A Software Glitch in Creation.
“They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them! The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle.” – REV. 9:5 – 9.
There is no commentary I have read that makes a credible interpretation of this passage. There is, however, much speculation. Rather it is as we have previously stated it is not a description of appearance but a description of character and nature, summarised by the devil’s name in v11, Apollyon – the destroyer.
The basic message of the text is that those under Satan’s control (secular people) may think they have real freedom but in reality, they have subjected themselves to a tyrant that makes Hitler or Putin appear as moderate. The torment of stinging insects illustrates how enslavement to satan sucks the joy out of life and will eventually make even death seem an attractive option.
Revelation 9:1-12 (The 5th Trumpet) outlines the devastating work of satan during the Dark Ages.
This passage draws heavily from Deuteronomy 28: 25,42, Joel 1:4 / 2:25, 2Chron 6:28-30, Isa 14:12-13 and other passages. Deuteronomy 28 is part of the blessings and cursing’s delivered to Israel on condition of their obedience or disobedience. Spiritual Israel is experiencing the self inflicted curse initiated by disobedience. Satan is the “star fallen from heaven”. If you read a parallel passage in Joel 1 & 2 you will see the locust plague in Joel 1 was meant to lead to a deeper insight into God’s universal plan. Joel relates the plague to the national crisis and then to their spiritual condition. The locusts have left nothing that could be offered as a sacrifice to the Lord. In Chapter 2, Joel (which means Yahweh is God), did not spend much time making an analysis of the people’s failings. He was interested far more in dwelling on the cure as prescribed by Israel’s Divine Physician. (Read Joel 2 if you have time)
In Revelation 9 it is as if one image, using simile, is piled onto another for the simple purpose of heightening the terror of the overall picture. What, then, is the point? What spiritual lesson can we learn from horrific images like the above? What role can disasters possibly play in our daily walk with Jesus?
If nothing else, disasters turn our minds back to God and His Word. (c.f. Joel 1 & 2) As human beings, you and I have been designed by God. The Bible, therefore, is like a software manual. It tells us where we came from, how we were made, how we function the best. The best software manual, of course, is written by the one who designed the software. That’s why the Bible is so important for us. The One Who created us knows what we are like and how we should live.
Sin is like a “glitch” in the software of our minds and bodies. Imagine if you could take your software problems directly to Bill Gates. This analogy may help us understand the value of Scripture. As with software, many hands were involved in creating the Bible, but God was personally involved in every part. When we study the Bible and pray, we are in direct touch with the Designer.
The judgments of God, in a very down-to-earth way, are attention-getters. They are not vindictive; they are wake-up calls to realign our software to the way it was originally designed. The decision of how we relate to Jesus and His software manual is the most important decision we will ever face. We were designed by God, and we function best in relationship to God. The worst possible disaster, therefore, would be to turn our face away from God and try to do things our own way. The trumpets are about the lesser disasters that turn our hearts away from the worst disaster.