Revelation 22:21

Verse 21 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

John adds his own benediction to the revelation that Yeshua has given him. Then he closes out the last book of the Bible with the final word, which as said before means “so be it.” All has been decided. The future has been written in stone. What will be will be. There is no more to be said.

There is a whole study of a something called the Bible codes. It is a numbers game on the same idea as Gematria. Supposedly there are all these secret messages written in the Bible by counting so many letters or words and creating new letters and words from the ones that are equidistant from each other. The funny thing about this is that they can only “find” these clues after the event, which should seem suspicious to anyone who thinks things through. (This has also been found to work in Shakespeare.) One of the conclusions that these “experts” in this study have come to is that there are multiple futures from which we can choose by changing the way we behave. This alone should tell an intelligent Christian that there is something wrong with this. Just like Gematria is an occult practice, I have a feeling that this may also have its roots in some sort of pagan practice. While it is not impossible that God has hidden things in His Word, anything that gives hidden information that is totally and clearly in opposition to the clear, understandable, and open Word of God is obviously wrong. There is one future and one future only. There are not multiple possibilities open to us. It has already happened from God’s point of view, which is why He gave it to us in an open fashion in the book of Revelation (not to mention all the prophets, gospels, and epistles).

At this point in my Bible it says, “The End.” This indeed is the end of the Book of Revelation, and literally the end of the Bible, but it is not the end of my blog study on the end times. Now I need to go back and discuss more about the identity of the antichrist, the identity of Babylon, the millennium, the battle of God and Magog, and other subjects which were not thoroughly covered before. There is literally no end to all that one can study on this subject of the end times. It covers the entire Bible. So we will begin again.

Revelation 22:19-20

Verse 19 “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

Now we see that taking away is as bad as or worse than adding to the words. The punishment is definitely worse. The consequences of adding to God’s Word is that you had to suffer the plagues without protection. Now you lose your salvation (there goes eternal security out the window), your place in New Jerusalem, and all the good things (blessings and eternal rewards) which are contained in this book. Taking away is not just removing passages or sections that may not be liked, but I believe spiritualizing away all the plagues of this book is also taking away from the prophecies found in it.

Verse 20 “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

For the last time Yeshua warns that He is coming quickly. How many times has He warned this, yet how many say that there is no Second Coming or that He delays it? Amen basically means “so be it.” It is a statement of decisiveness. No plea bargaining, no appeal. Then John adds his own feelings on this. Even in spite of all the horrific things that are going to happen, John wants the Lord to return, as I am sure do we all who love the Lord. This world is definitely not our home. It is full of evil which is hard to bear.

Revelation 9:13-21 Trumpet 6

Verse 13-14 "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates."


This time a voice sounds from the four horns of the altar before God. Since God is not speaking, one is justified in assuming it is probably Christ who is giving this instruction. For some reason the sounding of the trumpet is not enough this time to set this in motion. This group was bound in the river Euphrates. There were two Euphrates rivers in scripture. One existed before the flood and was to the best of our knowledge destroyed by the flood in the upheaval. The other came into existence after the flood. It would seem more likely that it is referring to the one that exists now, although they could be bound where the original Euphrates once existed. It would depend upon when they were bound. The probability though, since Christ is referencing the river and it would have no significance as a reference if it were the antediluvian river location, is that it is the present Euphrates. God releases these fallen angels who are allowed to take their vengeance and anger out on man. There are only four bound at this site, but as we will see in the next few verses, they will have an army of two hundred million. One assumes that maybe they were ringleaders.

Verse 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.”

These four fallen angels were prepared for just this moment. I have seen this verse interpreted to be a period of thirteen months, one day, and one hour, as it was taken to mean a year, plus a month, plus a day, plus an hour. Personally I do not think that is how this should be taken. I read it as saying that they were prepared for a particular hour that would come on a particular day, month, and year. They were prepared for this one particular moment and time in history. I find it a little peculiar to say that something was prepared for a length of time that amounts to thirteen months, one day, and one hour. One might accept the thirteen months, as the previous trumpet lasted five, but to say that it will go on an extra day, and then an extra hour? That seems a little bizarre. It seems much more intelligible if one accepts it as meaning one particular moment in time.

This group will do more than torture. They will kill fully one third of all the people on the planet. Currently with 6.8 billion people, that amounts to roughly 2.3 billion. That is if there were that many people left at this point. There will not be. As we do not know how much of the first four seals were included in the 70th week, we will consider that the reduction of the population in earnest began with martyrdom. The group of martyrs that John sees appearing suddenly out of the tribulation is a great multitude that no man could number. That lowered the population quite a bit. Then there was the sixth seal, plus the first four trumpets. There is no doubt many died from that. If we were to assume (and that is all it is, an assumption) that all of the previous seals and trumpets have reduced the population by one fourth, which I believe to be a conservative estimate considering what has happened, it would be down to 5.1 billion. To reduce it by another third would bring it down to 3.4 billion. That brings it down to roughly one half of what it was originally. These numbers are just guesses, there is nothing to back them up. It could be more than that (most likely probability) or less. We only know that one third of whatever number there is will die during this trumpet. If half the population has expired by the time this happens, it will reduce the population to 2.3 billion, one third of the original population.

