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.
power was
given
to them, as the
scorpions
of the earth have power
Review...
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)
Continue...
torment
them for five months
I really want to flush more out about this word torment. What is the
nature of this torment? Is it physical, or emotional or spiritual?
What is the nature of this war? That will inform us as to the
direction to take in looking for answers that fit into the larger
picture presented by these symbols.
Again, let us compare all the passages containing this word from
throughout Scripture to discover what the real meaning of this might
be for this context.
But
the hand of Yahweh was heavy on them of Ashdod, and he destroyed
them, and struck them with tumors, even Ashdod and the borders of it.
(1 Samuel 5:6)
Other translations render this as ravaged, terrified, devastated,
wasted, desolate. Clearly it goes far beyond the simplistic idea of
simply annihilating as we often think of the word destroy.
Here are a couple other interesting translations of this verse.
And the hand of the Lord was heavy
upon Azotus, and he brought evil upon them, and it burst out upon
them into the ships, and mice sprang up in the midst of their
country, and there was a great and indiscriminate mortality in the
city. (1 Samuel 5:6 Brenton)
The LORD made life hard for the
people of Ashdod and their neighbors. He gave them many troubles and
caused them to get tumors. He also sent mice to them. The mice ran
all over their ships and then onto their land. The people in the city
were very afraid. (1 Samuel 5:6 ERV)
Here is another verse from the OT that
also contributes to our understanding of this word. These are the
only two verses I find in the OT that use this word in
the Greek.
Therefore I also have struck
you with a grievous wound. I have made you desolate
because of your sins. (Micah 6:13)
So also I will make you
sick, striking you down, Desolating you.... (NAS95)
Therefore, I have begun to
destroy you, to ruin you.... (NIV)
And
I tormented
you for extinction on account of your sins.
(ABP+)
Therefore I have also made
weak in smiting thee, in making desolate because of thy
sins. (JB2000)
When he came into Capernaum, a
centurion came to him, asking him, and saying, "Lord, my servant
lies in the house paralyzed, grievously tormented."
(Matthew 8:5-6)
fearfully tormented.
(NAS95)
in terrible distress.
(NRSV)
dreadfully tormented.
(NKJV)
in terrible suffering.
(NIV)
When he came to the other side, into
the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him
there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody
could pass that way. Behold, they cried out, saying, "What do we
have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment
us before the time?"
(Matthew 8:28-29)
Compare this with
another account of the same event to see an important corollary.
Jesus asked him, "What is your
name?" He said, "Legion," for many demons had entered
into him. They begged him that he would not command them to
go into the abyss.
(Luke 8:30-31)
The next verse also
hints at demonic involvement through reference to the wind bringing
distress and torment.
But the boat was now in the middle
of the sea, distressed by the waves, for the
wind was contrary. (Matthew
14:24)
but by this time the boat, battered
by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them.
(NRSV)
And the boat was already in the
midst of the sea, being tormented by the waves;
for the wind was adverse. (ABP+)
His lord was angry, and delivered
him to the tormentors, until he should pay all
that was due to him. (Matthew 18:34)
Is this not exactly what is being
described here in the 5th trumpet? It specifically spells
out that these locust entities are given power/authority to torment.
What can we learn from comparing these two passages about what may be
going on under this trumpet? I believe this story of the debtor may
have a major role in unlocking our understanding of the real meaning
of what is going on and the nature of the torment described as going
on for 5 months.
The last verse containing this specific
word outside the book of Revelation is this one.
and delivered righteous
Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the
wicked (for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented
in his righteous soul from day to day with
seeing and hearing lawless deeds): (2 Peter
2:7-8)
I want to include a few other passages
that may well add to our perspective of this idea.
I will make justice the measuring
line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the
refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. Your
covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol
shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge
passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. As often as it
passes through, it will seize you; for morning
by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it
will be nothing but terror to understand the message."
