The FIFTH and SIXTH TRUMPETS in this chapter are so ominous that
they
take much space to develop or explain. Here we are given a glimpse into
the very EVIL under our "water" world.
This chapter is explained mostly in symbolic terms; yet, the effects
of the EVIL on this earth during this chapter are real inasmuch a third
of mankind will be killed. This, as the previous
chapter, is NOT PRETTY to write about or even think about.
1. And 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.
And the fifth ANGEL sounded,
This is the first WOE of the WOE, WOE, WOE in Revelation
8:13 (the previous verse). It will take eleven verses to describe
this
TRUMPET blast. Finally, in verse 12, this first WOE
is past.
and I saw a STAR from heaven which had fallen to the earth;
Since this STAR "had fallen" indicates the fall took place previously.
Perhaps, this star is the one in the third TRUMPET, Revelation
8:10. The most common interpretation is the STAR is a fallen angel
or the devil himself.
and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him.
Here is where things get interesting. Christ has the keys: Keys of
Death
and Hades, Revelation 1:18, Key of
David,
Revelation 3:7. So it is as if Christ is
chiding
the devil by saying, "Show me what you have in the bottomless pit that
you could possibly use to overthrow Me." Just the act of the devil
having
to take the key shows superiority of Christ.
Now let's consider "the bottomless pit (abyss)". It is
self-contained
because it is lockable. Otherwise, there would be no need for a key.
However,
the word "bottomless" contradicts the idea of self-contained. So the
only
conclusion is that physical boundaries are subject to physical laws,
and
spiritual/evil boundaries are subject to different yet lockable laws.
There are two types of demons. Those who are free to roam on the
earth.
These are the ones Jesus cast out throughout His miracles period. Those
who are bound in the pits of darkness for sins committed as Peter says
in 2
Peter 2:4-9. They are being preserved
for judgment as Jude
6 confirms.
Some think that the Nephilim of Genesis
6:1-8 are some in the bottomless pit after they were drown in the
great
flood. It is a place so horrible that even the "free-roaming" demons do
not want to go there, Luke
8:26-34.
2. And 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.
And he opened the BOTTOMLESS PIT [ABYSS]; and
The one who was given the key in the previous verse
opens
the PIT.
SMOKE went up out of the PIT, like the smoke of a great
furnace;
and
If hell is at the center of the earth, as some commentators
believe,
then there really is no bottom but only up. The entities in the PIT are
angry for being bound there. Recall that the curse of sin is upon the
earth,
ALL OF IT!
the SUN and the AIR were DARKENED by the SMOKE of the PIT.
So opening the PIT, darkens the SUN. Literally, the sun is our source
for energy to allow life to exist. The whole life cycle is dependent of
the sun. So darkening the sun affects life directly. So, too, in the
spiritual
realm, smoke obscures the SON except for that mixed with MUCH INCENSE, Revelation 8:3,4.
Likewise, AIR is ingested to sustain life. But more than that,
traces
of residue in the air are left in our bodies. So unbelievers suffering
through the fifth TRUMPET are ingesting this polluted AIR. How awful
that
must be!
3. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and
power
was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
And out of the SMOKE came forth LOCUSTS upon the earth;
This is the SUN-darkening and AIR-filling SMOKE from the previous
verse, and it came from the PIT. It is not clear whether this is a
literal vision or a figurative one. Usually, smoke (fire) would kill
insects;
therefore, it is probably most likely the LOCUSTS are symbolic.
The PIT is reserved for the devil and his angels, so these LOCUSTS
are
awful demons previously locked up. Joel
1:4-7
describes what these LOCUSTS do ... strip the remaining humans of life
and spiritual conscience.
and 1) POWER was given to them, as the
scorpions of
the earth have power.
This is the first of three things given to the LOCUSTS. The other two
things
follow in the next two verses. There is nothing which happens in the
universe
unless the Lord permits it,
Scorpions are not pleasurable. They inflict terrible sting and pain.
The
Israelites experienced them so they would be trustful, humble, and
understand
the power to make wealth, Deuteronomy
8:11-20.
Ezekiel
2:1-7 shows the house of Israel
being so fearful and rebellious that they are willing to "sit on
scorpions"
than to repent. This explains when Jesus was encouraging the seventy
disciples
after a demon-bashing-in-His-name mission in Luke
10:17-20 that He passed on His authority to "tread on serpents and
scorpions".