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

This group of four have an army suddenly appear out of nowhere We are not told from where they come. We are also not told if this army is made up of fallen angels, or left-over nephilim that were not all killed off in Biblical times and have been procreating their own population in a location unknown to us. Remember that these nephilim would have advanced technology and powers due to their hybrid angelic DNA intelligence and abilities. The number of the army amounts to two hundred million. That is a huge army. If each “soldier” were to kill five hundred people, that would amount to 1 billion people. One thousand each would be 2 billion. So each one of these horsemen will have to kill quite a few people, which given their abilities will not be hard.

Verse 17-18 “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. 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.”

It would appear that there might be two groups here, the riders and the horses, unless the riders are part of the horses, such as the mythical centaur, who had the upper half of a man attached to the body of a horse. This verse would seem to indicate two entities, but as these creatures are not like anything seen before, anything is possible. It appears that the riders by themselves are not important, if they are separate from the beast they ride, as the beast has all the power. Beginning with the riders, they have on breastplates of fire, jacinth, and brimstone. These breastplates seem to be flaming and sulphurous. They reek of having come straight from hell or at least give the impression that they are from someplace that certainly resembles it. A jacinth is a zircon of differing reddish hues. The breastplates must have had a reddish gemstone-like quality about them.

The horses, as John refers to them for lack of any other word, have heads similar to lions. However, these lion heads have remarkable powers. They can shoot forth from their mouth fire, smoke, and brimstone. While both riders and horses are described with the words fire and brimstone, the Greek words are not identical. The ones used to describe the horses implies actual fire and sulphur (brimstone). The ones used to describe the riders implies fire-like, and sulphur-like. Smoke also pours out of the lions’ mouths. That would seem to be a given, since fire proceeds out of their mouths also. These three things kill people. They die by burning from the flames, asphyxiation from the smoke, and being poisoned by the sulphuric gas.

Verse 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.”

As if the other three things were not enough, now people have to worry about the other end of the beast. They have tails, but what tails. The tails have what is like a serpent’s head on the end which would strike at people and apparently bite them, as they are compared to a serpent, which does bite. Ugly looking beasts. Not to mention lethal. It would seem that it would not be all that hard for them to kill so many people apiece. Again it is probable, actually more than probable, that the world will see this as an alien invasion. These creatures are clearly not earth creatures, and most people do not believe in demons or fallen angels, but many believe in aliens. Added to that is the probable scenario that the governments will tell people this is an alien invasion. Think back to what President Reagan said about how if we were invaded by something from outer space how people would finally put their differences aside to unite in a world government to fight the threat. Do they know something they are not telling us? We will discuss that possibility much later.

Verse 20-21 “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: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”

There are still a fair number of people surviving all this as improbable as it seems. But just as God said He would send a delusion that they might not believe the truth, so these people do not repent of their sins. They worship devils, which they have made images of in gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood (depending on their financial ability). Idols which will not save them as they can neither see, hear, or move. Neither will they repent of their other sins of murder, witchcraft and drug use (the Greek word implies both possibilities), sexual sins, and theft. One can assume, as we have seen with events such as Katrina, that when there is some sort of horrible catastrophe, there are those who riot, loot, and even kill. Considering what the world will have gone through up to this point, one can only imagine how completely out of control society has become in relation to this sort of activity. People will do anything to survive. Sexual sins are so prevalent these days that it is hard to believe it could become worse. Witchcraft is ever on the rise as is drug use. These things will not change even in the face of the end of the world. People are amazing, and totally depraved.

The sixth trumpet judgment has now passed. The second woe is over. Giving a preview of things to come before getting to them in the scriptures, we will see that this is the end of the conditions on the seventh seal that Satan demanded. These conditions have been written on the seals since the fall of man, and have been available for everyone to read, as mortgages and legal agreements were always available to the public in the temple. Now Satan's reign is over. He is no longer the prince and power of the air. Antichrist's reign is also over. Christ is now in total and complete control as the one and only king of this earth. It is owned by Him and He can now claim it and do as He pleases with it, as He alone reigns. In Daniel 7 we learned that antichrist would be given control for time, times, and half a time, or 3 1/2 years. As we will see, the 3 1/2 years are over as far as antichrist's reign is concerned. But 3 1/2 years is a general length of time that is not quite specific. When we speak of 3 1/2 years, we could mean three years and five months, or three years and seven months. It is a figure that could be rounded off. As we continue, we will soon see that God further specifies that the length of time antichrist is allowed to reign is forty-two months. But again, is that forty-two months precisely or forty-two months plus or minus a week or a day or two? It will be seen that this time is further delineated as being 1260 days. That specificity will help us to exactly figure out certain events. In the meanwhile, it is necessary to jump ahead of ourselves and present these two new time factors before we actually run into them so that it can be understood that we have reached the end not only of the 3 1/2 years, but the forty-two months, and the 1260 days. It will become clear why we need to understand that presently. As we have reached the end of the 1260 days, (this will be seen shortly) Satan's and antichrist's rule has come to an end. But what about all the rest of what is written in Revelation? Well, if you remember, in Daniel 12 we are told that from the time of the abomination of desolation there will be two other number of days. There will be 1290 days to the end of all or, as we would consider it, the entire apocalypse or 70th week, and then 1335 days until a blessing. These numbers will help us to organize all of this information that follows.

