Prophecy
8
The Six
Trumpets –
Revelation 8:2 – 9:21
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Revelation
8:12
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.{12} Jesus gave a fourth
signal and the fourth angel blew his
trumpet. It seemed that every volcano
surrounding the Pacific Rim erupted.
This ring of fire spewed hundreds of
millions of tons of ejecta and soot
into the atmosphere. The amount of
ash and soot was so great that
sunlight could not penetrate the
clouds. High speed winds (the jet
stream) carried ash and soot all over
the world. As a result, the middle
one-third of Earth did not receive
any light from the sun, moon, and
stars. At first, the darkness was
silent, eerie, and surreal. As the
weeks went by, the survivors began to
understand that crops would soon
fail. Fears about what to eat became
paramount as people realized that
global famine had begun.
Revelation
8:13
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!{13} As I
watched these horrifying scenes, I
heard the fourth living creature who
had the face of the flying eagle cry
out. He shouted in a loud voice:
“Woe! Woe! Woe! The remaining
three judgments will be worse than
the first four!” I became sick
to my stomach. I could not bear to
watch this any longer.
John heard
the Holy Spirit announce three more
woes. The last three trumpets are
curses that are worse than the first
four trumpets. The last three
trumpets are curses directed at
wicked people because Jesus steps up
His efforts to get wicked people to
repent of their evil ways. He wants
everyone to embrace the testimony of
the 144,000, honor and worship their
Creator and receive eternal life!
Revelation
9:1
And
the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a
star fall from heaven unto the earth:
and to him was given the key of the
bottomless pit.{9:1} About
twenty-seven months after the fourth
trumpet, Jesus gave the signal and
the fifth angel, who was located in
Heaven’s temple, sounded his
trumpet.
According
to Daniel 12:12, the Great
Tribulation will last 1,335 days.
This number can be divided into three
segments of 445 days. If Jesus spares
mankind by keeping Lucifer in the
abyss for two-thirds of the time
allotted for the Great Tribulation,
the devil would appear on the 891st
day. Although the Bible does not
indicate when the fifth trumpet will
sound, we do know that one-third is
used twelve times during the seven
trumpets to indicate God’s
mercy. Because the last three
trumpets are curses (woes) on defiant
rebels, it is reasonable to assume
that the last three trumpets might be
limited to the last third of the time
allotted for the Great Tribulation.
If so, the length of time between
trumpets four and five would be
approximately twenty seven months.
To appreciate
the fifth trumpet judgment, some
background information is necessary.
When Jesus created the angels,
Lucifer was the first, highest, and
brightest angel created. He was a
glorious being; very happy and
content before he sinned. Over time,
Lucifer became jealous of
Michael/Jesus and he turned away from
God’s love and authority.
Lucifer coveted the prerogatives that
belonged only to Michael/Jesus. (We
will carefully examine this matter in
Prophecy 12.) When it became clear
that the Father would not grant
Lucifer’s desires, Lucifer
became bitter. As Lucifer’s
anger and jealousy grew, he sought
out sympathizers. One-third of the
angels joined Lucifer and a revolt
occurred in Heaven. This revolt
caused God to cast Lucifer and his
followers out of Heaven.[39]
After God
cast Lucifer out of Heaven, Jesus
created Adam and Eve. Lucifer preyed
on Eve in the Garden of Eden at the
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
and he cleverly led her into sin.
Adam loved Eve and he purposely
sinned because he did not want to be
separated from Eve. Later, Cain, the
firstborn son of Adam and Eve, killed
his brother Abel because of jealousy.
This sequence of events reveals a
profound truth. Sinners become
predators when they cannot have what
they want. Lucifer preyed on innocent
angels. Lucifer preyed on innocent
Eve. Cain preyed on innocent Abel. In
fact, the predatory nature of sin
grew to be so horrible that God had
to destroy the whole world in
Noah’s day. Sin is only
controlled through death. This is why
the penalty for sin is death. There
is no other way to stop the predatory
nature of sin. It is like a spreading
cancer.