For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too
narrow to wrap oneself in. (Isaiah 28:17-20)
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)
For you have not come to a mountain
that might be touched, and that burned with fire,
and to blackness, darkness,
storm, the sound of a trumpet, and the voice
of words; which those who heard it begged that not one
more word should be spoken to them, for they could not
stand that which was commanded, "If even an animal
touches the mountain, it shall be stoned;" and so
fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, "I am
terrified and trembling." (Hebrews
12:18-21)
For thus says Yahweh: We have heard
a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
Ask now, and see whether a man does travail with child: why do I see
every man with his hands on his waist, as a woman in travail, and all
faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is
great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of
Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
(Jeremiah 30:5-7)
This last verse for me seems to fit
this description found in this trumpet and correlates to many of the
other clues we have been checking out. If it is the people of God
being tormented here, the torment could be simultaneously internal as
well as coming from other people externally.
Their torment
was like the torment of a
scorpion, when it strikes
a person
A scorpion striking a person causes
excruciating pain that could be representing panic attacks
caused through opening up the heart and mind to demonic access.
Scorpions represent demons who specialize in fear, terror and
torment. This extreme pain can involve torture of conscience,
unrelenting terror, condemnation, unresolvable guilt
and/or shame. Those who once knew intimacy with God but
who have spurned it by returning to fear, are now only left
with a keen awareness of their now hopelessly lost condition with
no way of receiving rest or peace. This is the tormenting experience
of living in perpetual hopeless despair.
torment
them for five months
What
is this five months
about? The only other references I find in Scripture to this length
of time relates to the flood and a story involving Zacharia's wife
Elizabeth, which may find relevance here.
Five
months
= 5x30 or 150 days. Interestingly a plague of locusts typically
lasted 5 months.
Every
living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the ground,
including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the sky. They
were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were
with him in the ship. The waters prevailed on the
earth one hundred fifty days.
(Genesis 7:23-24)
After
these days Elizabeth, his wife, conceived,
and she hid herself five months,
saying, "Thus has the Lord done to me
in the days in which he looked at me,
to take away my reproach among men."
Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent
from God to a city of
Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was
Mary.
(Luke 1:24-27)
Let's
compare the context
of these two stories to inform us about the possible meaning of this
5 months. At first they may seem totally unrelated, but as we look
more closely it is surprising how much they dovetail to reveal key
elements that we may find highly useful in unpacking the hidden
meaning of what is going on here in the 5th
trumpet.
Was
there a similarity
of
conditions
that existed in the beginning of these two stories?
Yahweh
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every
imagination of the
thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.
(Genesis
6:5)
The earth
was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with violence.
God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt,
for all flesh had corrupted their way
on the earth. God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come
before me, for the earth is filled with violence
through them. Behold, I
will destroy them with the earth.
(Genesis 6:11-13)
Before Christ's
first advent, the sin of refusing to conform to God's law had become
widespread. Apparently Satan's power was growing; his warfare against
heaven was becoming more and more determined. A crisis had been
reached. With an intense interest God's movements were watched by
the heavenly angels. Would He come forth from His place to
punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity? Would He
send fire or flood to destroy them? All heaven waited the
bidding of their Commander to pour out the vials of wrath upon a
rebellious world. One word from Him, one sign, and the world would
have been destroyed. The worlds unfallen would have said,
"Amen. Thou art righteous, O God, because Thou hast
exterminated rebellion."
{RC 58}
How
did God relate to
these conditions
in each story?
Yahweh
saw
that the wickedness of man was great
Yahweh
was sorry
that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved
him in his heart.
(Genesis 6:5-6)
But
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life." God might have sent His Son to condemn, but
He sent Him to save. Christ came as a Redeemer. No words can describe
the effect of this movement on the heavenly angels. With
wonder and admiration they could only exclaim, "Herein is love!"
{RC 58}
How
were the people
used
by God viewed by
Him?
But
Noah found favor in Yahweh's eyes.
This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah
was a righteous man, blameless
among the people of his time. Noah walked with God.
