Revelation 12:1-6
English Standard Version

The Woman and the Dragon
12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

John is going to receive a set of visions that is going to help set the stage for the third woe.  First, he sees a great sign appear in heaven.  He sees a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head is a crown a twelves stars.  I would imagine that this is going back to Joseph's dream about the sun and the moon and stars bowing down to him, and the number 12 here makes me imagine we are probably talking about the nation of Israel.

Another sign appeared in heaven and there appeared a great dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems (crowns) on the seven heads.  (He is given great power and the rulers of seven kingdoms/nations are controlled by him).  His tail swept through the stars (symbolizing the angelic host of heaven) and one-third of the angels fell and became demons who served him.  He and these demons were cast down to earth where they have been working against God and His people from the very beginning--since the Garden of Eden when the "seed of the woman" was promised.  It was at that moment that Satan knew there would be a chosen people with a chosen Descendant who would one day crush and destroy him, and Satan sat waiting to destroy the people of God before they could give birth to the Messiah (which wasn't allowed to happen) or to destroy the Messiah as soon as He appeared (again, wasn't allowed to happen) or to try to keep Him from fulfilling His mission (which he thought he did, but he only helped bring about the actual plan to bring about the salvation of God's people from every tribe, tongue and nation).

Satan's plan to destroy the Messiah fails and Jesus is back in heaven ready to return to set up His Kingdom, so now Satan is going to be focused on how he can prevent that from happening.  Whatever God wants to do, Satan wants to try to keep that from happening.  Unable to destroy the Child, the dragon (Satan) instead seeks to attack the woman (Israel and by extension, the Church who have been adopted into the family of God or grafted into the True Vine--whichever picture you like better).  God has prepared a place for them in the desert to be safe from all these plagues (think of how Goshen was spared from the Ten Plagues or the people in the Ark were safe during the Flood, or the city of Zoar was kept safe during the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah).  God is going to prepare a special place of protection for His people that is not named where Satan can't touch them--it just described as a desert or wilderness place that no one would think of as a place of safety.  God led His people through the wilderness for 40 years and protected and provided for them, so He clearly can protect and provide for them for the 1,260 days (3.5 years) of the Tribulation that we've seen so far.

We'll continue to look at these two characters next time--where we focused mostly on ethnic Israel in this first story, we will see the people of God grow and expand to "Those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus." who are counted as "her offspring."  That is, the Church is part also "birthed" through Israel and Satan is going to be trying to destroy not just the Jews, but also the Christians.  We'll then into a set of visions that help us understand how he plans to do this through political, religious, and economic means by controlling all the levers of power.

Revelation 11:15-19
English Standard Version

The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power
    and begun to reign.
18 The nations raged,
    but your wrath came,
    and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
    and those who fear your name,
    both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

If you are familiar with The Hallelujah Chorus, you're recognize this passage as the words “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever" are sung as a call-and-answer between all the different voices that are to represent the chorus of heaven .  The 24 Elders lead the chorus in a new song because the time has come for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to take the throne and for His Kingdom to come.  It starts with Him receiving power and the throne, then with the nations feeling His wrath and raging against Him.  Then, the time will come for the dead to be judged and for His servants--the prophets and the saints and all others who fear His Name, both small and great--to be rewarded.  He will finally destroy those who have been called "the destroyers of the earth."

At the sound of this "priestly" choir, the doors of the heavenly Temple were opened and the Ark of the Covenant (probably a symbolic vision of Jesus Himself as He is the image of the invisible God) came forth.  When this happened, heaven and earth responded with earthquakes and lightning and thunder and heavy hail and the rumblings that have been mentioned before.  This is the beginning of the Third Woe which will be the pouring out of the Seven Bowls of the Wrath of God--the final seven plagues to be poured out on the earth.  Before we get there though, John is going to be given a recap from a different perspective just to remind people that mankind has been given every opportunity, and all men will be without excuse and worthy of the judgment they are about to receive and to show us once more that God is able to rescue His people from the coming judgment (to me, it appears that this happens just before these final judgments are poured out on the earth).  We'll pick up the narrative again in chapter 16, then we'll take another view of things and the near total victory that the Lord has over His enemies before even setting foot on the earth again in chapters 17-18, the consummation of the covenant and the completion of the Lord's Supper with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and then the true Triumphal Entry as Christ rides into Jerusalem on His white horse making war with the nations that would rise up and try to destroy His people and He will once again save His people at what appears to be the last possible moment and all of His enemies will perish, but all of His followers will live and reign with Him.

That sounds like I've summarized everything that is ever going to happen, but there is more.  More rebellion, a final victory, and a final judgment for the living and the dead before there is an end to this creation as we know it and even time itself is done away with or becomes meaningless.  Do not mistake the Millennial Kingdom of this present earth for the final place that Jesus has prepared for us.  He promised us that He was going away to prepare a place for us that where He was (heaven) there we could be also.  The story will end with heaven and earth becoming one once again as it seems they were before the Fall and the Curse of Sin.  So the end is like the beginning, but even better.  As we go through all of this description of wrath and punishment, let's not forget that Christ is doing so in order to save His people from the presence of sin and the Curse of sin and to put all things and all people under subjection to Himself and to make a perfect place (as Genesis says, a "very good" place) for Him to dwell with His people once more and for there to be no more separation between them ever again.  Keep the goal in sight and realize all this is part of the plan to bring that about.

Revelation 11:1-14
English Standard Version
​
The Two Witnesses
11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come.

John is given a measuring rod like a staff to measure the Temple of God, that I will call the Tribulation Temple from this point forward.  This is the Temple that Antichrist will desecrate at the time that he is revealed. (Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11, Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, 2 Thessalonians 2:4).   I'm not sure whether the Temple gets rebuilt before the Tribulation or during the first half of the Tribulation, but Solomon's Temple and Zerubbabel's (later Herod's) Temple both were multi-year projects and I don't see why this would be any different.  Solomon's Temple took 7 years to build and Zerubbabel’s Temple (the one built after the people returned from Exile) took 20 years to finish--though that projects had a 17-year pause in the middle of it.  Herod spent about 46 years refurbishing and expanding the Temple from about 20 BC to about 25 AD.  This is the Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.  There has not been a Temple in Jerusalem since then, and there is currently a mosque on the Temple Mount that would have to be removed if the Tribulation Temple is to be built there or the Tribulation Temple would have to be built in a different location, which would be surprising given the significance of this place.

While John is told to take measurements of the sanctuary (the Holy and Most Holy Place), we do not see those measurements given here.  It's not really important about the size of this Temple, but many people believe it will be the same or similar size and scale as the Millennial Temple that is described in Ezekiel 40-48.  There are detailed measurements there for anyone interested in what the size and scale of this Temple might be, but that is not important for this text.  John is told not to measure the Court of the Gentiles (the Outer Courtyard) for reasons that are about to be explained to him.

The Gentiles will be allowed to trample the Holy City of Jerusalem for 42 months (3.5 years, that is, half of the 7-year Tribulation period), and the Lord will grant power to His two witnesses that they will prophesy for 1260 days--the same 42-month period, but measured in days instead of months as long as we remember that 30 days=1 month in prophecy (we don't need to worry about whether the months being discussed here have 28, 29, 30, or 31 days.  They are all 30-day months.)  These Two Witnesses are symbolized by two olive trees and two lampstands that stand before the Lord on the earth.  For the meaning of that imagery, you'll have to go back to Zechariah and his visions that the LORD gave him--specifically the vision in Zechariah 4.  In context of the book of Zechariah, it would seem that the "anointed ones" that the LORD is talking about would be the governor (Zerubbabel) and the High Priest (Joshua) of Israel at that time.  That does not automatically mean that these two witnesses are the High Priest and governor of Israel at this time (though that may be).  Many try to point to Moses and Elijah appearing on the Mount of Transfiguration and claim that means they must be these two witnesses (representing the Law and the Prophets)--some of the signs also point to this being a possibility if we think that the same people must perform the same kinds of signs, but the signs are done by the power of the Spirit, not the man.  The same Spirit can perform similar or the very same signs through vastly different people (Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha with the Jordan River for example).  Others point to the fact the Enoch also never died and think that means that he will return with Elijah.  I really don't know and the identities of these witnesses (martyrs) are not as important to me as what God is doing through them at this time--the end of days.

