Revelation 9:3

And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Out of the smoke came forth locusts ... The evil influence of Satan has results, and the locusts are that result. The locust is an organized entity of evil, supported, induced, and held together by the satanic influence which produced it. Some scholars are very busy here with descriptions of plagues of locusts mentioned in the Old Testament, but the language here is figurative. No swarm of locusts ever had a king over them, or the power to inflict a sting lasting for five months. Furthermore these locusts did not even touch earth's vegetation such as the grass (Revelation 9:4). It is a spiritual plague which is depicted here. "Such a spiritual malignity is, in truth, the source of the forces that are chewing up our world."[22] "The locusts are symbols of wild ideas and false doctrines, which becloud men's mental faculties."[23]

Barclay described a literal plague of locusts in Algiers in 1886, which was so destructive that, "Over 200,000 people died of the famine that followed."[24] This only shows the aptitude of the metaphor here employed by the Holy Spirit. Such damage as that in Algiers, however, is nothing compared to that of 1939-1945, when the Germans lost their minds through accepting the "locust" doctrine of Aryan supremacy, or that they were a "master race." Ten million Jews alone were destroyed, to say nothing of forty million others. Such a "locust" doctrine, like the locusts of this fifth trumpet, at first only tormented the people who received it. Early observants of it merely smiled at it, not realizing what the second phase of the swarm of locusts would be. Just as, in these fifth and sixth trumpets, the locusts of the fifth changed into the hellish horsemen of the sixth, in exactly the same manner, Hitler's "locust" doctrines of Nazi nonsense, in a later phase, became a roaring tornado of worldwide destruction. The locust metaphor is peculiarly applicable here; for, in the great destructive plagues of locusts, the physical appearance of these creatures actually changes, the insects taking on a different coloring, becoming far stronger, and manifesting an incredibly greater destructive power. Of course, we are using the Nazis here merely as an example. There have been many such examples in history. The destructive horsemen always follow the locusts. In Germany, the whole dreadful experience developed when men burned the Bibles at Nuremberg, denied the Scriptural truth of the brotherhood of all races (Acts 17:26), renounced the Biblical doctrine of the supreme value of the individual, and drowned a third of mankind in blood. There are a million other "locusts" pouring out of the pit of the abyss continually, and the wicked are easily deceived by them.

Plummer pointed out that "some scholars apply the symbol (the locusts) to the Muslims";[25] and the prophecy surely fits that part of history; however, it misses the true identity of the "locust." That was the hell-born idea that Mohammed was a prophet of God! They even had to get a new Bible to go with such a falsehood. As Lenski said, "All that is presented here is only one hellish curse to let loose on the earth."[27] Every generation has its own variety of "locust." It will be seen from these observations that the apparent mildness of the fifth trumpet locusts, in that they were not to "kill" people, but could merely torment them, is applicable only to their first phase. These two trumpets deal with exactly the same phenomenon in successive periods of its development. Note the resemblance of the hellish horsemen to the locusts; they are the "locusts" come of age!

Such locust-lies continually dominate the minds of the wicked. As these lines are being written (December, 1978), the news media are relating the saga of Jim Jones (recommended by the Vice President of the United States), who passed himself off as a Messiah, ending in the suicide-murder massacre of over 900 of his followers in Guyana, South America. The dupes who fell for Jones' lie were indeed deceived by Satan; but before they could swallow his "locust," they had to renounce and deny their Bibles.

"Various kinds of "locusts" are today tormenting people all over the world. Think of Communism, the words of Mao Tse-tung, the emperor cult in Japan, etc. In America, we have our own "locust," which is the falsehood that Uncle Sam can take care of everybody from the cradle to the grave, and that he is also the godfather, benefactor, and policeman of the whole world!

It will be noted that in this interpretation, death follows the locusts, even though they did not have the power to kill, but only to hurt. This truth is inherent in the close proximity of these woes which follow each other: first the locusts, then the death.

[22] Vernard Eller, The Most Revealing Book of the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1974), p. 110.

[23] Frank L. Cox, op. cit., p. 64.

[24] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 50.

[25] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 263.

[27] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 290.