(Genesis 6:8-9)
There
was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named
Zacharias,
of the priestly division of Abijah. He had a wife of the daughters of
Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
They were both righteous before God, walking
blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
(Luke 1:5-6)
What
was God intent on
establishing
in each situation?
I,
even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all
flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that
is in the earth will die. But I will establish my
covenant with you. You
shall come into the ship,
you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.
(Genesis 6:17-18)
Yahweh
said to Noah, "Come with all of your household
into the ship, for I
have seen your righteousness before me
in this generation.
(Genesis 7:1)
Seventy
weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish
disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness,
and to seal up
vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
(Daniel 9:24)
He
will turn many
of the children of Israel to the Lord, their God. He will go before
him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the
hearts of the fathers to
the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke
1:16-17)
How
were the chosen participants
to act
upon hearing what God was thinking?
Noah went
into the ship with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives,
because of the waters of the flood.
(Genesis 7:7)
But
the angel said to him, "Don't be afraid,
Zacharias, because your request has been heard, and your wife,
Elizabeth, will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. You
will have joy and gladness;
and many will rejoice
at his birth." (Luke
1:13-14)
How
did people respond
to God's desire?
Thus
Noah did.
According to all that God commanded him, so he did.
(Genesis 6:22)
Noah did
everything that Yahweh
commanded him.
(Genesis 7:5)
Behold,
you will be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these
things will happen, because you didn't believe my
words, which will be
fulfilled in their proper time.
(Luke 1:20)
How
might these two
depictions find a parallel?
In
the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the
fountains of the great deep were burst open,
and the sky's windows were opened.
The rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
(Genesis 7:11-12)
After
these days Elizabeth,
his wife, conceived,
and she hid herself five months...
(Luke 1:24)
Notice
that in both cases the five
months began with something very powerful
resulting in changing
the course of history
of this world. In the flood story Noah and his family ensconced
themselves into the womb
of the ark
while the rain and water
intensified
all around them,
wiping out everything living on the surface of the earth.
In
the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth, they they participated by
joining their bodies together in an act of love that resulted in the
conception of a child who lived inside her womb
filled with water,
while she herself
hid inside
to shield herself from wondering eyes and prying questions by those
who had been the cause of reproach
for much of her life.
During
the flood, everything on the surface of the ground experienced
destruction, leaving the world a wasteland,
empty and not unlike what the world looked like before the process of
reformatting it in the creation story.
Similarly,
John the Baptist
grew up in the wilderness
living sparsely and isolated as his heart was prepared for the mighty
work of introducing the most important person in the history of the
universe to become involved in human history and alter the course of
events forever.
The waters prevailed on the earth for five months while Noah and his
family hid inside the ark.
Elizabeth hid from reproach while pregnant for 5 months.
Both
Noah and Elizabeth had long
suffered reproach
from the people surrounding them.
Both
stories involve the Lord
looking down
on the situation on earth, as well as doing things.
Those
who went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded
him; and Yahweh shut him in.
(Genesis 7:16)
God
spoke to Noah, saying, "Go out of the ship,
you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.
(Genesis 8:15-16)
We
are informed that a mighty
angel shut the massive door
of the ark and no human could remove that door until God was ready to
let them out. Then that same
angel removed the door
at the end of the flood inviting Noah and his family to exit.
In
the story of Elizabeth, after her 5 months of hiding was finished,
Gabriel is seen
going into action
getting involved in the story directly to order to make
arrangements for the Messiah
to be born who would both become the door and provide the way for the
salvation of all mankind.
I
would like to explore a bit more the description of what was going on
with the waters in the flood story. Take a look at how many ways this
activity of the
waters
is described.
The
flood was forty days on the earth. The waters
increased, and lifted up
the ship, and it was lifted up above the earth. The waters
prevailed, and increased
greatly on the earth;
and the ship floated on the surface of the waters. The waters
prevailed exceedingly on
the earth. All the high mountains that were under the whole sky were
covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward,
and the mountains were covered. All flesh died that moved on the
earth, including birds, livestock, animals, every creeping thing that
creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the
breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died.
