And they had breastplates as breastplates of iron: and the noise of their wings was as the noise of chariots and many horses running to battle.
και ειχον θωρακας ως θωρακας σιδηρους και η φωνη των πτερυγων αυτων ως φωνη αρματων ιππων πολλων τρεχοντων εις πολεμον
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
The iron breastplates point to their hardness of heart. The sound of the spiritual locusts is compared to the noise of war chariots, we think, because of their loftiness and swiftness. For, according to the divine David, they fight against us from on high.
When John says that earlier a few were sent ahead on horses, and now these same ones appear in greater number on chariots, he means either the multiplication of diverse opinions or the increase in the number of those deceived. They rush into battle because the preachers of errors war against the truth and fight against unity. Of them the apostle spoke in similar words: "As Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith" (2 Tim 3:8), and so forth. We remember what is written in Isaiah: "The elder and honorable man, he is the head; and the prophet who teaches falsehood, he is the tail. And the leaders of this people will lead them astray, and those led by them will perish" (Isa 9:15-16).
By this he shows that these people wish to be first in what all the saints and teachers of truth strove with all their might to avoid. That is, they wish to be first in the glory of this age and in the error of harmful preaching. When John says that their power was in their tails for five months, he means this temporal existence. Here falsehood can have power, taking captive the worthless and subjecting spiritual people to temporal torments.
From the smoke of scientific and technological progress, which darkens the sun and air to the point of ecological catastrophe, there comes forth a new ideology of technology, like the old Tower of Babel forgotten and then remembered again. It spreads across the whole maddened planet by means of the militant noise and clamor of the mass media. It exercises harmful dominion over the minds and hearts of men for a definite time, five months. This time is needed to prepare a generation incapable of being corrected or repenting from the coming admonitions. At the same time, its destructive nature is evident to all: to believers who speak the language of the knowledge of God, and to pagans who chiefly use the language of Hellenic wisdom.
The locusts were commanded not to harm the earth or the grass, but only those people who do not possess signs of the spirit's dominion over the flesh. These people cannot withstand its false seductiveness, universal diffusion, and powerful influence. This contagious disease can pass by only those who avoid every influence of the spirit of this age upon their soul. According to Andrew of Caesarea, the locusts depict the evil demons prepared for battle against us. Their golden crowns indicate their victories over us. Their hair like women's hair speaks of demonic sensuality. Their lions' teeth speak of ferocity and a disposition toward murder. Their iron breastplates show hardheartedness. Their scorpion tails reveal the poisonousness of sin. The king of the locusts is the devil. The five months are the five senses through which the demons act upon man.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 20 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS