Revelation - Part 10
Notes
Transcript
The First 4 Trumpets
The First 4 Trumpets
Trumpet 1
Trumpet 1
Instrument of Justice: Hail and Fire, mixed with blood.
Target of Justice: Earth, Trees, green grass.
Scope of Justice: 1/3 of the Earth, 1/3 of the Trees, All green grass.
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 2
Instrument of Justice: A great burning Mountain.
Target of Justice: Salt Water, Sea Life, Ships
Scope of Justice: 1/3 of the Sea, 1/3 of the Sea Life, 1/3 of all Ships.
Trumpet 3
Trumpet 3
Instrument of Justice: A great star called Wormwood
Target of Justice: Fresh water, and many people.
Scope of Justice: 1/3 of the Fresh water, and unknown number of people.
Trumpet 4
Trumpet 4
Instrument of Justice: Darkness
Target of Justice: Sun, Moon, Stars
Scope of Justice: 1/3 of the Sun, 1/3 of the Moon, 1/3 of the Stars, 1/3 of the Day, and 1/3 of the night.
The Last 3 Trumpets
The Last 3 Trumpets
Then we read an ominous warning at the end of last week’s lesson, which is found at the end of chapter 8.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
So, the first 4 trumpets dealt primarily with the 1st-5th days of creation.
We saw the land, sea, sea life, plant life, and light affected in chapter 8.
There was only one trumpet that killed any humans, the 3rd one…
but it doesn’t appear to be at the scale we will see in chapter 9.
Which is 1/3 of all humans dying.
So, just like with creation, we see something separating mankind from the rest of creation, we all so see a distinction in the tribulation. That distinction is foreshadowed in the last verse of chapter 8.
Woe, Woe, Woe to those who dwell on the earth.
God is about to shift this tribulation to mankind, and it will not be good for those who are still on earth at this time.
The 5th Trumpet
The 5th Trumpet
1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth;
9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.
11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
Ok, so the 5th Trumpet is also called the first woe.
Again, this is to distinguish these last 3 trumpets from the 1st four.
The primary difference is that God is now focusing His wrath on humans that have not been seal, and will not repent.
Instrument of Justice: Locusts with Scorpion tails
Target of Justice: People who have not been sealed
Scope of Justice: Harm, but not kill people for 5 months.
What are the locust?
What are the locust?
Are they symbolic?
Are they demonic?
Are they actual locusts?
This is certainly very difficult to answer. We can only speculate.
However, we can pull clues from the Bible like we have down so far.
Clues from previous plagues that God has used in the past.
I do not suspect that any of the 10 plagues of Egypt were symbolic in nature.
When they said they saw frogs, I think it was actual frogs.
When they saw lice, I think it was literally lice.
However, in this vision from John, the locust do not resemble actual locust today or in the past.
Let’s read the description of the locusts again:
7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces,
Horses prepared for battle seems to indicate that they were in a formation.
Like an army lined up in perfect columns and rows.
It could also indicate their size, but I doubt this.
I don’t think they were the size of a horse, but again, this is a future event, and it is possible they were horse sized. However, I think the reference is more about their formation and not their size.
This indicates to me that they were not just randomly flying around, but they were going where they were ordered to go in a perfect formation.
There orders come from a king, as we will see in verse 11.
8 their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth;
Here is where we start to see clues that these are not actual locusts. So, either they are symbolic of something else, or they are demonic. We won’t rule out either option just yet.
What could hair like women’s hair mean?
Locust don’t have hair.
They look just like grasshoppers to me, and though they have some subtle differences, I don’t think many of us would tell the difference.
I don’t see any hair on them though.
John saw hair like a women on them, which would indicate they had long hair or something that resembled long hair.
In the school of “symbolic” theories, the idea of a Helicopter is the leading argument that I would agree with.
Perhaps the propellors looked like “hair” to John.
The “lions’ teeth”… again, not sounding like a locust here.
i have been bitten by a grasshopper, but not with teeth
Just their scissor like mouth.
It hurt, but not like a scorpion sting.
So, perhaps this is symbolic of some part of a military machine too.
Imagine being in 1 century East Asia and seeing a vision of this… how would you describe it?
Long hair, lion’s teeth?
9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.
This verse really seems to fit the description of a helicopter to me.
remember, they have “human faces” according to vs 7
Perhaps John saw two people sitting in the front of the helicopter?
10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails.
Perhaps the tails are missiles coming out of the helicopter.
They would certainly fly in formation.
It does seem to fit the bill, but there is a bit of a hole in this theory.
…If we were being attacked by a squadron of copters, how would they “sting us, but not kill us?”
5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
This part seems strange to me.
I don’t see the devil using helicopters to torment people without killing them.
Helicopters don’t “torment”, they carry people or kill people. That’s about all you can do with them.
It is a fun theory, but one that leads me to believe that these creatures are demonic. And, here’s the clues for that.
The main clue is where the “locust” came from…
1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
They came from the bottomless pit. This pit is mentioned several times in Revelation. The Beast comes from it, and satan is eventually locked up in this pit. The Greek word means: Abyss.
It is the same word used in Luke 8:31
31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.
They refers to the demons that called themselves Legion, and Jesus casts into the nearby pigs. This “Abyss” they are referring to is the same Greek word used 3 times in Rev chapter 9, and translated as “the bottomless pit”.
So, it appears that these “locust” are coming from hell or a place like it where demons and the satan dwell, or will eventually dwell for eternity.
