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.
This verse comes from the book of Revelation, a highly symbolic vision given to the apostle John while he was exiled on the island of Patmos for his faith. The book uses vivid, often terrifying imagery to communicate spiritual realities about history, evil, and the ultimate victory of God. Here, after a bottomless pit called the Abyss is opened and smoke pours out, strange locust-like creatures emerge with the power to sting like scorpions. In the ancient world, locust swarms meant total agricultural devastation — crops wiped out overnight. Scorpions meant sharp, prolonged personal pain. Together, the image layers public catastrophe over individual suffering. Scholars debate whether this is literal or symbolic, but the message is unmistakable: something deeply destructive has been unleashed.
God, I don't always understand the dark parts of your Word, and sometimes the world feels like something terrible has been let loose in it. Help me trust that you are still sovereign over every shadow, and give me courage to keep reading, keep believing, and keep holding on. Amen.
There are verses we don't put on coffee mugs. This is one of them. Smoke rising from a pit, locusts with scorpion power — this isn't the kind of passage that shows up in a daily affirmations calendar. But Revelation wasn't written to comfort people sitting comfortably. It was written to first-century Christians watching their friends arrested and their communities scattered under Roman persecution. For them, this terrifying imagery wasn't abstract horror — it was a way of naming what they were already living through. Something dark had been unleashed in the world, and pretending otherwise wasn't faith. It was denial. There's an unusual gift hidden in that honesty. A version of faith exists that papers over hard things, that flinches at the smoke and the locusts, that insists everything is fine when it plainly isn't. Revelation refuses that bargain. It looks at the darkness and names it. But the book doesn't end here — the entire arc bends toward a God who remains sovereign over every shadow, every stinging thing, every ruined field. If your life has felt like locusts have been through it lately, you don't have to perform otherwise. But you can hold the whole story, not just this verse.
What do you think the imagery of locusts and scorpions was meant to communicate to John's original audience — Christians living under Roman persecution and fearing for their lives?
Have you ever gone through something that felt like darkness being let loose in your life? How did your faith hold up — or not hold up — in that season?
Some Christians avoid Revelation entirely because it's confusing or frightening. What do you think we might miss spiritually by skipping over the hardest parts of Scripture?
How does honestly naming evil and suffering — rather than minimizing it — change the way you show up for people going through devastating experiences?
What is one specific practice — a prayer rhythm, a community, a habit — that helps you stay grounded when things feel dark or genuinely out of control?
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
Joel 2:25
And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
Revelation 9:11
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 10:19
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
Revelation 9:10
Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power [to hurt] was given to them, like the power which the earth's scorpions have.
AMP
Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
ESV
Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
NASB
And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.
NIV
Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
NKJV
Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions.
NLT
Then out of the smoke crawled locusts with the venom of scorpions.
MSG