Catholic Commentary on Revelation 9

"The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands." (Revelation 9:20)

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

The fifth trumpet releases a star that falls from the sky with the key to the Abyss. When the Abyss is opened, smoke rises like the smoke from a gigantic furnace, and out of it come locusts with the power of scorpions. They are commanded not to harm the grass, trees, or plants but only those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Their torment lasts five months. They have as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name is Apollyon, Destroyer. The sixth trumpet releases four angels bound at the great river Euphrates who kill a third of mankind. The armies they command number two hundred million.

The vision uses the extreme imagery of apocalyptic literature to describe spiritual and historical realities that resist ordinary description: the powers of darkness unleashed, the suffering they inflict on those who are not sealed, the scale of destruction that fallen spiritual forces can produce in the human world. But the most chilling verse in the chapter is not the description of the horrors but the observation that follows them: The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands. They did not stop worshipping demons and idols. They did not repent of their murders, magic arts, sexual immorality, or thefts. The Catechism identifies this hardened refusal of repentance as the ultimate tragedy of human history: not that God punishes but that human beings persist in their rejection of him even in the face of the clearest evidence of judgment (CCC 1859).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, they did not repent. The disasters of history, personal and civilisational, can produce repentance or hardening, depending on the disposition of the heart that receives them. The same event that turns one person toward God turns another away. What is the disposition of your heart today? When difficulty comes, does it soften you toward God or harden you against him? The sealing of God on the forehead is the protection. Pray for it daily.

Prayer

Lord God, seal us with your mark so that no power of the Abyss can reach what belongs to you. Give us hearts that repent quickly and thoroughly, that do not wait for the sixth trumpet to turn from idols to the living God. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

9
The Fifth Trumpet
1 Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss. 2 The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.
 
3 And out of the smoke, locusts descended on the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 The locusts were not given power to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torment was like the stinging of a scorpion. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
 
7 And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads, and faces like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions. 9 They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months. 11 They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon,* 9:11 Abaddon means Destruction. and in Greek it is Apollyon.† 9:11 Apollyon means Destroyer.
 
12 The first woe has passed. Behold, two woes are still to follow.
The Sixth Trumpet
 
13 Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God 14 saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
 
15 So the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 And the number of mounted troops was two hundred million; I heard their number.
 
17 Now the horses and riders in my vision looked like this: The riders had breastplates the colors of fire, sapphire, and sulfur. The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths proceeded fire, smoke, and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that proceeded from their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; indeed, their tails were like snakes, having heads with which to inflict harm.
 
20 Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.

*9:11 9:11 Abaddon means Destruction.

†9:11 9:11 Apollyon means Destroyer.

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