God is using these witnesses to share the gospel with the whole world in a very powerful was so that all men will be without excuse.  They will be given supernatural protection until their task is finished.  Those who come towards them to attack them will be consumed by fire that will come from their mouths.  They will be given the power to shut the sky and cause it to not rain on the Earth (this makes people think of Elijah in the days of King Ahab) and to turn the waters of the Earth into blood (this makes people think of Moses and the first of the Ten Plagues) and to call all other kinds of plagues on the world as often as they desire.

When the days of their testimony are completed, the beast from the Bottomless Pit (the Abyss) that is Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollyon (Greek), the leader of the demon horde of the Fifth Trumpet, will be allowed to kill them.  They will die in the city of Jerusalem, though it symbolically will be called Sodom and Egypt comparing it with the wickedness of that city and nation that were doomed for destruction.  It is identified for certain because we are told that it is the same city where the Lord was crucified.  They will lay there dead in the street for three and a half days as people will pass by and mock them and people from all the world will be allowed to see them (there will certainly be wall-to-wall coverage on whatever TV and streaming news services people will be watching at that point).  There will be celebration and a time of exchanging gifts in celebration of their deaths (this is how wicked the people of the earth will be at this time).  After these three-and-a-half days, the breath (Spirit) of God enters these men and resurrects them and then they are called up to heaven (possibly with the rest of the Church, as I think I told you that I believe that the Rapture happens around the time of the Fifth and Sixth Trumpets) "And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them."  That sounds a lot like the prophecy of what the Rapture is supposed to be like to me (I think this corresponds with Revelation 14:14-16).  This too would explain the fear within the hearts of the people who are left behind if it is not just the two witnesses that were raptured, but all the Church and that there is no more reason for God to withhold His wrath.

At that time, there is a great earthquake and one-tenth of the city of Jerusalem is destroyed and 7,000 people are killed.  Do not mistake the fact that the rest of the people giving glory to God in heaven meaning that they were all saved.  They can give glory to God simply by fearing the judgment that He is going to pour out on the earth.  This was only the second of the three terrible Woes that were promised (the end of the Sixth trumpet).  There is still the Third Woe--the Seventh Trumpet--which is to come that will start the plagues of the Seven Bowls/Vials of the Wrath of God.

Revelation 10
English Standard Version

The Angel and the Little Scroll
10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little scroll open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea, and his left foot on the land, 3 and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring. When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 4 And when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said, and do not write it down.” 5 And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 6 and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, that there would be no more delay, 7 but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

We see now a "mighty angel" coming down from heaven.  He is wrapped in a cloud and a rainbow is over his head, and his face is as the Sun, and his legs are like pillars of fire (except for being told this is a "mighty angel," this sounds a lot like Jesus, however, this angel is going to set his feet on land and sea, and we don't see Jesus doing that until He returns the Mount of Olives riding on a white horse to make war with His enemies).  I'll take the text at face value that this is a special angel that has been given great power and authority.  The angel descends and with a little scroll in his hand and one foot on the sea (usually representing the Gentile nations in the book of Revelation) and the other food on the land (usually representing the Holy Land of Israel in the book of Revelation), He calls out with a loud voice that John describes as like a lion's roar.  When he called out, the seven thunders (probably the voice of God) answered.

John was about to write what he heard the seven thunders say, but he was told not to write it down.  It was meant only for him to hear.  The angel that was standing on the sea and the land raised his right hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever (the Living God) who is the Creator of heaven and earth and sky and sea and all that is in them that there would be no more delay--the Day of the LORD has arrived.  He said that when the Seventh Trumpet sounds, the mystery of God will be revealed to just as it was announced to His servants, the Prophets.  I believe this means that everyone left will realize they have "missed the boat" and will truly understand what the Bible and the Church has been trying to tell them.  They will understand it, but will still not believe it (as we saw in the last lesson).

Then a voice from heaven instructed John to take the scroll that was in the mighty angel's right hand and to eat it.  It tasted sweet in his mouth, but was bitter in his stomach once it had time to "digest."  The salvation that God's people have been waiting for is at hand, but that same event that is salvation for the people of God means that the lost have their eternal destiny sealed and that leaves a bitter and sour feeling.  As much as we want to have His Kingdom come now, we also desire to see all men saved and be a part of that Kingdom--eventually there will be no more delay though and time will simply run out for those who have been playing games, and they are going to lose big on their gamble that somehow they are going to be able to change their mind at the absolute last second, because they don't know when that last second will come upon them.

