Hard Hearts

The fifth and sixth trumpets are also called the first and second woes. When the fifth angel sounds, a star fallen to earth is given the key to the pit of the abyss. Smoke rises like a great furnace, and from it come locust-like creatures with power like scorpions. The picture echoes the plague of locusts in Exodus and the locust army in Joel. But the creatures are on a short leash. They may not harm grass or trees, may not touch those with God’s seal, and may not kill. Their time is limited to five months.

Their king is the angel of the abyss, called Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek, meaning Destroyer. Even here, the power of evil works only within the limits God allows. Then John reports, The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.

At the sixth trumpet, a voice from the golden altar releases four angels bound at the great river Euphrates. They had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, showing that God sets the timing. A vast army of horsemen kills a third of mankind. Yet the chapter ends with sad words. The rest of mankind did not repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons and idols. They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts. The warnings were meant to bring repentance, but hearts stayed hard.