Revelation 8-9

From: www.gracethrufaith.com


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Revelation 8



The first cycle of judgments is ending. The 144,000 have been commissioned and a huge group of martyrs has arrived in Heaven. In many places on Earth war rages unchecked, with its attendant famine and pestilence, and yet in other places peace still prevails. Those lucky enough to enjoy it are fooled into thinking that soon the rest of the world will settle down too, and it'll be business as usual. Since the anti-Christ has not yet been revealed as Satan's man for Planet Earth, many still see him as a talented world leader doing his best to restore order, and despite the unprecedented death tolls and all the missing people, they still give him high ratings.



But in Heaven it's a different story, because God is about to unleash the 7 Trumpet judgments. It gives Him no pleasure to do this. But as bad as they were, the now concluding Seal Judgments simply weren't severe enough to turn man's stubborn heart back to Him. Alas, He knew it all along, but that doesn't make matters any easier. If only He didn't love them so much, He could just let them destroy each other. But while His righteousness demands justice, His love requires that He keep on trying to save them.



The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (Rev. 8:1-5) The half hour of silence fills Heaven with a sense of foreboding, as if all the angels are holding their breath, waiting for the Lord to act. The post-Rapture believers on Earth know what's coming too, and their urgent prayers come up before the Throne in a giant cloud of incense.



But the time for mercy ended with the Rapture. This is a time for justice and as the angel hurls fire from the altar, God announces the coming judgments in His traditional way, with thunder, lightning and earthquakes.

The Trumpets
Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. (Rev. 8:6-7) Reminiscent of the plagues of Egypt the first judgment is upon the land. Fire breaks out over a third of the Earth, the acrid smoke from the grass and trees filling the skies above.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Rev 8:8-9) This judgment appears to be a giant asteroid or meteor crashing into the Earth's oceans. This has happened to Earth hundreds of times in it's history. The latest was on June 9, 2006 when a meteor slammed into Northern Norway with an impact force equal to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.



Astronomers are currently watching 736 potentially hazardous Near Earth objects (NEO). As of now none are projected to collide with Earth but these scientists caution us that NEO's often appear suddenly and with very little warning. How many of us knew that one was about to strike Norway?

The meteor strike referenced in this passage causes astounding devastation, turning 1/3 of the world's oceans a poisonous red color, killing 1/3 of marine life and destroying over 43,000 ships. (In 2005 there were 130,000 ships registered in 195 countries.)

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (Rev. 8:10-11) Now judgment falls on the world's fresh water supply. One third of it becomes poisonous because of something like a shooting star that fell from the sky. The star is named Wormwood, from the Greek word apsinthos (absinthe). Because of this, some commentators believe that the agent making the waters poisonous is radioactive contamination.



They say this because, although it's not free of controversy, the Russian word chernobyl can be translated as wormwood and on April 25 and 26 of 1986 the world's worst nuclear disaster occurred in the Ukranian city by that name. A nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl power plant exploded during testing, releasing amounts of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere 300 times greater than the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. If you saw the movie "China Syndrome" you learned that out of control reactors can burrow into the ground and once that happens are all but unstoppable.



There's no official word on whether that did or can happen at Chernobyl. But containment efforts are still ongoing 20 years later, and if European aquifers become contaminated, it's easy to see how this view of Rev. 8:11 could be accurate.


The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. (Rev. 8:12) Between the smoke from the grass and forest fires, and particulates thrown into the air by the meteor strike the atmosphere has become so dense that 1/3 of the light from the heavenly bodies is blocked. I'm reminded of TV footage from the fires that Saddam's troops set in Kuwait's oil fields while retreating. The smoke was so dense that it was like night during the day, the sun like a dark red ball floating in the blackened sky above. That's about what it'll look like as the world awaits the fifth trumpet.

As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!" (Rev 8:13) This is no ordinary eagle. The Greek text uses the word normally translated angel, indicating some kind of supernatural messenger, sent to prepare the world for what's ahead. Four of the trumpets have sounded, and the Earth is reeling from this onslaught. But now the judgments turn supernatural and are directed at man himself. It's about to get personal.

