They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer). – Revelation 9:11

Today's Scripture Reading (June 5, 2021): Revelation 9

In the late 1980s, I lived in a rural community. One year, we had a plague of biblical proportions: grasshoppers. I live in a part of the world that doesn't have true locusts, but we have grasshoppers.  I have lived with grasshoppers all my life. Growing up, every summer, they inhabited the fields in the city where we lived, and a few of them made into our yard. But this summer, in this rural community, was different. Grasshoppers were everywhere. People were opening up their refrigerators only to find grasshoppers inside. You couldn't take a step without having several of the insects jumping out from under your feet. Driving down the road, you crunched over them. The crops didn't stand a chance. One day, my wife and I went on a bike ride, one of our favorite activities. But, while we were on our ride, several of the insects flew down my shirt. I remember ditching my bike and stripping my shirt off on the side of the road in a desperate attempt to get the insects out of my clothing. It was a horrible summer.

John says he saw a "locusts came down on the earth" (Revelation 9:3). But these locusts were different. They didn't eat the grass, but instead, they tortured the people (Revelation 9:4). They wore gold crowns on their heads and had faces that resembled people (Revelation 9:7). They had hair like a woman and the teeth of a lion (Revelation 9:8). And these locusts had tails with stingers like a scorpion (Revelation 9:10). It must have been a terrifying sight. I am so glad that it wasn't these that flew down my shirt on that summer afternoon.

But if you think these were not locusts, you are right. And if there isn't already enough proof of that, these locusts had a king over them named, in Hebrew, Abaddon or, in Greek, Apollyon. Both names mean "Destroyer." The Book of Proverbs reminds us that "locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks" (Proverbs 30:27). John saw something, but it wasn't locusts, and it wasn't the grasshoppers of my nightmare summer in the 1980s. This was something different.

Some think that Abaddon is just another name for Satan. Others argue that it is one of his senior demons. Eighteenth-century theologian, Matthew Henry, believed that this was the Antichrist. But whatever your interpretation might be, what John witnessed was a nightmare worthy of the legions of nightmarish creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings." But these monsters had one big difference. At least Tolkien's monsters were figments of his fertile imagination. What John witnessed was very real. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Revelation 10