Revelation 9:1-12 Trumpet 5

Revelation 9

So far, the devastation of the seventh seal trumpet judgments have only been directed at the planet, and the effects on the inhabitants have been a by-product. Now the next two trumpet judgments are going to be directed specifically at the inhabitants.

Verse 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.”

We know already that stars are another way of referring to angels. In this case this is the way that this is to be interpreted, as a real gas giant could not be given a key. This is an individual. As to which star or angel it is, as he is being given the key to unlock the abyss where the demons are held, one can suspect that this is Satan, as other scriptures refer to him falling from heaven to earth, or it is possibly another angel, who is a destroyer.

Luke 10:18 “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

Rev. 12:3a, 4a “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon….and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth;”
 
If the angel is Satan, as he is also the ultimate leader of the rebel angels, it would seem appropriate for him to be allowed to get his gang out of prison. If another angel, he is still the one in charge of destruction.  So regardless of who this is, he is given the key to the bottomless pit, or the abyss as it is otherwise known from the Greek word “abussos” meaning depthless or bottomless. In scripture there are five different words that are used to refer to the places of the departed dead or the abyss where the fallen angels are held. They are translated into English by the words hell, grave, deep (N.T.), pit (O.T.), or bottomless pit (N.T.). Sheol is the Hebrew word in the Old Testament from which "hell", "grave" and "pit" are translated and simply means the world of the dead or place of departed souls. Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna, and abussos are the Greek words from which "hell", "grave" (one time only in 1 Cor. 15:55) "deep", and "bottomless pit" are translated. Hades is the Greek equivalent of Sheol and means the place of departed souls or world of the dead. Tartarus refers to the deepest abyss (or bottomless pit) in Hades and is only used in conjunction with the prison of the fallen angels. It also has the dual meaning of being incarcerated in eternal torment. Gehenna was a valley in Jerusalem that was used for the sacrifice of children to Molech. The continuous burning that went on there caused it to become a figurative name for the place of everlasting torment of the damned. In the New Testament the word "hell" is usually translated either from Hades or Gehenna. Tartarus is used only once in scripture when referring to where the angels are bound, 2 Pet. 2:4. When abussos is used, it is translated as "bottomless pit" or "deep". As to location of hell or the bottomless pit, the scriptures give us a clue.

First is the parable in Luke 16 about Lazarus and the rich man. According to the parable Hades, which Christ would certainly portray accurately, is a place which had two compartments. One was known as Paradise (a place of the righteous dead) and the other as Hell (the place of the wicked dead). These two places were separated by a huge impassable gulf. People were conscious while in these places and could actually speak to each other. While Paradise was a nice place, Hell is a place of burning torment. When Christ died, he told the thief on the cross that he would be with him in Paradise, Luke 23:39-43. Before Christ’s death, the righteous dead could not enter into heaven, as there had not yet been payment made for their sins. The blood of bulls and goats never covered their sins, Heb. 10:4, and therefore they could not enter into the presence of God. Christ had to die first, so there had to be a holding place for these people until that time. Paradise was that place. Scripture says that Christ’s soul was not left in Hell (Hades) Acts 2:31, Ps. 16:10, which tells us that indeed he went to Hades, the Paradise side after he died. He did not go to heaven as some assume. In John 20:17, Christ tells Mary not to touch Him for He has not yet ascended to His Father. Christ went to Paradise to preach to the inhabitants there and let them know he was the Messiah for whom they had been waiting. It is possible he also went into Hell to preach to the souls there, 1 Pet. 3:18-20, Rom. 10:7 (deep is abussos, it is the abyss where the demons named Legion did not want to be sent, Luke 8:31). It says when Christ ascended he took “captivity captive”, Gal. 4:8, Ps. 68:18, meaning that He took the inhabitants of Paradise with him. We know that now that Christ has ascended, saints go to heaven upon death. 2 Cor. 5:8. So now Paradise is empty, which allows hell to enlarge itself as it fills, Is. 5:14.

As to its location, it says that Christ descended into the lower parts of the earth, Gal. 4:9. There are also many other verses that verify this location as being in the lower regions or center of the earth. Ez. 5:16, Ps. 86:13, and Ez. 32:27 speak of hell being down below us, as do a number of other verses. In Revelation we learn that smoke pours out of the abyss into the sky, Rev. 9:2, which could only happen if the shaft opened goes into the center of the earth. All of this would seem to indicate that the abyss and/or hell is located in the center of the earth. This would explain the fire in hell, the smoke pouring into our sky when a shaft is opened into it, and why it is below us in the lower regions or nether parts of the earth. The center of the earth would be a bottomless pit as, if one thinks of a ball of fire in the middle of the earth, no matter which way you turn, there is no bottom. Every direction is up.

