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Trumpet 5 (Revelation 9)
9:9 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. 9:10 They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men for five months. 9:11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is "Abaddon," but in Greek, he has the name "Apollyon."
9:12 The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this.
The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war
When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up beside them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome crystal to look on, stretched forth over their heads above. Under the expanse were their wings straight, the one toward the other: each one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies. When they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of an army: when they stood, they let down their wings. There was a voice above the expanse that was over their heads: when they stood, they let down their wings. (Ezekiel 1:21-25)
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. Go, get you to them of the captivity, to the children of your people, and speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of Yahweh from his place. I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside them, even the noise of a great rushing. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away; and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of Yahweh was strong on me. (Ezekiel 3:10-14)
The glory of Yahweh mounted up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Yahweh's glory. The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. (Ezekiel 10:4-5)
Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand: A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn spreading on the mountains, a great and strong people; there has never been the like, neither will there be any more after them, even to the years of many generations.
A fire devours before them, and behind them, a flame burns. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them, a desolate wilderness. Yes, and no one has escaped them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses, and as horsemen, so do they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. At their presence the peoples are in anguish. All faces have grown pale. They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like warriors. They each march in his line, and they don't swerve off course. Neither does one jostle another; they march everyone in his path, and they burst through the defenses, and don't break ranks. They rush on the city. They run on the wall. They climb up into the houses. They enter in at the windows like thieves. The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
(Joel 2:1-10)
Thus says Yahweh: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don't look back to their children for feebleness of hands; (Jeremiah 47:2-3)
He who dashes in pieces has come up against you. Keep the fortress! Watch the way! Strengthen your waist! Fortify your power mightily! For Yahweh restores the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the destroyers have destroyed them, and ruined their vine branches. The shield of his mighty men is made red. The valiant men are in scarlet. The chariots flash with steel in the day of his preparation, and the pine spears are brandished. The chariots rage in the streets. They rush back and forth in the broad ways. Their appearance is like torches. They run like the lightnings. He summons his picked troops. They stumble on their way. They dash to its wall, and the protective shield is put in place. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved. (Nahum 2:1-6)
Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane? Have you made him to leap as a locust? The glory of his snorting is awesome. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength. He goes out to meet the armed men. He mocks at fear, and is not dismayed, neither does he turn back from the sword. The quiver rattles against him, the flashing spear and the javelin. He eats up the ground with fierceness and rage, neither does he stand still at the sound of the trumpet. As often as the trumpet sounds he snorts, 'Aha!' He smells the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting. (Job 39:19-25)
Whatever these locusts represent, the symbols used to describe them pretty much all indicate a disposition of fear, intimidation and threatened violence. We will look much more at the symbol of horses in the next trumpet.
They have tails like those of scorpions, and stings. In their tails they have power to harm men...
Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day. The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail. For those who lead this people lead them astray; and those who are led by them are destroyed. (Isaiah 9:14-16)
It is well to note that harm means something far deeper than hurt. Hurt involves bodily pain and suffering, while in prophetic language harm has to do with the soul and damage to the spirit, eternal damage versus temporary damage.
Don't be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. (Matthew 10:28)
They have over them as king the angel of the abyss
This parallels what we studied at the beginning of our study of this trumpet. This confirms that it is Satan himself who is orchestrating everything going on in this these activities throughout this entire description. This clearly identifies the the fallen star Lucifer turned accuser as the initiator and manager of all this by placing his ID at both the beginning and end of this trumpet.
The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from the sky which had fallen to the earth. The key to the pit of the abyss was given to him. (Revelation 9:1)
They have over them as king
They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let's make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth." Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. Yahweh said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. (Genesis 11:4-6)
While this does not specifically mention a king, this was the concept driving this plan, for seeking to achieve unity by control under a king is giving priority to the system of hierarchy. Kingship is all about top-down control, social stratification based on assessed values for every human being based on artificial criteria. It is this concept that undergirds the organizational structure invented by the fallen angel who insists that his ways of achieving and maintaining social order and control are more effective and efficient than God's methods. This goes to the core of the rebellion against the government of heaven and paints the Lamb as too weak to deserve to be trusted with leadership responsibilities.
