What happensPermalink
The fifth and sixth trumpets unleash two terrifying woes. At the fifth trumpet, a fallen star opens the abyss, releasing smoke and demonic locusts that torment (but cannot kill) everyone who lacks God’s seal. At the sixth, four angels are released, and John hears of an army of two hundred million that kills a third of humanity. Yet even after these devastating judgments, the survivors refuse to repent of idolatry, murders, sorceries, sexual immorality, and theft.
Why it mattersPermalink
The trumpet judgments intensify dramatically. The locusts echo the plagues of Egypt, but instead of consuming crops, they torment the wicked, while God’s sealed people remain protected. The sixth trumpet escalates from torment to death, demonstrating that God’s judgments are increasing in severity. Yet the chapter ends with humanity’s tragic refusal to repent, revealing the hardness of the human heart even under overwhelming evidence of God’s power.
Key versePermalink
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent…