The Lamb Overcomes the Beast – Revelation 13:1-7

Revelation 13:1: “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten diadems, and on his heads a blasphemous name.”

This beast rises up out of the sea. The sea symbolized a place of chaos in ancient times.

Its seven heads, ten horns and ten diadems represent kingdoms of the world and their leaders. Diadems are what Olympic champions wear after their victories.

It has a blasphemous name on its heads. To blaspheme is to speak against God! It is a blasphemer. It is an antichrist.

Its seven heads and ten horns connect it to the great red dragon that is described in Revelation 12:3. In Revelation 12:9, the great red dragon is identified as Satan. This beast embodies Satan.

In Revelation 17:7, an angel begins to explain to John “the mystery of the beast” which “has the seven heads and the ten horns.”

In Revelation 17:8, the phrase, “was, and is not, and will ascend out of the abyss and go to perdition” connects the beast to Satan as described in Revelation 20:1-3 where an angel binds the “dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan,” with a chain and casts him into an abyss for a thousand years, but afterwards he is released for a short time. He causes more havoc, but then, in Revelation 20:10, the Lord throws him into the lake burning with fire and brimstone “to be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

The phrase, “was, and is not, and yet is” indicates he existed, didn’t seem to exist, and then, exists again. It will seem to die and resurrect to life again.

In Revelation 7:9-10, an angel explains to John that “the seven heads are seven mountains.” In Jeremiah 51:25, the Lord says to Babylon, “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, who destroys all the earth, says the Lord. And I will stretch out My hand against you, roll you down from the rocks, and make you a burnt mountain.” The angel tells John, “There are also seven kings” which connects them to seven kingdoms which are against Christ.

In Revelation 7:11-14, the angel explains that the ten horns are ten kings who are with the beast. Horns represent strength, power and ability to kill. They also give their power and authority to the beast. They make war with the Lamb [Jesus], but Christ overcomes them.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, Paul wrote, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” From this Bible passage, we know that the beast is a person who leads a coalition of kings and their nations to make war with Christ and with the followers of Christ.

In Daniel 7:7, the Lord also showed to Daniel this beast with 10 horns. In Daniel 7:24, the Lord told Daniel that the ten horns are ten kings.

The Greek word for beast refers to a “wild beast.” People become “brutish” when they assume that they are invincible like a god. Proud rulers are capable of doing much harm to people. For example, Pharoah was cruel to the people of God.

King Nebuchadnezzar was a beast-like ruler. He made a giant statue of himself and made a law that if people did not worship it, they would be thrown into a fiery furnace. In Daniel 4:30, he glorified himself, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” In Daniel 4:31-37, at the pinnacle of his pride, the Lord struck him with mental illness so that he acted like an animal, living among the beasts and eating grass like an ox. Then, the Lord restored understanding and reason to his mind, and he remarked, “Those who walk in pride, God is able to abase.”

In 1 Samuel, after King Saul experienced the Spirit’s anointing, he foolishly set up a monument to himself. After that, God’s Spirit departed from him and an evil spirit entered him. Saul tried to kill David seven times. Saul ordered the massacre of God’s priests, as well as their spouses and children. He became an antichrist. He consulted a witch. He ended up committing suicide.[1]

Revelation 13:2: “Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.”

In Daniel 4:4, the Lord showed Daniel a lion which represents the Babylonian Empire. In Daniel 4:5, the Lord showed Daniel a bear which represents the Medo-Persian Empire. In Daniel 4:6, the Lord showed Daniel a leopard which represents the Grecian Empire. In Daniel 4:7, the Lord showed Daniel a fourth beast with ten horns which represents the Roman Empire. In Daniel 4:17, the Lord explains that these four great beasts are four kings which arise out of the earth.

The beast, the antichrist, is a skillful predator. Like a leopard, he blends with his surroundings so he can approach his prey undetected. Like a bear’s paw, he can severely wound his prey with one quick strike. Like a lion’s mouth, his bite is powerful and deadly. The devil’s goal is to empower and enthrone kings to carry out his cruel plans against God’s people.