4. And they were told that they should not 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 2) they were told that they should not hurt
the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree,
It is the creatures from the PIT who are told by the four angels
identified
in Revelation 7:2, not to hurt any green
thing.
Now, if these are real locusts, as in the previous verse,
then this is exactly opposite of what real locusts do. That is, real
locusts
feed on "green things". Also since they understand what they are not to
do, these creatures are intelligent, at least more than real locusts
are.
BUT ONLY the men who do not have the SEAL OF GOD on their
foreheads.
Now, this is an interesting twist. It is clear that these creatures
from
the PIT are to go after men. Maybe this is a testing of those
"unsealed"
men who falsely claim they are sealed. The 144,000 men, apparently, are
not sealed all at once as implied in Revelation
7:3. So these demons from the PIT appear to be released to do their
mischief while the sealing continues by the four angels.
Some Bible scholars, believe this is much torment of demonic
possession
(not related to the 144,000 men). An example is the possession of Judas
Iscariot in John
13:21-30 and the end
result in Matthew
27:3-5.
5. 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 3) they were not permitted to KILL ANYONE,
but to TORMENT for FIVE months;
Five months, spring and summer, is the life cycle of the locust. During
this time, the permission to kill is denied. To TORMENT is OK. However,
for the type of TORMENT to be experienced during this exact five
months,
DEATH would probably be preferred.
It is clear that to harm believers, the devil needs permission (Job
2:3-6). The devil also needs permission to TORMENT these people
too.
This implies that ALL HUMAN LIFE is precious to God. Even today we are
experiencing a hint of this TORMENT when young men think its nothing to
"rub out" a person "just because I wanted to". Here, in this verse, it
is the threat of death which is the TORMENT.
Note: the five months period is the same time that the earth was
covered
with water. During this time ALL LIFE was killed (notTORMENTed) except
for Noah and his family and pairs of animals, Genesis
7:21-24.
and their TORMENT was like the TORMENT of a scorpion when it
stings a man.
The scorpion's sting is most painful but seldom fatal. It was equated
with
harsh discipline as in 2
Chronicles 10:6-11
Other examples of TORMENTand related fear:
Job indicates TORMENT brings no ease -- Job
3:20-26.
The remnant of Topheth is TORMENTed by the bones of slain
Israelis -- Jeremiah
8:1-3.
The sin of Israel brought on TORMENT -- Hosea
10:3-10.
6. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it;
and
they will long to die and death flees from them.
And in those days
These are the days during the 5th TRUMPET and following the release of
the smoke (demons) from the abyss.
MEN will seek DEATH and will not FIND it;
Watchman Nee in his book, "Come, Lord Jesus" says, "The desire to die
is
a matter of the heart, whereas the seeking of death is a question of
way.
Presently, it is death that seeks man, but (in those days) in the
future
it will be man seeking death."
and they will long to die and death flees from them.
Remember that even DEATH is under Christ's control, Revelation
1:18. Even as Hannah prayed in 1
Samuel
2:5-10, it is the Lord that kills and makes alive.
This period has to be a real awesome period. For five months there
will
be no deaths among the unsealed people. This is hard to imagine since
presumably
guns, drugs, hangings etc. should be available during this time; yet
the
state of the demon controlled person may be such that they will not be
able to control their own movements. Take, for example, Luke
8:26-39, a man who had some of these demons. He was out of control.
Also note the fear of the villagers in verse 37.
7. And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for
battle; and on their heads, as it were, crowns like gold, and their
faces
were like the faces of men.
And the APPEARANCE of the locusts was
John sees these demons released out of the abyss and tries to describe
them. Whether they will be visible to the unsealed persons is not
clear,
but their effect on them will be REAL!
like HORSES prepared for battle; and
Job in Job
39:19-25 gives us a verbal
description of how war horses act. Nothing will stop them; they have no
fear; and they will not respond "to a trumpet". That is, whatever man
tries
to do to counteract these terrible demons will not work. They are
"rearing
to go" having just been released from the pit! Look out unsealed
persons!
Check out how Habakkuk (Habakkuk
1:5-11)
describes the horsemen invasion by the Chaldeans.
on their heads, as it were, CROWNS like gold, and
The old deceiver, Revelation 12:9, is
again trying to imitate authority. However, remember the TRUE crown of
GOLD is worn by Christ, Revelation 14:14
and his followers, like the 24 elders, Revelation
4:4.
their faces were like the faces of men.
