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The Locust Army in Revelation 9 and Joel 2

The locust army in Revelation 9 should not be simply identified with the army in Joel 2. The passages share imagery, but the differences in origin, king, target, and effect are too significant to ignore.

By Kevin published on
The Locust Army in Revelation 9 and Joel 2
Referenced verses: Re 9:1

The locust army in Revelation 9 should not be simply identified with the army in Joel 2. There are similarities in imagery, but the differences are too significant to ignore. In Revelation 9, the locusts come from the smoke of the abyss, and their king is “the angel of the abyss,” whose name is Abaddon/Apollyon. In Joel 2, however, the army is connected to the LORD’s own judgment, for “the LORD utters His voice before His army” (Joel 2:11). These are not presented as having the same king.

Their effects are also different. In Revelation 9, the locusts are specifically commanded not to 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 (Rev. 9:4). In Joel 2, the army leaves the land devastated: “The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them” (Joel 2:3, NASB 1995). Joel’s army consumes and devastates the land; Revelation’s locusts are forbidden from harming vegetation.

Therefore, while both passages use locust-like military imagery, including comparisons to horses and war horses, and both are set in dark judgment imagery, those similarities are not enough to conflate the two armies. Revelation 9 and Joel 2 may share a symbolic vocabulary, but the texts distinguish them by origin, king, target, and effect. One possible way to understand the overlap is that Abaddon/Apollyon, to some degree, appears to be emulating or parodying the imagery of the LORD’s army. That would explain why Revelation’s locusts can resemble Joel’s army in certain features while still being fundamentally distinct in source, authority, and purpose.

We need to be attentive to the details of the text rather than merge passages merely because some descriptions overlap. The resemblance may be intentional, but resemblance does not require identity. Revelation 9 may be drawing on Joel-like judgment imagery while showing a darker, abyssal imitation of that imagery under the rule of Abaddon/Apollyon.

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