Revelation 9:1-5; Tormented Five Months

Revelation 9:5 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. 

Feinberg observed well, “From the smoke came forth locusts, which have power like that of scorpions. It is immediately clear that these are not ordinary, earthly locusts. They are symbolic, not literal, because they do not feed on the natural food of locusts, such as grass, greenery, trees; indeed, they do not seem to eat at all, but rather injure men. They do not harm nature, but they torture men, especially the ungodly in the land of Israel (cf. v4 last clause of 7:1-3). Their function is not to kill but to torment. Here as in the Book of Job (cf. 1:9-12) Satan must operate within the authority permitted of God. The torment is for five months, a limited time. This is the natural life of a literal locust, that is, from May to September. The pain from the sting of a scorpion, though not always fatal, is generally so; it is perhaps the most intense of any animal can inflict upon the human body. These forces with malign intent thus overrun the Holy Land and the unsealed portion of Israel.”

God’s Word through the writing of the Apostle John more than two thousand years ago has predicted the events that will come to pass at a certain point the future. We are given as it were a glimpse of the future on earth that is fearsome for the unbelieving.

But for God’s people, the reading of this text should cause us to fear God and walk humbly with Him. Amen.