This denotes the demons have intelligence. That is, they use rational
thought. They know who the unsealed are, and it will be difficult for
the
unsealed to distinguish the humans from the demons. But, again, that is
the highest form of deception.
8. And they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were
like the teeth of lions.
The attributes of these locusts (demons)
continue from the previous verse.
And they had HAIR like the HAIR of WOMEN,
Whether this image is to denote a very attractive beguiling demon which
lures men to them or if the long hair is for the "glory" (1
Corinthians 11:6-7) of their leader, ABADDON (Revelation
9:11) is not clear. Nonetheless, they are attractive. That hair is
an attention getter, just watch the TV commercials to see what part
hair
plays in selling product!
and their TEETH were like the TEETH of lions.
What an odd combination! The unsealed are lured by the hair, and then
they are "torn apart" by the teeth "of lions". This is in line with
what
Joel says about the devouring nature of demons (Joel
1:6).
These demons have no respect. They obviously don't care about
doing
to others as they wished to be done to them (or are they?) (Matthew
7:12)
9. And 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.
And they had BREASTPLATES like breastplates of IRON;
These locusts or demon creatures are well protected, they think. They
cannot be killed, nor can they kill; they can only torment for 5
months.
Note the contrast between these demons "protection" and the
believer's
BREASTPLATE (1
Thessalonians 5:8) which
is given to them by Christ who wears His BREASTPLATE of righteousness, Isaiah
59:17.
and the SOUND of their wings was like the SOUND of
chariots, of many
horses rushing to battle.
The demon creatures have movement and their movement is loud. It is
not as though they sneak up on you. Those unsealed persons will hear
them
going and the SOUND alone should strike terror into their hearts. Joel
sees them as leaping from the top of one mountian to another, Joel
2:5 (or can we interpret this as metro area to metro area?).
10. And they have tails like scorpions, and stings; and in their
tails is their power to hurt men for five months.
The list of attributes of the scorpions (demons) continues.
And they have TAILS like scorpions, and STINGS; and in
their
TAILS
is their POWER to hurt men for five months.
When a phrase "for five months" is repeated within a chapter (verse
5), it means it has importance. These demonic creatures will
torment
"unsealed" humans for five months. They cannot kill the unsealed people
-- just make life miserable.
Then after five months, they all disappear. Again a brief respite to
REPENT.
Consider how scorpions sting. The tail is kept out of sight until,
from
out of nowhere, while you are facing the creature, you get hit. Again,
how deceptive is looking at beauty and the extreme torment lurking
behind.
One senses throughout this discussion of the scorpions, an
overtone
of sexuality. This almost seems like David and Bathsheba in 2
Samuel 11:2-5 and the consequences in 2
Samuel 11:26-27. This is the combination of beauty, temptation, and
sin.
11. 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.
They have as KING over them, the ANGEL of the ABYSS;
Solomon rightly observed that animal locusts do not have a king in Proverbs
30:24-28. Therefore, this phrase clearly indicates that these are
other
than animals. To have an angel (fallen) leading them indicates their
spiritual
nature, that is, demons. There are more creatures than just satan who
are
evil or fallen, Matthew
25:41.
It is not satan himself even though he rules "principalities" and
"power"
as found in Ephesians
6:12 and Colossians
2:15. And satan's place currently is not in the abyss but in
heavenly
places as shown in Ephesians
2:2.
his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name
Appollyon.
John is the only writer who uses bilingual terms. He does here and in
his
gospel (John
6:1; John
19:13,17,20; John
20:16). This is his
style of writing; however, here in this verse he may have wanted to
emphasize
that this demonic locust plague was going to affect all "unsealed" both
apostate Jews as well as unsaved Gentiles.
The term 'ABADDON' means 'destruction' or 'ruin'. It is used in Job
26:6 as the place of destruction, and even this place is totally
revealed
before Christ Jesus (Proverbs
15:11).
There is no comfort there, even as in Sheol, Proverbs
27:20.
The term 'APOLLYON' is the name of a person meaning 'destoyer'. This
personifies the leader of the fallen angels who are released as these
awful
stinging locusts -- demons.
12. The first woe is past; behold, two woes are still coming
after
these things.