Revelation 9



The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. (Rev. 9:1-2) This star had fallen some time previous to the 5th angel's trumpet, and by using a personal pronoun, John identifies him as a living being. In Luke 10:18 Jesus said that He had seen Satan fall like lightning from Heaven, so it can be assumed that the star is Satan and he's been told to open the shaft of the Abyss to release a swarm of "locusts."

And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

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 and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. (Rev 9:3-11) They're unlike any locusts ever seen on Earth before. Normal locusts are vegetarian, but these are prevented from eating the grass, plants, or trees. Instead they attack people, but only unbelievers, and when they do they sting them like a scorpion would, causing pain so intense that their vistims will pray for death. And their leader is the angel of the Abyss, whose name means "Destroyer" in both languages. (In one of those precious little tidbits of wisdom that God's word is noted for, Proverbs 30:27 informs us that normal locusts have no king lending credence to the idea that these "locusts" are something else.)



John had certainly never seen such a thing before, and in describing them he exceeded even the limits of his imagination. You've got to appreciate the nature of his challenge here. He was a first century man called upon to describe twenty first century warfare. But he had to do it in such a way that all the generations in between could interpret it as well. Even today we can't relate these so-called locusts to anything in our world. They're clearly a demonic manifestation of some sort.

So why are they only attacking unbelievers? Good question. Certainly it's a God ordained judgment, but did Satan willingly turn these little monsters loose on his own people? Was he ordered to, or is it some diabolical scheme to further inflame the hatred of the people of Earth toward God? After all, His followers aren't suffering. Did Satan deliberately do this so he could blame God for it, advancing his strategy of turning Darkness into Light and the Lie into the Truth? A little later John will inform us that none of these torments turned the people of Earth from their rebellious ways.

The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. (Rev. 8:12-19) Traditionally, the Euphrates River has been the territorial, cultural and religious boundary between East and West. Rarely have customs, traditions or philosophies crossed from either direction. As a result the Eastern world is far different in almost every respect from its Western counterpart. This passage helps to explain why that's so. There's been a boundary in the spiritual world as well. But with this command from the very throne of God the boundary comes down and the effect is deadly beyond comparison.

The combatants released by the lowering of this barrier wind up killing 1/3 of the remaining population of Earth. Remember 1/4 of mankind met their end in the seal judgments. With this additional third that means that over 3 billion people will have died by the time this is over, and the Great Tribulation hasn't even begun yet.



The cause of this destruction is the release of angels at the Euphrates River, but the River hasn't been dried up yet allowing the Kings of the East to cross. That comes later in Rev. 16:12. I think this passage is describing warfare that takes place in the Far East where over 40% of the world's population lives (many in crowded conditions increasing the potential for mass casualties) where religious and ethnic tensions are traditionally high, and where several countries can mount huge armies. I think it's the coalition formed by the winners of this war that storms across the dried up Euphrates while the anti-Christ is distracted by other uprisings. (Daniel 11:40-44)

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Rev. 9:20-21)



You'd think that with those demonic locusts attacking only non-believers and 3 billion people dying from wars and other disasters, people would be flocking to the Lord in search of comfort and security. But this just doesn't happen, and I'll tell you why.



There is a belief floating around that's as old as mankind but in the last days will become a religion that deceives almost everybody. It's called the Luciferian Doctrine and understanding it helps explain why the world won't turn to its Creator in this, the worst time in human history. The Luciferian doctrine is named of course after Lucifer, a Latin name meaning, "light bearer." It holds that Lucifer is the good guy trying to enlighten the people of the world in preparation for the spiritual evolution necessary to bring peace to all mankind. According to Luciferian Doctrine our physical evolution is finished and all we need to do now is throw off the bonds of Judeo-Christian thinking to complete our spiritual evolution and enter into our long awaited Utopian Era.

But Lucifer's being hindered in all this by the evil Adonai (Hebrew for Lord) Who, along with His followers, is working to thwart Lucifer's grand plan by requiring everyone to adhere to His reactionary religion, effectively preventing our spiritual evolution. In order for humanity to achieve Utopia those who insist on clinging to their obsolete Judeo- Christian faith have to be eliminated. The Great Tribulation is characterized in Luciferian Doctrine as the evil Adonai's last great effort to destroy mankind's "light bearer" and prevent our ascension into Utopia, keeping us in bondage to Him.



