The Locust Swarm
"Among Mohammedans (Muslims), ‘Lord of the locusts’ is a title of God" (Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown)
". . .and one of the names of a locust is, "Arbeh," not much unlike in sound to an Arab. To which may be added, that it is a tradition of the Arabians, that there fell locusts into the hands of Mohomet [Mohammad], on whose backs and wings were written these words; ‘We are the army of the Most high God; we are the ninety and nine eggs, and if the hundred should be made perfect, we should consume the whole world, and whatever is in it.’" "And it was a law established by Mohomet, ‘ye shall not kill the locusts, for they are the army of the Most high God; and the Mahometans fancy that the locusts were made of the same clay as Adam was; and besides the tradition before mentioned, they say, that as Mahomet sat at table a locust fell, with these words on its back and wings; ‘I am God, neither is there any Lord of the locusts besides me, who feed them; and when I please I send them to be food to the people, and when I please I send them to be a scourge unto them;’" ". . .five months is the time that locusts live, and are in their strength and power, even the five, hottest months in the year, from April to September." (The New John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible)
"Why locusts? Because of the Arab’s connection to the locust. The Ismaelites, forerunners of the modern Muslim, have as their national insignia a locust in the Bedoween romance "Antwar." There is also a story of Mohammed that has locusts falling into his hands bearing the inscription ‘We are the Army of the Great God.’ So here are two connections. . ." (Cory Tucholski)First of all, I am not going to take credit for this interpretation of the 5th Trumpet in Revelation. The Reformers were actually the ones who first said that the 5th Trumpet was the unleashing of the Islamic Imperialist movement upon the earth. The Beast of the Abyss is the Islamic Kingdom. I established that in my commentary on Revelation 11 – The Two Witnesses. In the beginning stages of Islam, it was known as Islamic Imperialism where they were dispersed throughout the globe to conquere. Their conquest lasted for 150 years before they turned their focus to the arts and literature. The 5th Trumpet records this movement. Before we get into the scripture, let us look at some of the characteristics of the Islamic Imperialist Movement, for it is different from the Modern Islamic Movement. Much of this information came from Cory Tucholski, Daniel Botkin and other men of God who have researched this subject.
With all of that said, let us look at the Fifth Trumpet’s description of the swarm of locusts.
Revelation 9:1-12 "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key to the abyss. And he opened the abyss; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
"And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 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."
"And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions."
"And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months."
"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the abyss, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; and behold, there come two woes more hereafter."
I think that there is no question that this is a prophecy concerning the 150 year Islamic Imperialist Movement which is known as the first woe or first terror listed in the Seven Trumpets.
". . .and one of the names of a locust is, "Arbeh," not much unlike in sound to an Arab. To which may be added, that it is a tradition of the Arabians, that there fell locusts into the hands of Mohomet [Mohammad], on whose backs and wings were written these words; ‘We are the army of the Most high God; we are the ninety and nine eggs, and if the hundred should be made perfect, we should consume the whole world, and whatever is in it.’" "And it was a law established by Mohomet, ‘ye shall not kill the locusts, for they are the army of the Most high God; and the Mahometans fancy that the locusts were made of the same clay as Adam was; and besides the tradition before mentioned, they say, that as Mahomet sat at table a locust fell, with these words on its back and wings; ‘I am God, neither is there any Lord of the locusts besides me, who feed them; and when I please I send them to be food to the people, and when I please I send them to be a scourge unto them;’" ". . .five months is the time that locusts live, and are in their strength and power, even the five, hottest months in the year, from April to September." (The New John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible)
"Why locusts? Because of the Arab’s connection to the locust. The Ismaelites, forerunners of the modern Muslim, have as their national insignia a locust in the Bedoween romance "Antwar." There is also a story of Mohammed that has locusts falling into his hands bearing the inscription ‘We are the Army of the Great God.’ So here are two connections. . ." (Cory Tucholski)First of all, I am not going to take credit for this interpretation of the 5th Trumpet in Revelation. The Reformers were actually the ones who first said that the 5th Trumpet was the unleashing of the Islamic Imperialist movement upon the earth. The Beast of the Abyss is the Islamic Kingdom. I established that in my commentary on Revelation 11 – The Two Witnesses. In the beginning stages of Islam, it was known as Islamic Imperialism where they were dispersed throughout the globe to conquere. Their conquest lasted for 150 years before they turned their focus to the arts and literature. The 5th Trumpet records this movement. Before we get into the scripture, let us look at some of the characteristics of the Islamic Imperialist Movement, for it is different from the Modern Islamic Movement. Much of this information came from Cory Tucholski, Daniel Botkin and other men of God who have researched this subject.
- According to "Antwar", the Bedoween Romance, the Ismaelites, who were the ancestors of Muslims, had their national symbol as a locust.
- There is a well known traditional belief in the Middle East that locusts fell into the hands of Mohammed, on whose backs and wings were written these words, "We are the army of the Most High God."
- Among Muslims, "Lord of the locusts" is a title of Allah.
- In the time of Mohammed, Arabs and horses were synonymous with each other. If you saw an Arab, he was on a horse. It was joked that Arabs on horseback were one creature. In fact if you looked at them from a distance, they looked like one creature.
- According to "Antwar", the Bedoween Romance, the Ismaelites wore yellow turbans which were known as their golden crowns.
- Arabs in Mohammed’s time wore their hair long like a woman but had "faces of men" meaning that they all had beards.
- The Islamic Imperialist Movement lasted about 150 years, which is 5 prophetic months.
- The Quran states that the Muslims were to leave the vegetation alone in territories in which they invaded.
- The Quran also states that the monks and their monasteries were to be left alone unharmed because they were thought to have the Seal of God upon them.
- The early Muslims were not allowed to kill Christians. They were only allowed to torture them and torment them, which they did excessively.
- In Arab countries, scorpions are considered sacred creatures and are a symbol of power.
With all of that said, let us look at the Fifth Trumpet’s description of the swarm of locusts.
Revelation 9:1-12 "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key to the abyss. And he opened the abyss; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."
"And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 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."
"And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions."
"And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running into battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months."
"And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the abyss, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; and behold, there come two woes more hereafter."
I think that there is no question that this is a prophecy concerning the 150 year Islamic Imperialist Movement which is known as the first woe or first terror listed in the Seven Trumpets.