Unlike the events following the previous shofar calls which caused upheavals in the natural world, the following shofar calls appear to cause great disasters by supernatural means.
At the fifth shofar call: an angel fall from heaven and unlocked the bottomless pit. The angel is Apollyon (in Greek) or Abaddon (in Hebrew) and he was the king over the locusts that are freed from the bottomless pit. The locusts are not the usual locust insects but are supernatural beings. Clear descriptions, although unimaginable are given in the Scriptures and they looked like battle-horses, wearing gold crowns, had human faces, long hair, lion-like teeth. They wear iron breastplates, had wings and lethal sting in their tails like scorpions.
These supernatural locusts-like beings are directed to sting humans for a period of five months. They are specifically targeting humans and not to cause harm to the environment, hence they are clearly intelligent supernatural beings. The sting on the humans will be severe but will not be lethal. Hence the humans are to suffer greatly for five months and unable to die.
At the sixth shofar call: the four horns from the golden altar before God, instructed the sixth angel to release the four angels bound in the river Euphrates. The four angels appear to raise another great supernatural army to cause destruction for an hour, then a day, then a month and then a year. This army had 200 million horsemen. These supernatural horsemen had fiery breastplates, with jacinth and brimstones. Their horses have heads like lions and breathes fire.
A third of humans will be killed by this army through their fire, smoke and brimstone from the horses, as well as their serpent like tales. The people who survived this army, still would not repent from their idolatry of evil, of money and other material things, nor of their murders, sorceries, sexual immorality and thefts.
These supernatural agents of destruction is allowed by God to cause great tribulation on humanity. Although they are described using features of animals, they are clearly not earthly animals at all.
Revelation 9
Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit
1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.
Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates
13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power[a] is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.
20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries[b] or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
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