Following the church's disappearance the Truth will become pretty scarce on Earth and the whole world will be deceived into believing the Luciferian Doctrine just as Paul warned would happen (2 Thes. 2:9-12). So naturally, thinking the Lord is the bad guy, they became even more intense in their worship of Lucifer, hoping that he'll prevail and bring an end to their suffering. (There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death ... Prov. 14:12) Lucifer, of course, is also widely known as Satan or The Devil.

Next time we'll learn about the two witnesses, discover where the New Temple will be built, and witness the event in heaven that signals the beginning of the Great Tribulation. See you then.
.................................................benny

Benny,

When the word all is used along with the words earth and world, it seldom means the entire planet. It usually means a territory, a region, a geographical area, or an inhabitted area. The brunt of the tribulation woe's are going to be in the regions where war is most prevalant. i.e. The Mid-East.

Just as the reign of the man of sin will be limited to his ten nation Islamic empire, so will most of the woe's of the tribulation period. However! Since the jihadist will commit abominations worldwide, (the American Hiroshima etc.), and bio-chemical (Maybe nuclear) terror attacks in the EU, the world will suffer tribulation which will be brought to us by the evils of Islamic jihadist. When the terms 1/3 or 1/4 are used in Revelation, it does not mean that portion of the entire planet but that portion of a region or territory.

You may also be aware that there are about 130 words for "all" in Greek and Hebrew. And they seldom mean the entirety of the whole. I know that most christians believe that by the time the tribulation is over, there will be few that survive it. I don't believe this. There will be many that survive, but there will also be many that perish. And christians will be here to endure it. That's why I say.

It's time to prepare!

God bless,

SW

"When the terms 1/3 or 1/4 are used in Revelation, it does not mean that portion of the entire planet but that portion of a region or territory."

>This is a correct rendering of proportions expressed in the visions of the tribulation period and key to understanding the areas of destruction

>For example, Revelation 8 describes a target location of which 1/3 of the geographical area is totally destroyed by conflageration

>This will be the first of tribulation events that will shake the entire world

>The extended costal areas will carry the brunt of the destruction and this will have enormous effects upon the costal waters including the destruction of much of the commercial shipping

>Much of this area will also capitulate into the ocean as a result of the attack

>This same land area will also be visited by the Lord again at the end of the tribulation period and He will break it into 3rds during the greatest earthquake known to mankind

>Revelation repeats this particular destruction of MBG's "great city" of the Gentiles [the core of the world's economic system] several times in the unfolding [8:7-12; 14:8; 16:18-19; 17:16-18; 18:2-23; 19:1-6]

>This "great city" is a part of MBG's [the woman's] worldwide presence at the time of the end along with her other nations and their cities. These are the core populations of an intransigent and unbelieving world

This particular part of MBG is revealed as the central financial, commercial, and economic market place of the planet at the time of the end

>The entire system and organization of an intransigent humanity has been and is the cause of all human death and destruction in one way or another .... of both the physical and the spiritual composition of the human .... count the ways

>Her deceptions and behavior of self separation from the Lord began at "Babel" and continues to this very day

>This is the condition of lost humanity that has separated from the Lord

> The Lord is going to bring her down and he will seek to destroy all of her self reliance at the time of the end during the tribulations of His wrath

>He will first destroy her "great city" part through Satan's beast and human followers

>He will then later re-visit the geographical location and break it with His great worldwide earthquake

I began to read this and got a part of the way through, and I am amazed at the lack of spiritual insight in this very bad interpretation of these passages of scripture.

How many times can someone say that the Revelation is Spiritual in nature and must be read that way!



Trees and grass are speaking of people in the Revelation, not actual trees and grass!
Jesus was always talking in parables and said many things where He likened people to trees"

Matthew 3:10
And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 7:17
Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

Matthew 7:19
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Matthew 12:33
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

Matthew 13:32
which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Matthew 24:32
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.

Mark 8:24
And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”

John 15:1
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 15:4
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Jesus plainly tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches!

Why is it so hard to believe that He is just continuing with His parable-like speech in the Revelation?


Here is another completely misunderstood verse:




A giant asteroid ?????

Again, the language used is entirely spiritual language and should be investigated in this way, by using scripture to find the answer to what we are being shown.