The Bible tells us that evil leaders gain power and authority via deception. In 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, Paul wrote that people “perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” They believe lies and doubt truth.

In 2 Chronicles 12:1-8, after King Rehoboam and his nation abandoned the Law of God, God told him that his people would become subject to Shishak King of Egypt to help them learn the difference between serving God and serving the kings of other lands.

In Jeremiah 5:6, God spoke of wild beasts as His judgment on sin: “Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities. Every one that goes out shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.”

In Proverbs 28:15, Solomon compared a wicked ruler to a lion and a bear. “As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over poor people.” In 2 Timothy 4:17 and 1 Peter 5:8, Peter and Paul characterized evil enemies as lions.

Revelation 13:3-4: “And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’”

The antichrist seems to resurrect from the dead. Revelation 17:8 describes him as “was, and is not, and yet is.” He existed, no longer exists, and then, exists again. As a result, people exclaim, “Who is like the beast?” They should be saying, “Who is like the Lord God?”

When Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again, it was to demonstrate God’s love for us, and to give all who believe in Him eternal life. When the beast seems to resurrect, it is to convince people to do his evil bidding. He may reward his faithful followers for a season, but ultimately he leads them to destruction because that is where he himself ends up.

Revelation 13:5-7: “And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for 42 months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His Name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

The description of the beast in Revelation 13:5-7 is like God’s description of him in Daniel 7:25: “He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.” The beast is granted a window as he was in the days of Job to attack God’s people of faith for a season... for three and a half years or 42 months.

In Daniel 11:36, it is written, “Then the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished...” He aims to rally people from all nations and languages to be against proclaimers of Christ.

In Jeremiah 27:6-7 and 51:20-24, the Lord called Babylon’s king His servant, saying, “All nations shall serve him, his son and his son’s son. God called the king of Babylon his battle axe to destroy the nations.

In Exodus 9:16, the Lord said to Pharaoh, “I raised you up, to show in you My power; and that My Name may be declared throughout all the earth.”

The devil prefers people to serve him. In Luke 4:6, the devil said to Jesus, “All this power will I give You, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” In John 19:11, when Pilate was about to crucify Jesus, Jesus said to Pilate, “You could have no power at all against Me, except it were given you from above.”

The good news is that God takes what the devil means for evil and turns it around for good.

In Genesis 37, Joseph’s jealous brothers wanted to kill him, but God preserved him.

God is good! God used Joseph to save the lives of his evil brothers and their families. In Genesis 50:18-21, after his brothers fell down before Joseph, and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” He said to them, “Do not be afraid... you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. ...I will provide for you and your little ones.” God magnifies His love and grace amidst a backdrop of evil.

In Daniel 12:3, the Lord says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”

In contrast with the works of darkness that the beast and his cohorts will be doing in the last days, the followers of Christ will be shining brightly. The Lamb overcomes the beast.


[1] See 1 Samuel 10:10, 15:12, 16:14-20, 22:18-20, 28:6-12, 31:4-6 for the details

Christ Wins – Revelation 12:1-17

Revelation 12:1: “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars.”

In Genesis 3:9-10, Joseph told Israel his father, “I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.” Israel rebuked Joseph and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”

In Joseph’s dream from the Lord, the sun represents his father, the moon his mother, and the eleven stars his brothers. The woman in Revelation 12:1 represents the 12 tribes of Israel through whom God gave to the world His Son. Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh.

The Lord says in Jeremiah 31:21-22, “Set up signposts, make landmarks... O virgin of Israel... for the Lord has created a new thing in the earth—a woman shall compass [סָבַב] a man.” A virgin with a “man” inside her is a sign that God is doing something new in the earth.

In Isaiah 7:14, the prophet told King Ahaz, “The Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel [God with us].”