The first woe is past;
This is the woe we have just studied which is associated with the
sounding
of the fifth trumpet. This woe can be interpreted two ways:
Real (physical) ==> There will be a plague of terrible
locust-like
beasts
which sting as scorpions for 5 months. They are released from a dormant
state or are newly created by God for this woe.
Figurative ==> Demons are released from the abyss and the evil
and
cruelty
inflicted upon this earth's people will be glamourous but oh so
tortorous.
Mental anguish is often the worst torment.
behold, two woes are still coming after these things.
Perhaps, this is said by the eagle (Revelation
8:13) and foretells the next two woes as "trumpets 6 and 7". See
the
pronouncement after the second woe in Revelation
11:14.
13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the
four
horns of the golden altar which is before God,
And the sixth angel sounded,
The second WOE is commensing with the blast of the
SIXTH
TRUMPET.
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar
which
is before God,
John is not specific here as to the owner of 'a voice'. He is clear,
though,
that it comes from the four horns of the altar. Now the four horns on
the
altar of fragrant incense (Revelation 8:4)
were touched by the blood of the bull sacrifice in the atonement of sin
-- Leviticus
4:1-12.
One could argue that this voice is from Jesus whose blood is being
avenged;
others believe it is God Himself since Christ is making intercession
with/for
the prayers of the saints -- Hebrews
7:25
and 1
John 2:1. Perhaps, this is why
John is not precise as to whose voice this is.
In the Old Testament, the horns were a safe haven from judgment as
in
1
Kings 1:49-53. By hanging on to
the horns, one could claim mercy. So, too, today, by accepting
Christ's redemption blood, we find mercy. Anyone NOT hanging on
will
find judgment. Also note that this judgment is carried out in full view
of God (not that He doesn't see everything) but meaning He fully
commands
it.
14. one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release
the
four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."
one saying to the sixth angel who had the TRUMPET,
The sound (speaker) was one of the incense altar horns (see
previous verse) to the sixth angel. Some commentator think this is
Christ Himself speaking, but it could be one of the four living
creatures.
"Release the four angels who are bound at the great river
Euphrates."
These are four major angels
working
for the devil; this is almost like the devil always tries to do one
better
than the Triune God. It is time for the 'judgment of the great day' (Jude
6) for these angels. Looking at the map, one sees that there are
four
present day countries through which the Euphrates flows: Turkey, Syria,
Iraq, and Kuwait. Perhaps these FOUR angels are symbolic of these four
countries. None of these countries are Israel's "friends".
The Euphrates River is prominent throughout the Bible. It was one of
the Garden of Eden rivers, Genesis
2:10-14.
Its source is not from rain but some undergound aquafer, Genesis
2:5-6. At Noah's time, the Euphrates source may have been one of
the
fountains of the great deep, Genesis
7:11.
At the Euphrates River, all of sin is first manifested. The apple is
eaten; there is hatred; the first murder is committed; and the first
martyr
is listed. This place is demon possessed. As a curious sidelight, the
King
James Version states these angels are bound IN the river, while this
version
says AT the river.
'IN the river' makes more sense, when one thinks of the demoniac who
was cured in Luke
8:26-39. The demons
begged not to be sent to the abyss but rather into the swine. When the
swine drown, the demons were left in the water. It is interesting from
a spiritual viewpoint how God uses the physical world, the devils
playground,
as a spiritual container. And only at the granted permission can these
demons work on apostate Jews and non-believer Gentiles. God could have
used the mighty archangels Gabriel or Michael to do the job, but it is
more appropriate this way for the devil and his angels to do the
murdering
of 1/3 of mankind as seen in the next verse.
Note that not all water contains demons. Christ says He is the
Living
Water. There is a River of water of LIFE in Revelation
22:1. Praise the LIVING
WATER!
And he is precise. The time is exact down to the hour. Or this can be
interpreted
as the period of time to accomplish the killing. He knows the plan
forever
- Acts
15:18.
WERE RELEASED, so that they might kill a THIRD of MANKIND.
Death goes out again just where it started -- the Euphrates River --
Cain
killed Abel, Genesis
4:1-8. This time,
however, 1/3 of mankind are killed (militarily?, see
next
verse). The sixth TRUMPET kills people; the fifth TRUMPET only
harmed
men (verse 5).
16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred
million; I heard the number of them.