Lets first see how the King James views this verse:

Revelation 8:8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood.

In the greek, this means exactly what it says, "great mountain"

Now, here are some verses that give us a place to begin to understand:

Daniel 2:35
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Zechariah 4:7
‘ Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

At the beginning of each of the given types of "judgements", first in Rev 8:7 and then in Rev 8:8,
It is the angels that first sound before these calamitous things occur.

Rev 8:7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Its so Important to understand that these angels are the angels of the "churches", if we forget that, then the meaning will get entirely lost.

At the beginning of the Revelation, the churches are being warned repeatedly to depart from the sins they have become entangled in as Jesus goes through each one with warning upon warning, Here as we reach the 8th chapter of Revelation, we are seeing each church represented as each angel symbolically sounds the trumpet of alarm, but the judgements are already being poured out upon them.

Getting back to the "great mountain". The mountain is a place of strength in the Bible:

Matthew 17:20
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 18:12
“What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?

Matthew 21:21
So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.

Luke 23:30
Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’

Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.

Revelation 6:14
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

Revelation 6:15
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,

Revelation 6:16
and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

Revelation 17:9
“Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are [b]seven mountains [/b]on which the woman sits.

When you research the word mountain found in Rev 8:8, you will find that it has very deep meaning, it is a word that implies "strength" and "lifting up"

from the word "Oros"#3735
Probably from an obsolete oro (to rise or "rear"; perhaps akin to airo; compare ornis); a mountain (as lifting itself above the plain): -hill, mount(-ain).

"airo"
A primary root; to lift up; by implication, to take up or away; figuratively, to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind), specially, to sail away (i.e. Weigh anchor); by Hebraism (compare nasa') to expiate sin -- away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

So, the word mountain here is a word that depicts something that lifts itself (exalts itself) and that
expiates or removes sin.

When you go back to the verse from Zechariah 4:7
‘ Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”


This great mountain here is this same great mountain that is in Revelation, and represents people thta have exalted themseves and lifted themselves up and have expiated or removed their own sin by their own gospel and their own false teaching and they are the seven mountains that are mentioned in Revelation 17:9, they are the 7 greater portions of the churches that have departed from the faith.

They do not represent the Bride, which is the remnant that is saved and have overcome as Jesus has overcome.

Who is Zerubbabel that is mentioned here in Zechariah?

Zech 4:1 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
6 So he answered and said to me:


“ This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:

‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts.
7 ‘ Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
9 “ The hands of Zerubbabel
Have laid the foundation of this temple;
His hands shall also finish it.
Then you will know
That the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.
10 For who has despised the day of small things?
For these seven rejoice to see
The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the LORD,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”


In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, you will find the story of Zerubbabel and you will see that he was one that led in the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem, and at one point, he was asked by some foriegners (gentiles) if they could help to rebuild, but his response to them was,

Ezra 4:3
But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, “You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the LORD God of Israel

In verse 10 of Zech 4, it says: For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

A plumb line is something that a builder uses to keep all walls and doorways and windows straight as he builds.

The Spiritual meaning here is that Zerubbabel would not allow those that were not a part of the Temple, rebuild it with him, in the very same way, Jesus and His bride are the only ones that have any part in the Temple that is not made with hands, which is the body of Christ, and no one can be a part of it that is not truly in CHrist, He is the Master builder of the Temple!

The true body of CHrist is the Temple and Jesus is the one that makes sure that all things are straight and that there is nothing in His pure body/temple that is crooked!
Jesus is the master builder,
The "Plumb line" in the hand of Zerubbabel is Jesus Christ!!!! Because, again,, the meaning is a spiritual meaning. The meaning is transferable to Chapter 8 of Revelation.

This is why it says "who are you O great mountain", because the church, whether Catholic, or fallen away protestant, is this "great mountain" and before Zerubbabel it shall become a plain! [/b] And he (the Lord God) shall bring forth the capstone (His Son Jesus Christ)
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

The mountain thrown into the sea is the fallen away church that is cast into the sea of other unbelievers:

Luke 12:46
the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him (the great mountain) in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers (the sea).

Please stop looking at the Revelation with fleshly eyes and ask the Lord to give you sight.

