Revelation 9 (Part 4) The Fifth Trumpet

By Odon Bulamba (22nd July 2005)



It’s a good story that the church is supposed to know and the world also is supposed to know. In the past we’ve heard about the fear of God and when we talk about it, people think that to fear is to be scared of God, which is untrue. When you are scared of something, you might run away, or hide yourself or protect yourself from that thing. The Bible says to be afraid of God is the beginning of wisdom. If you don’t fear God, you’ll never get wisdom. I don’t want to go deeper in that topic tonight but I just want to give you a picture in Psalm 25.


Psalm 25:14
The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant.

So, let’s talk about this group. All of us have secrets, something we want to keep in our hearts, in our mind or in our house. Who can you tell your secrets to? Would you go in the street and tell people your secrets? Definitely not. To tell your secrets, you will go to someone you trust, someone who is close to you and someone who is your best friend, people we know will keep it as a secret.


It’s the same for us, if God starts to reveal us His secrets, it means we are His best friends. People who receive God’s secrets are people who fear God, so it means we are close to God. Do you fear God? To answer this question ask yourself: ‘Does God really tell me His secrets?” to fear God is to humiliate yourself in front of His Word, then you’ll start to practice it and obey it and God will increase your wisdom.


Tonight God wants to give us a secret about Revelation 9. It’s really a big secret.


Revelation 9:1-3

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.


In Revelation 9 John received this vision and he saw an angel blowing the trumpet. Then one of the stars in the heaven was given a key. That key was the key of the pit of the Abyss, Hell or Sheol. When the star received the key he was thrown down. The star came down to open Hell or the Abyss. When he came down to open the Abyss, the Bible says that smoke came out from the big hole. The smoke was really thick to the point that it stopped the light of the sun and the air that we breathe. It was a disaster. The smoke covered every space in the world. People didn’t know where to go or what to do because there was smoke everywhere. If this house catches fire, we will run outside otherwise we might suffocate, fall asleep and die.

 So, the star opened Hell, and smoke came out. But the smoke didn’t come out by itself, it had monsters in it (let me call them monsters). The monsters were like locusts, which had the face of a human being; they had something on their head that looked like a golden crown., their teeth were like a lion’s teeth; they have hair like a woman’s and they had wings and a tail like a scorpion’s.


Wherever there is smoke, everything is dark and you can’t see. The creatures in that smoke were attacking people. God gave them the power to harm for 5 months only the human beings which don’t have the seal of God on their forehead. He told them to go and attack them, to make their life hard so they can feel that He is Lord and He is doing this to them but he asked them not to touch anyone which has the mark, neither any trees, grass or anything that is green.


The creatures, which came out had a sting in their tails. Their sting is like a scorpion’s sting. They acted for 5 months (Revelation 9:1-12).


The creatures have a leader who is called Abaddon. Abaddon means ‘destroyer’.


So what can we learn from these few verses? The time is coming where God will completely destroy the world, a time when God will bring down everything, to the point that the world will be in trouble. The star that was given the key will know who he is. That star is Satan. Jesus talked about him in the book of Luke.


Luke 10:18

And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”.






1. Satan was thrown down to reign on the earth and given the key to control the Abyss. That place is a big place.


2. When Jesus came down he went to that place and he locked Satan in. Satan is locked in the place that is called the Abyss. That is where he is at the moment, and his angels come to him to give him their reports. He is down there and he can’t move.


3. On that day he will be given the power to open the Abyss.


Let me explain something, when Jesus visited different regions on earth, he met people who were sick and had evil sprits. Once he met a possessed man and commanded the spirit living in him to leave that man’s body. It answered: “Please, we are sorry, forgive us, don’t chase us out because we don’t know where to go. We are afraid of going back to the Abyss because there is torment there. If we go there we will suffer please, allow us to go in the pigs so we can survive.”


The torment is a place where the power of Satan is limited. It’s a place where Satan cannot move at all. Evil spirits or demons are afraid to go there. You can find that story in:


Luke 8:26

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!" For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.


So these spirits were really strong. People would put chains on this man’s hands and legs but he would just cut them off. How powerful was that man? How powerful were the evil spirits in him? But when they saw Jesus they were afraid because they knew Jesus would send them to prison where they will never move again. They begged Jesus, “Please don’t send us to the Abyss because if we go there, that is it for us.”