The woman represents God’s Bride. In Isaiah 54:5, God says to Israel, “Your Maker is your husband.” In Isaiah 62:5, God compares His joy over His people to a bridegroom rejoicing over a bride. In Jeremiah 2:2 and Hosea 2:19-20, God calls Israel His betrothed. In Matthew 25:1-10, Jesus compares those who enter the kingdom of God to wise virgins waiting for their bridegroom to arrive. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul speaks of Christians as promised to one husband, even to Christ. In Ephesians 5:25-32, Paul compares the relationship between a husband and wife to the sacrificial love of Christ for the Church. In Revelation 21:2, 9, New Jerusalem comes down from heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 12:2: “Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.”

In Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23, the child that the woman gives birth to is the Messiah. His is called “Emmanuel” which means God with us.

In Isaiah 66:7-8, God asks, “Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor, than she gives birth to her children.” In an earthly sense, this passage refers to Israel becoming a nation once again in 1948. In a spiritual sense, it speaks of the people of Israel being reborn, this time with the life of Jesus Messiah within them.

In John 3:3-8, Jesus told Nicodemus that the Kingdom of God is birthed inside a person when the Holy Spirit like a wind blows upon them. According to 1 Peter 2:9-10, a person is spiritually reborn and becomes a citizen of God’s Kingdom on the day he or she believes in Jesus Christ. Such a person is born again. Transformed by God’s power!

Revelation 12:3: “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.”

In Daniel 7:7, the Lord showed Daniel a fourth beast that was dreadful and exceedingly strong. It devoured what the previous three beasts (empires) left behind. It had 10 horns. In Daniel 7:24, the Lord told Daniel that the ten horns are ten kings.

In Revelation 17:3-14, the Lord shows John a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names. It has seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads are defined as seven kings. The ten horns are defined as ten kings. The Babylonian empire of the last days rides on the back of the seven kings, and the ten kings give their power and authority to the beast. They make war with the Lamb but the Lamb [Christ] overcomes them.

The sign of the fiery red dragon lets us know that Satan is the instigator and source of the evil activities of the last days’ Babylonian empire against God and His people on earth.

Revelation 12:4: “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born.”

In Daniel 8:9-10, a little horn grows toward the Glorious Land. It reaches the host of heaven, and casts some of the host down and tramples on them.

In Revelation 12:4, the dragon’s tail withdraws a third of the stars of heaven and casts them down to earth. In Revelation 12:9, the devil is cast out from heaven to earth. “His angels were cast out with him.” In Revelation 1:20, angelic messengers are symbolized by stars. The devil persuaded a third of the angels to rebel against God.

In Matthew 2:13-18, after Christ was born of Mary, the devil wants to devour Him, but an angel warned Joseph in a dream to arise and flee to Egypt (a wilderness). The devil’s plot was to use a king (Herod) to kill Jesus Messiah.

The preservation of Jesus from Herod is reminiscent of God’s miraculous preservation of Moses from Pharaoh in Exodus 2:1-10. Pharoah, whose name means crocodile, demanded that the people of Israel drown their newborn baby boys in the river, but God used Pharoah’s own daughter to find baby Moses, adopt him and raise him as her own son.

In Daniel 8:11, “the horn” exalts himself against “the Prince of the host” which is Jesus Messiah.

In Daniel 8:12, “Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn” by the which he stops “the daily sacrifices” and destroys the place pf the Lord’s sanctuary. He casts truth down to the ground.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, 9-10, Paul wrote of a falling away from the Lord in the last days. A man of sin will be revealed. He “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”

Those who love and keep God’s Word, which is the truth, are not swept away by Satan’s lies.

Revelation 12:5: “She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and His throne.”

The child she bore was Jesus Christ. He rules “all nations with a rod of iron.” Jesus rules with a rod that does not bend or break. In Revelation 19:15, a sharp sword goes out of His mouth and strikes the nations. Jesus treads the winepress of the fierceness of God’s wrath.

In Exodus 4:17, the Lord told Moses to take a rod in his hand. With it he would do signs. In Exodus 7:17-20, as he struck the waters of Egypt with it, they turned to blood. With the rod of God in his hand, the proud nation of Egypt was shattered. The rod represents authority to rule.

“Her child was caught up to God and His throne.” In Mark 16:19, after Jesus completed His mission on earth, He ascended to heaven.