In CHrist alone,
Chris

SpiritFilledOne,

Your final comment was...


Maybe you should look at the difference between a parable and a prophecy!

And the difference between the metaphorical and literal meanings in scripture.

SW

Benny if were going to post articles can we at least post good ones..........

Revelation 9:1 "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 [pit of the abyss]."

The "star" that falls to the earth is the star of Isaiah 14. The star is "Lucifer", who will be the Antichrist once he arrives on earth. Satan is given the key, or authority to the bottomless pit, for this is where Satan's fallen angels are held.

Satan is to be God's executioner of God's divine wrath that is to be poured out upon the earth. God is going to give Satan the right to have his way with all who are blind to God's Word.

Remember, God removed the wall of protection around Job; for Satan. The only stipulation God gave Satan was that he was not allowed to take Job's life. Job had the will; Satan did the testing, and God allowed it. This is an example of what is to happen in these end times; and that is why we must be ready, and with our spiritual armor on.

Right now, today, Satan is not in that bottomless pit, but in heaven. He is the accuser of the saints before the throne of God. The fallen angels are in the pit, or the abyss. The pit is not a place, or location, but a point of degradation. It's a similar statement to Satan being told he would always crawl on his belly, as the serpent. No Satan never became a snake, but he was a deceiver and his actions were as that of a snake.

Revelation 9:2 "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."

This is the pit that holds every evil spirit that is on the earth and in God's confinement. This smoke comes from the pit, and it darkens, not eliminates the sun and air. When Jesus Christ returns the sun, moon and stars are eliminated. This darkening is talked about in Revelation 8:12, where one third of visibility is gone, at the sounding of the fourth trumpet.

This smoke is setting up the people of the earth for the supernatural things about to happen. Just like in Job's case, God will set limits how far Satan can go. What is important to us, as Christians; is that we be able to identify Satan, and his works, by what ever roll he plays, or name he choses for himself.

Revelation 9:3 "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."

This locust army that comes upon the earth is Satan's army of demonic forces. They are the fallen angels, and demons, both coming with Satan, and those that are already here upon the earth.

The "power" in the Greek, is "exousia"; it means "authority", or delegated power by God to them. It is the right to carry out the wrath of God, in His [God's] behalf. When they strike, or exert their power on the deceived, it is a spiritual power, as we see in Ephesians 6:10-20. This is because we are in a spiritual battle against Satan and His forces.

If you are looking for bombs to fall, fire from heaven, or as such, you will be misled. In a spiritual sense, their striking will be deadly; spiritual deadly, for they will exert their authority in the same manner as a scorpion renders it's prey harmless and defenseless. We will discuss this later.

Revelation 9:4 "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."

God will not allow any physical damage to any part of the earth. Not the grass, trees, or any physical matter you can think of. This is a spiritual warfare, and it is a battle for the minds of men and the commitment of their souls to him. God is very specific as to what they can do. Their targets are only the people; The "Anthropos" in the Greek, the individuals of man, not any animal, and only those "that have not the seal of God in their foreheads".

What is in your forehead? It's your brain, of course. As we saw in earlier chapters, the "seal of God", is "knowledge" that is contained in His Word, the Scriptures. God want all of His children to know what He intends to do, and it is because of this that John was brought to the "Day of the Lord" by Jesus, and told to write it down. God has also given us many prophets, and the writings of His Apostles in the New Testament. There is nothing that is going to happen that God has not told us in His plan [the Bible].

Remember in the seventh chapter, the angel said stop, don't let this come to pass until we have sealed the 144,000 in their foreheads. Well, this locust army troops of demons can't start their spiritual destruction until the last of the elect, or chosen of God, and the 144,000 children of God are sealed in their minds. In this fourth verse, they are on the earth, which means you had better be sealed with the knowledge by the time of this prophecy. This knowledge has not started to this date in time.

The limits that God puts on the fallen angels, and demonics, fully protects God's chosen. The "Chosen" are all Christians who know the truth and are ready, watching, and have their spiritual armor of Ephesians 6:10-20 on. The Chosen can observe and identify the events of the final day when those events come to pass, as they stand against the fiery darts of Satan.