When you are come to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; you shall surely set him king over you, whom Yahweh your God shall choose: one from among your brothers shall you set king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; because Yahweh has said to you, You shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
It shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he not turn aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:14-20)
This was not God commanding His children to choose a king, but rather God giving instructions as to how to carry out their inevitable rejection of His style of leadership given to them originally.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel to Ramah; and they said to him, Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. Samuel prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also to you. Now therefore listen to their voice: however you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them the manner of the king who shall reign over them. Samuel told all the words of Yahweh to the people who asked of him a king. (1 Samuel 8:4-10)
But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No: but we will have a king over us, (1 Samuel 8:19) They have over them as king the angel of the abyss
but you have this day rejected your God, who himself saves you out of all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said to him, No, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes, and by your thousands. (1 Samuel 10:19)
Isn't it wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh, that he may send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of Yahweh, in asking you a king. (1 Samuel 12:17)
Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel. (1 Samuel 15:26)
Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel. (1 Samuel 15:35)
Then came all the tribes of Israel to David to Hebron, and spoke, saying, Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel: and Yahweh said to you, You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh: and they anointed David king over Israel. (2 Samuel 5:1-3)
David perceived that Yahweh had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel's sake. (2 Samuel 5:12)
Can we see better here why God kept referring to a coming King who would reign like David? David in significant ways, illustrated attributes and attitudes that reflected God's character while acting in the role of being a king, even though it was never God's plan for His people to be governed in this way. Because many times God accommodates the demands of His children even when they reject what is best for them, in helping them implement inferior methods He still seeks to make the best out of their bad choices in order to draw them back toward embracing His original design at some point.
We will take a closer look at David as a model of king later, but first let's get more background.
Hazael said, Why weeps my lord? He answered, Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: their strongholds will you set on fire, and their young men will you kill with the sword, and will dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child. Hazael said, But what is your servant, who is but a dog, that he should do this great thing? Elisha answered, Yahweh has shown me that you shall be king over Syria. (2 Kings 8:12-13)
This is ultimately the direction that the practice of kingship moves us towards as it is allowed to fully mature under the system of hierarchy that the whole world embraces. This resistance to trusting God and His ways of organizing society lies at the root of the war that began in heaven with the angel who wanted to exalt himself and seize control over the lives of others rather than remaining in the position for which we was designed. It was this same angel who ended up becoming known as the angel of the abyss, for the abyss describes the result of the spirit of pride, of self-exaltation and of desiring control over others rather than willing service in love for others. Thus this issue reflected in the very word 'king' brings us face to face with the nature of the war between Michael and the dragon, between the spirit of the Lamb and the disposition of the beast.
What I just discovered is that pretty much the entire book of Hosea revolves around this contention between God and His people over the issue of kingship. Reading through this book in the light of this understanding makes it suddenly come alive, especially from God's perspective. What can be seen is the contrast between God's desire to lead His children personally, using His methods and motives, and the cravings of His people who choose to clamor after the ways of the world. This issue of their attitude about kingship repeats over and over throughout this book, though it often goes unnoticed. A careful reading of this book and comparing several translations brings new insights when this perspective is kept in mind. This could be a very fruitful study of its own, but we don't have time here to go into it very much. But here are just a few excerpts.
When Yahweh spoke at the first by Hosea, Yahweh said to Hosea, "Go, take for yourself a wife of prostitution and children of unfaithfulness; for the land commits great adultery, forsaking Yahweh." So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bore him a son. Yahweh said to him, "Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. It will happen in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel."
She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, "Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them. But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by Yahweh their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen."
Now when she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, she conceived, and bore a son. He said, "Call his name Lo-Ammi; for you are not my people, and I will not be yours. Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can't be measured nor numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.' (Hosea 1:2-10)
When we read this with an awareness of the fundamental props that undergird the counterfeit kingdom of Satan – trading, hierarchy and artificial law, suddenly this begins to make a lot more sense as we see the contrast between the system based on fear and violence and what God intends to restore.
I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, about which she has said, 'These are my wages that my lovers have given me; and I will make them a forest,' and the animals of the field shall eat them. I will visit on her the days of the Baals, to which she burned incense, when she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after her lovers, and forgot me," says Yahweh.
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. I will give her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she will respond there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. It will be in that day," says Yahweh, "that you will call me 'my husband,' and no longer call me 'my master.' For I will take away the names of the Baals out of her mouth, and they will no longer be mentioned by name.
