And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet; and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, and the key of the pit of the abyss was given to him. And he opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke came up from the abyss like smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air became darkened by the smoke of the abyss. And locusts came out of the smoke on the earth, and power was given to them as scorpions of the earth have power.

And it was said to them not to hurt the grass of earth nor any green thing nor any tree, except the men who do not have the seal of God upon their foreheads. And it was given to them not to kill them, but that they should be tormented for five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it stings a person. And in those days people will seek death and they will in no way find it, and they will long to die, and death will flee from them.

And the appearance of the locusts was similar to horses prepared for battle, and upon their heads were as crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as lions, and they had breastplates as breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle.

And they had tails like scorpions and stings, and authority in their tails was to torment the people for five months. They have a king over them, the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek his name is Apollon. Revelation 9: 1-11

This trumpet (1st woe) and the remaining two trumpet/woes depict intensified events. And this and the remaining two trumpets are each labeled  as a woe to those who dwell on the earth; applied to the wicked who are hostile to God, His people, and the gospel.

The fifth trumpet depicts a scene drawn around the secular world. Having separated itself from the gospel; New Age spiritualism and other man-centered religions and philosophies dominate the world’s population. This includes atheism which has given us, among other things, evolution, relativism and communism. This trumpet scene, like the others, has to do with people living apart form God.

John shows us that Wormwood (the same fallen star mentioned in the 3rd trumpet) is now disguised as another god called Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollon (Greek) in another part or areas of the planet. Both names mean destruction. For people who are into the dark arts and who seek power, this god is naturally one to be followed.

Abaddon is given permission to release beings from a bottomless pit. This pit also is called an abyss. Biblically, an abyss signifies chaos. So from the chaos of this world’s darkness, Satan, as Abaddon, releases what appears as locusts.

These locusts are not ordinary insects. They are symbolic because they have tails with a poisonous sting like scorpions. Also, locusts normally attack plants instead of people. These locusts also appear as horses ready for battle, wearing what looks like crowns of gold. Their faces are human-like and they have hair like women and teeth like that of a lion.

These  demonic locusts, with their war machinery — John’s description of the machinery makes one think of advanced helicopters —  produce much smoke,  but are not allowed to hurt God’s sealed people,  the grass, and green trees. Aside from God’s people, maybe the grass and trees are commanded not to be hurt because of the damage already inflicted upon the grass and trees, started by the first trumpet’s blowing,

The locusts are unleashed to harm those who are not sealed by God. The locusts are not allowed to kill them, but they can torment them. And they have a five-month timetable in which to do so.

While some want to apply the “day for a year” prophetic principle to the five month term., that can’t be. For that principle would equal 150 years of torment. So because the tormented are alive for the five month period, none are bound to live for 150 years. So this five month period must be a literal time-frame.

I say this too because insects can’t conceive the duration of five months. Nor, incidentally, could they know  the difference between the sealed and unsealed. That would require human spiritual discernment given to them by Satan. .

The torment isn’t spelled out. So we can only speculate the nature of the torment. However, the pain is like the sting of a scorpion; not fatal but intense. The sting comes from the scorpions’ tails, a symbol of deception. For it was Satan’s tail that deceived a third of the angels (Rev. 12: 4).

So the locusts use their tails to deceive the captured (both secular-minded and followers of Wormwood). The deception, probably enforced with physical and mental stress, is to convince that the continuing winds of destruction (events started under the previous four trumpets) have come from God.

Led by their master, the locusts themselves will be deceived by Abaddon that God is the author of the  winds of destruction. They then will be motivated to go after who they think are the people of God; the deceived, professed Christians who are worshiping Wormwood (the false Christ). Of course, not really knowing who these so-called Christians are, they attack the secular people as well.

The reason Abaddon directs  the scorpions to attack all in other parts of the world,  except their own, is because of Abaddon’s hidden agenda, which is to pit humanity one against the other.