"7 In appearance the locusts were like horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; 9 they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails like scorpions, with stingers, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed. There are still two woes to come."
The
imagery in these verses is rather startling; locusts with manes of hair
and teeth of lions set out to make life difficult for people who are
not living lives for God but instead live according to the values of the
human population, which are as different from the spiritual world as
night and day.
The time period of five months appears yet again in these verses; I've not found much writing about the significance of this time period, though one writer theorized that the five months may refer to the lifespan of the locust, which wikipedia puts at three to six months. Apparently a significant locust infestation has been occurring in parts of India, Arabia, and Africa since 2019, though many writers think that locusts in Revelation are symbols of various types of human suffering rather than literal swarms of insects.
An intriguing part of this passage is verse 12 that says "the first woe is passed. There are two more woes to come." For most of my life in the church and since coming back I imagined these events happening in quick succession as soon as God decided it was time. Beliefs vary among scholars and writers about the timing of the woes; some scholars believe they started after the life of Christ and others believe they are taking place in the immediate present. Many of the commentaries on Biblehub.com from the 19th century contain varying theories about how events of the last 2000 years line up with the timeline in Revelation.
This is an interesting link and graph on the timing of the trumpets in the chapter of Revelation, making a distinction between the 'last trumpet' and the seventh trumpet.
Also, here's an interesting commentary I found that talks about the "difficulty of preaching on Revelation 8 & 9"; incidentally there are a lot of images and graphs on Revelation on Pinterest, this can be a great resource for visual aids on the events of this book of the Bible.
If you want to accept Salvation from Christ here are some resources:
A Prayer for Salvation from Christ:
Lord Jesus, I confess my sins and ask for your forgiveness. Please come into my heart as my Lord and Savior. Take complete control of my life and help me to walk in Your footsteps daily by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord for saving me and for answering my prayer.
A more detailed step by step process:
https://www.wikihow.com/Accept-Jesus-Into-Your-Life