Now John is being told that he again must prophecy about many people, and nations, and kings.  However, he's not prophesying about their salvation (which is what we were focused on in this first half, but their destruction)…we'll come back to the salvation that God is going to provide at the very end so that we are not left on a bitter/sour note.  In fact, we are left with a promise that God will graciously cause all the old things that bring us pain and grief and sorrow to pass away so that there will be no more crying and no more pain.

Revelation 9
English Standard Version
​
9 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone. 6 And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them.

7 In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, 8 their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 9 they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. 10 They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.

12 The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come.

13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. 17 And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 19 For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, for their tails are like serpents with heads, and by means of them they wound.

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

If you have ever wondered when the time will come that the door to the proverbial Ark will close and those on the outside will be condemned to judgment?  I think we see that in today's passage (even though God will continue to send messengers to the whole world, He knows His message will no longer be received at this point, and that's not just me saying that--God says that through the apostle John towards the end of today's passage).

We have been warned after the first four trumpets that there are three terrible judgments that are called Woes that are still coming.  A final call for repentance was given from an eagle that seemingly took the message over the entire earth.  Judgment is coming and it is certain.  Then there is the silence is broken by the blast of the Fifth Trumpet.  The Abyss or Bottomless Bit is opened and a cloud of demonic creatures compared to s swarm of locusts is unleashed upon the earth with the power to torture all men who did not have the seal of God on their forehead (this tells us there are still Christians on the Earth and that the Rapture has not happened yet).  The demons are given the sting of scorpions, and they are not to touch any of the green vegetation that is left (so they are not like locusts that come in and cause a famine).  The pain and suffering will be so bad that those who are being tortured will desire to die but will not be able--not even by their own hand because death will flee from them.  This is part of the punishment--everyone who has made it to this point has heard the gospel and refused it.  We'll see a shift in the messaging of the messengers God sends from this point forward, especially the final angelic messenger that "takes the gospel to the whole world" but it is a message of "good news" that final judgment is coming upon all the wicked who remain.

I would have been fine with that much being said, but John felt it necessary at the leading of the Spirit to try to describe these demonic creatures.  We are told they had bodies like horses prepared for battle, and on their heads were crowns on gold.  They have the face of a man but long hair like that of a woman.  Their teeth were like those of a lion (made for devouring flesh) and they had breastplates of iron.  They made a lot of noise with their wings so that it sounded like the noise of many chariots rushing into battle, and we already spoke of their tails that were like those of scorpions so that they were allowed to sting men and torture them for five months.  This is not a quick plague.  They have a king over them whose name is Abaddon in Hebrew or Apollyon in Greek (both names mean "destruction").  There is much speculation as to the identity of demons that have been imprisoned until this time in the Abyss.  I believe it's fair to say that these were the demons that Jude was speaking of in Jude 6-7, "6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire."  So, somehow, some way that I don't pretend to understand, these demons engaged in sexual sin of some kind on par with the sexual sin of Sodom and Gomorrah--sin that qualifies as "did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling."  People speculate that this is a reference to Genesis 6:1-4 which says,

"6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown."

This passage brings up all kinds of questions that I really don't want to get into, but since I brought the passage up, I will try to answer a few of them to the beset of my ability.  My best guess is that the demons possessed men and raped beautiful women that they lusted after.  I say this was rape because of the way that the sin of the demons was compared to that of Sodom and Gomorrah and we see homosexual rape gangs there in the book of Genesis where the men are trying to attack the angelic visitors who are in the appearance of regular men, just  few chapters after this one.  This is enough at the point of Genesis 6 for God to decide that He needed to destroy all land-dwelling flesh and He gave a countdown of 120 years (the meaning of Genesis 6:3, as we certainly see men and women who lived more than 120 years after the Flood--though not many of them).  One other cross-reference before I move on, and that is 2 Peter 2:4-10 which makes the point that I have been making that God is able to save the righteous and punish the wicked simultaneously and that no one should think of themselves as beyond the reach of God and His judgment (and these evil angels are used as an example are the wicked people of Noah's day with the flood and the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah when Lot was rescued in the story that I was referring to earlier).