And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred
million;
Most scholars believe this isn't a literal human army. Logistically, to
field this size army would cause much societal and political upheaval.
Maximun mobilization in World War II was about 70 million men. On the
other
hand, if the petroleum fields are cut off or destroyed, much of the
rest
of the world will come looking for the oil. This also explains the use
of horses.
By looking at the rest of this chapter, the descriptions indicate
these
forces are demonic "armies". And amazingly, the translation rendered
here
is "the number of the armies" was 200,000,000. Actual demon count may
be
higher! Remember, we fight against the WORLD FORCES OF THE DARKNESS
(demons
and their 4 leaders from the Euphrates River), against the spiritual
forces
of wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians
6:12-13).
I heard the number of them.
What John sees in this SIXTH TRUMPET is so incredible that the voice of
the altar reinforces the number by verbally SAYING it to him. John goes
on in the rest of the chapter to try to describe through spiritual eyes
these demonic forces, and how they will operate.
17. 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.And this is how I saw in the vision the HORSES and THOSE
who sat on them:
John is saying, "I'll try as best I can to describe what I saw". Even
as I type this, he must be watching from heaven and saying, "No, that's
not it, not that ... there, that is what I saw." We are not capable of
describing things beyond our experience unless it is a vision, and we
translate
the vision into earthly things which match most of our human
experiences.
Most of us have seen a horse with a rider.
the RIDERS had breastplates the color of fire and of
hyacinth and
of brimstone; and
This part John knew for sure. The RIDERS had colorful protective gear
of reds, yellows, and blues. What is never described in Revelation is
the
smells of these visions other than the incense (prayers, Revelation
8:4). And even this is left to our imagination.
Hyacinth may be the color of the "smoke" of the horses kicking up
"dust"
as they stomp through mankind and kill them. See that "SMOKE" is
inserted
between fire and brimestone in the next verse.
the HEADS of the HORSES are like the heads of lions; and
This now is symbolic since the word 'like' is used. Not only are these
horsemen protected by breastplates, but they are fearless and powerful
like lions. Some scholars who are looking at a physical interpretation
indicate this may be a special kind of military tank. However, this
probably
is the devil prancing around (1
Peter 5:8)
trying to imitate the real LION (Revelation 5:5).
out of their MOUTHS proceed FIRE and SMOKE and
BRIMSTONE.
The FIRE and SMOKE and BRIMSTONE is proceeding out of the MOUTHS of
the riders. These are three awful destructors or testers.
Fire has always been used to test a man's work. Otherwise, why
would
we have "fire departments" to try to save our earthly belongings.
18. 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.
A THIRD of MANKIND was KILLED by these three plagues,
If the present world population is around 5.2 billion, then with 1/4 of
the population being killed by the fourth horseman of Apocalypse (Revelation
6:8), that would leave about 3.9 billion for this trumpet. A third
of the remaining population would then be around 1.3 billion people in
13 months (verse 15). This computes to a 4 people
(mankind)
per horse (200,000,000 in verse 16) kill ratio.
This
may imply that the average family size of 4 people is attacked by one
horseman
(demon). It is not a mere coicidence that we in America are finding a
crumbling
of family values and related moral decay. We are seeing a foretaste of
this in this trumpet.
The use of the term MANKIND implies that this is worldwide and not
limited
to Israel or the near East. What makes this such a contrast is that
this
KILLING trumpet follows on the heels of the "NO DEATHS" trumpet (verse
5). This may be a partial fulfillment of Jeremiah
25:30-38.
It is interesting how "plagues" is used to denote fire, smoke, and
brimstone.
by the fire and - scorched or tested to death
the smoke and - suffocated to death
the brimstone(sulphur), - poisoned to death.
which proceeded out of their mouths.
Maybe these demons or demon-possessed people are "sweet talkers". Most
killer diseases are through talking someone else into participating,
e.g.
AIDS, smoking (mouth use), improper eating, etc. One could consider
that
the mouth convinces to commit a visible act (fire), a covert act
(smoke),
or terrorist act (brimstone). All will be used to KILL.
19. 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.
For the POWER of the HORSES is in their MOUTHS and in their
TAILS;
These are special "HORSES" because they don't obey the command given to
Noah (Genesis
9:1-2-7) to have dominance
over every beast, bird, etc. Certainly, the will to live has the people
remaining during this sixth trumpet trying to find ways to stop these
HORSES,
but can't.
for their tails are like serpents and have heads; and with them
THEY DO HARM.
