1 And the fift Angel sounded, and I saw a starre fall from heauen vnto the earth: and to him was giuen the key of the bottomlesse pitte.
2 And hee opened the bottomelesse pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great fornace, and the sunne and the ayre were darkened, by reason of the smoke of the pit.
3 And there came out of the smoke locusts vpon the earth, and vnto them was giuen power, as the Scorpions of the earth haue power.
4 And it was commaunded them that they should not hurt the grasse of the earth, neither any greene thing, neither any tree: but only those men which haue not the seale of God in their foreheads.
5 And to them it was giuen that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented fiue moneths, and their torment was as the torment of a Scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those daies shal men seeke death, and shall not finde it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 And the shapes of the Locusts were like vnto horses prepared vnto battell, and on their heades were as it were crownes like golde, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had haire as the haire of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of Lions.
9 And they had brestplates, as it were brestplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was as the sound of charets of many horses running to battell.
10 And they had tayles like vnto Scorpions, and there were stings in their tayles: and their power was to hurt men fiue moneths.
11 And they had a king ouer them, which is the Angel of the bottomlesse pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greeke tongue hath his name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past, and behold there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixt Angel sounded, and I heard a voyce from the foure hornes of þe golden altar, which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixt Angel which had the trumpet, Loose the foure Angels which are bound in the great riuer Euphrates.
15 And the foure Angels were loosed, which were prepared for an houre, and a day, and a moneth, and a yeere, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the armie of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I sawe the horses in the vision, and them that sate on them, hauing brest-plates of fire and of Iacinct, and brimstone, & the heades of the horses were as the heads of Lions, and out of their mouthes issued fire, and smoke, and brimstone.
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouthes.
19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tailes: for their tailes were like vnto serpents, and had heads, and with them they doe hurt.
20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship deuils, and idoles of golde, and siluer, and brasse, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor heare, nor walke:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
The fifth trumpet is followed by a representation of another star as falling from heaven and opening the bottomless pit, out of which come swarms of locusts. (1-12) The sixth trumpet is followed by the loosing of four angels bound in the great river Euphrates. (13-21)1-12 Upon sounding the fifth trumpet, a star fell from heaven to the earth. Having ceased to be a minister of Christ, he who is represented by this star becomes the minister of the devil; and lets loose the powers of hell against the churches of Christ. On the opening of the bottomless pit, there arose a great smoke. The devil carries on his designs by blinding the eyes of men, by putting out light and knowledge, and promoting ignorance and error. Out of this smoke there came a swarm of locusts, emblems of the devil's agents, who promote superstition, idolatry, error, and cruelty. The trees and the grass, the true believers, whether young or more advanced, should be untouched. But a secret poison and infection in the soul, should rob many others of purity, and afterwards of peace. The locusts had no power to hurt those who had the seal of God. God's all-powerful, distinguishing grace will keep his people from total and final apostacy. The power is limited to a short season; but it would be very sharp. In such events the faithful share the common calamity, but from the pestilence of error they might and would be safe. We collect from Scripture, that such errors were to try and prove the Christians, #1Co 11:19|. And early writers plainly refer this to the first great host of corrupters who overspread the Christian church.
13-21 The sixth angel sounded, and here the power of the Turks seems the subject. Their time is limited. They not only slew in war, but brought a poisonous and ruinous religion. The antichristian generation repented not under these dreadful judgments. From this sixth trumpet learn that God can make one enemy of the church a scourge and a plague to another. The idolatry in the remains of the eastern church and elsewhere, and the sins of professed Christians, render this prophecy and its fulfilment more wonderful. And the attentive reader of Scripture and history, may find his faith and hope strengthened by events, which in other respects fill his heart with anguish and his eyes with tears, while he sees that men who escape these plagues, repent not of their evil works, but go on with idolatries, wickedness, and cruelty, till wrath comes upon them to the utmost.
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.