Like Swarms Of Locusts

Revelation 9:1-12

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.  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. ” (Revelation 9:1-3)

When the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, an angel comes to earth and unlocks the bottomless pit, releasing a huge cloud of smoke, similar to the cloud from a volcano.  The smoke was so dense as to block much of the sunlight and fill the air.  Accompanying the smoke were swarms of creatures with a fierce stinging ability.

 “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.  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.  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.” (Revelation 9:4-6)

The creatures eat human flesh, and while extremely painful, are not fatal.  They are repelled by the seal God has placed in the foreheads of his servants, as described in Revelation 7.  The infestation will last for five months.  The bites are so painful people will try to commit suicide to escape them, but will be unable to do so.

“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.  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.  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.  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.  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 9:7-11)

Apparently the creatures were quite large, with shells resembling armor, with humanlike face and hair but with teeth designed for tearing flesh.  Their wings are large and the swarms sound like a heard of horses when the fly.  Their stingers are in their tails and serve to immobilize their prey.  They are led by a leader referred to as a destroying angel. 

“One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.” (Revelation 9:12)

After five months of being attacked by these swarms of creatures, people would be willing to do anything including commit suicide to escape their misery.  People were afraid to venture out for fear of attack.  Unfortunately, this is just the first woe.  There will be two more, even worse.