(Since posting this, I have read another suggestion as to the identity of this angel.  Someone has suggested that this is a good angel, not a fallen one, and that he is a destroyer on the Lord's behalf, such as when he was apparently sent to kill the firstborn of all of Egypt. Exodus 12:23 "For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you." I don't know that either view, that he is good or fallen is provable by these verses, for the fact is, the Lord controls all the angels and He allows evil by His permissive will as well as sending angles to do His bidding. I don't believe that God created an angel for the purpose of destruction and named him the Destroyer at the beginning, for He created all things good.  So personally while neither view is provable, I would lean toward believing this is a fallen angel under the circumstances.)

Verse 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 the reason of the smoke of the pit.”

When the bottomless pit is opened, there is a shaft that goes directly down into the fiery pit of hell that allows all of that smoke from the fires of hell to escape. There is so much smoke that it fills the air and blots out the sun from shining on the earth.. We know there are at least two compartments to Hades, Hell and a now empty Paradise. It appears there is a third compartment that exists. It is called Tartarus and is a deeper abyss than hell itself. It is spoken of once in scripture in the book of 2 Peter using the word “hell”. “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, (Tartarus, the bottomless pit) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Pet. 2:4. This verse precedes the verse about Noah, indicating that this event preceded the flood.

Verse 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.”

Out of this smoky shaft down into hell comes a swarm of what John refers to as locusts. That they are not real locusts is evident from the fact that they have been let out of the abyss with a key. God does not lock real locusts into the bottomless pit in hell. This demonic horde looks to John as locusts. They not only swarm by the hundreds, or more likely thousands, but probably look somewhat like mutant insects or something of that nature. They are given power as the scorpions have power. Real scorpions have the power to sting people, and even cause death depending on the scorpion. The sting can be intensely painful and have some really bad side-effects, some being numbness, muscle twitching, unusual head movements, sweating, difficulty breathing, and weakness.

Verse 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.”

Real locusts would go after all the green vegetation, but these locusts are told not to touch the vegetation. After the first few trumpet judgments, many of the trees and all the grass were burned up, but here we see that the grass is growing back, and there are still plenty of trees. God apparently wants some of this vegetation left for the days ahead, for they are told to leave it alone. On the other hand, they are told that they are free to torture anyone who does not have the seal of God in their foreheads. We know that Christians are sealed by the Lord when they become saved, and now we see the reason for the 144,000 being sealed. It was for protection from these creatures. Not being Christians, they are not immune from their attacks, but with the special seal that was placed on their foreheads, they are protected from this horde.

Verse 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.”

Now we see that the previous scorpion reference was deliberate. They do exactly what scorpions do. They sting people, and that sting causes tremendous pain and torment, but not death. They cannot kill people, only hurt them. This sting will be horrible and will not continue for only a few days or week as a real scorpion sting would, but lasts five months. Imagine the intense pain and other side-effects that people will have to endure. It will be extremely unbearable.

Verse 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.”

The intensity of this torture is so great and so long that people will try to commit suicide. God will not allow it though. No matter what they do, they will survive to be tortured some more. People will not be able to hide and escape them either. They even have the ability to enter houses that will be locked against them. We learned that from the Old Testament.

There is more information about their behavior from the passage from Joel that we studied when studying the Day of the Lord. “A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like a mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Joel 2:2-11

That this passage parallels Revelation is obvious from some of the similarities. The thick darkness (from the smoke) is mentioned. It is a great (powerful and big), strong people that there has never been the like of or will be again. It says that a flame devours before them and after them. We know that these locusts in Revelation were told not to hurt the vegetation, but we also know that before they arrive, the earth has been burned, and after they leave we will see that the earth will burn some more. It is not that they personally will be responsible for this burning, but the events surrounding their arrival will be the cause of all of the burning. The people are much pained because of them. We know that this agrees with what they will be doing, stinging people. Joel’s description of the way they move together, not breaking ranks, climbing walls, going into windows and over the tops of houses, exactly describes how locusts would behave. People will not be able to get away from them or shut them out. If anyone has read the Little House on the Prairie books, Laura Ingalls Wilder describes a plague of locusts going through the land. It sounds exactly like Joel’s description of the way they move through the land. Joel says that they have the appearance of horses, and run like horsemen. They have the noise of chariots, are dressed in battle array, and can leap from mountains. Let us see if the rest of the description in Revelation bears out that this is the same group.

Verse 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.”

So here we have it. The shapes of the locusts were similar in some way to horses, just as Joel said. But not just horses - horses prepared unto battle. In other words, in battle array. To compare them to a horse would indicate their size. On their heads are something that to John resembles a crown of gold. They have a face like a man, but as we will see that merely means that the general appearance - eyes, nose, mouth, chin, etc. is like a man’s. In fact they do not look like men at all.

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

Now it can be seen that they do not look quite so much like men. The teeth of a lion would make them appear a great deal more vicious. And they have long hair, as a woman of John’s day would have. Again we can look to Joel for another comparison. “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.” Joel 1:6.

Verse 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.”

Here is the same description as in Joel. They have the noise of chariots as if many horsemen were running to battle, just as Joel said. The noise comes from their wings which again indicates size to create this noise. They are not tiny little insects. This also describes their battle array in more detail. They have breastplates of iron. Joel tells us that they can be run through by a sword and not be wounded. Not only would this breastplate prevent that, but being demonic, they cannot die anyhow.

