9:3
Locusts came up from the earth. Locusts were part of the plagues on Egypt, but the reference in Joel to locusts is probably more pertinent. There the locusts represented human armies, so we should see them here as figurative as well. Locusts normally devour crops, but these ones were given “power like the power of scorpions”. So we are probably meant to see vast numbers with the power to do great harm.
9:4
They were given power. Everything is subject to God. Now we might not like the idea that God gave them power to do damage and harm, but we have to live with it as a reality. Their power was limited, and they were to harm only the people “who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads”. We should not see this “seal” as being a physical sign, but a spiritual one. It is those who are dedicated to the Lord. Now this does not mean Christians will not suffer. Just read the Bible to see that! But we are not in the same position as those who reject God, and we need to appreciate that.
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