Revelation 12:6: “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1,260 days.”

In Matthew 2:13, God preserved the child Jesus and His mother by leading Joseph to take them to Egypt (the wilderness). In Matthew 2:19, after King Herod died, the Lord led Joseph to bring them back to the land of Israel.

In 1 Samuel 27, David lived among the Philistines for a time to avoid being slain by King Saul.

According to Romans 9-11, Jesus Christ abides among the Gentiles until the last days when the Jews open their hearts to Him and want Him to reign over them. The good news of the last days is that the Jewish people will turn in great numbers to faith in Yeshua Ha Mashiach.

Revelation 12:7-9: “And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Various passages of the Bible speak of Satan being cast out from God’s presence. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus said, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” In Luke 10:18, Jesus states, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” In 2 Peter 2:4, it is written, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell...” In Isaiah 14:14, the devil said, “I will make myself like the Most High.” But in Isaiah 14:15, the Lord said to him, “But you are brought down... to the far reaches of the pit.” In Revelation 20:10, the devil is thrown into the lake of burning brimstone to be tormented there forever.

He “who deceives the whole world” “was cast to the earth, and his angels with him.” In John 12:31, while speaking of His death, Jesus declared, “Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” The death of Christ on the cross, removed the handwriting against humanity because Jesus paid the ransom for our souls.

Sin was the devil’s access point to destroy our souls. In Hebrews 2:14, we read, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” In 1 John 3:8, we read, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

According to Romans 16:20, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”

Revelation 12:10: “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’”

In Zechariah 3:1-2, the Lord gave to Zechariah a vision of Satan accusing Joshua the high priest. An angel said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan!” In Zechariah 3:4, the angel said to those next to Joshua, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” The Lord said to Joshua, “I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”

Satan may accuse us, but his accusations are meaningless because God has forgiven us, justified us and glorified us. In Romans 8:31-34, Paul wrote, “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.”

Revelation 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

In Revelation 12:11, the Lord gives us three keys to overcoming the devil’s attacks. First, rebuke Satan, because the precious blood of Christ has been shed for your redemption. Second, recite the promises contained in God’s Word over you. For example, “I am honored, precious, and loved by God. I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.” Third, and last, whether or not the Lord delivers my physical body from the fiery furnace, I will not give my soul to any other god.

Revelation 12:12: “Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

In Job 2:2, when the Lord asked Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan replied, “From going to and fro on the earth...” In 1 Peter 5:8, Peter warned, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Thus, it is good to pray as the Lord taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Revelation 12:13: “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.”

The devil persecutes those who profess Christ. He does this through those whom he controls. In Psalms 37:12-14, the Psalmist put it this way, “The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes upon him with his teeth. ...to slay such as be of upright conversation.”

Revelation 12:14: “But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”

In Exodus 19:4, the Lord said to Israel, “You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself.” In Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

The wings symbolize God’s helping hands to preserve the life of His servants. In Isaiah 49:16, the Lord says, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.”

Revelation 12:15-16: “So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.”

The enemy tries to overwhelm God’s people with a flood a trials, but the Lord says to us in Isaiah 59:19, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” The standard that God raises against the enemy’s flood are His promises recorded in the Bible. According to John 14:26, the Holy Spirit brings God’s Word to our mind.

Revelation 12:17, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The woman is the bride of Christ. We who are in Christ are her offspring. We keep God’s commandments [the Law] and the testimony of Jesus Christ [the Gospel]. We speak the Law to convict sinners that they need God’s forgiveness, and the Gospel to tell them He forgives them.

Yes, the devil is at war with Christ and us His followers, but we know who wins. Christ has already revealed to us in the Book of Revelation the happy ending of our story.

The New Temple – Revelation 11:7-19

Revelation 11:7: “When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.”

The “they” in Revelation 11:7 refers to the two witnesses described in Revelation 11:3-6.[1] By the grace of God, the two witnesses complete their mission. The devil wanted to kill them all along but could not until they completed their testimonies for Jesus and the Word of God.