2 Peter 2:4-10
English Standard Version
4  For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.

Peter is making the point that the false prophets of his day were also wicked men who followed after lusts and ungodly passions and they too (apart from the saving work of the gospel) were destined for eternal punishment.  We should not desire to be like the people who are destined for destruction--they are not role models for us to follow.  Even if it appears they are getting away with great wickedness for a time and having a lot of fun doing it, their time of judgment is sure to come.

Let's return now to our text for today as we see more about this time of great judgment that has been set aside for the wicked who remain who are in a category similar to that of these most wicked people that we've seen described in these other passages.

The period of the five-month plague caused by the Fifth Trumpet comes to an end and mankind breaths a sigh of relief thinking they have endured the worst that God has, maybe even mocking Him in defiance.  Then, there is the sounds of another trumpet--the Sixth Trumpet and the start of the Second Woe.

A voice comes forth from the four horns of the Golden Altar of Incense in heaven (horns are a sign of strength and they were the place where the blood was applied to the altar to make atonement for the people as the priest mediated and asked for atonement for the sins of the people on a daily basis).  There apparently has been another group of angels--the four angels bound in the River Euphrates.  They too had been prepared for this very moment in time.  Unlike the last group of demons that were told not to kill anyone, these four are released to kill a third of the men on the earth.  We are told that the number of troops (probably demons) that they were allowed to muster to go to war against mankind was 2x10^4 x 10^4 or 2 x 10^8 which is 200, 000, 000 or 200 million.  That's a huge army.  They all rode on horses and wore breastplates that were the color of fire and sapphire and sulfur.  The heads of their horses were like the heads of lions and fire and smoke and sulfur came from their mouths.  This is no regular army of men and no regular cavalry.

This Trumpet included three plagues that killed a third of mankind--the fire, and smoke and sulfur coming from their mouths.  The power of the horses is in their mouths and their tails, for their tails were like the heads of serpents and they would use them to wound.

Now comes the verses that I've been alluding to for much of this article.  " The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts."  This is a sad commentary.  It sounds as if Jesus is saying through John that 100% of the remaining people that lived on the Earth are bound for the Lake of Fire.  However, I have to believe there this needs to be balanced with the fact that we know that there are those who belong to Jesus and His Kingdom who are on the earth when He returns.  So, I read this as there will be no more unsaved people from this point forward who will make a decision to follow Jesus, not because He doesn't want them to be saved, but because they will have absolutely no desire to be saved.  They would rather spend eternity in the Lake of Fire than bend their knees to Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  They love their sin far more than they love the one who died to save them from their sins.

Revelation 8:6-8:13
English Standard Version

The Seven Trumpets
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”

I'm going to split up the Seven Trumpets into a few different passages.  We'll discuss the First Trumpet through the Fourth Trumpet today and then the Fifth Trumpet and Sixth Trumpet next time.  There will then be several passages before we return to the Seventh Trumpet, but we are going to be told at the end of today's passage (which makes a nice breaking point in the narrative) that the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Trumpets will be the worst of the plagues that are going to come upon the rebellious and wicked people of this time (remember that none of the plagues will touch those that God has marked with the seal that God put on them).

The seven angels with the seven trumpets prepare to blow them!  When the first blows his trumpet, there is a plague of hail and fire that is mixed with blood that is thrown upon the earth.  One-third of the earth (the land) was burned up, one-third of the trees were burned by fire, and all of the green grass was burned up.

We get no sense that there was any relief from the first trumpet before the second angel blasts his trumpet.  When the second trumpet is sounded, a great mountain, burning with fire, is thrown into the sea, and one-third of the sea is turned to blood, and one-third of all the sea creatures died, and one-third of all the ships were destroyed.  This will be devastating for the food supply of the world (many nations primarily eat fish and other seafood) and the world economy because most international shipping still occurs by sea.

The third angel blew his trumpet and a star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch and fell on one-third of the the rivers and springs of water (fresh water that was moving).  The name of this star was Wormwood (a word we use today to mean something bitter or grievous).  The affected waters became bitter (undrinkable) so that they were called wormwood, and many people died from drinking the affected water supply. 

When the fourth angel blows his trumpet, the sun will be darkened so that it will lose one-third of its light (and one-third of the daylight will be gone from the earth) and one-third of the moon's light will also be done and one-third of the light from the stars will also be gone.

