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Trumpet 5 (Revelation 9:1-12)
9:3 Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 9:4 They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads. 9:5 They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. 9:6 In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
Then out of the smoke came forth locusts on the earth, and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power
Characteristics of these locusts:
They consume living vegetation Rev 9:4; 7:3; 8:7; Ex 10:5,12,15.
They come from the east Ex 10:13.
They impose themselves on people Ex 10:6,15.
These locusts are also associated with darkness (Rev 9:2) along with torment/harm to people not having the seal of God (Rev 9:4-5,10), those who reject the version of God as revealed by the Lamb. They have exchanged the truth of God for the lie (Romans 1:23).
power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power
This word for power is the same that is often translated as authority. It is not the word for merely force but is about delegated power, not so much physical power. This is why it is noted as being given to them, for in reality authority is given to someone by those who chose to live under their authority. This is important to appreciate when seeking to understand the meaning behind these symbols.
The way creation design reality operates is not the way the counterfeit kingdom of the dragon functions relying on hierarchy, top-down control. That false kind of authority may be what we are used to living under, but in reality each person chooses who will have authority over their lives.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. (Romans 6:15-19 NAS95)
I believe what we are reading about here in this fifth trumpet is wholesale giving over of authority by the masses to the assertions of lying spirits who are then empowered or authorized to be loosed from the restrictions placed on them previously. Thus the key to the bottomless pit, the abyss in which even demon spirits are terrified to be locked into, may involve the authority of our will.
But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn't find it. Then he says, 'I will return into my house from which I came out,' and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation. (Matthew 12:43-45)
Notice this phrase waterless places. Remember what we found in our study of the word for the abyss? It was a hole in the ground used for getting water, either a well or a cistern. But it was also used as a prison when it was not full of water, and the demons begged Jesus not to send them there.
What does water represent in this venue? This same passage as recorded by Luke is prefaced by these words:
He that is not with me is against me. He who doesn't gather with me scatters. (Luke 11:23)
Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38)
For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)
So according to Jesus, evil demons who find resting places in people but get displaced during a cleansing encounter with the Lord of truth, can return to their old hangout if they discover that the person's heart and life are not preoccupied by forces of light that protect it from invasion. When this is the case, these demons resort to soliciting other demons who are more evil than the original ones. But my question is, where do these more evil demons come from? Why are they not already living in humans somewhere? Is the spirit world far more complex than we may have imagined? Does Satan imprison his own demons for non-compliance and treat them harshly and without mercy like his system operates among humans?
And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; (Jude 1:6 NKJV)
For if God didn't spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment... (2 Peter 2:4)
These words pits and chains come from the same word. Thus we see described here the pit of the abyss that is used as a prison for spirits, but who can evidently find release to participate in reoccupation of a person's life who has neglected to install sufficient security after being remodeled by heaven. This is a very sobering revelation indeed.
The important question then arises, what is involved in installing an effective security system that can prevent this tragedy from happening to me? Evidently, it is not enough simply to believe the truth and rejoice in the truth for a season, for according to the parable of the seed sower, a person can rejoice for a time after receiving the seed of truth but can miss out on the harvest because of shallow roots or by allowing distractions to take over our priority. Clearly what I am seeing here is a warning to me and to all of us to take more seriously the advancing light that is being brought to us and not to imagine that because we may understand more than others that we are safe. We may in fact find ourselves the target of old familiar spirits who have been previously ejected from our lives seeking reentrance, and if our security system is not operational and connected to heaven's forces properly, we may become not only reinfected with old habit patterns but might be overwhelmed in ways we never imagined possible.
For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses' law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "Vengeance belongs to me," says the Lord, "I will repay." Again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:26-31)
These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. (2 Peter 2:17)
When the far more evil spirits join the more benign dark spirits that have been allowed to reinfect a person through their neglect to get totally serious about surrender to God, these spirits that come from the abyss, the waterless cistern that imprisoned them for so long, find place in a human heart to wreak havoc as they suck out any remaining moisture from their soul. This is the work of evil spirits, for they have cut themselves off from God the source of living water and are now parasites living off the remnants of moisture they can leach from human victims who allow them access to their lives.
as the scorpions of the earth have power
This is a description to unpack the nature or method of receiving power relating to the symbolic locusts. It might be easy to begin to imagine that suddenly there are also scorpions involved, and this symbol certainly is quite relevant. But what appears to be the main point here is relating to power, not whether or not scorpions are now introduced. Having said that, let's look at some verses relating to scorpion power to see what we might learn.
They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. (Revelation 9:5)
They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months. (Revelation 9:10)
then your heart be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint; (Deuteronomy 8:14-15)
Now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. (1 Kings 12:11)
You, son of man, don't be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don't be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 2:6)
Behold, I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will in any way hurt you. (Luke 10:19)
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
In Scripture scorpions are often associated with serpents and very likely represent demonic spirits allied with Satan the ancient serpent. If these demonic spirits are here being released by the one wielding the key to the abyss, is it possible that what this might be describing is a counterfeit related to descriptions about the Second Coming of Jesus with all His holy angel spirits?
But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 25:31-32)
For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also will be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)
Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:9-11)
They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person. In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. (Revelation 9:5-6)
Notice the striking similarity between these last two passages. This provides a most compelling argument on the part of the great impersonator that he is the actual Lamb and the reason that resistors to him are being tormented by his spirit assistants is because they are resisting his authority. Thus he can claim that the polarization taking place relates to his claim to be the promised messiah for our planet. Consequently, all who resist his authority must be worshiping a false messiah and thus are those who have the mark of the beast. Furthermore the torment they experience so long as they resist his government is simply deserved punishment and there will be no release from their torment while they refuse to give up heretical views and their misplaced trust in a wimpy Lamb concept who has no real power to establish peace on earth through law and order.