This maybe an extreme view, but this looks like homosexual encounters
gone
rampant.
If this truly is a creature, then it is awesome because just the
time
you think its leaving, the tail bites you and kills you (or HARMS you).
How horrible can things get? This is bad but look at Deuteronomy
28:49-68. Is this what disobedience is worth?
A sidelight: The clear physical cannabalistic nature of mankind will
be revealed during this time. If one believes that the redeemed are
taken
up by this time, then love has been removed from this earth. All that
is
left is to look out for NUMBER ONE! Then it is entirely possible that
no
one is going to come to the aid of another or try to control the HORSES.
20. And 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 the REST of MANKIND, who were not killed by these plagues,
With over 2 billion people dying after the fourth seal is broken and
the sixth
trumpet is blown, how will the remaining bury all the dead? Not only
will
this be a major health concern but the loss of this consumer power will
reek havoc on the world's economies.
DID NOT REPENT of the works of their HANDS,
It is very interesting that the convincing done by MOUTH by the demons
in verse 18 is translated in to real action in this
verse. So convincing is the New Age fatalism, 'In me, I trust' or 'I
can
find my own God inside me, because I made myself the moralistic judge
of
my activities' that THE REST of MANKIND do not repent.
Under the seals, the people left recognized that they had suffered
the
judgment of God (Revelation 6:16-17).
Here, there is not even recognition of God's judgment. They are so into
self and idol worship as we shall see!
so as not to WORSHIP
demons, and
This is especially abominal to God. Demons are created beings (by God)
who have fallen (Romans
1:24-25). Don't
worship the created; SERVE the CREATOR!
Satan worship and demon reverence is ever growing. At this time, it is
so prevalent, that it is the norm to do so. How else will the
AntiChrist
be worshipped in such complete subjection, and taking the 666 a matter
of fact?
the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone
and
of
wood,
Paul in Athens argues the difference between God and the idols listed
above
in Acts
17:22-29-31. Check out this
list again:
Even though all these things are either a poor imitation or outright
fake,
these people still believed these idols had some powers. This partially
fulfills the prophesy in Zephaniah
1:14-18.
which can neither see nor hear nor walk;
Note this list leaves out speaking because idols do speak later in Revelation13:15
as the image of the beast. However, speaking and additional attributes
are given to idols in Psalm
115:1-8.
21. and they did not repent of their murders nor of their
sorceries
nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.
and they DID NOT REPENT of their
It is no coicidence that we return to one of the major themes of the
Bible
here as the sixth trumpet is sounded. This short list of four acts
pretty
much sums up what we see in the news day after day. The difference here
is that the earth has seen a plague wipe out over a billion people and
STILL people will not repent. Their hearts are hardened like Pharoah's
in Moses' time (Exodus
7 - 11:10).
Remember,
though, that God is permitting this as Romans
1:24-32 says. This hardness is a result of excluding God, Ephesians
4:17-24. God exposes this list of sins (John
3:20) and the people remaining don't like the exposure but are
hardened
so much as to not repent.
MURDERS nor of their
Ever since the rider of the red horse took peace from the earth (Revelation
6:4 - 2nd seal), man wants to murder each other. Respect for life
is
gone.
SORCERIES nor of their
This is the root word for drugs. Drug use will run rampant. Even the
world's merchants will think nothing of drug trafficking. And Revelation
18:23 points out that all nations will be deceived.
IMMORALITY nor of their
Sex will be a commodity to be exchanged for drugs, "power", and just
plain pleasure. It follows from the plagues and STILL does not stop.
THEFTS.
To feed the drug habits, thieves will be hard at work. Possibly the
worst theft of all is the one where Satan steals the soul (Revelation
18:3). Occults are trading in this commodity already ... what will
it be like during the 6th trumpet????
Those of us who are believers know that we have One who will repay (Hebrews
10:30); it still requires REPENTENCE.
These are four major angels
working
for the devil; this is almost like the devil always tries to do one
better
than the Triune God. It is time for the 'judgment of the great day' (Jude
6) for these angels. Looking at the map, one sees that there are
four
present day countries through which the Euphrates flows: Turkey, Syria,
Iraq, and Kuwait. Perhaps these FOUR angels are symbolic of these four
countries. None of these countries are Israel's "friends".