The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. _{Revelation 9:1-6}

More About the Locusts: The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
_{Revelation 9:7-11}

1. A fallen star is given a key to the Abyss.
2. Thick smoke and locusts pour out the Abyss.
3. They have the appearance of horses arrayed for war.
4. They appear to have crowns of gold on their heads.
5. Their faces resembled that of humans.
6. They have hair like women and teeth like a lion.
7. They have breastplates like iron.
8. In flight their wings make a thundering sound.
9. They have scorpion-like stingers in their tails.
10. They are told to harm only the unsealed people of earth.
11. They are allowed to act for five months.
12. Their leader is the angel of the Abyss.

The Fallen Star: Some say this is Satan but the evidence suggests it is not.

1. Given the key, he opens the shaft of the Abyss releasing the locusts.
2. The locusts are told to torment only those who do not bear the seal of God.
3. If this is Satan, why would he release the locusts for this purpose?

Although Satan is identified in Isaiah 14:12 as a star fallen from heaven, the star presented here suggests some other being that God has appointed to execute this specific judgment.

The Abyss: An immeasurable space. In spiritual terms, a prison for demonic beings so they can no longer act. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus encounters a demon-possessed man. They (the demons) begged Jesus not to send them into the Abyss. _{Luke 8:31}
And after the final victory of good over evil Satan is captured and cast into the Abyss for a thousand years so he could "deceive the nations no more." _{Revelation 20:3}

The Locusts: Since these are released from the Abyss, they represent some demonic force let loose upon the earth for a specific God-given purpose. The locusts are told to harm only those who do not have the seal of God, and only for a period of five months. Like scorpions, the torment they inflict is from the stingers in their tails. Their ruler, the king of the Abyss, is identified as an angel whose name means 'Destroyer'. Would God use evil to punish evil? You only need to read the Old Testament prophets to find the answer to that question. _{Isaiah 7:17}

John's physical description of the locusts is by comparison to what a 1st century person might recognize (i.e. "they look like locusts"). Recall that John in vision has been transported to the temple in heaven. Just as when the Lamb opened the seven seals, so here too the four living creatures are providing John the imagery he sees when the angels sound their trumpets. What then could these things be that John is being shown? I suggest that they could be modern military aircraft under the command of hostile forces.

The Seal of God: The seal on the forehead is symbolic of those who are abiding in Christ. They neither worship the beast or its image and have not receive the mark of the beast. The seal of God protects them. _{Revelation 7:2,3}

The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. _{Revelation 9:13-16}

More About the Mounted Troops: The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
_{Revelation 9:17-19}

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.

And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: _{Revelation 11:15-17}

"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign."

_{Revelation 11:17}

"The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small -
and for destroying those who destroy the earth." _{Revelation 11:18}

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm. _{Revelation 11:19}

The language here is obvious. The sounding of the seventh trumpet ushers in the last days which culminates in the second advent of Jesus Christ. More detail of end-time events is given in the following chapters:

1. Ch. 12: The Woman and the Dragon.
2. Ch. 13: The Beast out of the Sea and The Beast out of the Earth.
3. Ch. 14: The 144,000, The Three Angels and The Two Harvests.

For each of these topics some historical context will necessarily be provided. All of these are tied to the sounding of the seventh trumpet which ends with the introduction of the seven angels who are given the seven golden bowls which are the seven last plagues.