Joel 2:4

"The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so do they run.

Revelation 9:7-12 has a remarkable elaboration of this same comparison of the locusts to "many horses rushing to war," even the sound of the locust's wings being compared to the noise of a cavalry charge. The impossibility of understanding John's words in Revelation as a reference to any literal locusts greatly enhances the probability that the true interpretation of them in this chapter is that they represent an impending military disaster coming soon to Israel in the invasion of the Assyrians.

These verses (Joel 2:4-11) describe disaster which Joel prophesied in much of the imagery of the locust plague, but there are the strongest military overtones throughout. "He must be speaking of real warriors under the figure of real locusts."[12]

To be sure, there were characteristics and appearances of the locusts which suggest horses rushing to war, but it is our conviction that it was God's Word regarding this which was delivered by the prophet; he was not merely describing the way the locusts seemed to him. This does not deny the appropriateness of the comparison. As Jamieson said, "The locust's head is so like that of a horse that the Italians call it (the locust) cavalette."[13] It is also said that, "The amazing noise of the locusts can be heard six miles off!"[14]