In Timothy 4:7-8, Paul wrote of completing the mission that God gave to him: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.”

“The beast” referred to in Revelation 11:7 is described at length in various Bible passages. In Revelation 13:4-8, he blasphemes God. He makes war against and overcomes the saints. People, whose names are not in the Lamb’s book of Life, worship him.

The beast ascends out of the abyss. For more information about the abyss, please click the link in the footnote to my article on Revelation 9:1-2.[2]

In Daniel 7:2-3, God gave Daniel a vision of four winds stirring up the sea and four beasts coming up out of the sea. These beasts represent world empires that exalt themselves against God and persecute the people of God.

In Daniel 7:21-22, Daniel wrote, “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.”

The Lord is glorified when His saints prevail over the beast and when they die as martyrs because they refuse to worship him. Christian survivors in nations that slay saints sometimes testify to the words of Irenaeus, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” The Christian movement picks up momentum after a valiant witness dies for the sake of the Gospel.

In Revelation 19:19, the Lord shows John “the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.”

In Revelation 19:20-22, the beast and his false prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Their army is “killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse,” that is, the Word of God, Jesus.

During the days of the two witnesses, the antichrist is ruling as though he is god. The testimony of these two witnesses says otherwise. They humiliate him. He wants them cancelled.

After the two witnesses are martyred, it seems to many that God has been cancelled.

Think of this... we all have to die... why not die while bearing witness to Christ? “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

Revelation 11:8: “Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.”

“The great city” is identified as Babylon in Revelation 14:8 and 18:10-21. Spiritually, Babylon is called Sodom, Egypt, and the place where Jesus was crucified.

In Genesis 13:13, “the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.” In Genesis 19:24, “the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom.” In Isaiah 1:10; Jeremiah 23:14; Amos 4:11; Matthew 10:15; 2 Peter 2:6; and Jude 1:7, God uses the name “Sodom” to refer to people who are evil in His sight and about to be destroyed by Him.

In Ezekiel 16:46-49, the Lord refers to His people who committed adultery with other gods as Sodom. “The iniquity of Sodom was pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor.”

In Exodus 3:7, Egypt is noted by God as cruelly oppressing His people. God humbled Egypt by sending ten plagues against them.

“Where also our Lord was crucified.” Where was Jesus crucified? He was crucified in Jerusalem. Though the exact physical location of this event is in the city of Jerusalem, “the great city” in this case is Jerusalem that has spiritually become like Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt all rolled into one. Just like the days when Jesus came the first time, Jerusalem has become an evil place due to the beast and his influence. Jesus needs to come and clean it up.

As the ministries of Moses and Elijah proceeded the first coming of Christ, so their ministries will proceed Christ before He returns the second time. According to Revelation 11:3, the two witnesses will prophesy for 1,260 days, which is about three and a half years.[3]

Revelation 11:9-10: “Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.”

In Psalm 2:1-3, the Lord speaks of nations raging and plotting against Him. The kings of the earth set themselves against Him. They say, “Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” They have a misconceived notion that their Creator and Redeemer is their enemy and that Satan, the imposter god, is their friend. So, they do the devil’s bidding.

In Psalm 79:2-3, Asaph laments, “The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food for the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth. Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them.”

People from all over the world see the corpses of the two witnesses and rejoice and give gifts to one another to celebrate their death. Sounds kind of like today’s governments, merchants and idol manufacturers who promote Santa Claus and Easter Bunny instead of Jesus Christ. They want to addict people to buying and selling, not trusting in Jesus to meet all their needs.

In Matthew 23:34, Jesus said to the religious leaders in Jerusalem, “I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify...” In Luke 13:33, Jesus said that “no prophet can die outside Jerusalem,” to emphasize their tendency to reject God’s prophets.

In John 16:20, Jesus assured His disciples and us that the world’s celebration will be short-lived. “You shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”

How did these two witnesses torment the people of the world? By speaking the truth! By doing miracles that validated that what they spoke was from God. In John 10:25, Jesus said, “The works that I do in My Father’s Name, they bear witness of Me.”