In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely. I will betroth you to me forever. Yes, I will betroth you to me in righteousness, in justice, in loving kindness, and in compassion. I will even betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know Yahweh.
It will happen in that day, I will respond," says Yahweh, "I will respond to the heavens, and they will respond to the earth; and the earth will respond to the grain, and the new wine, and the oil; and they will respond to Jezreel. I will sow her to me in the earth; and I will have mercy on her who had not obtained mercy; and I will tell those who were not my people, 'You are my people;' and they will say, 'My God!'" (Hosea 2:12-23)
Can we see clearly here the tussle between desires for pleasure and power that involve exploitation and manipulation, with God's intense desire to return His children to a relationship of total dependence on Him in an attitude of responding to tenderness instead of fear?
Yahweh said to me, "Go again, love a woman loved by another, and an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins."
So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver and a homer and a half of barley. I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also be so toward you."
For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols. Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days. (Hosea 3:1-5)
Hear the word of Yahweh, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed. Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.
"Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; For your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me.
Because you have forgotten your God's law, I will also forget your children. As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity....They will eat, and not have enough. ...they have abandoned giving to Yahweh. Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding. My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God.
...your daughters play the prostitute, and your brides commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they play the prostitute, nor your brides when they commit adultery; because the men consort with prostitutes, and they sacrifice with the shrine prostitutes; so the people without understanding will come to ruin.
"Though you, Israel, play the prostitute, yet don't let Judah offend; and don't come to Gilgal, neither go up to Beth Aven, nor swear, 'As Yahweh lives.' For Israel has behaved extremely stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Then how will Yahweh feed them like a lamb in a meadow. Ephraim is joined to idols. Leave him alone! Their drink has become sour. They play the prostitute continually. Her rulers dearly love their shameful way. The wind has wrapped her up in its wings; and they shall be disappointed because of their sacrifices. (Hosea 4:1-19)
Their deeds won't allow them to turn to their God; for the spirit of prostitution is within them, and they don't know Yahweh. The pride of Israel testifies to his face. Therefore Israel and Ephraim will stumble in their iniquity. Judah also will stumble with them. They will go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Yahweh; but they won't find him. He has withdrawn himself from them. They are unfaithful to Yahweh; for they have borne illegitimate children. Now the new moon will devour them with their fields.
"When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to king Jareb: but he is not able to heal you, neither will he cure you of your wound.
I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly." (Hosea 5:4-7,13,15)
"Come, and let us return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds. After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him. Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth."
"Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Judah, what shall I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early. Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth. Your judgments are like a flash of lightning. For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there. (Hosea 6:1-7)
They don't consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.
On the day of our king, the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers.
They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me.
Woe to them! For they have wandered from me. Destruction to them! For they have trespassed against me. Though I would redeem them, yet they have spoken lies against me. They haven't cried to me with their heart, but they howl on their beds. They assemble themselves for grain and new wine. They turn away from me. Though I have taught and strengthened their arms, yet they plot evil against me. They return, but not to the Most High. They are like a faulty bow. Their princes will fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue. This will be their derision in the land of Egypt. (Hosea 7:2-3,5,7,13-16)
"Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh's house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law. They cry to me, 'My God, we Israel acknowledge you!' Israel has cast off that which is good. The enemy will pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I didn't approve. Of their silver and their gold they have made themselves idols, that they may be cut off.
For they sow the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind.
But although they sold themselves among the nations, I will now gather them; and they begin to waste away because of the oppression of the king of mighty ones.
For Israel has forgotten his Maker and built palaces; and Judah has multiplied fortified cities; but I will send a fire on his cities, and it will devour its fortresses." (Hosea 8:1-4,7,10,14)
The days of visitation have come. The days of reckoning have come. Israel will consider the prophet to be a fool, and the man who is inspired to be insane, because of the abundance of your sins, and because your hostility is great. A prophet watches over Ephraim with my God. A fowler's snare is on all of his paths, and hostility in the house of his God. (Hosea 9:7-8)
Their heart is divided. Now they will be found guilty. He will demolish their altars. He will destroy their sacred stones. Surely now they will say, "We have no king; for we don't fear Yahweh; and the king, what can he do for us?" They make promises, swearing falsely in making covenants. Therefore judgment springs up like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, "Cover us!" and the hills, "Fall on us!"
