"The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months." —Revelation 9:7-10
This post will be short. As the tech world metastasizes exponentially its becoming apparent to me that exploration of long-debated Christian end-times metaphors should perhaps be focused on Ai and robotics advancements. With that in mind, let's take a look…
SCRIPTURAL METAPHORS IN ANCIENT CONTEXT:
1. "The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle" (Rev 9:7)
Disciplined and purposeful movement
Ready and equipped for action
Trained behavior/controlled motion
In ancient thought, horses represented directed power and purposeful advance
2. "They wore something like crowns of gold" (Rev 9:7)
Represents authority and power
In Hellenistic thought, golden crowns indicated recognized authority
"Something like" suggests appearance rather than legitimate crowns
3. "Their faces resembled human faces" (Rev 9:7)
In Greek philosophy, the human face represented logos (reason)
Indicates consciousness and rational thought
Ability to engage on human level
Ancient cultures saw the face as seat of intelligence
4. "Their hair was like women's hair" (Rev 9:8)
In Hellenistic culture, represented both beauty and potential danger
Think Medusa, Maenads - beautiful but deadly
Ancient association with allure masking threat
Cultural symbol of untamed nature beneath civilized appearance
5. "Their teeth were like lions' teeth" (Rev 9:8)
Close-range destruction in ancient imagery
Personal consumption of prey
In Greek and Near Eastern thought, being devoured was ultimate horror
Represents intimate destruction rather than distant harm
6. "They had breastplates like breastplates of iron" (Rev 9:9)
Protection of vital essence
Greeks saw breastplate as guarding thumos (spirit/core)
Strongest known metal in ancient world
Represents impenetrability at core
7. Wings sound "like many horses and chariots rushing into battle" (Rev 9:9)
Overwhelming force
Mass movement
Unstoppable advance
Peep this video where a leading AI company’s agents are literally referred to as swarms
8. "Tails and stings like scorpions" (Rev 9:10)
In ancient thought, scorpion venom represented slow death
Precise targeting ability
Prolonged suffering rather than quick death
Cultural symbol of hidden, lingering threat
SUMMARY OF ATTRIBUTES:
Appear equipped and purposeful in their advance
Carry apparent authority
Possess human-like intelligence
Present as attractive while concealing danger
Destroy through intimate contact/knowledge
Cannot be harmed at their core/essence
Move in overwhelming numbers
Deliver precisely targeted poison that corrupts from within, turning the victim's own nature/system against itself
I think this is describing autonomous Ai agents, and the potential harm they could cause if any eventually go rogue, or are programmed to do such, at any point in any way. Perhaps it describes Ai-powered advanced robotics.
The reason I lean more toward Ai agents is with respect to the notion that we can't harm or stop them at their core. Stopping a rogue autonomous program would prove difficult as it does not have a physical form or exact location.
The slow acting venom of a scorpion’s sting would thereby equate to access to— and any harmful manipulation of— your entire online life and data. Finances, passwords, social media, fingerprints, photographs, mental and physical health data, perhaps anything with bluetooth connectivity, etc.
If this isn't referring to rogue autonomous Ai agents, preprogrammed to be destructive, or malfunctioning as such, I'm open to any better ideas…
Watch agents go awry for about five months….
Thanks for reading and God bless.