Revelation 11:11-12: “Now after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.”

The same God who breathed life into Adam in Genesis 2:7, and who made the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:5-14 to live again, resurrects the two witnesses. They stand upon their feet. People from all over the world see them alive again. They see them ascend to heaven. Great fear falls upon them. Modern day technology makes it possible for people from around the globe to see this miracle in real time and then, watch the recording of it repeatedly.

Revelation 11:13: “In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake 7,000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

There was a great earthquake when Jesus Christ arose from the dead on the third day, and there is a great earthquake when God resurrects these two witnesses from the dead. A tenth of Jerusalem collapses in that hour. Kind of a tithe unto God for all the pain they caused God and His servants. 7,000 people die from the earthquake. Those who survive give glory to God.

The devil and his followers just had to eat, as we say in America, “humble pie.”

Revelation 11:14-15, “The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”

In Revelation 10:7, a mighty messenger from heaven declared to John, “In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.” In other words, the nations have filled up the cup of God’s wrath by their evil doings so God is about to pour out His seven remaining bowls of wrath on them. Then, God will create a new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem.

In Revelation 15:1, John sees “another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.”

After the seventh trumpet sounds, the prophecy of Daniel 2:44 will be fulfilled: “The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break to pieces all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

After the seventh trumpet sounds, the prophecy of Daniel 7:18 will be fulfilled: “Saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”

After the seventh trumpet sounds, the prophecy of Zechariah 14:9 shall be fulfilled: “The Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His Name one.”

Revelation 11:16-18: “And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: ‘We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your Name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.’”

John sees the 24 elders on their faces worshipping and thanking God Almighty for using His great power to reign over the earth. They bow before God in humble adoration because He destroyed destroyers and rewarded His servants the prophets and the saints.

The seven seal, seven trumpet and seven bowl judgments of Revelation present the unfolding of God’s plans to bring about the end of the world as we know it now and to usher in a new and better existence. In Revelation 5:7, when the Lamb took the scroll with seven seals on it from His Father, He was authorized to fulfill the remaining unfulfilled prophecies in the Bible.

Revelation 11:19: “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thundering, an earthquake, and great hail.”

John sees the temple of God opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant is there. Where is the new temple that was spoke of in Revelation 11:1-2? It is in heaven.

The temple is symbolic of the body of Christ and the ark is symbolic of Jesus. The lightnings, noises, thundering, an earthquake, and great hail are manifestations of God’s great power.

The new temple is built upon the profession of Christ as the Son of God and Savior. In Matthew 16:13-18, after Peter professed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, Jesus replied, “On this rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” The rock is not Peter. He died and is with the Lord. The rock is the profession of Christ as Lord.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:19-22 that by faith in Messiah, people become members of God’s household. Via the teachings of the apostles, prophets, and Jesus Christ, we “grow into a holy temple in the Lord... a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

God’s Word says in 1 Peter 2:4-5 that you “like living stones are being built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

The Lord’s new temple is not limited to one location. It stretches from heaven to earth in Christ.

In Haggai 2:9, the Lord of hosts says, “The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, and in this place I will give peace.” Jesus Christ fulfilled this prophecy and is continuing to fulfill it in all who receive and serve Him. Praise the Lord.

[1] For Biblical into the two witnesses, go to: https://21stcenturyjeremiah.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-new-temple-and-two-witnesses.html
[2] For Biblical insight into the abyss, go to: https://21stcenturyjeremiah.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-fifth-trumpet-of-god-revelation-91.html
[3] Moses and Elijah also appear in Luke 9:30-31. They speak with Jesus of His death which will happen in Jerusalem.

The New Temple and Two Witnesses – Revelation 11:1-6

Revelation 11:1-2: “Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court, which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months.”

