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The Tribulation Part 6: Woe to the Earth
In Part 5, we witnessed the trumpets begin to blast one by one, sending a fresh series of disasters upon planet earth and its inhabitants. We pick up this study at the fifth trumpet, which is one of the three "woes” that the eagle flying in the heavens has warned the people of Earth about:The Fifth Trumpet sounds:
"Then the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them.” (Revelation 9:1-6, NASB)
The "star" in this verse is not a celestial body, but rather, a person. We get this from the language used: stars normally are not living entities, and cannot be “given" anything. These are qualities reserved for a person, and this person is a "he." Mentioned in the verse is that the "star" had fallen from the sky to earth. From the language used in this verse, it is probably a fallen angel, as celestial beings are referred to as "stars" later on in Scripture (Revelation Chapter 12). It’s important to remember context; without it, a lot of serious Scriptural mistakes can (and have) been made.
Note here that the angel is described as having “fallen to earth”. Previously, I had thought the opening to the Abyss was located on Earth, but a closer reading shows that it simply describes the angel, not the location of the pit. This angel has they key and releases a swarm of locusts. Note that the shy, already darkened by the previous judgments, is darkened even more.
The "marching orders' for this swarm are not to touch anyone but those who don't have God's seal on their heads. They are not to touch the grass, vegetation, or anything else but their specified target. They aren't allowed to kill, only to torture for a period of 5 months; not even half a year. But during that period, men will suffer the pain from the "sting" of this swarm, as if it were a scorpion sting. Middle Eastern varieties of scorpions, such as the Death Stalker Scorpion and the Yellow Fantail Scorpion, have particularly nasty stings, as their venom can kill a full-grown adult. John probably knew full well of these types of scorpions, and used this simile as he wrote.
(NOTE: the following paragraphs are a graphic description of end times conditions. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised): During this period; Scripture tells us that people will seek to die, but that death will flee from them. It doesn't just limit it to a specific area or group, but it seems to reference the whole planet. Imagine a world in the conditions of the Tribulation: darkness, disasters, famines and wars have devastated the planet, freak weather conditions that are out of control, poisoned water, and earthquakes.
Meanwhile, people would desperately be trying to kill themselves, but as Scripture states: they would be unable to die. The horror is unimaginable: severe bruises, massively bleeding wounds, broken bones, burns, severe poisoning from tainted water. Vomiting, diarrhea, festering sores and infections, parasitic infestations, mutilations, foul-smelling discharges and generally-poor hygiene would all be a literal stench in the air in may places, and quickly overwhelm most people's noses as well as what was left of septic and sewer systems. Diseases would not kill, but leave untold multitudes in agonized, screaming masses and in desperate need of advanced medical care. What was left of clinics, hospitals and healthcare systems would be quickly overrun and collapse due to lack of medicine, personal protective equipment, ventilators/ life support equipment and what remained would be rationed out very strictly.
While pandemics would run rampant (think COVID-19 on steroids), many people would be near-literal skeletons, “warmed over” with flesh. People would be dying from hunger, yet remain alive because “death would flee from them”, and they would wander aimlessly. Those who tried to commit suicide would probably have ghastly wounds that would normally be fatal. Add all this on top of all the plagues and the fact that what remained of society would have a great deal of trouble trying to find a place to put all those people.
Meantime, the "Locusts" that afflict unregenerate man at this point are described in detail:
"The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men for five months. They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon. ” (Revelation 9:7-11, NASB)
The description of them in Greek uses the word stephanoi, which denote wreaths given to the victors in a competition. Meantime, they appear to have human faces, hair like a woman's, the sound of galloping horses as well as tails like scorpions. The descriptions given have been noted by some prophecy teachers as resembling a modern attack helicopter, and while that is a possibility, it doesn’t rule out that they could be supernatural creatures led by the angel Abbadon/ Apollyon. The mystery of this will be settled though, when it happens in the Tribulation.
A final note: the names Abaddon and Apollyon both mean the same thing: "Destroyer". This angel is most likely a demon/ fallen angel.
The Sixth Trumpet sounds:
"The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming after these things. Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind." (Revelation 9:12-15, NASB)
From God's altar, we hear a command issue to the sixth angel, who has just sounded. He is commanded to unbind four angels whose purpose is to slay a third of mankind. From the context of the Scriptures here, it would be 1/3 of what remained of mankind on the earth after the previous judgments. We are not told from Scripture whether these four who are bound at the river are fallen angels or not; only that that they are angels. I have heard others argue they are demons because they slay, but keep in mind that Isaiah recounts an angel of the Lord killing over 100,000 Assyrian soldiers in a night.
“The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm.” (Revelation 9:16-19, NASB)
This passage has troubled many people who have studied this portion of Scripture. Many believe that this will be an army from China: they connect this army with Revelation 16:12, which mentions the armies of the kings of the east, and that the Euphrates River is dried so that they can come to the battle of Armageddon. Others insist that this is a demonic army, led by the angel of the pit, Apollyon. Their reasoning is that China does not have 200 million horses for that many people, even though they could conceivably field an army that big. And to feed them as they move would be a massive undertaking. The only problem is that Scripture does NOT clearly connect this army with Apollyon, or as a force of demons. The horses are described as having weird attributes, but the riders are not spoken of, save for their breastplates. It is conceivable that the army could be demonically possessed, but once again, that is not mentioned in Scripture either. We know from this is that plagues come from the 'horses" mouths, and that they are fire, smoke and sulfur. It does resemble the characteristics of tank artillery (propellant uses sulfur, and gives off smoke and fire.), which would mean that what John described as "horses” might actually be mechanized infantry, which could be manufactured en masse. While it does explain a few things, caution must be used to not “shoehorn” theories into Scripture. I only mention some possibilities here that may fit the scenarios given; ultimately, we will see how they actually play out.
" The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:20-21, NASB)
Here, we find a report that confirms a sad truth: despite all of the plagues, wars, disasters and whatnot, these people are adamant in their persistence to sin! You would think by this point, these folks would get the idea that someone up above was NOT happy with them. But they are so deluded and stone-hearted, they have but one path: straight to hell.
The Church, on the other hand, has already surrendered to God, and are therefore saved and indwelt with the Holy Spirit. While we indeed do suffer in our walk with the Lord on this planet, we are being shaped for Eternity; any “purification” was done at the Cross. If it were it necessary for us to enter the Tribulation and suffer to be “perfected”, then what of those who died in Christ already?
On that point: while it is also true that God has not “rescued” anyone from suffering on this planet in the past, we need to keep in mind that there is a major difference between the strife we encounter in this life, and the Great Tribulation. Jesus made it clear (as did Paul and the other NT writers) that we would encounter difficulty and opposition from human and demonic sources alike, as well as the general sin condition of the planet. God is not going to rescue us from daily life and grief here; and while periods of history were indeed terrible and many died from war, torture, famine, disease, plague and other atrocities, those were due to the sin condition brought about by man’s original sin at the Garden of Eden.
But, the time of the Tribulation is God’s judgment on the Earth for its rebellion; it is when God, finally done with holding back judgment for eons, gives mankind on Earth the judgment it richly deserves. The entire Tribulation (as pointed out previously in this study) is God’s wrath, and we are promised in Revelation 3 (and elsewhere in Scripture) not to be in the way of it.
In Part 7, we will pick up with John's vision of the Angel with the scroll, and the Seventh Trumpet.
I bid you all peace.
YBIC,
-Sojo414
