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By: Alex Postrado
The Winged Tormentors From The Book Of Revelation
Back in 2019, while the world was busy figuring out how to handle a global pandemic-in-the-making, several reports about abnormally high locust breeding rates plagued Africa.
By early 2020, the circumstances unfolded into a full-blown crisis, threatening the lives of tens of millions of people.
It was like nothing mankind had ever seen in recent memory.
Swarms after swarms of locusts wreaked havoc in Eastern Africa and the Middle East — rapidly making the outbreak “a nightmare of epic proportions”.
And suddenly, the thought of it being something out of the Book of Revelation did not sound too far-fetched anymore.
Talk about Abaddon’s locusts!
They were what Christianity’s John the Apostle wrote about when he supposedly received a glimpse of the end of days — also known as “The Day of The Lord” – while he was living in exile.
According to the Revelation, when the Fifth Trumpet blows, Abaddon will unleash “God’s wrath upon humanity” in the form of torturous, havoc-wreaking locusts.
No wonder last year’s locust outbreaks sound awfully familiar and hauntingly chilling!
What are Abaddon’s Locusts?
Understanding what Abaddon’s locusts are, comes with understanding who — or what — Abaddon is.
In Hebrew, the word Abaddon, or ‘ăbhaddōn, means “destruction” or “doom“.
The term appears six times in the Hebrew Bible — all of which allude to it, being a place instead of an entity.
Perhaps, a place of destruction.
And it is usually accompanied by the term Sheol — meaning, “the abode of the dead” — as seen in Job 26:6, Psalm 88:11, Proverbs 15:11, and Proverbs 27:20.
In other texts, Abaddon is determined as “a realm where the damned lie in fire and snow“.
But, it was only in the New Testament’s final book — the Book of Revelation — that Abaddon got a whole new meaning.
You see, the word translates to Apollyon in Greek — meaning, “destroyer“.
And in Revelation, Abaddon becomes a being that resembles its Greek equivalent.
It is said in John’s writings that Abaddon is “the leader of the fallen angels“.
The king of the bottomless pit.
And it is believed by some that of all baleful creatures mentioned in the Book of Revelation, he is “one of the most menacing” — living up to the destructive nature of his name.
The pronouncement of the first of the three Woes would come once the Fifth Trumpet blares.
During that, humans will witness the fall of what they would think is a heavenly star but is actually an angel. That is when Abaddon would carry out his part in the “end times“.
Together with his army of locusts, they would come to torture humans — specifically those who do not believe in God or Jesus Christ.
The Unworldly Tortures of the Locusts
According to the text, the locusts of Abaddon would not look anything like the real locusts that we see here on earth.
Instead, they would resemble the figures of horses and the faces of humans — complete with women’s hair, wings, iron breastplates, and lions’ teeth, and are all crowned with gold.
Each of the locusts would also have a tail with a scorpion-like stinger.
And they would sting, bite, and inflict inconceivable pain among all the non-believers.
On the other hand, it is said that those who are “sealed” — those who uphold the existence of God — would not be harmed by the Destroyer and his swarm of locusts.
But if anyone thinks that they could easily fake their belief to avoid the horrors of the Tribulation, they are dead wrong!
Abaddon’s sharp-toothed locusts know better and they would ultimately reveal the true nature of people’s belief in the most excruciating way.
Author Candice Lucey once described this as “the beginning of the end“.
Not in a mortal way, though, since the writings make it clear that Abaddon and his locusts are not permitted by God to entirely destroy mankind.
They are only there to play a role in this particular period of the Judgment, lasting five whole months.
In those months, they would work as merciless tools of mass destruction — causing intense suffering to sinners, making them wish for death, yet not giving them “the comfort of the grave“.
The question is: if Abaddon’s locusts are mere “tools“, do their injurious actions still make them evil?
Are Abaddon’s Locusts Evil?
Another thing about Abaddon’s locusts is that — contrary to the real insects’ infamous crop-destroying habits — they are said to specifically be warned by God not to torment the grass nor the trees — only humans.
In context, this furthers the idea that they are not truly evil, but are rather puppets of a higher being that is actually in control.
Whether or not that supreme being is evil is beyond the point.
But this — of course — deviates from the common belief of Christians that God is “all-loving and merciful“.
Quite frankly antithetical, in some ways.
As for Abaddon and his locusts, however, being the very figures commissioned to set off the destruction on Judgment Day is enough to make them immensely terrifying.
So much so that pop culture even makes use of them as horror staples in literature, music, and film up to this day.
And while they may not be malevolent at their cores, their lore still offers a unique look at our own perception of angels.
Who would have thought that they could also bring hell on earth when the time is deemed to be right?
References:
The Biblical locust plagues of 2020 Abaddon - Demonology Locusts of Abaddon A Plague of Locusts Who or What Is Abaddon, and Why Does it Play a Role in Revelation? The Biblical "Destroyer" Isn't Satan, It's Abaddon, God's Right-Hand Man