The Fifth Trumpet of Revelation: As it was in the Days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of Man returns

Background on the Fallen Star and the Bottomless Pit that is opened.

The Angelic war in Heaven concludes with the ending of the first four trumpets. The Last three trumpets are referred to as three woes. They are woes for the inhabitants of the earth because the Devil and his angels have come down to them. They are filled with wrath and will attack all those with whom God loves. The battlefront that originated in Heaven has now moved to the earth where people will be caught in the middle.
The Fallen star with the key to the bottomless pit is Lucifer or Satan. He will liberate all his forces from the dungeon they are confined in and rally them for an assault upon all mankind. The apostle Peter refers to the bottomless pit that Satan opens as Tartarus; a dungeon where the worst angels were banished into chains of darkness when they sinned. In Greek Mythology, Zeus and the other Olympian gods imprisoned the titans there when assuming dominion of the world. Atlas was said to be a titan consigned there to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. The Greeks would recount that Tartarus was a subterranean region as far below Hades as earth was below Heaven. The bottomless pit is thought to be at the center of the earth. Any direction from the center of the earth would be considered up, so in a sense the place would have no bottom. Revelation describes the place as a great furnace filled with smoke. When Satan opens the bottomless pit, smoke will arise from it and darken the air and sun. In Scripture, demons were very afraid of this place and begged Jesus not to be sent there. Although this is a place of torment for angels, this is not the same place as the lake of fire where they would be cast after the judgment for all eternity; the place Christians normally associate with Hell. 

The Reason for the Angel’s incarceration in the Abyss

Who exactly are these Figures that were locked up in Tartarus that Satan is unleashing? The Bible says they were angels who did not keep their proper domain that He has put in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment on the great day. In the days of Noah, when men began to multiply on the earth, the Sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and went into them and had children by them. The Bible refers to their giant hybrid offspring as the Nephilim. The land was filled with these Nephilim giants in the days of Noah and also afterward. Several famous Biblical figures were Nephilim. The giants in the land of Canaan that the Hebrews had to fight were Nephilim. Og of Bashan who fought with Moses and the Israelites was a giant. The Hebrews feared these people saying we look like grasshoppers in their eyes. Goliath and his six fingered Brother that David and his men slew were also giants. Several cultures in Antiquity had to contend with the Nephilim. Different cultures had different names for these giants. The Bible gives some of these other names in the Torah like the Rephaim, Anakim, Emim, and Zamzummin. God’s incarceration of these demonic angels who sinned has helped to minimize the Nephilim footprint in the world we now know today. Since their incarceration, many cultures have worked to eradicate these giants from the face of the earth. Only memories and stories of their existence remain (to my limited knowledge). At the time of the fifth trumpet, these same angels who were locked up in the bottomless pit will be unleashed once again upon all of mankind. The serpent will have a seed that will aim to strike at God’s footstool. These angels will again mingle with the seed of men in the last days. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.

Most of the contemporary myths and Legends passed from antiquity today likely originated from the Nephilim of old.

Antiquity is filled with stories, legends, and myths that have originated from the giants that were on the earth in those days. The Bible refers to the Nephilim as the heroes of old, men of renown. Greek mythology records Hercules, the Harpes, the sirens, Artemis, Apollo, and the minotaur all as Nephilim (just to name a few). Thor was a Nephilim according to Norse mythology. Sumerian Legends record Gilgamesh, Marduk, Dagon, and Baal all as Nephilim. The Egyptian pantheon is filled with figures such as Isis, Osiris, Seth, and Nephthys who were all described as celestial hybrids or Nephilim. The Headdress of both the pharaoh and the Gods would often bear a golden cobra commemorating how they were the seed of the Serpent Osiris, God of the underworld. The Sanskrit Vedas speak of a whole host of demi-gods that were celestial offspring. Ganesha was the offspring of Shiva. Hare Krishna is claimed to be an avatar (incarnation) of the blue deity Vishnu. William Bill Cody once spoke of the Pawnee Indian legends of six fingered star people who can run alongside and pickup buffalo. The sheer abundance of these myths and legends around the world should give the reader an appreciation for how extensively these Nephilim populated the earth at one time. How much of these legends and myths are real, I could not honestly say. However, when the Bible links these giants to the legends passed from antiquity, I cannot help but think these stories may be based on some element of truth. Part of Satan’s strategy in making his lies believable to the public would be to stuff his words with facts that may in part be real. This should not bother or surprise Christians in the least. Some of what Satan shared with Eve in the garden was in fact true (although we all know not all of it was). The tree in the garden did have the power to make Adam and Eve become like God in knowing both good and evil. Just because someone says something that is partially true does not make it completely true. Life is filled with half-truths that must be weeded out. All Christians should practice discernment using their Bible for this reason.