About 4,000
years after the world was created,
Jesus was born and took human form.
Lucifer’s hatred toward Jesus
had not changed. This is why Lucifer
did everything within his power to
destroy baby Jesus at birth.[40] Consider
the sequence: Lucifer worked through
King Herod in an attempt to destroy
Jesus as an infant. When this failed,
Lucifer worked through Jewish leaders
to crucify Jesus and the devil did
everything within his power to keep
Jesus in the tomb. When Jesus
ascended to the Father on
Resurrection Sunday, Lucifer refused
to yield his position to Jesus as
prince of this world.[41] There
was another war in Heaven, and
Lucifer and his angels were cast out
of Heaven forever[42] and
thrown into Earth’s Abyss.
(Note: In Bible times, the Abyss was
thought to be the realm of spirits, a
fiery region located under a flat
Earth, the source of fire-breathing
dragons and volcanos.) Since
Resurrection Sunday, the devil and
his demons have not been allowed to
show themselves in Heaven or on
Earth. Even though the devil and his
demons have been confined to the
spirit realm (the Abyss), they are
free to go about their demonic
mischief. Now and then, demons have
been able to escape the Abyss by
gaining control of a human being
(demonic possession),[43] but
they cannot physically appear. The
devil and his angels know how to gain
control over a human being. They
typically use mind-altering things as
tools (alcohol, drugs, music,
pornography, gluttony, sexual
immorality, greed, or the love of
money) with great success. These and
other temptations are a doorway to
demonic possession.
John saw an
angel fly from Heaven to Earth when
the fifth trumpet sounded. The angel
went to the doorway of the Abyss and
he gave Lucifer the key to his
prison. The devil and his demons will
be ecstatic when the fifth trumpet
occurs, because they can escape the
confinement of the spirit realm and
physically appear before human
beings. Jesus will release the devil
and his angels from the Abyss for at
least two reasons. First, Jesus wants
the people of Earth to actually see
the enemy of God and man.[44] Second,
Jesus wants the universe to
experience a government created by a
supernatural sinner who will exercise
absolute authority and power. The
enormous differences between
Lucifer’s government and
God’s government will be studied
throughout eternity.
Revelation
9:2-3
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.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.{2} When
the devil unlocked the door to the
Abyss, I saw a cloud rising from the
Abyss that looked like smoke from a
gigantic furnace. The devil and his
demons were so numerous that from a
distance, they
{3} looked like
a giant swarm of locusts and they
darkened the sky! Even though they
had been physically released from the
Abyss, Jesus limited their
activities. For example, they could
only torture people who had not
received the seal of God.
The fifth
trumpet will occur about two and a
half years (891st day?) after the
Great Tribulation begins. Prior to
the fifth trumpet, the 144,000 will
present the gospel of Jesus to the
whole world. The gospel will polarize
the people of Earth into three
distinct groups of people: The
saints, the religious wicked, and the
non-religious wicked. Of course, the
saints are people who will embrace
the gospel of Christ. The religious
wicked are people who will insist on
remaining loyal to their religious
heritage. The third group, the
non-religious wicked, are people who
will refuse to worship God or have
any religious connection at all
(atheists, agnostics, etc.).
When the
devil physically appears before
mankind, his eloquent masquerade and
miracle working powers will easily
deceive the religious wicked. Needing
a Savior, but hating the gospel of
Jesus, many of the religious wicked
will embrace the devil as though He
were Almighty God. To gain the
respect of religious people, Lucifer
will display all kinds of
supernatural powers, doing things
that only Almighty God can do! For
example, he will call fire down from
Heaven at will.[45] On the
basis of his glorious appearance and
marvelous miracles, millions of
religious wicked people will be
deceived. They will embrace the devil
as Almighty God and put their faith
in him because “seeing is
believing.”
