As the angel sounds the fifth trumpet, John sees a strange locust plague rising out of the bottomless pit like smoke. As with the other trumpets, this locust plague evokes the plagues on Egypt. This chapter is an excellent example of why we need to ground our reading of Revelation in its first-century context: the locust are NOT helicopters, drones, soldiers with jetpacks, or whatever new technology known today. These locusts are the ultimate demonic army which will be released in the last days.
The eighth plague was great plague of locust, such as has never been before nor will be again (Exod 10:14; Pss 78:48; 105:34-35). Ezekiel the Tragedian associated darkness and locust in the Egyptian plagues: “Darkness I’ll decree for three whole days, and locusts send, who shall the residue of food consume and every blade of grass” (EzTrag 1.144–146).
The curses for unfaithfulness include locust plagues (Deut 28:38; 1 Kings 8:36). Amos 4:9 describes a locust plague as God’s judgment on Israel and Jeremiah 46:23 describes the armies of Egypt as “more numerous than locusts; they are without number.” Huge enemy armies are uncountable locust (Judg 6:5; 7:12).
Since locusts are associated with a terrifying army of enemies who strip the land bare, a locust plague was a natural metaphor for a great final battle. Joel 2 uses a locust plague in Israel as a metaphor for an eschatological army descending on the land “like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come” (Joel 2:2).
Locust breed in the desert regions and can travel in a column as deep as one hundred feet and as long as four miles (Mounce, 186). Usually locust strip the land of all vegetation, but these locusts do not attack vegetation, but rather who are not sealed by God. This is the opposite of the normal activity of locust, they eat plants, not people!
But these are not ordinary locust (Rev 9:7-9). There is an Arabic proverb that says that a locust has the head of a horse, the chest of a lion, the feet of a camel, the body of a serpent, and antennae like the hair of a woman. Each of the items in the description are grounded in the Old Testament and the literature of Second Temple Judaism.
Like other crowns in Revelation, these golden crowns refer to the power that they are given to rule for five months (Aune, 2:532).
Long disheveled hair does not mean these creatures are feminine. Samson and Absalom were both known for their strength yet had long hair. The important difference is this hair is disheveled. D.C. Duling suggests (OTP 1:973, note a) disheveled hair was a characteristic Medusa and is found on Aramaic Incantation Bowls depicting the demon Lilith with disheveled hair. Both the Testament of Solomon and the Apocalypse of Zephaniah describe demons with disheveled hair.
Testament of Solomon 13.1 Then I ordered another demon to appear before me. There came before me one who had the shape of a woman but she possessed as one of her traits the form of one with disheveled hair.
Apoc. Zeph. 4.1-4 Then I walked with the angel of the Lord. I looked before me and I saw a place there. 2 [Thousands] of thousands and myriads of myriads of an[gels] entered through [it]. 3 Their faces were like a leopar[d], their tusks being outside their mouth [like] the wild boars. 4 Their eyes were mixed with blood. Their hair was loose like the hair of women, and fiery scourges were in their hands.
Apoc. Zeph. 6:8 That same instant I stood up, and I saw a great angel before me. His hair was spread out like the lionesses’. His teeth were outside his mouth like a bear. His hair was spread out like women’s. His body was like the serpent’s when he wished to swallow me.
Teeth like iron are proverbial for “something irresistibly and fatally destructive” (Aune, 2:532) and their breastplates of iron imply invincibility.
These demonic locust-scorpions are given the power to torment people for five months. Although their sting is painful, the sting of a scorpions in Judea are not usually fatal to humans. These locust with scorpion tails are only allowed to torment people for five months, but not to kill them.
Why five months? It is often observed that the normal life-span of a locust is 5 months (Charles, 1:243, Aune 2:530, five simply means “a few”) The dry season in Palestine is also about 5 months, the months that are most likely to experience a locust plague. The time limit is an indication that this is not just a capricious torment, but a punishment with definite limits. It is a warning to the earth, as are the other trumpets.
People “will beg God to kill them, but they won’t be able to die.” This is similar to the description given by Pliny of the eruption of Vesuvius, “People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying.” (Ep. 6.20.14)
Apoc. Elijah 9.1-7 They will desire death but death will flee from them. They will climb onto rocks and jump down on them, and say, “Fall on us!” And they will not die but death runs away from them.
The people tormented by these demonic beings want to die in order to escape the plague but all that awaits them is the lake of fire.
Very interesting post! I’ve been interested in this topic since I was a child. Question: Is there any Biblical passage(s) that led you to conclude that the locust army is demonic? Perhaps your definition of demon = fallen angel (?). It’s my understanding that demons are the souls/spirits of the dead Rephaim (giants).
This is my take after much thought.
The locust army of Rev. 9 should more properly be called fallen angels or evil spirits than demons. Depending (of course) on how one defines terminology. In actuality, it’s the “sons of God” (בני ה אלהים) of Gen.6 which are recorded as being imprisoned in the nether regions of the Earth. See I Pet. 3:19 (Eph.4:9),
II Pet. 2:4 & Jude 6. Also, Job 26:5-6 provides an important link to Abaddon (and the Rephaim; which are the offspring of the “sons of God”).