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

Again we are given the description that they are similar to scorpions in that they have a tail in which there is a stinger with poison that they will use to inflict pain upon mankind for five months.

This would appear to be a very confusing description, but I have seen several carvings (if that is the appropriate word) that look very much like what is described here. One is a sculpture of an insectoid creature that looks somewhat like this description, (I am not sure if the sculptor's idea came from an ancient description or not) and the other seems to be a representation of this actual creature or demon as it seems to fit the description very accurately. It is a Mayan artifact. I believe it is one of the artifacts that those who believe in ancient astronauts point to as a rendering of what the ancient astronauts looked like. For now, to picture this creature, think of a (probably) man-sized insectoid type of creature whose body somewhat resembles a locust, but has a tail like a scorpion. They apparently run on all fours like a horse, have a human type face with lion’s teeth and long hair. They have wings (or something similar) which allows them to fly (and makes noise), and have on breastplates. While these are fallen angels, the world will not understand that is what they are. In fact, the world will think they are something quite different. Based on the ancient astronaut theories, that are now being used to explain the puzzles of the ancient pyramids, ruins, artifacts, etc. that cannot be explained, this will set people up to believe that these creatures are aliens from another dimension or planet.

Verse 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.”

The leader of this group is Abaddon or Apollyon, both which mean “the destroyer”. This is not just any fallen angel. This is a really important, powerful, evil angel. This angel has been locked in the bottomless pit for having done something really destructive. He was the king of the others, so one has to assume he was responsible for being the ringleader for whatever the others did. It is clear from 2 Peter that they are chained in Tartarus as that is the bottomless pit. Jude 6 spoke of the fallen angels who had come down and cohabited with man, married the women and produced giants, both before and after the flood. These fallen 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.” This also speaks of being chained until the day of judgment as did Peter. Here we finally have the time of that great day of judgment on the world. This group of fallen angels appears to be the group mentioned in Jude. It does not specify, however putting these three scriptures together, Peter, Jude, and Revelation it seems to point to this conclusion. This terrible event occurred both before and after the flood. What was done to mankind before the flood was certainly a destructive thing. It nearly completely destroyed mankind. Noah was the only one left that was “perfect” in his generations. The only one who did not have tainted blood. So to have their leader named Abaddon would certainly be appropriate. What is disturbing is that this event also occurred after the flood, and there was no worldwide judgment to wipe out all the progeny of these demonic unions. That is why God was so bloodthirsty about Israel destroying every man, woman, and child when they entered the land. It is quite possible that some of that tainted blood still exists today in people in the world, as Israel did not always do as told. This is something we will get into later. What may be a puzzle to some is how, if these are those particular fallen angels, such creatures would be able to mate with humans. There are several explanations for that. First, angelic beings can take on other forms. We know that the ones that showed up to take Lot out of Sodom looked like normal human men, but they were not. Another explanation is that God changed the look of these angels after they fell as part of their punishment, as He did to Satan. If they were so beautiful before and attracted the women, what better punishment than making them hideous. Some descriptions I have heard, from people who have claimed to see God's angels, have described them as around eight feet tall, blonde and blue eyed, and extremely handsome. If that is what they looked like before, it would explain the giants and women accepting this situatlon. The stories of the gods of the Greeks, Romans, Norse, etc. mythologies have beautiful gods. Another explanation although this one requires more of a stretch, although there are some reasons for this explanation that I will go over later, is that the beings were capable of creating test tube babies for the women to be artificially inseminated. Since we can do this, this is not beyond their capability. They would have even more capabilities in that respect, being able to manipulate man's DNA.

Verse 12 “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”

The fifth trumpet judgment is called the first woe. It is very important to take note of this
Two more woes are to come. The second woe is the sixth trumpet and the third woe is the seventh trumpet. This nomenclature will become very important later on for identifying something in the timeline, so it is important to remember.

Revelation 8:10-13 Trumpets 3 & 4

Verse 10-11 “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”

First an asteroid hits the earth and now another object falls from the heavens. So there is more than one object moving through space toward us. We have seen meteor showers, an asteroid, and now a star. Whereas the first object appears to John as being solid as a mountain, thus the determination that it must be an asteroid, this object looks to him as a burning star. This is apparently not the same type of object. It must be more like a comet where the head can be small but it carries with it a lot of debris that burns up on entering the atmosphere, thereby making it look like a star. This debris falls all over the land hitting the fresh water lakes and rivers. It even penetrates the ground water contaminating well water. This star is given the name Wormwood. Wormwood by its name means bitter and poisonous. While there is much debate as to exactly what this means, it may be that God, knowing the future, gave it this name based on an incident that happened in Russia some years ago. When Chernobyl had the meltdown, it became a world-wide known event. What made it even more interesting was that it was also made known to the world that the word Chernobyl means “wormwood”. Since specifically radiation poisoning was the cause of deaths in Chernobyl, radiation poisoning became linked to the word “wormwood”. As we know that meteors and space debris contain radiation, it makes perfect sense that the poisoning that kills people in this verse is radiation poisoning. Nothing in this world happens without purpose, including Chernobyl. Again it is interesting that the same area of the earth that has one third of the forests and one third of the ocean area also coincidentally has one third of the world’s fresh water supply. Streams turning to pitch and drying up were some of the O.T. signs which were a part of the whole Day of the Lord scenario.

