Single lesson
Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet
Revelation 9:1–12; Revelation 9:13–21
This vision of the fifth trumpet shows smoke rising from the abyss and locust-like attackers bringing painful torment. The passage uses vivid comparisons and repeated limits to show a woe that is severe, controlled, and not the last one. This lesson also brings together The Sixth Trumpet.
Before you teach
The passage begins when the fifth angel sounds. The vision then follows a clear order: a fallen star is given a key, the abyss is opened, smoke spreads, locusts come out, their power and limits are stated, their appearance is described, and the first woe is counted complete.
Explain the central teaching of Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet, using two details from the reading. This passage presents the fifth trumpet as a fearful woe in which harm is intense yet carefully limited by what is given and commanded. This passage presents a fearful vision of judgement and shows that even after devastating plagues, many people still refused to turn from idolatry and wrongdoing.
Welcome: Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet
5 minIntroduce “The Fifth Trumpet”, “The Sixth Trumpet” and locate Revelation 9:1–12; Revelation 9:13–21. This passage presents the fifth trumpet as a fearful woe in which harm is intense yet carefully limited by what is given and commanded. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Revelation 9:1, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:12
Read and explain the passage
12 minThe Fifth Trumpet (Revelation 9:1–12): After the fifth angel sounds, a star that had fallen to the earth is seen, and the key to the pit of the abyss is given to him. When he opens it, smoke rises like a furnace and darkens the sun and air. The vision begins with opening, smoke, and spreading darkness.
The Sixth Trumpet (Revelation 9:13–21): The scene begins when the sixth angel sounds. John hears a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar before God. The voice tells the angel to free four angels bound at the great river Euphrates. The passage reports this as part of the vision John heard and saw.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “The Fifth Trumpet”, “The Sixth Trumpet”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Revelation 9:1, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:13, Revelation 9:14
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What details show that the locusts do not act without limits?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage presents a fearful vision of judgement and shows that even after devastating plagues, many people still refused to turn from idolatry and wrongdoing. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Revelation 9:4, Revelation 9:5, Revelation 9:10, Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:8, Revelation 9:9, Revelation 9:18, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 9:21
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “The Fifth Trumpet”, “The Sixth Trumpet” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Revelation 9:1, Revelation 9:11, Revelation 9:21
Closing: return to The Sixth Trumpet
3 minRevisit Revelation 9:13–21. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about The Sixth Trumpet and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Revelation 9:13, Revelation 9:17, Revelation 9:21
Questions to explore
What details show that the locusts do not act without limits?
Notice what they were told not to harm, who they could harm, that they could torment but not kill, and the fixed period of five months.
Revelation 9:4, Revelation 9:5, Revelation 9:10
Which repeated comparison words help you read this as visionary description?
Look for phrases such as like and something like in the smoke, sting, and body descriptions.
Revelation 9:2, Revelation 9:5, Revelation 9:7, Revelation 9:8, Revelation 9:9, Revelation 9:10
How does the final response of the survivors deepen the seriousness of this passage?
Compare the severe plagues with the repeated statement that the rest of mankind “didn’t repent”.
Revelation 9:18, Revelation 9:20, Revelation 9:21
Make, think or respond
Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Revelation 9:1–12; Revelation 9:13–21. Use “The Fifth Trumpet”, “The Sixth Trumpet” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Revelation 9: The Fifth Trumpet connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “The Fifth Trumpet”, “The Sixth Trumpet” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Revelation 9:1–12; Revelation 9:13–21. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Revelation 9:1–12; Revelation 9:13–21. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Revelation 9
1 The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him.
2 He opened the pit of the abyss, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace. The sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke from the pit.
3 Then out of the smoke came locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don’t have God’s seal on their foreheads.
5 They were given power, not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person.
6 In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war. On their heads were something like golden crowns, and their faces were like people’s faces.
8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like those of lions.
9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of many chariots and horses rushing to war.
10 They have tails like those of scorpions, with stingers. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months.
11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”.
12 The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
13 The sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!”
15 The four angels were freed who had been prepared for that hour and day and month and year, so that they might kill one third of mankind.
16 The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million. I heard the number of them.
17 Thus I saw the horses in the vision and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
18 By these three plagues, one third of mankind was killed: by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur, which proceeded out of their mouths.
19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents, and have heads; and with them they harm.
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, didn’t repent of the works of their hands, that they wouldn’t worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood, which can’t see, hear, or walk.
21 They didn’t repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.