Unfortunately, there’s a couple of prerequisite interpretive stance’s that one must take before their Theology can allow for such an interpretation. Hence, it’s rarity.
Thanks again for the great post! -MMR
Thanks for your kind words. Hopefully you will find enough here it stick around.
I am not very precise here on what demons are (or are not), only that the description of the locust is consistent with other early Jewish writings (Testament of Solomon, etc.) I think there are too many things we do not know to be dogmatic on the origin of demons. For example, are the demons in the Gospels the same as the imprisoned angels in 2 Peter 2:4? Possibly, but it is far from clear.
I think your suggestion that “demons are the souls/spirits of the dead Rephaim (giants)” is as good as any. This is certainly an option in the first century, you would find some support in the Enoch literature (Book of the Watchers, etc.)
You also said “Job 26:5-6 provides an important link to Abaddon,” I posted on Abaddon today before reading this comment!
I just received Michael Heiser’s new book, Demons from Lexham Press. I will review it soon, keep an eye out for that coming soon.
There is no direct statement as to the origin of this army, but the implication is, from the fact that the angels of verse 14 were bound in or at Euphrates, that the army may come from the East. A similar and later development mentioned in Revelation 16:12 following the outpouring of the sixth vial also depicts an invasion from the East. Unless the vials and the trumpets coincide as some believe, these are two different events, possibly two different phases of the same operation. Chronologically the trumpets involved closely succeed one another and their judgments seem to fall like trip-hammer blows as the great Tribulation comes to its close. Whether the army is held to be the literal number mentioned or not, it is clear that this is a massive force of tremendous military power as evidenced in its capacity to slay a third part of the human race. It may be that the army here described continues to fight until the time of the second coming of Christ, and the number slain is the total number involved in the conflict.
Reading through this blog about the locusts from the abyss helped put the image into its symbolic meaning. I was imagining horses with nice hair, scary teeth, and scorpion tails. At first it sounded like a curious mythical creature. Comparing the description of their hair with the description of demon made me realize that this is not a strange beast like in Harry Potter but a demon sent to torture the unfaithful. The fact that they are from “the bottomless pit” also probably should have clued me in (9:1). The ESVSB mentions that the animal descriptions are not literal but “show demons to be powerful, swift, intelligent, fierce, and capable of inflicting intense mental and spiritual torment” (p. 2476). As you, (P. Long) mentioned, normal locusts consume all the vegetation in their path, but this swarm was overwhelming the people in their path. This imagery shows that none who deserve this punishment with get away from this. The pain will be so severe that they will wish these stings were deadly. But if they were, it would “bring relief to their victims” (ESVSB, 2476). Because these creatures resemble demons more than regular locusts, I agree that this section’s description of the locusts from the abyss should not be read literally.
Sorry man i have to disagree. Drones are most likely an aspect of the locusts. There are almost always multiple ways to look at the same passages in the bible and the amazing thing is God can take seeming conflicts and paradoxes and make them ring true. God builds through different interpretations he doesn’t destroy. The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.
The key is either Geiger or waltz key of Florida keys. Will show a pic of a golden spiral if I remember connecting two known parts the story of locusts of the abyss. It passes over columbus ohio.
2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
This is Deepwater horizon oil spill. We know that leviathan lives near the abyss and lives in water
3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
L.O.C.U.S.T. a rapid drone deployment system developed by the military.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
USDA scorpion crop spraying drone hence harming man and not the grass or plant or tree as it normally would be used for.
5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.
The sting is the sting of chemicals or poison.
6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.
I’ve not seen a bunch of drones at once but this could mean a lot assuming it means the following things.
On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold,
Gold Crown is a camera lens. The majority of drones are used for spraying chemtrails or atleast the chemicals or for surveillance. Many manynfor surveillance. Found a white paper for command and control autonomous mesh network for drones and other aircraft. That’s when my sky harassment began in 2019
and their faces resembled human faces.
FAA just approved remote operation of drones by licensed government workers… the face is the face watching the screen.
8 Their hair was like women’s hair,
The first tethered drone I saw had a braided yellow tether. Reminded me of rapunzel.
and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.
Drone blades look very similar
9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron,
Protective casing for all the internal of the drone
and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
I can only imagine the sound of a bunch of these
10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.
Already covered this
11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
Apollyon was a drone defense and offense war game at Eglin airforce base in Florida panhandle.
When Jesus cast demons from the man atop the mountain the demons called themselves legion. They asked not to be sent to the abyss. I imagine that wasn’t the entirety of legion and perhaps others were sent to the abyss. There is a legion who quotes the passage where the demons call themselves legion… anonymous. Not all are demons but there seemingly is a group that actively portrays themselves as actual legion. They have various aircraft fly directly overhead frequently as they have members in all facets of society. It’s to the point my daughter points em out and points out they fly right overhead.