Verse 12 “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”

Many scholars divide all of these trumpets as separate judgments that have nothing to do with each other. Because of this they grasp for extraordinary explanations to explain some of the phenomena occurring. Some believe that God will miraculously make the sun and stars decrease in the output of their light spectrum. It is not necessary for God to have to do this. While He can, from scriptures we see that most of the time He uses the resources at hand to do the trick. What many forget is that God created the universe and it is His to command. There is no reason for these things to occur miraculously when just using the available materials will suffice. The orchestration of the events and objects themselves is the miracle. These things would not occur at just the proper moment and in the way God desires if He were not running the show.

The fourth trumpet is actually the natural outcome of the previous trumpets. Just as the seals seemed to follow in a natural order (war, pestilence, famine, death), so these trumpets seem to follow as a natural conclusion to what began in the sixth seal. First we see the celestial objects blocking our view of the sun and eclipsing the moon. The gravitational forces cause tectonic disruption. Then there are meteor showers or debris accompanying the objects that hit the earth. Then the big objects themselves hit. When the asteroid and the “star” hit the planet, it will cause a lot of debris to be thrown up into the air. Added to that is the volcanic eruptions that must occur due to the tectonic plate movement caused by the gravitational tug of war and the impact (which also shifts our orbit which will take a terrible toll on the planet). This will also add to the smoke and ash in the air. An asteroid hitting the earth would be like a nuclear explosion. It would cause what is known as a nuclear winter, shutting off the sun from shining on the planet as the debris would create a canopy which the sun would not penetrate. As all of the previous trumpets affected approximately one third of the earth’s surface, so also the atmospheric problems will occur in one third area of the earth. This would seem to verify that those previous trumpets did occur in the same area of the earth, given that had they occurred around the planet it would be more than one third of the earth’s globe that finds its atmosphere polluted, making it impossible to see the sun, moon, or stars. It is not that the heavenly bodies themselves are darkened, but that from the perspective of the earth, they are darkened. At least one third of the day and night are darkened, as one third of the earth will have this atmospheric debris. As the earth does rotate in one day, and all of these things seem to have occurred to one area of the earth (based on deduction, but not verifiable) it would seem that they all occur in rapid succession before the earth has time to rotate and present the other side toward the oncoming phenomena.

It was always a puzzle to me that it was taught that these events would be occurring world-wide (and there will be earthquakes, and volcanoes world-wide), yet people would continue on with life as usual, as this seems to be the picture scripture presents on people’s behavior. They do not repent, but continue on with their sorceries, fornication, thefts, and etc. Life goes on as usual. How does one do that given what is occurring? The answer is found in watching how the world behaves when a catastrophe occurs nowadays. It never occurs world-wide. It only occurs in one area of the world, so the rest of the world, while often helping out that devastated area, continues their lives uninterrupted. I believe that the fact that this same behavior is seen here in Revelation indicates that the deduction that I reached, that it is only one area of the earth that all of these trumpets (thus far) have hit, has a good probability of being correct. While it is probable only one third of the earth has been completely devastated by these things, the whole world is suffering some effects. The earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis will affect some areas, but not all. The temperature has to go up worldwide, and the heat and droughts will cause more famine and other problems, which will make things more difficult for everybody, but still people will try to keep on with life as usual. These occurrences will continue to escalate, but there will always be some places where life is still a little more normal. On the other hand the next few trumpets do affect the entire world. Now everybody is going to suffer.

Verse 13 “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”

The previous trumpets were bad enough, but the three trumpets to come are even worse and require a special announcement. An angel flies through the midst of heaven making that announcement. There are three woes about to hit mankind. As John is in heaven watching all of this, when the verse says "the midst of heaven", it is reasonable to assume that the angel is making the announcement to the congregation that is gathered there, not to the inhabitants of the earth.

Revelation 8:7-9 Trumpets 1 & 2

Verse 7 “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”

Thinking of the sixth seal, the sun going dark, the moon turned to blood, meteor showers, the sky rolling back like a scroll, the mountains and islands moved out of their places, (earthquakes as well as tectonic plates shifting in massive ways), it is apparent that something is approaching the planet. As it approaches, if coming between the earth and the sun, the sun would become black, and the moon would not reflect the sun’s light if the object’s location is such that it also blocks the sunlight from hitting the moon. Or more simply put, eclipses them. An eclipse not only darkens the moon, it can turn it blood red. Both of these are signs that herald the day of the Lord. It is probable that an object such as a large asteroid or comet would have debris caught in its gravitational force that would accompany it. This would explain the meteor shower. Also, an object of great size on a collision course with the earth would disrupt our planet’s gravitational orbit creating the earthquakes and tectonic movement. It no doubt would also cause a lot of volcanic eruptions. It will be seen as the trumpets are sounded that this is exactly what is happening.