 Today whenever you cast out evil spirits don’t give them the chance to come back again; send them to the Abyss. Don’t send them to the desert because the people there will be sacrificed, don’t send them to oceans because our children could swim in them tomorrow, don’t send them to the mountains; just send them to the Abyss, you have got that power and they will go there and be locked up forever – to eternity.

 The Abyss is a place where spirits cannot move at all. Because Satan was given the power to open the Abyss that day he will unlock it. Think now about the evil spirits that have been living there for years and years. If they see the Abyss open, they will go out with joy and do whatever Satan orders them to do because he gave them freedom. When Satan will unlock the Abyss, the smoke will bring darkness, which is also a sign of the power of Satan, and he will control the entire world. No one will move or stand against that power. The demons will be free and will get into action. They know, their time has come to rejoice because they will go to judgment shortly afterwards. God knows they will be full of anger, so He will tell them not to kill or harm the people who are sealed. They will harm only the ones, which are not sealed, attack them, and make them feel pain.


Let’s go back to the locusts (demons)


1. The demons’ crowns


Although they look like gold, they are actually made of fake gold. They give an impression of richness. Who has a crown of gold among us? It’s easy to have a plastic one from the $2 shop or The Warehouse, but owning a real crown of gold is not common. If you have one you will wonder where to put it because it is a treasure. So, those that will come will claim to be wealthy, to be like kings and queens, they will show off as being attractive. People will follow them.

 2. Faces like human beings’


This will distract people and cause them not to be afraid. They will think they are just human beings like us, why should we fear them? They are not monsters at all because they are similar to us. Satan will use people who look like you and me so he can destroy the world.


3. Teeth like lions teeth’


This is the main thing that will attract the people’s attention. People will see their teeth when they speak. It might or it might not give us a fright, as we are familiar with the vampire movies. These movies are actually preparing the psychology of the human being so at that time people will find it normal to see vampires. Today, especially young people find it “cool” to have power like vampires, and to act like vampires. They are proud to be called vampires, to listen to evil music. Satan has been preparing the memory and psychology of the young generation so they can be destroyed at that time.




4. They make a noise that sounds like horses going to battle


When the locusts (the monsters) fly, the Bible says that we will hear their movement, so whenever they will move we will fear, we will feel there is danger coming toward us. This will make us humble ourselves to them and respect them because they have power, they’ll intimidate us to the point where you can’t cast them out or take any authority against them. That will be the first weakness.


Then those animals when they will come out will start to operate. They will attack as many people as they can and make peoples lives so hard. If you want to know about the army of locusts I think it is written in Joel chapter 1 & 2. If you read that at home you will know exactly what they will look like. Locusts are not good insects. Whenever they arrive somewhere their mission is only to destroy. We don’t gain anything from them, we only lose. If they come into your garden today we will not see anything, the garden will be destroyed. The locusts attacked Egypt in the 8th plague, they were everywhere because God wanted to punish Pharaoh so his people could be free.


When it is time for locusts to come they will no longer attack plants and veggies, but they will attack human beings. When they will attack human beings they will not use their teeth that look like lions, they will not use any type of weapons but they will use their tails. They will just sting people. A scorpion is different to a serpent. When you attack a serpent you have to make sure you hit its head to neutralize it but with a scorpion you can hit the head but it will be the tail that will attack you.


Jesus wanted us to understand as he said in the Book of Luke 10:19. “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”


Jesus gave to us the power to trample on serpents and scorpions. This verse doesn’t mean the scorpions that you see in the desert or around the world. The type of scorpions Jesus was referring to was the power of demons. When they will appear to us, they will look like human beings and after welcoming them, some things they will do will come from behind and hurt us. If a scorpion is walking and you stand on its head the tail will easily come and sting you. But if you stand on a serpent’s head the tail will not do anything. Jesus wanted us not to be distracted by the appearance of anyone or anything. Their appearance can easily mislead you. You must be sure of what is coming after this. Look ahead, after this, what will happen.


For example when we are studying at school or university and we know that a test is coming, we will make sure to take the time to prepare for the test. If we don’t have the time to think about it, we will fail. That is the same way with demons.


