REVELATION 9

Stinging Locusts and Fiery Horsemen

When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, another angel comes down from heaven to release some very strange creatures from the bottomless pit for a period of five months. They may be a type of creature that followed Satan in his downfall or, more likely, they were created by God for this very moment in time to punish sinners. It should not seem strange that God would create something like this for the punishment of evildoers since we already know that He created hell where “their worm dieth not and their fire is not quenched”(Mark 9:44). The eternal punishment of God truly will be severe, and the temporal punishment of His wrath will not be much better. In fact, the short period of retribution that God will pour out on a world of rebellious and hateful infidels will be a sign, if you will, that He is no longer willfully and lovingly extending His compassionate mercy towards sinners but, rather, giving them all the rejection they deserve. God hates sin but loves the sinner, but the day is coming when the practitioners of sin will be cast into eternal punishment because of their unwillingness to repent. On the day God’s punishment begins, they will wish that they had never been born.

The creatures described in the next two judgments should not be assumed to be anything other than what they are represented to be in the upcoming passages. In verse 6 of the first passage, it is interesting to note that men will seek death at this time, but it will flee from them. After losing every green plant, drinking from bloodied waters and being scorched by the sun (not to mention the severely depleted oxygen supply brought on by the high temperatures and lack of oxygen- producing plants on the land and in the waters), the people of the earth are exhausted and want to escape the newest torment by “giving up the ghost.” But, the Savior of all mankind has conquered the last enemy named death and has removed death as an alternative at this time. Every person must live through this judgment right up to the very last day, and then death will become a very real option once again. After the five months of torment these creatures inflict upon those who remain on the earth after the Church is gone, the creatures could possibly return to the bottomless pit to greet these very same people later on when they do die. There’s just nowhere to hide if you’re an enemy of God.

Revelation 9:1-11

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

11 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.

Verse 4 contains a statement that is both puzzling and confusing. The locusts are told not to hurt the trees, grass and green things, but only those who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. This has caused some to assume that the 144,000 are still on the earth, but they’re not. They are protected during the Tribulation, but they are raptured with the rest of the Church before the Wrath of God begins. Between Daniel 8 and 12, we will see that the Antichrist controls activity in the temple starting 75 days before the Tribulation begins, during the entire Tribulation and 965 days into the Wrath of God. The 144,000 will be protected from the Antichrist for the entire three-and-one-half years of tribulation, however they are seen in heaven with the rest of the Church wherever we read about the Rapture, so they could not be the ones who have the seal of God in their foreheads in verse 4 above. Either there is no one at all on the earth who has the seal of God in their foreheads at this time and all of mankind is open prey for the locusts, or the angels who sealed the 144,000 are still around sealing people who call out to God.

A third possibility is that people could take it upon themselves toseal themselves with the same mark that the 144,000 received. They were not sealed in secret. Anyone who was in close proximity would have been able to witness it. In fact, Revelation 14:1 informs us that the seal is the “Father’s name.” It could be a last-ditch effort by those who are too scared to take the mark of the beast who improvise the mark of God instead. If you can imagine witnessing those people who have the mark of the beast being systematically targeted by the Wrath of God, it is not that hard to imagine many of the heathen who remain on the earth at this time etching the name of God into their foreheads in an attempt to escape death. This is all speculation since there do not seem to be any scriptures that tell us who is being sealed during the Wrath of God, nor how it is done.

Under this fifth trumpet/vial combo, we are able to see more clearly that the trumpets are a much broader worldwide view of events with the beast kingdom receiving the bulk of attention, while the vials are focused on the kingdom of the beast exclusively with no regard to what is happening in the rest of the world. Verse 2 in the scripture above tells us that the sun and air are darkened by the smoke that escapes from the bottomless pit as the stinging locusts ascend from it. The description of the corresponding vial tells us that the kingdom of the beast will be filled with darkness. The plague of the stinging locust may stretch across the face of the earth, but the doorway to the bottomless pit is located in the midst of the beast kingdom. The darkness resulting from the smoke and the locusts will mix with the spiritual darkness that already engulfs the beast kingdom to darken their souls even further. The pains mentioned below are those caused by the locust stings. The statement about this vial being poured on the seat of the beast simply means that it is poured out on the very center of his kingdom and the seat or throne of his power. The Antichrist will rule from Babylon and Jerusalem alternately.

Revelation 16:10,11

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,

11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

This next verse actually completes those above about the stinging locusts of the fifth seal.However, for emphasis it was saved until after the vial. The fifth trumpet and vial combined make up the first of three woes that are coming to an end right now after five full months of agony.Woe is defined as “an exclamation of grief.” Five months of grief and agony that is collectively described by the fifth trumpet and vial comes to an end before the next woe begins.

