Locusts

“² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

⁶ And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

⁷ 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.

⁸ And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

¹¹ 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.

¹² One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”

(Rev 9:2-12 KJV)

Some believe the locusts are demons, while others believe they are figurative of armored weapons (tanks, jets, etc.). The description of them coming from the bottomless pit, and the fact that they have a leader that is named Destroyer, and the fact that the demons are held in the bottomless pit seems to indicate that they are demons. The fact that they have breastplates shows that they are an army prepared for war. The tails like scorpions shows they have the power to cause pain that is so severe that people will seek death but will not find it. Unlike a regular locust, they will not harm the plants or vegetation. Also, they will not harm anyone that has the seal of God; which are probably those that heard and obeyed the preaching of the 144,000.

Abaddon, or Apollyon, means Destroyer, or Destruction.

“Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.” (Job 26:6 KJV)

“Hell and destruction are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?” (Pro 15:11 KJV)

Abaddon – 3 Ἀβαδδών Abaddon {ab-ad-dohn’}

Meaning:  Abaddon = “destruction” 1) ruin 2) destruction 3) the place of destruction 4) the name of the angel-prince of the infernal regions, the minister of death and the author of havoc on the earth

Apollyon – 623 Ἀπολλύων Apolluon {ap-ol-loo’-ohn}

Meaning:  Apollyon = “Destroyer” 1) the angel of the bottomless pit, the Destroyer

The fifth trumpet is now complete and the six and seventh trumpet are about to sound.