Revelation 9

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. 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. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 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. 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. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 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. They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 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). Revelation 9:1-11 NIV

Locusts appear multiple times throughout the Bible, and have both literal and figurative meanings.  They are a certain species of short-horned grasshoppers that have the ability to swarm.  They are nasty looking creatures that are very destructive to all vegetation in their path.  Locusts were the eighth plague delivered upon Egypt when the pharaoh refused to free the enslaved Israelites (see Exodus 10:1-20).  The prophet Joel describes a locust plague as a symbolic foreshadowing of God’s judgement (see Joel 2:31).  In Joel 1:4 he writes, “What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.”  Here, the locusts represent several things for the future of Israel.  It is a prophecy of an impending locust invasion on their crops, and a prediction of a future invasion by enemies.  The locusts also represent demons that are going to be sent to Earth during God’s judgement to torment and torture those who refuse to believe in Him.  Who are these demons who are being represented by locusts in Joel and Revelation?  They are fallen angels who joined Satan in his rebellion.  Their physical appearance in Revelation reflects their corruption and the degenerate nature of their spirits.  It is important to note that these demons are under God’s authority and have limited power.  God only allows them to harm those who do not have His seal on their foreheads (i.e. non-believers).  God even adds more restrictions to these demons: He grants them power to torture people for only a 5 month period, and further tells them that they are unable to kill anyone.  Even with these restrictions, this will be a terrible time of judgement for those who do not follow Christ.  Let us remember that demons are not just something to be concerned about for the future of non-believers; there are plenty of demons on Earth today, and they are determined to make life miserable for all God’s children.  Their main purpose is to prevent, distort, or destroy our relationship with God.  They do this by tempting us into sin, based on our personal tendencies towards evil.  When we give in to sin, it draws us away from and separates us from God.  “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:13-15).  It is very important for us to recognize the evil activity of demons and their tactics.  We must all realize that the battle almost always starts in our thought life.  If we stay in control of our thoughts and are victorious on this “battlefield”, we will stay spiritually healthy by staying away from sin and remaining connected with God.  This means that we must stay alert, “so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes” (2 Corinthians 2:11, NLT).  There is no reason to fear demons, however, because even though they are enemies of God and God’s children, they are defeated enemies.  Colossians 2:15 says of Christ, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  As we submit to God and resist the devil, we have nothing to fear.  Remember: “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).