Shortly following the sixth seal signs, the object approaches closer to earth and the consequence is that there is hail, mingled with fire and blood, that showers down upon the earth. It may be that it merely looks like blood, and as John sees it, he has no other way to describe it, or it may be that this shower of hail, fire, and blood is the result of all the volcanic activity from the tectonic movement. This would account for the hail and fire, and the blood could be either lava, water droplets containing minerals, or the blood of animals and men that are caught in the explosions and whose remains are thrust into the atmosphere with the water vapor, ash, and etc. There was one other time in the scriptures that hail and fire fell together. This was when Moses called down the plagues upon Egypt, although blood was not mentioned as part of it then. This shower of fiery hail burns up one third of the trees and all of the grass. It would appear that this hail falls on one particular section of the earth, a part that makes up roughly one third of the forests in the world. It is believed by some that this will fall on the entire earth, but it would seem peculiar in that case that only one third of the trees are burned up. Also, this object would not surround the earth, it would be passing by one side of the earth. The opposite side of the earth would not be hit at the same time. All of the grass being burned up can be explained by the heat generated worldwide by the event, as even a hot dry summer will burn up all the grass. Interestingly the area of the world that makes up the Orient and Eastern Asia contains one third of the world’s forests. There seems to be no mention of this part of the world in prophecy as regards the political goings on. That seems strange given the whole world government that antichrist is running. This might indicate that this is the area that gets hit, and it puts them out of business so to speak. This much destruction of the forests and grass are going to affect the animal world. Those that do not die immediately from this event will slowly die as the chain of life from lower organisms up are unable to survive.

Verse 8-9 “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”

As already theorized, given the descriptions of the previous verse and the sixth seal, something has been approaching the earth, and at least part of it is here. A great mountain burning with fire is cast into the sea. This can only describe an asteroid the size of a mountain. Entering earth’s atmosphere it would obviously be burning with fire. It falls into the ocean and as a consequence, a third part of the oceans are affected, killing one third of the sea life that resides therein. Not only will the sea become blood from the blood of the animals, but a red tide will no doubt start spreading. Again, interestingly it appears from statistical sources that the same area of the world that has one third of the earth’s forests, also has one third of the earth’s ocean area. This would appear to be the Pacific/Indian Ocean area. Not only the creatures of the sea will suffer, but all of the ships that are in that area of the sea, one third of military and merchant ships will perish. This will probably be due to tsunamis resulting from the impact. These tsunamis will also affect the coastal cities and cause a certain amount of loss of life, however not nearly as much as would have been had the asteroid hit the land mass. The earth will reel from this impact though. It has the potential to alter the orbit of the earth and move it into a new orbit (Is. 13:13). This will cause quite a bit of upheaval in the rest of the world.

These events that are happening will cause a great deal of heat to be introduced into the atmosphere. One of the signs of the Day of the Lord was about everything burning. The result of all of this heat and burning, especially considering how much of the water on the planet will be affected by these events, will be a great deal of evaporation. The water vapor canopy is in the process of being restored. Remembering how it was first established, it appears that the same processes will be happening again. The first punishment of mankind was to remove the canopy and the result was a deluge. This punishment will restore the canopy which requires a great deal of heat, thus the burning of the world. God is very organized in His processes. Heat and pressure will create the hydrogen lattice canopy again, thus bringing the world back to an antediluvian state for the duration of the millennium. Due to the difference in the world's make-up, the earth will have to be removed to a different orbit. When the flood changed the world, it was necessary to accommodate that by moving the earth. Now the impact will move the earth back into the previous orbit, which is no doubt the orbit that takes exactly 360 days to complete. The moon's orbit around us will no doubt also shift to a thirty day orbit. These are the numbers that God uses in the Bible for the prophetic counting of years and months, so it is highly probable that this is to what it will be restored.

Revelation 6:9-17 Seals #5 & 6

Verse 9-11 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, doest thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”

The “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” have now made their ride, and Christ proceeds to open the rest of the seals. The fifth seal relates to the next item on the gospels’ list of signs-martyrdom. This seal is aimed specifically at the saints. This fact alone proves that these seals are not the wrath of God as “God hath not appointed us to wrath” (1 Thess. 5:9a) and this seal has no unbelievers involved at all. Also, from the gospel list we know that martyrdom occurs before the 70th week begins, so the opening of this is not part of that time frame. Saints have been martyred since the first martyr, Stephen. Rome burned many and fed those they did not burn to the lions. There have been a multitude of martyrs down through the ages. Today, around the world, people are being martyred every day for their faith. This is what makes American Christian's attitude that God would never let them suffer so repellent. It is arrogant, obnoxious, and just plain ignorant. They do not have ears to hear and will pay dearly for it.

The martyred saints are seen under the altar crying to the Lord for vengeance. These souls have a special place in heaven. Those who simply die in the Lord are not under the altar. These people are very special to God. They have apparently been waiting for some time for God to avenge them, considering their complaint. God gives them white robes, which stands for the righteousness of the saints (Rev. 19:8), and tells them that they need to wait a little while longer until everyone that has to be martyred has been martyred. There are many more that are destined to be martyred during the course of the tribulation, which is yet to come, according to Christ.