In fact the first time Satan strikes out at two of God's children [the two witnesses], God's wrath boils over, and that marks the end of the Antichrist's [Satan's] rule on earth. That will be discussed in chapter eleven. How far then can Satan go with the others, the non-elect, or those not sealed in their minds?

Revelation 9:5 "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."

God has given us a good clue as to how long Satan will rule as Antichrist. That time is five months. The book of Joel describes in detail how this method of the locust works. The result of that torment is exactly as the torment of the scorpion that "striketh a man". So lets try to understand more of both the locust, and the scorpion.

This is that locust army of Satan that will deliver up the sons and daughters to prophecy against the Antichrist, as spoken of in Joel 2, and also by Peter in Acts 2. What these sons and daughters say will only be those words that the Holy Spirit speaks through them.

Joel said this locust army would march forward, and not miss a stride. Remember, it's not "locust" but men, and the battle which this army enters is a spiritual battle, where the victory is in their deception. Their battle cry is with words like love, joy, peace, brotherhood, equality, and a mixture of words promising peace and prosperity. In the Antichrist rule [the five months] everyone will be satisfied, as long as they continue to yield to this Antichrist.

The time "locust" has four stages, as stated in Joel 1. The part of the locust that exists in the swarming stage is five months. That five months staging period is always between May and September; so God is even giving us the season, or time frame when Antichrist will appear. And by that season, we have an hint of when the seventh trumpet will sound, and Jesus Christ will appear. However that instant is known only to the Father.

Jesus warned that "we pray that ye not be taken out of season", in Mathew 24:20, and Mark 13:18. This is to alert us that being taken out of season means we have been deceived and fallen for the wrong Christ [Antichrist]. The Antichrist will rule between Passover, and the feast of the tabernacles [trumpets].

Why then the torment as that of a scorpion? This locust army will use the same methods a scorpion uses to attack it's prey and render it's prey harmless, during this five months period. Satan and his locust army will not be in any special form, but will appear exactly as a man, as we do. Satan was in the form of a man in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Eve, and his fallen angels appeared as men in Genesis 6:1-8, when they married the daughters of men and had "children" [Nephelim] by them.

The scorpion has a tail with a stinger in the tail. When they strike their prey, he sneaks up to it's prey and infects it's poison into the victim. Near it's mouth, it has a set of pinchers where it latches on to it's victim and pulls it to it's mouth. This is important, because the scorpion has no stomach, so it cannot digest it's own food within itself. Therefore the scorpion stings with the poison of it's tail to paralyze the victim, and then it vomits it's digestive juices [acids] into the body of the victim, then the victim's skin and body actually become the scorpion's stomach.

The acids turn everything it touches into mush. Then the scorpion inhales the mush from the victim's body and is gone. The victim is left defenseless from the beginning of the scorpion's strike, because the poison from the tail rendered the circulatory system and nervous system totally paralyzed, while the digestive acids turned the body to mush. Once stung by a scorpion, instantly you have no defense. You can't fight, run, or even think. You lay helpless to the devouring process of the scorpion.

Now that we see how the scorpion attacks, and the methods used by them; let's apply their methods, to Satan and that of this locust army. Satan and his army of fallen angels will take the lies [traditions] within your religion, and the false teaching that you believe to be true; and use it against you. All religions, Christian and otherwise, will be approached on the level and beliefs of their own understanding. They will use the doctrines of their choosing, and through that, the spiritual darts of lies and deception will come.

Like the scorpion uses your body for it's battle, and attack, so the angels of the locust army [not human] will use your mind as it's battleground. That is why you must be sealed in your mind [see verse 4] and with the proper armor on, which again is in Ephesians 6:10-20. Your battle is a spiritual one with the king of all demons, Satan, and he is ready for you.

The Antichrist has the authority from God, and the right to do business on earth, from the giver of all authority. He knows all your weaknesses, and he knows the Word as well as any theologian. Satan is set to do battle in your mind; and if your relying on false doctrine; like the rapture theory, your gone before the battle starts. If Revelation is still a mystery to you, you don't have a prayer of a chance.

You are about to go against the master of all deception, and the truth of God's word is the only thing Satan can't fight against. That is because the truth written in God's Word sets the limits God placed upon him as the Antichrist. How are you doing, friend?

