Wednesday Bible Study: The sixth trumpet prelude

 

Rev 9:12  The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. 

Rev 9:13  Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 

.....

Rev 11:14  The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. 

Exactly two chapters cover this trumpet blast, and for the same reason- after what happens, John is given a look at the why of it.  I'm going to give you the why of it first.

Chapter ten introduces John to a new character...

Rev 10:1  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. 

Rev 10:2  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, 

Rev 10:3  and called out with a loud voice, like a lion roaring...

Note that John is, in his vision, back on earth.  He has to be, because this angel, having descended, is going to give him instructions.  Notable, why?  Because there are certain things that are about to happen that he's going to be involved in, and they happen on earth.  Now right here, I'm going to be honest with you- I have a lot of questions, and I will be giving a lot of "I don't know"s.  First thing I don't know involves what happens next:

...When he called out, the seven thunders sounded. 

Rev 10:4  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." 

Why not?  There are things to be known by only those to whom it happens, and to be revealed only then.  Then why does John hear it?  He was at that time- far in his physical future.  And actually, my asking this question brought me to the key to the whole thing.  Look here in the end of Daniel's prophesies...

Dan 12:4  But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." 

John McArthur helped me out here, too.  He believes that in these late days, with the world seemingly falling apart, the surviving faithful Jews will be 'running to and fro', wondering why God would allow such things.  They will come to the Book of Daniel- and quite possibly Revelation- and their knowledge will increase, as they see their world in Daniel's prophecy.  Like Chuck Swindoll speculated about that number 666- it's something that is on a need to know basis.  And its being there will help THEIR faith when the time comes.

So what is the angel's message to the world he stands astride?  Endgame...

Rev 10:5  And the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 

Rev 10:6  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, 

Rev 10:7  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. 

Mercy was about to be extinguished.  Then the angel turns to John, and the little scroll open- the same scroll, it would seem, that the Lamb opened earlier in our journey- is given, with the instruction to eat it.  This is NOT the first time it happens- in Ezekiel 3, the prophet is commissioned this same way.  Just as Ezekiel was commissioned, now John is:

Rev 10:11  And I was told, "You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings." 

The difference between the two:  Ezekiel, who ate the promise of Israel's restoration, only mentions the book being sweet to his tongue.  But John is about to write about judgment- thus his scroll is sweet to the tongue, but bitter in his stomach.

The stage set, we go to chapter eleven; and like with the sixth seal, this story seems to fit BEFORE the trumpet blows.  Here John is told to "measure the Temple", another thing common to prophets, and signifying- usually- to examine the people associated WITH the Temple, in way of judgment.  Here is where we enter two of the more controversial characters in our tale...

Rev 11:2  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. 

Rev 11:3  And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." 

Rev 11:4  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 

Most people believe they are Moses and Elijah, representing the Law and the Prophets.  Again, Swindoll points out they don't have to BE those two, any more than John the Baptist HAD to be Elijah.  (Here, I am referring to the prophecy at the very end of the Old Testament:

Mal 4:5  "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 

Mal 4:6  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction." 

About which Jesus said:

Mat 11:12  From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 

Mat 11:13  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 

Mat 11:14  and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 

John the Baptist came "in the spirit and power of Elijah", says Luke, and it may be that these men endowed with the power and spirit of Moses and Elijah; or perhaps it might not be Moses at all, but Enoch- the only other character besides Elijah to not die a physical death.  Or, as Swindoll says, it might be two totally new beings.  I have an educated guess, and I get it from Zechariah:

Zec 4:1  And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 

Zec 4:2  And he said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 

Zec 4:3  And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." 

....

Zec 4:11  Then I said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" 

Zec 4:12  And a second time I answered and said to him, "What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?" 

Zec 4:13  He said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." 

Zec 4:14  Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth." 

Sound familiar?  So, who do we know who stood by (beside) the Lord of the Whole earth?

Mar 9:2  And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 

Mar 9:3  and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 

Mar 9:4  And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 

So my educated guess is Moses and Elijah- in some manner.)  But the thing is, here they come, with every supernatural gift displayed by these two, to preach judgment:

Rev 11:5  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. 

Rev 11:6  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. 

So for the first three and a half years of the 7-year judgment, these two will stand in the Temple area, preaching judgment.  But midpoint, something else happens- the AntiChrist commits the Abomination of Desolation, declaring himself to be god.  And it wouldn't do to have these two preaching against him in "his own" Temple court...

Rev 11:7  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, 

Rev 11:8  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. 

And it will be a new "Christmas" for this fallen world, with people actually giving each other presents (V10);  but then after three days, they rise up and ascend into heaven.  A savage earthquake will mark their passing, but it makes no difference to those who believe that the AntiChrist IS god.  This is the final abomination that God allows... and now the sixth trumpet blows, and and the surviving Jews won't be the only ones wondering why....

Chris's somewhat political post

 This isn't really a political post- maybe an anti-political post.  Maybe a

post.  Today (Sunday), I have had discussions with two gentlemen on X; one trying to deride me for joining the Olympic Boycott (I am a "nerd", and should be calling for the "waahmbulance"), the other trying to explain to me why the opening ceremony wasn't a parody of the Last Supper (which I showed him not once but 4X that the lead "actress" said it was), but in fact was a reproduction of a Dionysian festival, and since the original Greek Olympics had them, I should be fine with it (and yet he gets mad when I called it pagan, and thus it makes no difference to me).

I get it.  Say anything to excuse the forcing of sin into every level of life.  And if I decide I don't want to participate, then "next thing, you'll be boycotting water" (Guy #1).

Then it is the constant barrage of lies and stupidities the Democrats are throwing out there, including Pete "Pick Me" Buttigieg bashing Trump for "withdrawing from a Presidential debate" when a) the debater in question hasn't been nominated officially yet, which was Trump's reasoning; and b) HIS former nominee withdrew from a second debate, and the WHOLE RACE, when he was confronted with his own fading ability.

And frankly, all of which encourages the idol worship on the far right, where Trump is a red cape and an S away from being Superman and Jesus rolled into one.  This is why I have vowed NOT to vote.  Though I hope and occasionally pray that Trump wins, I'm not convinced there's a candidate in the nation worthy of a vote,  and I'd rather God decide than me.  I know many fellow Christians might bash me based on I Peter 2, but this is where I and my God are at right now.

In the meantime, Hezbollah murders innocent children playing soccer in the Golan and says, 

while we have protesters calling Israel murderers for ridding the earth of their fellow parasites of Hamas.

Frankly, I think we're heading for an end.  France had the recent election stolen from Marine Le Pen's right-wing, and these Olympics are the result.  The UK had a peaceful protest Saturday about the government's (and particularly, the police's) favoring immigrants, illegal or not, over natives- and the organizer is arrested under the Terrorism Act.  In Ireland, one town ran off workers and burned their heavy equipment- because the government decided to plop a "Migrant Center" in their town.

And today, Google's AI will not even tell you there was a recent attempt on Donald Trump's life, nor will its search bar give you results for it.

IF Trump loses this election (another reason I won't vote- they quite obviously cheated the vote last time, why wouldn't they again?), and whatever leftist puppet of Obama gets put in, I think this world is going to be in the last phases.  All the subjects of my Wednesday Bible Studies for the last four months will be ready to kick off.  We have one of the Beast's three horns in Daniel 7 broken off (The UK's Brexit) and the second is working loose (Hungary is being fined by the EU and Poland told them, "If you disagree with a club you're in, you should leave"), all we need is one more EU defection for that prophecy.

But I don't want to go deep into prophecy here.  What I want is probably the stupidest thing of all to want:

One day in which I DON'T need to be reminded that My Jesus is still here.

Lord, let that be the FIRST thing I look for every morning.

The weekend in pictures

 Only really two days on this set, as Friday was a work day.  Imagine, scheduling spent three weeks moving orders up to this past week, and still are surprised I have 9 more boat covers to cut!  Anyway, the only thing in the way of a picture I have was when Kc's lady Jessica, with all the grandkids, was stuck on I-69 after this happened...

I told her that this was the second NASCAR like thing we'd seen today... the other being a car on Coldwater with it's driver side front wheel most of the way off.  I'm just thankful she wasn't putting air in this thing when it popped.  My son (who was at work) apparently replied to her statement, "I don't know what happened", with, "You were driving."  She tends to have bad things drop into her lap while driving.  Thus my comment that the "DWO" on her licence plate stood for "Didn't Watch Out" also went unappreciated.

Oh wait, there was one OTHER picture... I had noted that by blind luck, I was drinking a Founders beer (called Backwoods Bastard), in my Founders t-shirt, in my Founders CBS glass....

...but Laurie told me I needed to smile, so I came out looking like a backwoods bastard...

Saturday was a typical "up just before dawn" day for me and Misty...

I see we missed another 'high weed cutting'....

A tad foggy

Uh-oh, setting up for an event...