Police army reserves psyop groups ccp fire dept sheriff’s dept some churches there’s people everywhere. I’m scared to share this but the world must know. They are doing horrible things to humanity turning brother against brother son against father daughter against mother friend against friend. Then next time someone pisses you off just remember we are all being manipulated and made to evoke emotions we normally wouldn’t. Love one another. It covers a multitude of sin. But the enemy needs stopped… how idk but I think certain tones are important. Will share pic later phone almost dead.
The fifth trumpet of God sounded during operation Desert Storm when the oil wills were lit a blaze They were demons released from the abyss also known as the bottomless pit with stings of scorpions in their tails. Stung.
Now you should understand why the great Euphrates River is drying up in preparation of the six trumpet of God.
Endtime Ministries | The Endtime Show
Revelation: The Seven Trumpets and When They Shall Sound
April 4, 2014
Five of the seven trumpets that signify the end of the age have come to pass. With only two left to occur, we must look to the Bible to understand what to expect.
The Bible indicates in Revelation that seven trumpets will sound before the end of the age and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Five of the seven have already sounded as evidenced by critical moments in recent history, and a third world war, which is the triggering event of the sixth trumpet, may have already begun. Our understanding of Biblical prophecies and the events that have already come to pass, will guide us in what to expect when the final two trumpets sound.
The First Two Trumpets
In Revelation 8:7, John describes an apocalyptic vision. His vision explains the triggering event of the sounding of the first trumpet — hail and fire mixed with blood falling to the ground, and approximately 33% of all of the grass and trees in the known world destroyed.
During World War I, large amounts of artillery shells and chemical agents were released on troops for the first time in history through modern warfare, killing over 8 million people. Soldiers on both sides burned vast tracts of land in order to eliminate any natural or man-made items that their enemies could use.
Another war, World War II is also the event that was triggered by the sounding of the second trumpet. Looking to Revelation 8:8-9, the Bible explains that a third of the ships involved in the conflict that coincides with the activation of this trumpet will be destroyed. During World War II, approximately one third of the ships that participated in the conflict were sunk. In turn, the nuclear bomb deployed at Hiroshima resembled “something like a great mountain burning with fire,” a sight that was new on the world stage.
The Third Trumpet
In a podcast discussing the seven trumpets, Irvin Baxter told listeners of his understanding of the sounding of the third trumpet, which occurred during the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. In Revelation 8:10-11, the prophet explains that the third trumpet will sound before a star, called Wormwood, will fall and affect a third of the waters.
In 1995, God prompted Irvin to research the Chernobyl disaster that occurred in the Ukraine in 1986, whereupon he learned that “Chernobyl” means “Wormwood” in Russian. Furthermore, the nuclear radiation that emanated from the destroyed power plant contaminated more than 33 percent of the water supply in Europe and Western Asia, killing thousands and affecting hundreds of thousands of other citizens with diseases caused by the radiation.
The Fourth Event
Revelation 8:12-13 explains that the fourth trumpet would sound before the length of the days become shortened, and the sun would not shine for a third of the day. Therefore, time will be shortened and our days around the world will be experienced differently. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a “new world order” with a new age of globalization began to develop. President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!” and 29 months later the fourth trumpet sounded.
The Fifth Instrument
According to prophecy, the fifth trumpet will sound before a bottomless pit of fire causes a massive amount of smoke to block the light of the sun. During the Gulf War, Iraqi soldiers ignited over 700 oil wells around the deserts of Kuwait, which were some of the largest, underground wells of oil on the planet. From the seemingly bottomless hole in the ground, smoke entered the atmosphere and blocked sunlight for three months. With Suddam Hussein as their president, whose name means “Destroyer” or “Abaddon” in Hebrew as described in Revelation 9:11, Iraqi soldiers incited a battle with the United Nations in the Middle East, an area still under turmoil.
The Sixth Trumpet
This second-to-last trumpet will sound before a war is started near the Euphrates River. This waterway traverses Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran, which comprise the Middle East. Revelation 9:13-21 indicates that four angels will command an army of 200 million individuals.
With a population of more than 1 billion people, China is able to field an army that consists of more than 200 million soldiers, and in addition, countries united under the Islamic faith have the ability to create an army of the same size. When a new world-dominating government is established under the Antichrist, an event coming very soon, we will be in the midst of a great war that will see the Abomination of Desolation and the Great Tribulation.
The Final Trumpet
The sounding of the seventh trumpet will be the most dynamic event out of all the trumpets prophesied in the Bible, affecting all human beings. It is at this last trumpet that Jesus Christ will send angels to rapture all saints for their eternal reward and pass his judgments on the fate of the earth’s inhabitants. This event also marks the end of human government and the establishment of the Kingdom of God, on earth, for the next one thousand years.
At this time, the end time, all of what the Bible has prophesied will come to pass and prove the power of God’s will. To learn about what the Bible teaches and how to understand the end time, join us during our regular television and radio broadcasts. For more information about the seven trumpets, purchase your own copy of The 7 Trumpets DVD from our Understanding the Endtime Series.
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