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness. You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, for you trusted in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men. (Hosea 10:2-4,8,12-13)
"When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. They called to them, so they went from them. They sacrificed to the Baals, and burned incense to engraved images. Yet I taught Ephraim to walk. I took them by his arms; but they didn't know that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with ties of love; and I was to them like those who lift up the yoke on their necks; and I bent down to him and I fed him.
"...they refused to repent. The sword will fall on their cities, and will destroy the bars of their gates, and will put an end to their plans. My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won't exalt them.
"How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused. I will not execute the fierceness of my anger. I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of you; and I will not come in wrath. (Hosea 11:1-9)
Therefore turn to your God. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your God.
A merchant has dishonest scales in his hand. He loves to defraud. Ephraim said, "Surely I have become rich, I have found myself wealth. In all my wealth they won't find in me any iniquity that is sin." (Hosea 12:6-8)
When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died. Now they sin more and more....
"Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior. I knew you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought. According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your help. Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes?' I have given you a king in my anger, and have taken him away in my wrath. The guilt of Ephraim is stored up. His sin is stored up. The sorrows of a travailing woman will come on him. He is an unwise son; for when it is time, he doesn't come to the opening of the womb.
(Hosea 13:1-2,4-6,9-13)
Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, "Forgive all our sins, and accept that which is good: so we offer our lips like bulls. Assyria can't save us. We won't ride on horses; neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, 'Our gods!' for in you the fatherless finds mercy." "I will heal their waywardness. I will love them freely; for my anger is turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.
Who is wise, that he may understand these things? Who is prudent, that he may know them? For the ways of Yahweh are right, and the righteous walk in them; But the rebellious stumble in them.
(Hosea 14:1-5,9)
Contrast all this with the kind of king demonstrated by the One who redeems the very concept by redefining what a real king should look and act like.
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope! Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. (Zechariah 9:9-12)
Compare this King to the description of the king at the end of the 5th trumpet.
They have over them as king the angel of the abyss.
God described to Job this being identified here as the angel of the abyss.
He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride. (Job 41:31-34)
How did Israel's contention with God over wanting a king of their own choosing turn out in the end?
Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!" They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. (John 19:14-16)
The Son of Man God sent to save us and to redefine what a real king should look like, became united with humanity for all eternity, despite the massive rejection He received. He became flesh and blood, a full-fledged human being with a physical body so we could relate to Him fully.
For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly; because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones. (Ephesians 5:29-30)
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don't be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!" Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young. (Isaiah 40:9-11)
I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. (Ezekiel 34:23)
My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
(Ezekiel 37:24-25)
Is this referring to the literal, original king David, or to the Son of David, the true King of Kings? What we must see is how God used the kingship of David to give a glimpse of the kind of king we really need, someone who is really more a shepherd than a typical king. David was merely an example, and a poor one at times, but still the example God has used throughout history to relay to us something of His own heart and how He wants us to see and relate to our loving Father, the great Shepherd of our hearts. This is why Jesus is called the Son of David.
Now you shall gather yourself in troops, daughter of troops. He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. Therefore he will abandon them until the time that she who is in labor gives birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel. He shall stand, and shall shepherd in the strength of Yahweh, in the majesty of the name of Yahweh his God: and they will live, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth. He will be our peace when Assyria invades our land, and when he marches through our fortresses, then we will raise against him seven shepherds, and eight leaders of men. (Micah 5:1-5)
Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and Yahweh his God was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. (2 Chronicles 1:1)
Hezekiah spoke comfortably to all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of Yahweh. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. The whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days; and they kept other seven days with gladness. For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
All the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly who came out of Israel, and the foreigners who came out of the land of Israel, and who lived in Judah, rejoiced. So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.
(2 Chronicles 30:22-27)
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1)
He departed there, and went into their synagogue. And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" that they might accuse him. He said to them, "What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won't he grab on to it, and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day."
Then he told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, and charged them that they should not make him known: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, "Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not strive, nor shout; neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory. In his name, the nations will hope."
Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. All the multitudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons." (Matthew 12:9-24)
Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, "Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely demonized!" (Matthew 15:22)
But Jesus summoned them, and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him. Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!" The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, "Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!"
