Revelation 9:3-6 And out of the smoke locusts came down on 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 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. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
The invasion of locusts recalls the plague against Egypt in Exodus 10 and the invasion of locusts in Joel 2. In the Exodus passage the locusts are literally the insects. The Joel passage is debated whether it is literal or figurative. Most interpreters take the Joel passage as figurative for invaders. The same question can be asked of the passage from Revelation: literal or figurative? The implication in the passage is that these are some kind of creature that will torture people for five months. I am been bitten by mosquitoes or other insects and sure felt like the end of the world. But the agony of what Revelation talks about will be even worse. These creatures will cause much pain and discomfort.
Pain and discomfort are ways that God may use to get our attention. Revelation indicates that God is in full control of all that happens during the blowing of these trumpets. The pain that is unleashed at this trumpet should be a wake up call to humanity. People should cry out to God in their pain and seek God’s forgiveness. In 2 Samuel 24, David counts the fighting men in Israel. This sin lead to a plague. David had to cry out to God, repent, and offer a sacrifice for the plague to end. The lesson is that if we do not listen in the easy times to God’s call to repent, what will it take for us to come before God? Hopefully not a plague of locusts.
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