Revelation 9:12

One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The sixth angel is about to sound his trumpet. This trump will cover at least three years, six months, and three-and-one-half days, and could possibly stretch beyond four years and seven months. The events of the sixth trumpet will not be completed until Revelation 11:14 where the two witnesses are taken up in their own little minirapture. The seventh angel will not sound his trumpet to begin the final woe until Revelation 11:15, right after the two witnesses are taken up into heaven.

Revelation 9:13-16

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

14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

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. (1 year, 1 month, 1 day and 1 hour)

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

The number of the horsemen is 200 million. The next three verses are not a 2000-year-old attempt at describing modern warfare for the year 2020 or whenever the Wrath of God comes, but again, it is something God has prepared especially for the time of His wrath.What John is describing are real horses with heads like lions, tails like serpents and mouths that spew forth fire, smoke and brimstone. Verse 20 describes this as a plague, not an army of men equipped with sophisticated armament.

If the world population were about six billion when the Tribulation begins and we recall that one quarter of mankind was wiped out during the Tribulation of the Antichrist, that would leave a worldwide population of four-and-one-half billion. Out of that number, suppose that only 500,000,000 are raptured before the wrath begins. During this second woe of the Wrath of God, another one third of mankind will be eliminated by the horsemen; however, this time it is the wicked that are being slain and not the innocent. That would leave about 2,660,000,000 sinners on the earth at this time, assuming a limited number of people are killed during the first four trump/vial combinations and those who survive continue to copulate. This is not a bad assumption since we know that death is taken away completely during the first woe of stinging locusts. Try to imagine surviving this torment for thirteen months as you witness one third of mankind slain before your eyes by these terrible creatures. For many of those who do survive, the fear of God may finally be implanted in their hearts, which could be a type of salvation to them. They could be the ones who survive the Wrath of God and are ruled over in the Millennial Reign by the saints of Christ. Not everyone is going to have the fear of God in his or her heart, though. The sixth vial shows us that the governments operating on the earth at this time will come to the aid of the Antichrist. They have come to the political conclusion that it is in everyone’s best interest to make a united stand against Jesus Christ when He returns a second time with His soldier saints at Armageddon to take back control of the earth.

Revelation 9:17-19

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, 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.

18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

When the sixth trumpet and vial are released, two different things take place around the Euphrates River, which is right in the heart of the beast kingdom. The four angels and the horsemen mentioned above are especially prepared by God for the time of His wrath and are released from the Euphrates at the sounding of the trump.While they are busy doing their thing, we can see in the scriptures below that the Euphrates is being dried up as three evil spirits go out to draw the armies of the whole world together for the Battle of Armageddon. Several years have passed since the Rapture and now all the world is banding together for one last battle. With the waters of the Euphrates out of the way, the armies of countries such as Iran, China and India, and all others in those regions to the east, will be able to march straight into Israel unimpeded.

Verse 14 points out that the three spirits are devils working miracles. This is surely a miracle of hell to draw the armies of the earth to Armageddon to face the return of Jesus Christ after all that has taken place so far. This is a part of the strong deception God has allowed to come upon the earth. There will be great darkness and delusion upon those who reject the truth of the gospel before the Rapture ever takes place. However, when the Church is gone, things only get worse. At the time this starts taking place, the Church will have been gone for quite a few years before the sixth angel sounds his trumpet, and there has been no one to bring true enlightenment to the people of the earth other than the two witnesses who are a part of this woe. They will be placed in the same temple that the Antichrist occupied during the Tribulation. However, the enlightenment the witnesses bring only adds to the torment of the heathen rather than bringing salvation to them, because their testimony is about the judgment and severity of God rather than the saving grace they have already rejected internally in their hearts and externally in their actions.

Revelation 16:12-14

12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

The following passage from Isaiah is one that covers a wide timeframe from the Battle of Armageddon to the new heavens and the new earth. Peter was probably thinking of this passage when he combined together the Day of the Lord with the re-creation of the earth. In both cases the Millennial Reign of Christ just happens to be sandwiched in between, making both Peter’s statement and this passage a thousand years long and then some. Verses 2 and 8 are the most important to us at this time, telling us that God is going to gather the armies of the earth together for their destruction in the day of His vengeance. Satan and his foul spirits are the ones actually doing all the footwork, but God has a way of leading him along on a short leash to wherever He wants him to be and to do whatever He wants him to do. God does not control Satan’s will, but by His omniscience He is able to manipulate him around with ease.

Isaiah 34:1-8

1 Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.

2 For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the slaughter.

3 Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.

4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

5 For My sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of My curse, to judgment.

6 The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

8 For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

The final two verses of Revelation 9 show us the justness of God’s judgment and punishment. Notice that the rest of the men fail to repent, even after all the punishments they have gone through and even after seeing so many of their companions destroyed.

Revelation 9:20-21

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:

21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Think about it!

­Do these trumpet plagues come from Satan or are they wrath from God?

­How many people die as a result of each plague?

~Selah~Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. Psalm 10:13

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