Five Months of Torment

Torment may involve mental or physical suffering. Those who have endured torment experience extreme circumstances. This is usually associated with a previous accident, battle with illness or ongoing medical condition. My personal torment lasted twenty years of coping with a severe stutter that crippled my ability to share what was on heart or on my mind. Every time I opened my mouth as a child, I was fearful of embarrassing myself like that reading circle in first grade.

Then out of the smoke locusts came forth on the earth, and such power was granted them as the power the earth’s scorpions have. ⁴ They were told not to injure the herbage of the earth nor any green thing nor any tree, but only [to attack] such human beings as do not have the seal (mark) of God on their foreheads, Revelation 9:3-4.

According to one of his letters to the Church at Corinth, the apostle Paul dealt with his own inner demons. Paul describes this condition as a thorn in his flesh, likely an infected splinter, 2 Corinthians 12:7. According to Paul, a messenger of Satan came to torture and torment him for an extended period of time. Despite these circumstances, 2 Corinthians 12:8-12 reveals the valuable spiritual lesson Paul learned. Whatever your situation, the weaker you are opens the door for Jesus to become strong.

They were not permitted to kill them, but to torment (distress, vex) them for five months; and the pain caused them was like the torture of a scorpion when it stings a person, Revelation 9:5.

Luke 16:19-31 tells a parable of a man suffering in hell. This eternally condemned rich man asks if he can return to earth to warn his living family. Yet, Abraham denies his request as individuals must repent on their own. Today’s passage speaks of a physical torment in the last days on earth. Creatures from the Abyss which are a hybrid between locusts and scorpions were sent to torment mankind. The pain of being stung would linger for up to five months. May this glimpse of future events help you appreciate the little blessings in life.

by Jay Mankus