Later in this chapter we see the leader of the locusts comes from that same Abyss or bottomless pit…
11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
So, this king over them is called “Destroyer”. John puts his name in Hebrew and Greek. Abaddon is the Hebrew, and Greek is Apollyon.
It is quite possible this is referring to the devil himself, or some other named demon.
In either case, the demonic leader from the bottomless pit leads us to believe the locust might be some form of demonic manifestation.
If we recall that the angels around the throne resembled multiple creatures, perhaps these “locust” are fallen angels, aka demons, of that same sort.
It does not tell us how many there are, but the “woe” implies that there is a lot of them. It might be enough to cover the globe at least once in 5 months, but I suspect it is enough to cover the globe constantly for 5 months.
Remember, though… these locust, or helicopters, or demons can torment people, but not kill them. God limited them to
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
They couldn’t harm anyone that is sealed, which means there are still Christians on the earth at this point.
5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
Imagine being stung by a scorpion for 5 months and not repenting.
the sealed of God won’t be stung though, perhaps that why Jesus said..
19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.
The 6th Trumpet
The 6th Trumpet
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God,
14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number.
17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.
18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.
19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.
So, the 6th Trumpet, aka the 2nd woe, is devastating.
Instrument of Justice: Large Army led by 4 Fallen Angels
Target of Justice: mankind
Scope of Justice: 1/3 of all mankind.
The 6th trumpet finally address the 6th day of creation. Man.
When I read the 6th trumpet, I instantly think of military machines like tanks.
I know the 5th trumpet could be helicopters or demons, but the 6th trumpet seems to be a lot of tanks and a 2 million man army led by some angels that were trapped under the river Euphrates.
14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
The question I have here is whether or not these are 4 angles or 4 demons. The fact that they were “bound” seems to indicated that they were fallen angels. The word “bound” could also mean “imprisoned”. I don’t think good angels would be imprisoned or bound. So, I lean toward demons… and it appears they are being directed by God to carry out this next plague.
15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
Notice, the wording here… the hour, the day, the month, and the year. This is a very precise time. It reminds me of the language Jesus used referring to the day and the hour of the rapture. Does this mean the rapture takes place now, during the 6th trumpet? That isn’t enough to tied those events together, but it is interesting to me. Paired with the scripture that says God would not pour out his wrath on his people makes it even more intriguing.
However, we are about to see the description of what I believe is the rapture in chapter 14, so we will hold off talking about the rapture until then. In any case, if Christians are still on Earth, they are still sealed, and verse 4 says..
4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
That was stated during the 5th trumpet, but I believe it still applies here during the 6th trumpet.
15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind.
The next thing we notice is the scope of Judgement. It is 1/3 of mankind. And we see that the 6th trumpet affects the 6th day of creation… mankind. That would be 2.6 billion people if it were today.
16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number.
So, 2.6 billion men and women were killed by 2 million mounted troops.
10k times 10k is 1 million… and it says it was twice that. So, 2 million mounted troops vs 2.6 billion men. That means this army will kill over 1,000 people each. I don’t think we stop to think about the magnitude of this kind of war.
For perspective, WW2 had roughly 85 million total deaths from both sides. No where close to 2.6 billion.
Let’s look at a description of the horses that the 2 million troops were mounted on.
17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.
Right off the bat we see that this can’t be a normal horse. It could be demonic, or symbolic. Just like we looked at the locusts and realize they could not be real locusts.
Here, we see horses that breath fire, smoke, and sulfur out of their mouths. They also have lion heads. This sounds nothin like a horse to me. John must be seeing something that is either demonic or symbolic. So, which is it.
In the fifth trumpet we said the locusts were either symbolic of something we have today like a helicopter, or they were demonic creatures. I leaned toward demonic then. Here, I’m a bit more torn. Let’s keep reading and I’ll show you why.
18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.
So, John repeats the instrument of Justice and the Scope of Justice.
19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.
here we see more descriptions of these horses that carry the 2 million troop army. Horses don’t have tails like serpents (plural) with heads (plural).
Again, this could very well be another demonic creature used to bring about judgment on the earth. Here’s the main reason why it could be demonic creatures.
The mounted troops are commanded by 4 angels that were bound under the river.
If we agree that angels bound under a river for thousands of years are fallen angels, then it logically follows that their army of fire breathing, snake tailed horses are demonic.
However, when we read about these horses, it does sound a lot like a modern military machine like a tank. Perhaps the serpent like tail is the muzzle of the tank. The ammo coming out of that tank could look like fire, smoke, and sulfur to John. Imagine trying to describe a tank 2,000 years ago.
I’m open to the possibility of 2 million men using tanks or some future military machine, yet to be invented, to kill billions of people. However, it is easier for me to lean toward the fallen angels being the force. We will have to wait and see, or … perhaps we will not be here at all… because the next verse says…
20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk,
These plagues refers to the smoke, fire, and sulfur from the “horses” mouths, and the serpents of the horses tails.
The “rest of mankind” seems to imply that the other 2/3rds that did not die, also did not repent. It doesn’t seem to leave room for church, and there is no mention of the sealed being protected… is the church still here? Is it underground?
I’m going to stop here for now, but when we come back next week we will see that the 6th trumpet doesn’t appear to be over. The 5th trumpet ended with the phrase:
12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.
The first woe was the 5th trumpet, and the two woes still to come refer to the 6th and 7th trumpet. We don’t see that phrase again until
14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.
That is a chapter and a half away. We have a bit of an interlude in Chapter 10, and then chapter 11 seems to pick back up talking about the 6th trumpet. So, let’s see what else we can determine next week, as we continue our study in the Book of Revelation.
