Locusts From The Pit: Revelation 9:1-12

There are creatures described in Revelation 9 that not only have a nasty look, but have a nasty sting as well. Various theories have been offered concerning the physical/spiritual make-up of these "locusts." Are they biological creatures? Are they weapons? Are they aircraft? Are they demons? Let's take a look at their physical appearance, their behavior and the results of their behavior so that we can try to figure this out.

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Rev 9:1-12 “And the fifth angel sounded. And I saw a star fall from the heaven to the earth, and it was given the key of the abyss.  ²And it opened the bottomless pit. And there arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. ³And out of the smoke came forth locusts onto the earth. And authority was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have authority.  ⁴And they were commanded not to hurt the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. ⁵And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And their torment was like a scorpion's torment when he stings a man. ⁶And in those days men will seek death and will not find it. And they will long to die, and death will flee from them. ⁷And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸And they had hairs like the hairs of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. ⁹And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. ¹⁰And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. And their authority was to hurt men five months. ¹¹And they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in Greek his name is Apollyon. ¹²The first woe is past. Behold, after these things yet come two woes. 

Where did they come from?  

Rev. 9:1-3a "And the fifth angel sounded. And I saw a star fall from the heaven to the earth, and it was given the key of the abyss.  ²And it opened the bottomless pit. And there arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. ³And out of the smoke came forth locusts onto the earth."

These entities come from the "abyss," the "bottomless pit" out of which arises smoke so great that the sun and air are darkened by it. Now the scripture reads that, "out of the smoke came forth locusts onto the earth." So, from this I can speculate that they must be coming out of the abyss, the bottomless pit, and onto the earth. So they weren't on the earth at the time, but in the earth... in the bottomless pit. 

If it were a military vehicle like a helicopter or armed drone, would an angel of the Lord be sent to release them from the spiritual realm of the bottomless pit? Physical machinery can't occupy the spiritual realm, and mankind, in the flesh, can't either, unless God so directs, so my question would be, how could a military force of men and machine emerge from the spiritual realm of the bottomless pit?

Who released them?

Rev. 9:1-2 “And the fifth angel sounded. And I saw a star fall from the heaven to the earth, and it was given the key of the abyss.  ²And it opened the bottomless pit."

An angel is sent from heaven who has the power and authority to release these "locusts" from their confinement. The scripture doesn't refer to an earthly military power being given the authority to begin a military operation. An angel actually descends from heaven to earth to unlock the bottomless pit, not unlock the military might of a particular nation or power block.

Who is in charge of these "locusts?"

Rev. 9:11 "And they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in Greek his name is Apollyon."

So we see here that an angel named Abaddon/Apollyon has control over these "locusts." 

Scripture states that this angel who directs the actions of these "locusts" is their "king" and that he is "the angel of the bottomless pit," which means that Abaddon/Apollyon must also be imprisoned in the bottomless pit and ruling there as a high ranking demon (archdemon) just like Michael is a high ranking angel (archangel). Scripture isn't referring to an earthly military leader, but an archdemon.

What are the limitations of these locusts?

Rev. 9:3b-6 "And authority was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have authority. ⁴And they were commanded not to hurt the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. ⁵And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. And their torment was like a scorpion's torment when he stings a man. ⁶And in those days men will seek death and will not find it. And they will long to die, and death will flee from them."

They cannot:

1. Hurt the grass of the earth
2. Hurt any green thing
3. Hurt any tree
4. Hurt anyone who has the seal of God in their foreheads
5. Kill anyone

They can (through their sting):

1. Hurt all those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads
2. Cause mankind to experience torturous pain for 5 months

These "locusts" are given authority to attack those who do NOT have the seal of God in their forehead. If we're looking at it in the physical, that would mean the military would need to selectively target individuals, but if they're using some sort of biological weapon, then it's going to affect everyone. There is no possible way that an attack on billions of people worldwide can accurately target only those individuals who do not have the mark of God in their foreheads. And why would they attack everyone who is not an enemy of the state? Wouldn't they be targeting born again believers in Christ? 

In the spiritual, God actually has set limits on these "locusts," and gives the command NOT to attack those individuals who have His seal in their forehead, so believers aren't even targeted by the enemy. Since God won't be commanding a hostile military force on earth, then He must be directing the actions of spiritual entities and commanding them concerning who they are and are NOT allowed to attack.

Now, the result of this attack is that those individuals who are affected will suffer for 5 months and will seek death, but death will flee from them. So those affected will try to take their own lives to end the pain, but death will not have the authority to take their lives during this time. Can you imagine someone experiencing torturous pain to the point where they want to take their own life and then not having the ability to do so? No matter how many times or how many ways they try, they just won't be able to die, because death will be restrained for a period of time. 

Again, if we look at this in the physical and argue that this event was a military action utilizing biological weapons, these bio-toxins would need to cause pain for exactly 5 months, and it would need to incapacitate these individuals so that they wouldn't have the strength to kill themselves. We then need to ask ourselves... "Who could live for five months without food and water?" It just doesn't add up, but if you look at this from a spiritual aspect, those suffering this immense torture will not be allowed to die because God will give the command that none shall be able to take their own life during this period. So death will basically have his hands tied.

What do the strange locusts look like?

Rev. 9:7-10 "And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. ⁸And they had hairs like the hairs of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. ⁹And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. ¹⁰And they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails."

Strange description indeed. They have the face of a man, long hair like women and teeth like a lion. They have wings and they have tails like scorpions.  They have breastplates like iron and they have gold "crowns" (Stephanos - to twine or wreath). What could this be?

If we look at just the physical description of the locusts, our first thought may be that it must be something mechanical, like a military helicopter or an armed drone. The physical description of the locusts is so beyond our comprehension of what a living entity could look like, that the logical assumption would be to say that this entity is indeed a mechanized weapon of some sort, a vehicle that would have been nearly impossible to describe in suitable terms in the first century AD.

Then again, there are many creatures in our world that look "alien" to us.  Just look at these few examples:

   

Tardigrades
www.bbc.co.uk

Blob Fish
www.eatnineghost.com

Star-Nosed Mole
www.eatnineghost.com

Flea
www.thesun.co.uk

Pretty strange looking creatures, right? After looking at these pictures, I can't help but begin to believe that it IS possible for the Lord to have already created a hoard of stranger looking creatures that can be used to pour out His judgment on the world during this part of the Tribulation. After all, if these judgments are going to be worse than any other in the history of mankind, it's probably safe to say that the creatures created by God to exact His judgment will be the most hideous creatures that have ever been created as well.

If, on the other hand, we consider these locusts to be biological, then we must believe that they have already been created and are being contained until that particular point in time when God will command them to be released from the abyss/bottomless pit. Is there any other portion of scripture that describes a creature being contained until a time of judgment? Yes, there is.

Rev 9:13-15  And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, ¹⁴saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Loose the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. ¹⁵And the four angels were loosed, who were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, in order to slay the third part of men.

So God does, indeed, bind up spiritual entities in preparation for their release during His time of judgment. So these locusts could be, in my humble opinion, most likely actual living spiritual entities that the Lord has prepared for "an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, in order to bring" pain to men.  

Could these locusts be demons? Yes. Could they be actual biological creatures, since they all look the same? I'd say there is a very low possibility, but they could be. Could they be weapons/military vehicles? I highly doubt it, but I am willing to consider any thoughts from readers who would like to respond to this blog.

Please take the time to leave a comment and let me know what YOU think. I'm interested in your interpretation of what the locusts are.

REPENT, AND BE FORGIVEN!

BELIEVE, AND BE SAVED!

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