Revelation 9:7-11 Series

Revelation 9:7- 11

As we had gotten a overview of these creatures last week, these locust which have the power of scorpions which I would say means they sting like scorpions, John now is going to take a closer look at these creatures or demons and give us a better understanding of what they look like.

Revelation 9:7-11 ~ 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, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 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. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 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.

1) John says these demons “looked like horses prepared for battle”.

Horses prepared for battle were well trained horses and trained for one specific thing, fighting. These horses were the smartest and strongest horses and bred specifically for this task. They were fearless and brave in the midst of the most sever situations.

2) “They wore something like crowns of gold”.

If you were a king and had horses the would often be adorned with gold and lavish dressings because they were a reflection of the king or the royal guard riding them.

They were the best of the best and when they went into battle they were most always victorious.

3) John says “ their faces resembled human faces”.

If things were not getting horrific enough they had human faces. I can only imagine how gruesome these things must have been for John. These visions I am sure made John feel like he was right there.

4) They had “hair like women's hair”

Some ancient warriors such as the Parthians wore their hair long and it was like a status symbol and a symbol of their fierceness.

5) They had “teeth like lions teeth”.

Lions have a particular type of teeth. They have long canines that are used for piercing their pray. When these teeth sink in they are like hooks making it almost impossible for whatever it is clamped onto to get away. I would assume that these particular beasts could even pierce a soldiers breastplate. A regular lions force when clamping down is roughly 1,000 pounds per square inch. I'm sure these are much more.

6) Speaking of breast plates it says that they had “breastplates like breastplates of iron.

Iron being probably the strongest metal of John's time it was much stronger than say bronze which was also used. So these demons were well protected.

7) Next it says that the “sound of their their wings was like the thundering of many horses”.

John doesn't say how many horses it sounded like, but I would think thousands.

8) Last John says that they had “tails and stings like scorpions”.

We are told for five months unbelievers had to endure this and that many wanted to die but they couldn't. Five months of pain, suffering and misery.

But as I mentioned last week these unbelievers were being justly targeted by God for their resistance to coming to faith in Christ and their unwillingness to submit and repent of their sins.

11 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.

This angel their king, is one of the fallen angels, we know this because it says that he is as well in the bottomless pit or hell. As in any army there are usually ranks and this army of demons has them as well. This angel is obviously of high rank and authority but I would say that it isn't Satan himself.

The names Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek means destroyer or destruction.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.