When demons are attacking us, they don’t show themselves as demons, they try to give us a good impression. For example people who perform magic, they can take sheets of paper and turn them into money. We will see that really they are bank notes. But you will never use them. Magicians are among the poorest in the world. They can make millions out of paper but you’ll see it, appreciate it and that’s all. A magician can swallow an egg and then vomit and gold will appear. They will give you the gold and you’ll take it home but as for the magician he has nothing. Let me take the example of electrician’s who repair TVs, they don’t even have a TV. People who repair shoes don’t have shoes them selves, people who work in banks or who give out money to others, you will find that their salary is really thin. It is almost nothing.



Demons have a strategy to give to us a good impression so we can be attracted and then later on they will give us pain and harm us. The biggest problem is that we who are sealed by God will not go through this but our people who are not sealed by God, what will happen to them? What are our plans for them? Do we think about our church, our people, our nation or even our entire world? If the demons were free today, what would be our role? How can we protect others? Would we really be able to protect them or not? If not, then we need to find a solution.



The Bible says that when the demons are there, they will only work for 5 months and no more. I know how a scorpion stings someone and how painful it is. When a scorpion stings you, first of all it is just like a needle then after 4-5 seconds you will start to feel like someone who has cramp. That pain will start to increase. If you were stung on your toe, the pain will not remain there, slowly it will start to go everywhere, up and up until it controls your entire body.


When we were in Kenya people used to cry because of the pain although they were given an injection, the injection could not stop the pain. There is not any medicine under the sun that can stop the pain from a scorpion. Nothing exists up to now. They can give you anesthetic so you can sleep but whenever you awaken you will feel the pain again.


When scorpions sting they continue on their way and you are left crying. Imagine if this happens for 5 months, maybe 10, 20, 50 times a day you could be stung. If a scorpion stings you, your entire body is sick and you can stay in hospital for 3- 4 days so imagine if this process continues for 5 months. What will your body become?


Unfortunately here God says that those animals don’t have the power to kill. If there is no death what will happen? Here it is written that people started to ask for death. They thought it would be better to die then to continue to lead such a life. Have you already reached a stage in your life when you prefer to die because of pain? If a scorpion stings your daughter, as the mother you will start to cry. You will lose peace, lose joy, you will barely even speak. What will happen?


We have got a brother who really used to talk a lot. He was really like a parrot. He could talk after every second. He knew everything in our group. If you say for example today I’m going to meet with Colleen he will say, “Yes I’m going to meet with Colleen to talk about such and such.” Without knowing what you are going to say he will just continue and complete your sentence. He was the one who could say, “Personally a scorpion could do nothing against me because I am strong and able to defend myself. You people who cry when scorpions sting you are just useless.”


God was so great, one day that man used to do boxing and he was really strong. He had muscles everywhere. That small animal stung him and he was like, “Oh something has happened.” Others told him to keep quiet. But he said, “No it is painful.” People said, “Remember you promised that scorpions can not do anything against you.” Because that man didn’t pay attention he was stung a second time by the scorpion. It was nighttime and there was not any power or electricity where we used to live. We knew that this must be a scorpion. He started to cry. All of us said to him, “No don’t cry, you said that those who cry are just stupid. A simple animal like that could not make you feel pain.” Then it was serious, he couldn’t move at all. We had to take him to the hospital.


He was a very big man and we were unable to lift him up to take him to the hospital. The hospital was about 2 kilometers away from where we used to live so we thought it would be better to use a wheelbarrow to carry him to the hospital. He was crying and crying with pain. We took him to the hospital and for more than 5 days he couldn’t eat, he lost consciousness and couldn’t speak, there was some stuff coming from his mouth. He was half-dead because of the scorpion. That was only for one night. So if the scorpion was to come to this world and attack everyone for 5 months, who will treat you? Who will look after whom? Doctors, scientists, children, everybody who doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ will get in trouble. This will happen before Jesus comes back. We will see it. People will say this is impossible. How could something like that happen? As I told you remember the 8th plague in Egypt were the locusts. This is a picture for us to understand that it can happen again.


So I will tell you my dear sisters and brothers, Gods plan has to be fulfilled, and must be fulfilled. Although people are distracted today, people are pretending, they put God aside and show God that we don’t care about him but God will continue to fulfill his word. We are lucky because we have been revealed what is coming. We are lucky because at some stage God will do something but if we are not prepared what will happen?