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Revelation 9:3

And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

5

And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

6

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

7

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

8

And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

9

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

10

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

11

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Revelation 9:3

9:3 locusts. These are obviously not actual locusts, for they will attack only “unsealed men” and not the vegetation (Revelation 9:4). To John, however, they could only be compared to swarms of locusts. No man has ever seen such terrifying insects before or since, with the speed of war horses, the teeth of lions, and the stings of scorpions, yet with faces and armor like soldiers and hair like women (Revelation 9:7-10). Demons had long had an obsessive desire for physical bodies (note Genesis 6:2; Luke 8:30,32), so God will give them, for this brief time, bodies appropriate to their true character, allowing them to exercise His judgment on the still-rebellious men.

Revelation 9:4

9:4 seal of God. The forehead “seal” had been inscribed on the 144,000 chosen Israelites (Revelation 7:4); perhaps also it will be given to others, if any, who turn to Christ under these trumpet judgments.

Revelation 9:7

9:7 like unto horses. See Joel 2:4-5 (also note Revelation 9:9 here). Evidently Joel, who prophesied very graphically of the coming day of the Lord, also had received a vision of this invading swarm of locust-like demons. Part of his prophecy deals with an actual invasion of the land by real locusts, but, as often happens in the Old Testament prophetical books, the immediate vision yields to a vision of far-future events, the first being merely a type of the much greater event yet to come.

Revelation 9:8

9:8 as the teeth of lions. Note Joel 1:6. The locusts seen by Joel, like those seen by John, had “the teeth of a lion,” the “appearance of horses” (Joel 2:4), and made a great sound “like the noise of chariots” (Joel 2:5). Joel also commented that “there hath not been ever the like, neither shall there be any more after it” (Joel 2:2).

Revelation 9:10

9:10 five months. As suddenly as they had come, these demons were gone, no doubt herded back into the bottomless pit to await the judgment. Quite probably, like the evil spirits who had drowned the swine whose bodies they possessed for a short time (Luke 8:32-33), they left the carcasses of their locust bodies behind them on the ground. Joel says that “his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things” (Joel 2:20).

Revelation 9:11

9:11 Abaddon. Abbadon, or Apollyon, means “Destroyer.” The word occurs only here in the New Testament, but six times in the Old Testament, where it is translated “destruction” (see Job 26:6; 28:22; 31:12; Psalm 88:11; Proverbs 15:11; 27:20). See note on Proverbs 15:11.

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