Then John looked an heard an eagle (not just a bird of prey, but one that eats dead things) cry out with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow."  This is a message for those who have ears to hear that they need to repent now before the really bad judgments come upon them--nothing is going to stop those judgments from coming, but perhaps there is still time for them to be saved from these judgments and the even worse judgment that is to follow.  As bad as these judgments will be, they are nothing compared to the Vials of the Wrath of God to come nor The Lake of Fire that is prepared for the devil and his angels, but is also the place of eternal judgment, confinement, and torture for those who choose to side with the devil and the world by refusing the salvation offered by Christ alone.

I will include two YouTube videos today to help us remember that the plagues described in this book are not reserved for those of us who are in Christ.  (I'm posting Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) to focus particularly on the third and final verse, which speaks of these plagues and reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord)

With all these terrible judgments, we might think that the people are pretty hard-headed to not see that something worse is coming and they should repent now, but isn't that the story that we see in the Old Testament?  Mankind has really not changed.  People of this time would rather die knowing they are going to hell than give their lives to Christ.  Revelation 9:6 say, "And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them."  Revelation 9:20 says even after the first two Woes, "The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts."

​That is a sad commentary on the hearts of men, but it sounds much like the commentary of the hearts of men prior to the Flood, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5).  See how the LORD has been gracious and kept His covenant that He made with Noah and his descendants (that's all of us) all those years ago:

“I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:21b-22).

and

11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:11-17)

That time of God holding back His judgment on the whole earth is about to come to an end.  Let me include one final passage to bring this all together as we see both the judgment and the salvation that the LORD is providing.

2 Peter 3:1-13
English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord Will Come
3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 8:1-5
English Standard Version

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
8 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

We have discussed seals one through six, but remember that there were seven seals.  Revelation has seven vials/bowls (depending on your translation) within the seven trumpets that are within the seven seals, so the seventh seal is not a plague within itself, but the beginning of another set of judgments.  When the seventh seal was opened, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour (not very long in comparison to all eternity, but much more than the "moment of silence" that we give in some instances today) as everyone anticipated what the breaking of the final seal could mean for heaven and earth.  Then, seven angels with seven trumpets (these are probably ram's horn trumpets like those carried before the Ark of the Covenant into battle like in Joshua chapter 6.  These priests would march out ahead of the Ark of the Covenant and the people of the Lord in Battle and lead them in worship and show the enemy that the LORD went before them in battle so that their vanguard was not made of soldiers and horsemen and charioteers, but priests armed with nothing other than a trumpet and their voices as they led the people to worship and the walls of Jericho fell down as the people sang praises to God.  A similar situation is about to happen here--we are about to have the equivalent of marching around the city in silences for six days and then on the seventh day (the seventh trumpet), swift destruction is coming.

This is also probably to remind us of the Feast of Trumpets which is the first day of the Seventh Month --a day of rest unto the LORD when no work was to be done other than the trumpets were to be blown in celebration and thanks to the LORD.  Sacrifices were to be made to the LORD to honor Him and to look forward to the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Booths that all took place in this seventh month--the holiest of months, for the entire seventh month belonged to the LORD in the same way that the seventh day belongs to the LORD.  These trumpets are a time of celebration and thanksgiving for the people of God, but they are the sound of judgment and destruction for the people of the world that have refused the one only Way of salvation that has been provided for them.

Another angle comes forth and stands next to the Golden Altar (the Altar of Incense where the prayers of the saints have been offered by Jesus, our Great High Priest).  The prayers of the martyrs that we saw in chapter 6 during the Fifth Seal are now going to be answered as hot coals from the Altar of Incense are going to be thrown on the Earth.  This was accompanied by thunder and lightning, earthquakes, and other inexplicable rumblings as creation responds to this time of judgment that has come.  No one is going to miss these judgments as they are widespread and catastrophic in nature.  The world will instantly go from a place of feeling safe and secure under the false peace that Antichrist promised to a place of shared scarcity where the whole world will lack food, water, and the means of transportation to conduct international trade in today's global markets.  There is nothing any country can do today to escape these judgments.  It is not like the days of Joseph when the LORD told him that there would be seven "fat" years followed by seven "lean" years and that he needed to store up during the years of plenty to have enough for the lean years.  These judgments are only going to lead to even worse judgments that will be nearly complete in their destruction--only God's remnant will survive those final judgments.