Lucifer is
not permitted to torture anyone
having the seal of God (the 144,000
and the saints) during the fifth
trumpet. Of course, he will not
torture those who believe he is God
(the religious wicked). The devil
will target non-religious people
because he wants to eliminate his
opposition. Lucifer’s goal is
global dominion within five months
and this endeavor requires that he
rapidly eliminate his opponents.
Jesus will limit Lucifer’s
assault for five months; he will not
be allowed to kill anyone. However,
Jesus will permit Lucifer’s
demons to inflict indescribable pain
on the non-religious wicked and this
will force them (and their families)
into making a decision. Some of the
non-religious wicked will embrace the
gospel, worship Jesus and be saved.
Most, however, will capitulate and
worship the devil as Almighty God.
Revelation
9:4-6
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. 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. And in those
days shall men seek death, and shall
not find it; and shall desire to die,
and death shall flee from them.{4} During
the fifth trumpet, the devil and his
demons were not allowed to harm the
physical elements of Earth such as
crops, plants, or trees. Otherwise,
the devil would destroy all means of
survival before the Second Coming.
Further, the demons are not allowed
to harm the 144,000 or anyone else
who had received the seal of God.
{5} Lucifer’s
demons were not allowed to kill
anyone. They could torture people for
five months, but they could not kill
them. I watched as people suffered in
agony from the torture. The pain can
be compared to the searing pain of a
scorpion’s sting when it strikes
a man.
{6} Their agony
was unbearable. Men longed to die,
but death eluded them. They remained
trapped in their agony until they
made a decision.
This torment
in the fifth trumpet is similar to
the time when God released poisonous
serpents upon a rebellious Israel in
the wilderness. Healing came when
dying people acknowledged their need
of a Savior. By faith, when they
gazed on the bronze serpent which
Moses had put on the pole, they were
cured of the venom that was killing
them.[46]
When the
fifth trumpet occurs, almost everyone
on Earth will have reached a decision
(yes, no, or ignore) on the gospel of
Jesus. To challenge the decision of
the wicked, Jesus releases the devil
from the abyss. The physical
appearing of Lucifer will be a very
strong and convincing delusion for
those who said “no” to the
gospel the 144,000 presented. Paul
predicted “a strong
delusion” would be sent to the
wicked because they refused to love
the truth and be saved.[47]Because the
wicked love darkness and lies, Jesus
will release the king of darkness and
lies and they will have to worship
him.
Jesus will
permit the devil to torture the
non-religious wicked so that this
group can be pushed into a final
decision. At the Second Coming, there
will be only two groups of people:
Sheep and goats. Therefore, the
non-religious group must be
dissolved. Consider how demonic
torment will put a non-religious
person in the valley of decision.
Whenever a demon “stings” a
non-religious person, the pain will
be excruciating. The demon will say,
“Worship “God”
(Lucifer) and your pain will be
gone!” One of the 144,000 will
say to the victim, “Repent of
your rebellion and surrender your
life to Jesus. Worship your Creator
and your pain will be gone because
Lucifer cannot hurt those who have
the seal of God!” Pain will push
the non-religious group into a
decision for or against the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
God is
deliberate and purposeful in
everything He does and the seven
trumpets are no exception. Jesus will
inform every person on Earth through
the ministry of 144,000 servants that
God’s two laws of love are not
optional. Each person wishing to
participate in His coming kingdom
must love God with all his heart,
mind, and soul and his neighbor as
himself. When God informs a human
being of His will and if that human
being rejects the enlightenment, God
can do nothing further for that
person. For two and a half years, the
144,000 will faithfully present the
gospel of Jesus (enlightenment from
God). At the fifth trumpet, Lucifer
and his demons will be released from
the Abyss. The comparison between the
ministry of the 144,000 and the
efforts of the devil and his
followers will be striking.
Circumstances will force each human
being into a decision. Each person
will either choose to submit to the
authority of his Creator or he will
choose to submit to Lucifer. By the
end of the seven trumpets, everyone
will serve one of two masters.
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