Jehovah’s Witnesses:
Locusts From the Abyss?

Introduction

This article has been contributed to us by Vladimir Rumyantsev, our friend in St Petersburg. Read it carefully - you will be amazed at this particular claim of Jehovah's Witnesses!
Robin A. Brace
2003.



Hell is naked before Him, and destruction (Heb:'Abaddon') hath no covering (Job 26:6);
Hell and destruction (Heb:'Abaddon') are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men? (Proverbs 15:11);
Hell and destruction (Heb:'Abaddon') are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20);
Destruction (Heb:'Abaddon') and death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears (Job 28:22);
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 is Apollyon (Revelation 9:11).


Neatly dressed people holding religious literature in their hand, approaching passers-by, is a picture that is hardly surprising nowadays, so a phone call in my apartment did not take me by surprise, either. And when a woman’s voice on the other end of the line asked if I wanted to hear good news of God, I knew right away who it was and what the topic of the conversation was going to be. When I asked my interlocutor to introduce herself and her religious affiliation, a predictable answer followed: “I am with Jehovah’s Witnesses World Organization.”


She started our talk with a traditional question: did I agree that not all religious organizations follow the path of truth? Naturally, my answer was yes, like there was anyone who would ever say something different! And when she asked whether I agreed that there was one organization on this Earth indeed representing God, I did not object, either. Jehovah’s Witnesses go around saying that they are the best experts on the Bible, with their church’s original name, 'Bible Scholars', speaking volumes all by itself! Having only a very basic idea of theology as a discipline, I did not contest her superiority in this regard, and just offered to discuss with her some points within the Holy Scriptures.


But my choice of the topic was not entirely random. In one of the issues of Watchtower, Jehovah’s Witnesses published a very curious little article, and I was interested in learning what my opponent thought about it. I asked my questioner to open her New Testament, Chapter Nine, Revelation of St. John, or Apocalypse. I told her I was going to name chapter and verse, and ask her to read them out to me. And then I said I would ask her to comment on those lines. She concurred, and started reading to me in a steady voice:
«And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
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.
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
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 9:1-11). (Abaddon - «the destroyer»).


Then I asked my opponent to read out to me a number of verses from the Old Testament referring, in one way or another, to locusts and Abaddon, the angel of the abyss («the destroyer»). She went on reading:
«That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten» (Joel 1:4;.
«For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the teeth of a great lion» (Joel 1:6);
«They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief» (Joel 2:9);
«But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things» (Joel 2:20);
«Hell is naked before Him, and Abaddon hath no covering» (Job 26:6);
«Hell and Abaddon are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?» (Proverbs 15:11);
«Hell and Abaddon are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied» (Proverbs 27:20).


This done, we were over with quoting the Bible. I thanked the lady for her patience in reading out those verses to me. And then I asked her who these verses referred to, and who did the authors of the verses she read mean to be Abaddon? The answer came immediately. The woman told me exactly what I expected to hear, i.e., Abaddon was the angel of the abyss, the destroyer, Satan, and his locusts were demons, evil spirits, creatures of hell. I asked her again: maybe she was mistaken, and it was something else those lines meant? She kept insisting and saying that Abaddon was the angel of the abyss, the destroyer, was Satan, and the locusts of the abyss were demons, evil spirits, creatures from hell. Only the blind would not see this, she added.


Let me add here that I agreed with her completely there, but back then I had known something she could not have imagined. On May 1, 1998, Watchtower published an article entitled 'Jehovah’s Day Approaches' and there it said, simply and clearly:
«Both in Joel 1:6 and Revelation 9:7 locusts symbolize God’s people» and from the article anyone could conclude that these God’s people were Jehovah’s Witnesses.


The unsuspecting Jehovah’s Witness wanted to know why I asked her to read out these verses of the Scripture. I asked her, jokingly, whether she thought her spirit was strong enough, and inquired whether she had that particular issue of Watchtower handy. She said yes, and I suggested her to go back to the article and call me in an hour or so to continue our conversation.
Nobody called, not one or two hours thereafter, and not even in a day’s time. Why didn’t she call? What particular things were there in this issue of Watchtower? Given the commentary of this particular Jehovah’s Witness let me not dwell any longer on the meaning of locusts and let us turn now to the article entitled 'Jehovah’s Day Approaches', published in Watchtower of May 1, 1998:
«Imagine a great horde of locusts! «For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth (fangs) of a great lion …». (Joel 1:6-8) Is this applicable only to «people» - locusts, invading ancient Judea? No, this prophecy has a lot more meaning. Both in Joel 1:6 and Revelation 9:7 locusts symbolize the people of God. In the context of today the horde of locusts is nothing other than the army of anointed Jehovah’s locusts, nowadays joined by about 5 to 600,000 other sheep of Jesus (John 10:16). Shouldn’t we be joyous belonging to this enormous assembly of Jehovah’s faithful?… God’s army of locusts serves witness to the city known as the Christian world (Joel 2:9).


To complete the picture, let me quote from the questions conveniently located at the bottom of each page:

«Who are present-day locusts? Why can we compare the activity of God’s people nowadays to locust invasion? Who in the modern sense of Joel’s prophecy are Jehovah’s locusts? What is the scale of locust invasion in the 20th century and how long will it last? What do you say about taking part in the work of Jehovah’s locust army?»

It follows that Jehovah’s Witnesses published an article in 128 languages with a circulation of over 22 million copies, where they proclaim themselves locusts from hell, presided over by Abaddon the destroyer, the angel of the abyss. And then, in the person of my opponent, they commented on the article saying that Abaddon the destroyer was Satan, and locusts of the abyss were demons, evil spirits, creatures from hell. The innocent reader can study these premises and make his or her own conclusions.