These verses show that man is conscious in heaven after death. Some theologies teach in the idea of soul sleep, that there is no consciousness from the time of death until the resurrection. These verses would refute that idea, as the resurrection has not yet occurred, yet these saints are asking for vengeance. This shows that when Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, he was indicating a conscious presence with the Lord immediately after death, not that it would merely seem that way upon resurrection after soul sleep. (2 Cor. 5:8). It would seem that there is a spiritual body that Christians inhabit after death until they receive a glorified resurrected body, as they are given robes to wear. The martyrs under the altar seem to be frustrated about the fact that they have not been seeing vengeance from the Lord on their behalf for some time. They are asking how long they have to wait. If the seals were opened immediately upon the ascension of Christ, there would not have been any martyrs yet to ask for vengeance, much less a fair-sized group that seemingly has waited a long time to get that vengeance. This would seem to be evidence that these seals were not opened immediately upon Christ’s arrival in heaven, or if they were, each seal took a period of time to take place, thereby allowing for enough time to pass for there to be a number of martyrs there, and to have given them a reason to complain of the amount of time that had passed since they had arrived. The abomination of desolation and tribulation occur sometime after this seal is opened, when one compares the list from the gospels to the seals. It is after the opening of the fifth seal, but before the Day of the Lord heavenly signs in the sixth seal that these two events (the abomination of desolation and tribulation ) occur according to the comparison of the timeline in Matthew with this in Revelation.

Verse 12-17 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

For ease of comparison, so that you do not have to go back to them in the blog, some of the signs heralding the Day of the Lord from the Old and New Testament are as follows: The sun is darkened. The moon turns to blood and is darkened. The stars are darkened and fall. The sky is rolled back like a scroll. The earth shakes and trembles. The earth is moved out of its orbit. Men flee to the caves and hide in the rocks and holes. People faint and their hearts will melt (with fear). Mankind will be in terror, pain, and anguish. Men will tremble (with fear).

It can be seen that these signs are exactly the same as the sixth seal. As some of them are unusual (the sky rolled up like a scroll,) and the odds of all of these events occurring simultaneously more than once in the days ahead are small, and as we don't see these exact signs again in the Revelation commentary, it is obvious that the Day of the Lord signs and the sixth seal are speaking of the same events. Added to this is the fact that the people to whom this is happening identify it as the Day of the Lord signs, as they are expecting the wrath of God to soon begin. Note that it is not God who says His wrath has begun, but man who, seeing these catastrophic signs, believes that God’s wrath is about to occur. In point of fact, before God’ wrath can begin, there is still one seal left to open. The signs that the Day of the Lord is imminent have occurred, but there is still one more seal to go before God pours out His wrath on the nations. When that seal is opened, Christ will have fulfilled all of the conditions that were set, and earth will have reverted back to His ownership. However, the condition that is written on that seventh seal has to be completed before Christ can actually begin His reign over earth without having to share it with Satan, and that will take time. Satan, although having lost ownership, still has the right of reigning until that last seal is finished, which is why antichrist is allowed to continue right up to the end of the time, times, and half a time; three and a half years; or forty-two months. As said before, there will be a dual reign for a short period of time while this last seal is played out. When finished, Satan will be done and Christ will reign supreme. It is when that happens that Christ can finally pour out God’s wrath and judgment on the nations.

As for the events themselves, it would appear that something catastrophic is happening in the heavens. We will soon see in the seventh seal that there is something happening in space near planet Earth. Whether it is an asteroid shower, a passing comet, or whatever it actually is, this is the commencing of it. Some say that this is a nuclear holocaust, and while it could be interpreted that way, the phenomena in the seventh seal seems to indicate that there is a major upheaval in space causing all of this disruption. I happen to believe that this seal is the beginning of all of that. I do not think that people would think it is the Day of the Lord's wrath, if it were a nuclear holocaust. They would simply attribute it to nations being at war. It appears that the sun and moon are not darkened (and turned to "blood") simply due to smoke filled skies from whatever occurs, but from an eclipse. The description fits an eclipse much better. Actually for the sun to be darkened in a solar eclipse, the moon would have to be between the sun and the earth. For the moon to be red (blood), there would have to be a lunar eclipse which means the earth is between the sun and the moon. For both to occur simultaneously the moon would either have to be in two places at one time, which is impossible, or a third heavenly body would have to be present to create the phenomena. (We'll see this is going to be so.) Stars falling from heaven would indicate a meteor shower. A closely passing celestial body could cause an eclipse, a meteor shower, earthquakes, and affect the earth's orbit creating tectonic movement, thereby moving the islands and mountains. Which exactly this might be is not specified at this time, so we will just concede that it is some kind of heavenly body, that is not usually in our vicinity, that is causing this. We know that something of this nature must have occurred at least once and possibly twice before in man's history. Something catastrophic precipitated the events that caused Noah's flood. Many of the plagues of Egypt also follow a scientific action and consequence pattern, if one looks for that pattern and traces it back to a catastrophic event. That does not negate the miraculousness of the events. Timing is everything. While some like to think that all of these events were/will be miraculous events in the sense that God did/will do everything ex nihilo, as stated before I believe that God prefers to use His own creation to carry out His will in a natural way whenever possible (not suspending the laws of physics), and that it is the timing of events that are miraculous.