The great apostasy is now taking place, and well underway. It is being put in place by Satan's kids, the "Kenites", doing the interpretation of God's Word for you if you allow them. They have a club, and it is easy to join; you just accept their dogma. Part of it is given through the "World Council of Churches", and the other parts are in any church that allows it's doctrine to vary even the slightest into false teaching.

Remember, only the "sealed of God", in your mind will allow your escape from all of the Antichrist's deceptions.

Revelation 9:6 "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

Many people who have sat in church all their lives looking for this "Rapture" to take place, in an instant will fall to Satan. When they finally wake up to the fact that they were deceived by Satan, the shame will be great and on them. These are those deceived Christians taken out of season who will pray for the mountains to fall on them. They will seek death, but it will not come. The death of this physical life will be over, and then all will be in the spirit, or soul body.

Paul tells us in I Corinthians 15:50-52 how at Christ's return, at the last trump; all will be changed, in the twinkling [wink] of an eye to a incorruptible body. No friend, you can not die, but must face the Savior in shame. Ignorance is no excuse, even though your pastor taught you to climb on the first wagon [rapture] out of here. You had God's Word in your home and hand, and it is your responsibility.

Revelation 9:7 "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."

We know by this that the locust are not real locust. Their crown were "like" gold, [fools gold], fakes. They were all something different then what they will called themselves; false priests, and fake what ever they pretend to be. Nothing will be real, for they will make themselves into what ever you want them to be. If you want to fly away, I'm sure they will accommodate you.

If your a Sodomite, They will agree with you, for they know all about Sodomy, that's their life style. They are Satan's rotten bunch. They have faces of men, because they are men.

Revelation 9:8 "And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions."

"They", these fallen angels will have "long hair as a woman", meaning they will be gentle as a woman. Yet, they will take their prey ruthlessly. They will rip at your mind until they can destroy your soul. That is what will happen to you when you fall for their deceptions and chase after the Antichrist.

Revelation 9:9 "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."

The breastplates were that of priests, of religious orders, however they were in the form of iron. Joel discusses how rapid and with swift order they will cover the earth. When this happens, the media will be by their side. There will be order and speed to their ministry, and the world will be taken in instantly by them.

Revelation 9:10 "And they had [have] tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months."

Why? Back in verse five, God allowed them to work as a scorpion, to paralyze instantly, making them defenseless. Again we see the five month season of the locust. They are given permission by God to sting all the people "who had not the truth of God in their foreheads [minds]".

Revelation 9:11 "And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the He'-brew tongue is A-bad'-don, but in the Greek tongue hath his [the] name A-pol'-ly-on."

There can be no doubt who the Antichrist is. Jesus is telling us here, through the pen of John. Satan is that King; and "Abaddon" in the Hebrew language means "destroyer" and that is Satan's name. This is verified in the Greek the name, "Apollyon" [Strongs # 623, "the destroyer "Satan"].

Revelation 9:12 "One [The first] woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."

This is still the fifth trumpet.

Revelation 9:13 "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,"

All the events occurring around Satan's coming to earth are executed by God, to test His children. The "horn on the altar", stand for power. That power is through knowledge from God's Word, and understanding those words written. It is through these words that you will get your ammunition to use on the spiritual battlefield that we are in, and your power is how you will use them.

God sent His prophets to warn us, and through them He tells us in detail what to expect so we will not be deceived. Now our power comes to life in putting that knowledge in our minds, and watching as God's word comes to life. We have been warned that Satan is coming as a minister of God.

Revelation 9:14 "Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in [at] the great river Eu-phra'-tes."

We know from Daniel 9:24-26 that Satan's time as Antichrist is to be three and an half years. However, Jesus told us in Mark 13:20, that "for the elect's sake He has shortened that time". In Revelation 9:5 and 10, we were just told this time is shortened to five months.

Now the sixth angel sounds the trumpet, and releases the four angels bound at the river Euphrates. The river Euphrates has always established the boundaries between Israel and Babylon. To understand how and where these bound angels come and are bound, let's go to the book of Jude.

Jude 4 "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

These were the angels of Genesis 6:1-8, who came to earth, married the daughters of men, and were destroyed [bound] at the time of Noah's flood.

Jude 5 "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."