No commentary here. However, there is something I must add. According to the Holy Scriptures, after Jehovah’s Witnesses are removed, a great stench would erupt since they will do a lot of evil. It is in this context that the prophet discusses deliverance from the locusts in the book of the Prophet Joel:


«But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things» (Joel 2:20).

Jeronem the Blessed said that in his time rotting locusts in the area of the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean caused such a stench and so spoiled the air that it caused plague, which afflicted people and cattle. It is absolutely improbable that the prophet was talking there of God’s people and could use such unflattering expressions talking of them. Prophet Joel, speaking of God’s people says the opposite:


«Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen». (Joel 2:18,19).

And God promises His people that He will destroy the army of the locusts, which caused a lot of evil, and reward His people for the harm locusts will cause:


«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).

In none of these extracts from the Bible are locusts referred to as God’s people. Then there is a difference between God’s Army, the force God uses to serve justice, and God’s people, His true followers. Jehovah’s Witnesses, however, when they say that in Joel 2:11 God calls locusts «His Army» combine the two notions in one. What this leads to is obvious. The woman who gave her unbiased commentary over the phone did her very best putting things in place. Several days later I had another phone conversation with yet another Jehovah’s Witness, who was more experienced and - let me admit - was quick enough to see that something was wrong with the article in Watchtower.
When I asked him who locusts stood for in the verses, and who the authors of the Holy Scriptures referred to under the name of Abaddon, he said calmly: “Locusts of the abyss are God’s people, and Abaddon the angel of the abyss (the destroyer) is Jesus Christ" ????? I can understand him and empathize: the goal justifies the means. He had no other way out but to admit he was wrong, but Jehovah’s Witnesses can’t do that. «The faithful and prudent servant», as the Brooklyn Corporation of Jehovah’s Witnesses refers to itself, made a serious mistake, and local Witnesses now have to deal with the position they were put into by the article of their leaders.


«And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, … and there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth … and their power was to hurt men five months».

The Scriptures say clearly that the real mission of the locusts is to harm people, and not to serve them!
« And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name … is Abaddon»
It must be noted that in this verse «angel» precedes «abyss,» meaning the home of evil spirits. Therefore, the king of the locusts is the messenger from the abyss, or Satan himself, who could well go with the title of king. His name, Abaddon, is, too, a reference to Satan, who is destruction and death. If the locusts of the abyss are headed by Satan, then they are indeed demons, evil spirits, creatures from hell. The Holy Scriptures eloquently say thus:
«Hell is naked before Him, and Abaddon hath no covering» (Job 26:6); «Hell and Abaddon are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?» (Proverbs 15:11); «Hell and Abaddon are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied» (Proverbs 27:20); «Abaddon and death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears» (Job 28:22).


Logically, the above leads us to a terrifying conclusion:
Hell, Abaddon the destroyer, and locusts are Jehovah’s Witnesses!!


When asked who the authors of the Bible verses meant under the name of Abaddon, the Jehovah’s Witness was forced to reply that the angel of the abyss, the destroyer, was Jesus Christ (!!!). This is virtually blasphemy!! A scary evolution follows:
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Michael the Archangel, and the angel of the bottomless pit, Abaddon, the destroyer, all fight this war from the same side!!!


It is not easy to understand what thought processes were behind such statements. Incredibly, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe themselves to be locusts, the army of Satan carrying death, as stated in their literature. After this conclusion the answer to the question who Jehovah’s Witnesses serve, is simple. The logical conclusion to the many years of Jehovah’s Witnesses’ work is the book entitled, 'Revelation - Its Grand Climax At Hand', published by the Watchtower Society in 2002. In this publication once again Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to themselves as locusts from the abyss headed by Abaddon, the angel of the abyss and the destroyer, and illustrate this statement with a bothersome picture of locusts emerging from the abyss. I don’t need to analyze this work of the leaders of the Watchtower Society, I will just quote a few closing lines:


“Their king is the angel of the abyss. His Jewish name is Abaddon… (Revelation 9:11). Jesus as the “angel of the abyss” and the “destroyer” inflicted indeed a deadly plague on the Christian world.” (p. 148).


I can’t imagine anything more blasphemous to say of our Lord Jesus Christ! For they here present a picture of Him attacking .....Christians!
«Stench», «stink», «worms», «hell», «evil», «thief», «abyss», «harm», «Abaddon», «destroyer», «locusts», «plague», «sorrow», «torture», «death», all of these words in the opinion of Jehovah’s Witnesses refer to nothing other but God’s chosen people. People everywhere - whether they are interested in theology or not - should take serious note on this theological slant of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Standing in opposition to the entire Christian world, Jehovah’s Witnesses pretending to be godly, openly declare their demonic affiliation. Before this day no other religious group referred to its spiritual mission as «deadly plague», «spiritual torture of Christian religious leaders», as Jehovah’s Witnesses declare in their publication.


In the chapter of 'Revelation - Its Grand Climax At Hand', where Jehovah’s Witnesses joyously refer to themselves as «locusts» and «plague», the questions to check understanding, which they offer in the book, would scare away any reader:


«What are the locusts’ orders?» «How bad are the people’s tortures?» «How long should locusts torture God’s enemies, and why can’t we say it will be a short period of time?» «Why are the locusts allowed only to spiritually torture the religious leaders of the Christian world, and not kill them?» One can easily suspect that some leader of Jehovah’s Witness may one day wish to order religious leaders of the Christian world killed, causing harm to people, «enemies of God»?


Here I want to forewarn those who care about their soul: When you meet Jehovah’s Witnesses, always remember it is not always gold that shines, and this article is yet another proof thereof.

Vladimir Rumyantsev
St. Petersburg
Russia

(Copyright: Vladimir Rumyantsev, 2002)

You can E Mail Vladimir here:
wwwbigroad@olvex.ruwww
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