Revelation chapter 9: 1 to 11 - 'Locusts from the Abyss'

1 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.
2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a giant furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.
3 And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
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.
5 They were not given power 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 a man.
6 During those days men 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. 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 and stings like scorpions, and in their tales 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, Apollyon.

Of the many word images within the Apocalypse, the scene presented in these few verses is one that has rarely been interpreted by artists or illustrators. Again it is a picture of suffering and torment and is centred around that which is described as an abyss. It exudes smoke as if it came from a giant furnace and such is the density of the smoke that the sun and sky are darkened by it.

Most alarming is the description of that which emanates from the smoke - a plague of locusts arranged as ‘horses prepared for battle’. Yet their description is quite unlike that of any other locust known to man. They wear on their heads crowns of gold beneath which are human faces. Yet they have the hair of a woman and teeth like those of a lion. They also wear breastplates resembling iron and their wings create a noise similar to the thundering of many horses and chariots going into battle. Their tails and the accompanying sting are like that of a scorpion.

Yet the behaviour of these locusts under instruction, it appears, from God Himself, is quite unlike that of any normal locust. Whereas swarms of migrating locusts destroy vegetation, these are told not to harm any plant or tree, rather to torture for five months those who do ‘not have the seal of God on their foreheads’. Such is the suffering inflicted, that during those days ‘men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them’.

Although the verses suggest that the judgement comes from God, it is (like much else in the Apocalypse), metaphorical language to present a phase in history which has evidenced mankind creating its own judgement. It is somehow reminiscent of the Passover in Egypt, when the angel of death passed over the homes of those who had, at God’s command, marked with blood the top and sides of the door frames of their homes - bringing judgement upon those who had not.

This section of the Apocalypse finds an echo on the Old Testament Prophecy of Joel:

‘Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand - a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.’

‘Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste - nothing escapes them. They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry.’

‘With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle. At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale. They charge like warriors; they scale walls like soldiers. They all march in line, not swerving from their course. They do not jostle each other; each marches straight ahead. They plunge through defences without breaking ranks.’

‘They rush upon the city; they run along the wall. They climb into the houses; like thieves they enter through the windows. Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles, the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars no longer shine.’

‘The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”’

‘Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.’   Joel 2:1-13

The subsequent verses continue with the refrain started here in verse twelve - urging the people to turn back to God - and His compassionate response should they do so, culminating in verses twenty-five to twenty-seven: 

‘“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten - the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm - my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.

Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.”’ Joel 2: 25-27

As in Revelation, the locusts referred to here are, most likely, allegorical, and would seem to represent the hordes of the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks and Romans who, each in turn, besieged and devoured the Kingdom of Judah.

Whether it is physical or spiritual, ‘nakedness’ seems to have been one of the consistent results of the judgments of God. This is particularly evident in the writings of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Given the duration and severity of this particular judgment it seemed appropriate to present the recipients similarly exposed and vulnerable. The latter of the two following references from the Prophet Isaiah is - albeit by the bringing of judgement through applying pagan rather than God-prescribed marks on posts and lintels, a corollary of that which happened during the Passover in Egypt.

“Your nakedness will be exposed and your shame uncovered. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one."  Isaiah 47: 3