Throughout this fifth trumpet there is an unusual repetition of a few words that have similar meaning that may be worth noting here. Following is a list these words just in this one trumpet message.
hos – as it were, even as like, like as
smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke from a burning furnace
power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power
Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person
on their heads appeared to be crowns
on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold
their faces were like people's faces
They had hair like women's hair
their teeth were like those of lions
They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron
The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war
homoios – similar (in appearance or character): – like
The shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for war
on their heads appeared to be crowns like gold
They have tails like those of scorpions
homoioma – a form; abstractly, resemblance: made like to, likeness, shape, similitude
The appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle
These 'like' words show up so often it would seem to indicate that while there are important similarities, we should not confuse them as being the same as what they resemble. Rather we are to discern how the secondary symbol informs us of some characteristic to be seen in the initial symbol.
They were told that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads
First of all, who are we going to assume is in charge in this situation? If this is a counterfeit operation doing everything possible to emulate what people are expecting to happen at the Second Coming of Christ, who would be giving out instructions at this point? Would it not be Satan himself masquerading as an angel of light, as Christ himself?
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ's apostles. And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light. It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
(2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Of the angels he says, "Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire."
Aren't they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:7, 14)
Who we assume to be giving these instructions will make all the difference in how we interpret the meaning of the symbols in this passage. If heaven is giving these orders as restrictions on what these locusts are allowed to do, then we go down a path of interpretation in one direction. But if in fact, this describes a preparation for Satan to masquerade as the long-expected messiah of the world arriving to rescue our planet from imminent destruction and to restore peace on earth by reestablishing law and order, then these instructions will necessarily take on entirely different meaning, and these symbols might need to be interpreted entirely differently, from the perspective of spin by deceivers.
Consider the following possibilities and their implications:
What if this grass of the earth is the world's definition of grass rather than heaven's?
What if any green thing is based on the enemy's definition of green rather than God's?
The same applies to what a tree represents, and the world's definition of a righteous person?
And most unexpected, what if the mark of the beast and the seal of God are reversed?
This last point is extremely significant. Notice what is missing here from its description in chapter 7.
I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to harm the earth and the sea, (Revelation 7:2)
those people who don't have God's seal on their foreheads
At first this might seem innocuous, but with all the other clues piling up I suspect foul play here when a key word is missing in this mention of the seal of God. The difference is that if this is indeed a counterfeit operation going on here, the counterfeit god of this world is not an equivalent with the living God of heaven. But it would be very much like him to masquerade his mark as the legitimate seal, for a counterfeit always emulates the original in order to derive its credibility and power from its similarity to what is genuine.
Might we discern extreme subtlety and cunning behind Satan's plan to preempt the true coming of the Lamb of God through exploiting the world's expectations of a powerful messiah arriving to restore order and peace through firm law enforcement, while defaming and discrediting everything we are learning about the true nature of the Lamb of God? Our assumptions as to who is behind these instructions will make all the difference in how we come to interpret the symbols involved.
I am not insisting we must interpret this trumpet this way. There are likely multiple interpretations of these prophecies, yet not necessarily compatible with each other. However, I find this way of viewing it more consistent with the tenor of everything we have been discovering about the Lamb so far and the nature of extreme subtlety used by the enemy to deceive if possible the very elect among God's people.
They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them for five months
Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a person.
In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it.
They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
Notice how this factor of 'given' permeates this prophecy. There must be a reason why it is repeated.
The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him
power was given to them (the locusts)
They were given power not to kill them, but to torment them
We have already noted that it is not safe to simply assume that everything given throughout Revelation is given directly by God. In this case, if indeed this is a counterfeit preparation for Jesus coming, the source of this giving may well be the fallen star who was initially given the key by whomever had it previously, and in turn used the key to empower subordinate entities to carry out his will. And his will is to deceive the whole earth, especially concerning everything to do with how we view God.
If these locusts are only given power to torment but not to kill, what might be some possible reasons behind this? And is there anything in these other two stories that might help untangle this?
Given the deadly nature of the enemy of our souls who seeks to steal, kill and destroy, why would there suddenly be restraints on his demonic assistants whose nature is reflective of his own? There must be some compelling end goal to achieve to bring this kind of restraint into the activities of those who delight in killing, in torture, in defacing the image of God in mankind. And I believe we might see here just such a compelling reason to further the master scheme of Satan to entice as many as possible into synchronizing with the spirit of darkness.
Maybe they simply cannot kill people
Maybe they want to maintain the appearance of being merciful, only in a counterfeit way
Maybe they assert that torment is a merciful means of both salvaging and purifying those viewed as rebellious, and is thus intended for their overall good, using torment as punishment to provide sufficient incentive for their 'conversion'
If this be the case, belief in benefits of law enforcement could be reinforced as God's will for earth, while presided over by the originator of the counterfeit himself, the fallen star with assistance from his spirit agents. Clearly this approach has been relied on in the past, and is not this what most all the Christian world is increasingly promoting today, the assertion that Christ is going to return to set up His kingdom of righteousness here on earth for 1000 years when evil will be repressed and the righteous promoted into positions of strategic power?
For me, I see outlines in this trumpet of a counterfeit Jesus system being developed to align perfectly with popular expectations of religion, yet described in symbols intended to obfuscate the light of truth as most clearly witnessed to by the Lamb.