Very peoplely today...

Yep, trying to set up the event in the thick of the fog...

Even a grill...

Meanwhile, a lower mist was rolling across the river...

Dawn at the ravine

In the woods, we heard what seemed to be a bird, but as I described the sound to Laurie, "You know how a hawk screeches? Well, let's say the hawk has bad laryngitis, and combine that with a little kid trying to whistle for the first time."  Misty finally spotted him first...

Our old friend, the owl...

A little odd fungus rounded out the trip...

And that brings us to this morning, somewhat later so we could send Laurie off to work...

Corner bunny was a bit upfield today...

Kitty keeping an eye on Misty...

Supposed to get storms later on...

"Tahme ta pick de cotton", lol

Two days of walking- nothing hanging out at the swamp, no squirrels, one bunny, and the owl....

Swallows were dive bombing everywhere at the river...

...but the river itself was not moving, and Misty said, "No, thanks."  Unlike Scrappy, she's particular (to an extent) about her water...

Several big brushpiles of, "Lets not leave the wildlife any cover here"...

And at the other end, the sentries...

At one end, staying his post, the Bluebird of Happiness...

And his not so brave Eastern Kingbird buddy...

STILL nothing in the woods- not even a squirrel!

Had been hearing him for a while- only spotted him when his buddy tried to land next to him and got told to shove off

M10 Show week #128

 

Elvis:  Hey, y'all, here we are doin' a late-night tapin' of our music show...

Not even 830 PM is late night?

Well, fer me it is, at least nowadays... Say, this smoothie's purty good!  What's in it?

You don't want to know, trust me!  Anyway, we have only one debut, so let's go right onto target year 1970...

It was a very good year...

I was in third grade, so at least for me it was.  Back to the point, this week in 1970, our big buddy here was sliding back down the chart with The Wonder Of You....

An' I'll just bet ya din't put it on yer list!

You know the rules on this- it has to be on the upside, not the downslide.  Anyway, I didn't hear it all that much back then, not until you.... you know...

Let's not dwell on that, okay?

Totally agree.  So this week in the US, Cashbox had the Temptations on top with Ball Of Confusion, which would make #5 in Canada, and as usual Motown stiffed Australia.  In Canada, it was Miguel Rios with A Song Of Joy- Australia also had it hit the top, but an obstinate US peaked it at 9.

That's a switch...

And we did it again on Australia's #1- the double sided Up Around The Bend/Run Through The Jungle by CCR, which Canada agreed with and we stopped at #4.  My top five was fairly easy for a change...

5- BJ Thomas, I Just Can't Help Believing.  At 27 this week, CB would put it to 11, Canada to 18, Australia to 31.

4- Mark Lindsey, Silver Bird.  At 23 this week for the former Paul Revere and the Raiders frontman, CB would top it at 20, Australia at 33, but Canada made it a big top 10.

3- Eric Burdon and War, Spill The Wine.  Even if I didn't know what they said back then!  At 14 this week, it would stairstep to 1 on CB, 2 in Australia, 3 in Canada.

2- Bread, Make It With You.  At #5 this week, it would make it with #1 here, 2 in Canada, 7 in Australia.

And my top song this week in 1970?  So easy it should be on a Capital One credit card ad...

1- Carpenters, (They Long To Be) Close To You.  In the runner up slot this week, it would make #1 across the board.

This is like the first time everybody had your 5 in the top 40 right?

Extremely likely, though I wouldn't know for sure without research I'm not of a mind to do.  This week, as I said, I have just one debut on the M10- and it's a familiar face (so to speak) making a BIG move to #3...

  *************************************************************

Love these guys when they get that accordion crankin'!  Here is the rest of the story...

10- Down 2 in week #9 for RKS an Meticulous...

9- An' holding for Bon Jovi an' Living Proof...

8- Up 2 fer Amira Elfecky and friends with Remains Of Us....

7- Down 2 fer the Man In Black an' Well Alright...

6- Down 3 fer Lucius an' friends with Go Home...

5- Up 3 fer The Heavy Heavy an' Sleeping On Grassy Ground....

4- An' holdin' fer Cage The Elephant an' Rainbow...

2- An' holdin' fer Shannon and her Clams an' What You're Missing...

And another week at the top fer...

...Pierce The Veil and Karma Police!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How'd they do on this week's charts?  Karma Police was at 40 alt, 45 rock; Rainbow was 6 college, 18 alt, and 96 rock; and Living Proof was 76 alt and 64 rock.  See you next time!