Jesus stood still, and called them, and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" They told him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him. (Matthew 20:25-34)
All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went before him, and who followed kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" The multitudes said, "This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers' tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of robbers!"
The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the son of David!" they were indignant, and said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Did you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing babies you have perfected praise?'" (Matthew 21:4-16)
To grasp the significance of these references to Jesus as the Son of David, we need to know the history of David's curse relating to Jerusalem and the blind and lame.
The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, Except you take away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here; thinking, David can't come in here. Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David. David said on that day, Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and strike the lame and the blind, who are hated of David's soul. Therefore they say, There are the blind and the lame; he can't come into the house. (2 Samuel 5:6-8)
So, is Jesus just like David or does His kingship far surpass the hatred expressed by David?
Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."' Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?"
The common people heard him gladly. In his teaching he said to them, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces, and the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts: those who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." (Mark 12:35-40)
You are destroyed, Israel, because you are against me, against your help. Where is your king now, that he may save you in all your cities? And your judges, of whom you said, 'Give me a king and princes?' I have given you a king in my anger, and have taken him away in my wrath. (Hosea 13:9-11)
The only king we are to follow gave this explicit command to us.
He said to them, "The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called 'benefactors.' But not so with you. But one who is the greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves." (Luke 22:25-26)
This trumpet likely is a set up preparing the world to embrace this counterfeit messiah king in the next trumpet. This last bookend conditions people's thinking in preparation to embrace Satan as their king because people have so thoroughly given themselves over to his way of governing. Because of this they will insist he is Jesus, coming to restore law and order to save our planet from anarchy. This deception is made possible because the world is clinging to views of God as one relating to sin and sinners according to the principles of trading and hierarchy that relies on rewards and punishments and force to seek for a balance of good and evil.
How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, "I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north! I will ascend above the heights of the clouds! I will make myself like the Most High!" Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, "Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms; who made the world like a wilderness, and overthrew its cities; who didn't release his prisoners to their home?" (Isaiah 14:12-17)
Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute? (Psalms 94:20)
What does it mean that they have over them as king? Is this something imposed on them or chosen?
His name in Hebrew is "Abaddon," but in Greek, he has the name "Apollyon."
For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two doorposts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. (Exodus 12:23)
Those who are deceased tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing. (Job 26:5-7)
Whence then comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding? Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the birds of the sky. Destruction and Death say, 'We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.' "God understands its way, and he knows its place. For he looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole sky. (Job 28:20-24)
Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh-- how much more then the hearts of the children of men! (Proverbs 15:11)
It is Satan, the devil who is repeatedly identified as the one who destroys.
You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play." Neither let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell. Neither let us test the Lord, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents. Neither grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall. (1 Corinthians 10:6-12)
Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8)
The world embraces the counterfeit king in place of the humble Messiah as their leader. They prefer a destroyer king rather than a Lamb-like Shepherd king. By choosing to cling to a view of God as a destroyer and making him out to be their king, their own capacity to live in right orientation to the great circuit of love and life becomes atrophied until it is finally destroyed.
The first woe is past. Behold, there are still two woes coming after this
The first 4 trumpets were full of one thirds.
The last 3 trumpets are called woes.
This makes two apparent groupings similar to the other sets of 7 that must have some significance.
We came to some understanding that the first 4 trumpets might apply to followers who fail to allow the gospel to be fully applied at the heart level. This is what seems to fit many of the one thirds.
These last 3 trumpets called woes seem to have more global application as they appear to involve preparing and ushering in an attempted world takeover by a false christ, the fallen angel of light who masquerades as the coming messiah exploiting what fallen Christianity embraces and expects.
A quick review of the study we did on the woes reminds me that they mainly have to do with the results of developing a hardened heart, steeling it against convictions of the Spirit and indulging in all kinds of corruption, exploitation and abuses. The grand culmination of this exploitive system of governance invented by Lucifer, is what I find described in these last three trumpets. It is during the closing hours of history that wickedness and iniquity is elevated to a fine art as the powers of darkness pull out all the stops to take full control of every human being living on planet earth.
Next time we will begin exploring the second woe where we will examine the enforcement of what has been set in motion during this fifth trumpet as Satan resorts to more forceful measures to impose his version of peace and order on the earth based on his principles of rewards and punishment.
