Revelation 9

V:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. V:3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. V:4 And they were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. V:5 And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. V:6 And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; and they will long to die and death flees from them. V:7 And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads, as it were, crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. V:8 And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. V:9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. V:10 And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. V:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.

The vision is that I see an insect like a huge bee that has taken captive a tiny man like I have seen bees take chunks of  BBQed chicken at a potluck picnic.  The context is from within that same smoky furnace as in v2.  The bee is another representation of the locust in v3.  This locust seems to be the same instantiation as is described in Joel.  These that are set loose seem to be those that Jude describes as:

Jude 1:6 … angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.

  These seem to be those who are described in Genesis as:

Genesis 6:2 … the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.  v3 Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."  v4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

     In Rev 9:4 above I am reminded of what Christ says on his way to the cross:

Luke 23:28 But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  v:29 "For behold, the days are coming when they will say, `Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.'  v:30 "Then they will begin to say to the mountains, `Fall on us,' and to the hills, `Cover us.'  v:31 "For if they do these things in the green tree, what will happen in the dry?"

So if the tree is no longer green what really is the target of these ‘locusts’?  “Only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”  Who has the seal?  Rev. 6:3 says it is the bond-servants of our God.  To be a bond-servant is to be a freed slave that loves his master so much that he commits his whole life as a slave again to his master and confirms this by taking an awl and piercing his ear into the side of a door post.  This mark told of his lifetime loyalty.  Who loves God to this degree to take a spiritual mark?  Simply put Jesus says:

John 14:15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” 

Paul says:

Romans 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  v:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,  v:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so;  v:8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

So those who have set their minds on the Spirit of God will love the Lord, and thus will bear the fruit of keeping His commandments, will be His bond-servant and have His mark on their foreheads.  These are safe from this plague.  However, when we set our minds on the flesh, we become set on death, and are hostile to God.  Our life becomes dry, no longer green, and we are vulnerable to this plague.  In fact Paul speaks of:

1 Corinthians 5:1 … immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife… 1 Corinthians 5:5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Such an instance is more common than we want to consider.  The gift of eternal life is free to anyone who calls on the Lord Jesus Christ.  But David reminds us in his prayer to God, “Your rod and your staff comfort me.”  These are tools for correction and rescue.  If we refuse to be corrected, greater measures must be taken.  Also, any sheep that leaves the fold is much more prone to assault by wolves and bears and lions because he has wandered beyond the protection of his shepherd.

     So back to the question at hand.  The Lord has been revealing to us the judgment that will be let loose.  The church in particular must be aware of the severity of this.  Any member that causes stumbling will be cut off and cast into the fire.  If that fire leaves anything behind that is not consumable, (gold, silver, etc.)  it will be molded into God’s design.  If the substance refuses to be molded, it will be cast out.

Put another way, every plague that falls on the earth will affect any unrighteousness.  If we are not confessing and repenting of our sins daily, not overcoming by the blood of the Lamb AND by the word of our testimony, we are susceptible to these plagues AND any attack of the enemy.  If we are given over to sin, we will be given over to Satan so that our flesh may be destroyed and our spirit may be saved.  If you think Job had it bad, think again.