Revelation 9 What is this?

[seekeroftruth]

Revelation 9:7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 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).

12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.​

Before I go to the commentary... please consider John's predicament. John has a glimpse of a bug, a new species to be sure, and he has to describe this bug so that someone 2000 years later would be able to decipher it without pictures.

Here's a thought. I googled "locust in Revelation 9" and I got a picture. How would you describe this? There are plenty more examples for your afternoon entertainment at the link. This is just one picture derived from that description. Check out the link.



OK... now let's see what the commentaries say.

This is from amazingdiscoveries.org.

The “locusts” are given power to “torment” like the sting of a “scorpion” for 5 months, or 150 literal years. Starting in 1299 at the Battle of Bapheum the Turkish Muslims began a persistent assault on the eastern Roman Empire. In 1449, after 150 years of conflict, the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire became a vassal state, subordinate to the Ottoman Empire. At that time Constantine XI needed the permission and backing of the Ottoman Empire to outmaneuver the other claimant to the throne, so as to become emperor. During this time period the Byzantine Empire was “tormented” by the Ottoman Empire but not yet destroyed.

The cavalry was a prominent feature of the Arabian and Turkish military. Their horsemen wore turbans over long hair, “as the hair of women.” They came with the strength and rapacity of “lions,” and were seemingly unstoppable, pictured by the “breastplates of iron.” The locust “wings,” like the leopard wings of Daniel 7, represent speed.​

All this time... I thought God was the only one in control of time....5 months =150 literal years? OK then.

This is from enduringword.com.

The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle: Many attempts have been made to show that this is an accurate (though poetic) description of natural locusts. This approach misses the obvious demonic connection.

Why would God call them locusts if they are not literal locusts, but demonic spirits who swarm and destroy like locusts? Among other reasons, because locusts are agents of God’s judgment. This is a consistent Old Testament figure in passages like Exodus 10:4-14, Deuteronomy 28:38, 1 Kings 8:37, 2 Chronicles 7:13, Joel 1:4, and Amos 4:9.​

Like horses… like gold… like the faces of men… like women’s hair… like lion’s teeth: The repetition of like indicates something other than a literal description is intended. The total impact of this picture is one of unnatural and awesome cruelty.

Suggestions that these locusts actually describe something such as the helicopter gunships of the Antichrist or a one-world government are interesting, but purely speculative, and don’t fit all the details.​

I don't know what John saw. I hope I don't have to correct his work... I don't want to see these things up close and personal unless God keeps them as pets in Heaven. I don't want to be there for the seventh seal, fifth trumpet, first woe. There's more to come.