Background on locust, their Behavior, and their Stages of Development

What emerges from the Abyss John refers to as locusts coming on the earth. People of the Middle East would be well acquainted with the behavior of locusts and the damage they can cause. Baby wingless nymphs hatch from eggs deposited in the ground by the female.  In small numbers, they develop into normally shy and solitary grasshoppers.  When overcrowding occurs due to dwindling vegetation, these same locusts will undergo an interesting physical and behavioral transformation.  The perpetual rubbing of a locust’s hind legs by coming into contact with their neighbors causes a huge surge in serotonin levels for the insect.  This hormonal surge cause them to molt (shed their skin), change their color, and enter what scientist’s refer to as the “gregarious” state. They become highly socialized and aggressive.  Wingless nymphs will form organized marching bands in search of food on the ground.  Winged Adults will begin to swarm.  The Bible makes reference to all these types of locust in the book of Joel.  In this stage, a locust will become highly nomadic.  They will eat everything in sight and will breed as often and rapidly as they can.  They move in ranks knowing there is power in numbers.  They will move from sight to sight until resources become depleted or changes in the weather eventually kill them.  The plague of locust that will emerge from the ground at the time of the fifth trumpet will swarm in similar fashion.  Overcrowding in the abyss would likewise make them equally gregarious.  When liberated they will become highly nomadic and swarm like any regular plague of locust.  They will have breastplates of iron and be ready for battle.  The sound of their wings will be like sound of many chariots rushing into battle.  They will plague men for a period of five months; roughly the time equivalent of one growing season.   The reason John refers to these creatures as locust is likely because of this gregarious swarming behavior.  What John describes as emerging from the abyss at the fifth trumpet is not your traditional locust though.    Normal locusts do not have faces of men, hair of women, crowns resembling gold, lion’s teeth, or scorpion tails equipped with stingers as He describes.  If incarcerated angels who would not keep their proper domain are responsible for spawning these creatures, then perhaps inter species breeding explains their monstrous appearance. These locusts have no interest in harming the grass, tree, or any green thing, but only people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.   Normal locusts do not behave in such a manner.  These locusts will not be allowed to kill but only torment men for five months.  The pain they will inflict with their sting will resemble that of what a scorpion can deliver.  A sharp intense pain that will make men will want to die for relief.  They will want to die but not be able to.  

Background on the king of the Abyss. 

The Bible also tells us that locust have no king.  Yet Revelation describes this particular swarm of locusts as having the angel of the abyss over them as king.  Different cultures have given this angel different names.  The Hebrews referred to him as Abaddon.  The Greeks referred to him as Apollyon.  The Roman equivalent of Apollyon would be Apollo.   Why does the Bible make a point to tell us the name of their king?  Scripture tells us that the sacrifices pagans made to their deities were actually to demons and not to God.  Perhaps a bit of background on Apollo would help us understand.  The parallels between the legends of Apollo and the Life of Jesus Christ are rather striking.  According to Greek Mythology, Apollo was a son of god being the son of Zeus and a human woman named Leto.  Out of Jealousy, the Goddess Hera attempted to prevent Apollo’s mother from giving birth.  He was said to be born in a cave much like Jesus would be laid in a manger.  Apollo would grow up to kill the great python snake guarding Delphi; a place said to be the center of the earth.  A place He would later make his home.   This myth somewhat resembles the prophecy of Jesus the Messiah who would grow up to crush the head of the serpent.  In Greek culture, Apollo would become an intercessor between the gods and men.  He was the prophetic deity behind the famous oracle of Delphi.  The oracle was a priestess named pythia through whom the god Apollo was believed to speak when she would undergo a trance before his image; a practice of divination similar to what the possessed slave girl did that Paul encountered in Phillipi  (see Acts chapter 16).   People from all around the ancient world would seek Apollo out to learn their cryptic fortunes through this priestess.  Famous figures like Socrates were said to have consulted these oracles.  Apollo was a pagan deity that was said to destroy rather than save; his name means destroyer.  Greek stories of Apollo’s pursuit of Daphne for being struck by cupid’s arrow and his homosexual passion for a young boy named Hyacinthe, would indicate this Nephilim is somewhat ravaged with lust for both sexes.  Apollo was named the sun god responsible for riding his chariot across the sky to move the sun on it’s course.  In Sumerian legends, the epic of Gilgamesh talks of two scorpion men who guard the way to the underworld and only allow the sun god to go out during the day and return at night.  These legends all appear to paint Apollo as an anti-christ figure from the underworld; a figure that will emerge from the depths of the abyss in the time of the end.  

Oh that men would repent and be spared from such torments.  God can protect us from such dangers by keeping such things bound in our days; God also has the power to restore what the locusts have eaten.