Every living thing was destroyed that was on the surface of the
ground, including man, livestock, creeping things, and birds of the
sky. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah was left, and
those who were with him in the ship. The waters
prevailed on the earth one hundred fifty days.
(Genesis 7:17-24)
Here
is Strong's definition
of the word 'prevailed'
gabar
- to be strong;
by implication, to prevail, act
insolently:
exceed, confirm, be great, be mighty, prevail, put to more
(strength), strengthen, be stronger, be valiant
Now compare this with verses that follow immediately after.
God remembered
Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in
the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the
earth. [spirits
are angels likened to winds of fire Hebrews 1:7,14)
The waters subsided.
The deep's fountains and the sky's windows were also stopped,
and the rain from the sky was restrained.
The waters receded
from the earth continually.
After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters
decreased. The ship
rested
in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on
Ararat's mountains. The waters receded continually
until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the
month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
(Genesis 8:1-5)
Now
the question is raised, How does all this inform us for interpreting
what we find in the 5th
trumpet?
They
have tails like those of scorpions,
and stings. In their tails they have power
to harm men for five months.
(Revelation
9:10)
This
five months is like
bookends
enclosing detailed descriptions of what these locust beings are and
what they do. Significantly, this last
mention
refers to their tails
as being the source
or location of their power
to harm.
What is key for
understanding
this reference to tails? And how might this correlate to the other
two stories involving 5 months? Maybe if we compare them we will find
key details that may bring more light to what we are looking at here.
Here are all the other
references to tails
in Revelation along with what I believe to be a key that best unlocks
the meaning of this symbol.
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 harm.
(Revelation 9:19)
His tail drew one third of the
stars of the sky, and threw them to the earth.
The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so
that when she gave birth he might devour her child.
(Revelation 12:4)
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 9:15-16)
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.
Ahab
told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the
prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel send a messenger to Elijah,
saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don't make your
life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. When he
saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba,
which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself
went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under
a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he
might die, and said, It
is enough; now, O Yahweh, take away my life; for I am not better than
my fathers.
(1 Kings 19:1-4)
Why
is light given to him who is in misery, life to the bitter in soul,
Who long for death, but it doesn't come;
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, who rejoice
exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the
grave? Why is light
given to a man whose way is hid, whom God has hedged
in? For my sighing comes
before I eat. My groanings are poured out like water. For the
thing which I fear comes on me,
That which I am afraid of comes to me.
I am not at ease,
neither am I quiet,
neither have I rest;
but trouble comes.
(Job 3:20-26)
Oh
that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I
long for, even that it would please God to crush me;
that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
(Job 6:8-9)
When
I say, 'My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint;'
then you scare me with dreams,
and terrify me through visions:
so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather
than my bones. I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath. What is man, that you
should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him, that you
should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?
How
long will you not look away from me, nor leave me
alone until I swallow
down my spittle? If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher
of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden
to myself? Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my
iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust.
You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be.
(Job 7:13-21)
"'Why,
then, have you brought me forth out of the womb? I
wish I had given up the spirit,
and no eye had seen me. I should have been as though
I had not been. I should
have been carried from the womb to the grave. Aren't my days few?
Cease then. Leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort, before
I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of
the shadow of death; the land dark as midnight, of the shadow of
death, without any order, where the light is as midnight.'"
(Job 10:18-22)
Talk about tormentors, Job had three of them reinforcing the lies of
the enemy incessantly, bantering him with supposedly helpful advice
while in fact it only made him even more miserable than he already
was. Here is a sample from the mouth of Zophar, one of Job's presumed
friends.
"If
you set your heart aright,
stretch out your hands toward him. If iniquity is in your hand, put
it far away. Don't let unrighteousness dwell in your tents. Surely
then shall you lift up your face without spot; Yes, you shall be
steadfast, and shall not fear:
for you shall forget your misery.
You shall remember it as waters that are passed away. Life
shall be clearer than the noonday.
Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning. You
shall be secure, because there is hope.
Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in
safety. Also you shall
lie down, and none shall make you afraid.
Yes, many shall court your favor.
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail.
They shall have no way to flee. Their hope shall be
the giving up of the spirit."
(Job 11:13-20)
If what we are beginning to see in this trumpet is an intense
campaign of harassment of the true followers of God by demonic
tormentors, then these insights from Job's experience might find
great relevance in unpacking the kind of experience being described
here and just who it is that is on the receiving end of all the
torment. This torment will be designed to lead the followers of the
Lamb into imagining that they are the ones who are deceived and who
need to repent from their crazy notions that God is not like the
beast power as everyone else insists He must be.
It is becoming more clear to me in my own experience that the war is
over what we believe about our identity, and that what we choose to
cling to relating to who defines us and what that looks like will be
the point of contention most fiercely fought over in the mind and
heart of every human soul daring to defy the kingdom of darkness and
its deeply entrenched patterns of thinking that has manipulated and
conditioned us our entire lives. Job went through the purifying
experience and came out in the end as a champion for truth receiving
God's affirmation. But the intensity of assaults on his reputation
and integrity was excruciatingly painful for a long time due to the
religious wisdom of the world used to compel him to abandon his crazy
notions about a God different from what the mainstream believed.
But
it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. He prayed to
Yahweh, and said, "Please, Yahweh, wasn't this what I said when
I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to
Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow
to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing
harm. Therefore now, Yahweh, take, I beg you, my
life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live."
(Jonah 4:1-3)
It
happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind;
and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he fainted, and requested
for himself that he might die,
and said, "It is better for me to die than to
live."
(Jonah 4:8)
Key to interpreting this is determining who is on the receiving end
of this torment. If it involves torment on the part of the followers
of the Lamb, then this torment involves a massive assault by the
powers of darkness to convince them that they are the ones who need
to repent and return to a proper fear-based view of God just as Job
experienced. This will be intense and prolonged but will actually
result in purify them of all lingering notions that religion and
tradition has infected them with since birth. This torment by demonic
spirits of fear will be unrelenting but must be resisted with the
word of God and total reliance on Him alone for the truth about our
identity.
On the other hand, if this torment is happening to false-hearted
Christians who have imagined they were doing the right things and
hoping to be saved, then the desire to die without the ability to
actually enter into it could equally involve other passages such as
the following. Since this book is in written in symbols, this 'death'
can be symbolic. If this torment is in those professing to be
God-followers but who have failed to put to death the fleshly
desires, then too late people will attempt to die to self, to repent,
to encounter the Spirit of God and to recapture the lost joy, but
will find it impossible because they have refused to move deeper into
the reality of God's love while they had capacity and time to
respond. Instead they have fallen away back into old familiar
patterns of fear-based thinking. Now, desperate to be saved but still
motivated by fear and selfishness, they find themselves unable to
receive or give love which results in prolonged and interminable
torment.
Men
shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the
earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his
majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
(Isaiah 2:19)
Death shall be chosen rather than
life by all the residue
that remain of this evil family, that remain in all the places where
I have driven them, says Yahweh of Armies.
(Jeremiah 8:3)
For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose
his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if
he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man
give in exchange for his life?
(Matthew 16:25-26)
For
if we have become united with him in the likeness of
his death, we will also
be part of his resurrection; knowing this, that our
old man was crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we
would no longer be in bondage to sin.
(Romans 6:5-6)
Therefore,
my brothers, you also were made dead to the law
through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to
him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit to
God.
(Romans 7:4)
For
if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you
put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
(Romans 8:13)
Those
who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with
its passions and lusts.
(Galatians 5:24)
Put to death therefore your
members which are on the
earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire,
and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath
of God comes on the children of disobedience. You also once walked in
those, when you lived in them; but now you also put
them all away: anger,
wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
(Colossians 3:5-8)
For
you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing,
he was rejected, for he found
no place for a change of mind
though he sought it diligently with tears.
(Hebrews 12:17)
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