These who were put to remembrance were the Israelites who were brought out of Egypt, only to fall to the sin of idolatry while Moses was on Mount Sinai getting the commandments of God. Those who repented were not destroyed.

Jude 6 "And these angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the Great day."

Following the flood of Noah; those angels were bound by God, and held on earth to be released at a latter time. That Time is the just before the "day of the Lord". Four in biblical numerics is the number representing earth; and it was on the earth these angels of Genesis 6, and Jude 6 are held. They are bound in chains, until they are released to do their final acts on earth. Their acts on earth were that committed in Sodom and Gomorrah, and giving themselves into homosexual acts. They will lead God's people into accepting those acts as a common way of life; and into believing God will accept this perversion. They will tell you it's okay because God is a loving God. However they over-look God as a just God, and condemning all sin. We see today that the world is going crazy over justifying this filthy sinful practice.

Revelation 9:15 "And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men."

This slaying is a spiritual death, and these angels seek out their victim and involve them, exactly as the men of Sodom were involved. They will work in concert, planning their wicked deeds, then infiltration all parts of our society, the schools, government, the work place, and even the homes [through TV].

I feel personally that they have started their movement, as our nation from the very top, and down, are set in their minds to defy God through turning America, as well as the entire world into Sodom. We are told by Jesus, through John, in this verse that one third of mankind will fall to these angels. Only God knows the actual instant of the release of these fallen angels though.

Revelation 9:16 "And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them."

This number represents all of Satan's forces. No, it's not the Chinese Army, but men of Satan's angelic forces.

Revelation 9:17 "And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth [hyacinth], and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone."

"Out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone." The "fire" is representing a false truth, or a false religion. "Smoke" is used here to cover over and hide the truth of God's Word. The "Brimstone" is the final result to them that are taken in by those hoards of Sodomites. This locust army of Satan's angels will lead them to the ashes of their souls, in the lake of fire. "It is God that is the consuming fire." [Hebrews 12:29]

Revelation 9:18 "By these three [three plagues] was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths."

These three; fire, smoke and brimstone are the verbal deceptions. To put the three in vehicles; they would be religion, political power, and the economy. They will be combined together, to buy souls cheap. This deception of perversion comes from their mouths.

It is not a physical death here, but a spiritual death; because God told them in verse four they could not kill mankind. However, when we see the results of their activity, through AIDS, it is obvious that large numbers of human life has already been taken. This is part of the last war, and it is a spiritual warfare. This we must not loose sight of.

Revelation 9:19 "For their power [power of the horses] is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt."

What comes out of their mouths? Their lies and deception come out of their mouth, and that is their only power. Their activity, again, is like the scorpion, as we saw in verse five. Paul told us in II Corinthians 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed [fashioned himself ] into an angel of light". Satan will come as an "Angel of light", just as our Lord will apear.

II Corinthians 11:15 "Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed [fashioned themselves] as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

When Satan's [Antichrist's] angels assume their roles of righteous men, quote scripture, and speak in their pious voices; it should not be a surprise to any Christian who knows God's Word. Even Satan will try to appear as Jesus Christ.

Revelation 9:20 "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk."

The important thing to remember here, is that all prophecy given in months pertain to Satan, and Christians being deceived. While all prophecy given in days and years are directed to God's people. These plagues are the lies and deceptions. Those men did not repent for worshipping Satan and his angels, as Christ. They did not also repent for the work they did on Satan's behalf, even in ignorance.

Revelation 9:21 "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication nor of their thefts."

They became murderers when they had their own kin delivered up, and they followed the sorcerers by their own dealing and in accepting the lies of Satan and his "transformed [disguised] righteous ministers." They "fornicated" when they did not remain "virgins to Christ".

Why did they not repent? Because they did not know that they did anything wrong. They still thought they were walking with Jesus. We will see in the 13th chapter, and the eleventh verse, they think Satan is the Lamb slain, he looks like Jesus, he talks like they expect Jesus to talk, but Satan is a fake.

Remember, the key to understanding the events of the end times is found in the Churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia; They have the "key of David; they know who the "Kenites" are. Those who bring in the false doctrine. "They say they are of Judah or Christ [Jews] but are not." They are of Satan. They are in those churches that allow false doctrine, and they are the ones who cause the compromise of God's Word.