In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
The Destroyer will come to destroy! In John’s revelation we have the outline of God’s wrath being poured out on the unbelieving world. There are seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls and seven thunders (the latter John was not even able to write about). All of them depict the wrath of God on mankind for their failure to believe in Christ the King. The world, today, is, rightly, devastate by tragedy, especially calamities that have to do with young children. We rightly recoil at the death of the innocent. But, in the end times, there will be no innocent. All will be guilty of rejecting Christ. The result of rejecting Christ is the outpouring of God’s wrath. The number “seven” in the Bible is the number that speaks of “perfection” or “completion.” So, God’s wrath will be complete and without mercy. In the above verses we are told that locust will come and torment the peoples of the earth. We are told these locust will do so for five months to “torment” but not kill people. In fact, during this time, the people will seek death and not find it (Revelation 9:4-6). This will all be done at the hand of the Abaddon (Hebrew) or the Apollyon (Greek). This is significant in that John is making reference to political and religious figures. The Apollyon is from the Greek god, Apollos. The emperors of Rome believed they were gods, like Apollos. In fact, John was sent to this island he is on by the emperor of Rome, Domitian. In essence, John is saying that out of pit of demons will come a leader who is the Apollyon (destroyer) who will be used by God to torment mankind. This is the fate that is coming upon the earth on all those who do not repent and acknowledge the power and preeminence of Christ. What will happen to these people when the meet with the locust figure and destroying nature, Apollyon? Will they repent and acknowledge that Christ is King? Note what John will write in just a few verses past our above passage. This is a sad commentary about the nature of man:
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
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