9 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.
The irruption of demons from the pit may be linked with the preaching of the gospel in the sense that the gospel's presence uncovers evil, and exposes it for what it is. And we see it for what it is as a demonic power. This is the deepest word that we can speak about evil - it is personalised in Satan himself, and the demons of hell. We may recall how in our Lord's life- time, again and again, wherever He went, the devil-possessed seemed to be drawn like a magnet to Him. There is a great significance in this. Christ's presence was uncovering evil, exposing the works of the devil, and Satan could not hide when Jesus was near. This is, in fact, an abiding principle in the spiritual world. Wherever the Christ of God is, in the gospel and by His Spirit, there you will have the powers of darkness being drawn out into the open. Part indeed of the function of the gospel is to expose evil and to show it to be the work of Sa- tan, and demonic in its essence. This teaches an important lesson. John has been dealing with events on a world scale, and unfolding the principles that underlie the workings of the world in the entire dispensation. Now, sooner or later, the real nature of the conflict becomes plain and clear. This is evident in the progression we see in the trumpets of judgment. The first four are severe enough in all conscience; but it is when we come to the fifth that we see this more sinister element appearing, and evil being manifested in its true colours, so to speak. There is little doubt that this is the real message of the chapter. It brings to us the revelation that evil is ultimately a personal, and personalised, force - with a king! (11).