Wednesday Bible Study: The trumpets, continued...

 

I stopped for an "explanation week" last week because there is a reason the angel warned the earth about what was coming next- well, actually, two reasons.  First, even in judgment, God has left avenues of mercy available for these people- most of which are doing this:

Rev 6:16  calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 

Rev 6:17  for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" 

But another of those avenues is about to close, as the judgments shift from "ones that might possibly have a natural (i.e. non-supernatural) explanation" to "ones that can't possibly be happening".  Let's look at the first of those...

Rev 9:1  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. 

Rev 9:2  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. 

Rev 9:3  Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 

Rev 9:4  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. 

Rev 9:5  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. 

Rev 9:6  And in those days people will seek death and will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them. 

Piecing this out, the first thing you need to see is that v1 doesn't say,  'like a star', or 'a falling star', but very specifically, "a star fallen".  If you know your Bible (or have access to John McArthur's teaching), you know what- rather who- this means.  For those who don't...

Isa 14:12  Oh shining star, son of the morning, how you have fallen from the heavens! You weakening the nations, you are cut down to the ground. 

Isa 14:13  For you have said In your heart, I will go up to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit in the mount of meeting, in the sides of the north. 

Isa 14:14  I will rise over the heights of the clouds; I will be compared to the Most High. 

Isa 14:15  Yet you shall go down to Sheol, to the sides of the Pit.  (LITV)

Lucifer Morningstar- Satan- already fallen to earth, is given the key to the bottomless pit.  What be this, you ask?

Jud 1:6  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-- 

Angels that did not keep their place- the same "sons of God" who polluted the earth in Genesis 6 and had their bodies destroyed in the Flood.  But they aren't quite angels anymore- they were locusts- or locust-formed demons- or demon possessed locusts.  Only these weren't here to eat plants, as the locusts of old- but only sting them, make them wish they were dead- how like the trial Satan inflicted on Job!  So what are they?  I don't know.  When I first read the description that follows- 

Rev 9:7  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, 

Rev 9:8  their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; 

Rev 9:9  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. 

Rev 9:10  They have tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt people for five months is in their tails. 

I said to myself, years ago- "They sound like attack helicopters!"  Later on, I kind of wondered if this wasn't a drone attack.  But here's how you know I was wrong-

 "They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them..."

Five months is the lifespan of a locust.  These are locusts possessed by the children of the Genesis 6 angels.  And there is yet another layer to this...

Rev 9:11  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. 

In both languages, this means destroyer or destruction.  If these are indeed what became of the watchers and their children, then he had another name once- Azazel:

And again the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening 5 in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may 6,7 not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the 8 Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted 9 through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.'

- 1 Enoch chapter 10

Just food for thought- we need to be careful with extrabiblical sources, even those quoted by the Apostles in later days.  But here's a thought:  These angels had to take on flesh bodies to have intercourse with the daughters of men as it says in Genesis 6.  Those bodies were destroyed in the Flood; but Pastor Jack Hibbs (among others) teaches that their spirits survived as demons, without bodies of their own- they had to possess someone to act.  Let's flash back to something that happened between Jesus and the group of demons named Legion:

Luk 8:30  Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him. 

Luk 8:31  And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 

Luk 8:32  Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 

Luk 8:33  Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. 

So, the abyss- the bottomless pit- they feared.   They had to go somewhere from the man- they went to the pigs.  And the pigs rid themselves of them by drowning in the WATER.  The same water that destroyed their bodies so long ago.  Jesus gives another confirmation of this in another passage, sort of..

Mat 12:43  When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. 

Dry places- why would a demon go to dry places?- because it fears water.  Thus, it would seem that what comes from the Bottomless pit are Watchers and their kin, needing insect bodies to sustain themselves, with a limit set on their demoniac power- just, again, as God set a limit on Satan's power over Job- and when the insect bodies, transformed by the demons, reach their natural end, they die, the demons presumably return to the bottomless pit, and that threat ends.  And we hear:

Rev 9:12  The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still to come. 

Flowers for Gus

 The things you didn't get to see

Now you see more clear than me

Recently we have been following @mark_joubert as they lived and died for their baby Gus, a heart transplant baby whose kidneys were not recovering from the surgery.  This Friday, Gus "looked good" as he underwent yet another cath procedure- but from there things went horribly wrong.  Augustus Elliot Joubert went to his Father in Heaven last night.  Please join me in keeping the family in prayer as they deal not only with the loss, but re-establishing a normal.  My heart is just broken.