year for a day principle, we come up with 391 literal years and 15 literal days.  This perhaps is one of the most accurate and amazing prophecies in the Bible.  In fact, this prophecy and its fulfillment gave great zeal to the great Advent Movement that sprang up in the 1800s, and which we will study about in the next lesson.

In the year 1840 a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest.  Two years before, a man by the name of Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition on Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman Empire.  According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown “in AD. 1840, sometime in the month of August,”  and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: 

“Allowing for the first period, 150 years (the five months of verse 5), to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the 150 years, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken.  And this, I believe, will be found to be the case.” -- Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy, Aug. 1, 1840.

At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations.  The event exactly fulfilled the prediction made by Litch proving the accuracy of Bible prophecy and the validity of the year/day principle applied to Bible prophecy!  Those who at the time were raised up by God, and preaching the soon coming of Jesus, were greatly encouraged by this amazing fulfillment of prophecy!

13.  What was the number of the army of horsemen John heard? See verse 16.

Answer: two .

This comes out to 200 million.  This probably is symbolic of a vast, innumerable host.  It may be describing the vast number of Moslems that would be in the world as a result of the fifth trumpet.

Some see this verse as describing 200 million Chinese soldiers who will cross the literal Euphrates River to attack Israel, but the context here is to the horseman of the Moslems; modern armies do not use horses as did the Arabians!  The verse that follows, verse 17, describes again the horsemen that the great number represent!

Also, it was from the Euphrates region that the Turks entered the Byzantine Empire!  Even if we say the 200 million Chinese may be a secondary fulfillment of this prophecy in the last days, such a position would be purely conjecture and speculation with no Biblical evidence to support this theory.

14.  How many would be killed by “the fire, the smoke, and by the brimstone” which John saw?  See verses 17-19.

Answer: The part of .

The term "a third part" is used same fifteen odd times in the book of Revelation and represents a substantial number, not literally a third of all mankind.

Some see in this verse a last day fulfillment through perhaps a limited nuclear exchange among nations that causes great numbers to be killed.  This viewpoint is again speculation.

15.  What did the "rest of the men" who did not perish in these judgments fail to do?  See verses 20-21. (Answer is in verse 21.) 

Answer: They not of their , their , their , and their .

These judgments of God were against apostate Christianity.  But these Judgments did not cause apostate Christianity to repent! And today they still have not repented!  Many churches continue to teach and believe false doctrines!

Bonus Bible Study On Christian Stewardship

1.  If the Lord gave us His Son, He will not hold back anything from us.  He is always giving to us!  Romans 8:32.

2.  The Lord loves a “cheerful giver.”  2 Corinthians 9:6-7.

3.  Everything belongs to God.  Psalm 24:1.

4.  He is the One who gives us power to make wealth, and yet we often forget His cause, and His church!  He should receive the “firstfruits” of our increase!  See Deuteronomy 8:18 and Proverbs 3:9-10.

5.  The Bible says that the “tithe” or one tenth of our increase belongs to the Lord.  It is to sustain His work on the earth.  See Leviticus 27:32 and Numbers 18:21.

6.  When we do not return to the Lord His tithe, or when we refuse to give freewill offerings to support His work, He looks upon it as robbery!  See Malachi 3:10-12.

7.  Those who preach the gospel ought to be supported by the tithes of God’s church members.  God’s church should not have to have ham sales, or bingo games to raise money for His great work!  See 1 Corinthians 9:13-14.

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