Measuring communicates existence, ownership, and protection. The Lord is declaring to John and to us that His people will still exist in Jerusalem even as the antichrist and his followers seem to be in control of religion in Jerusalem. John measured the temple, the altar and the worshippers. There will still be a remnant of God’s people. They will worship God in Spirit and in truth and not according to the counterfeit religion of the antichrist.[1]

In Revelation 21:9-16, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues said to John, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” He carried John away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain. The angel showed John holy Jerusalem. The angel had a gold reed to measure the city. The city’s length, breadth, and height are equal. It is 12,000 furlongs or 1,500 miles on each side. The wall around the city is 144 cubits or 216 feet (roughly the height of a 20-story building) high. The city is pure gold, like clear glass.

The measuring of the temple in Revelation 11:1-2 relates to Ezekiel 40 where in the 25th year of the Babylonian captivity, the Lord took Ezekiel by His Spirit to a high mountain in Israel where he sees a city. While there, he saw a man with a measuring rod in his hand. Ezekiel watches this man throughout chapters 40-42. The man measures and gives the dimensions of the new temple.

The measuring of the temple in Revelation 11:1-2 relates to Ezekiel 40-42 where in the 25th year of the Babylonian captivity, the Lord took Ezekiel by His Spirit to a high mountain in Israel. The Lord showed Ezekiel a man with a measuring rod in his hand. This man measures and gives to Ezekiel the dimensions of a new temple. Thus, Ezekiel’s prophecy begins with the destruction of the first temple, and ends with a vision for a new temple.

In Ezekiel 13:10-12, the Lord compared the false prophets in Jerusalem to bad builders. They prophesied of peace when there was no peace. True prophets like Ezekiel warned the people of God’s judgments. In Ezekiel 10:18, the glory of the Lord departed from the temple due to all the idolatrous practices that were happening inside it.

Revelation 11:1-2, the Lord is indicating to John and to us that there will be a new temple.

In Revelation 7:14-15, an angel showed to John a great multitude of people in heaven. They came out from the great tribulation. Now, they are serving God say and night in His temple. But then in Revelation 21:22, John sees no temple in New Jerusalem “for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

The temple that the Lord showed John and Ezekiel may be built during the 1,000-year reign of Christ with His martyrs. The 1,000 year reign of Christ is mentioned in Revelation 20:4.

After the Babylonian captivity was over, God led and equipped Nehemiah, Ezra and many others to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. So, perhaps after the “Babylon” of Revelation 18 is destroyed, a new temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. During that era, as now, sacrifices for sin will be remembrances of what Christ accomplished by His death and resurrection. His one sacrifice of Himself was sufficient to remove the sins of the world. Sinners appropriate His sacrifice by believing in Him and professing Him to be their Lord and Savior. During our communion and baptism services, we remember the sacrifices Christ made for us.

The Lord’s message to John in Revelation 11:1-2 is similar to the message that He gave to Daniel in Daniel 7:25 and 12:7, and to Ezekiel in his prophecy. The Gentiles will tread underfoot that which is holy, but after 42 months, their treading will end.

Why would God show John the dimensions of a temple if He did not intend to restore it?

In Matthew 16:15-18, Jesus said that not even the gates of hell will prevail against His kingdom.

“The vision of the temple says that God has not forsaken His people and that His relationship with them will be restored and elevated to a new, never-before-conceived glory and intimacy.”[2]

Prophecies of Gentiles destroying and defiling the temple of God are recorded in Isaiah 63:18, Zechariah 12:2-3, and by Jesus Himself in Matthew 24:1-2 and Luke 21:24.

Revelation 11:3: “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

God showed John two witnesses. God empowers these witnesses. They witness for the Lord for a period of about three and half years. This is about the length of time that Jesus ministered on earth in the land of Israel during His first coming.

In Luke 10:1, Jesus sent His disciples out two by two. In Matthew 18:16, Jesus told His disciples, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established,” which is a quote from Deuteronomy 19:15.

In Ezra 6:14, long ago, God prospered His people in Jerusalem through the witness of His servants Haggai and Zechariah: “So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah...”

The two witnesses in Revelation 11 prophesy to uproot unbelief and plant faith in God.

They wear sackcloth. Sackcloth is symbolic of lamentation, mourning and woe. Like the prophets who went before them, and like Jesus, these two witnesses mourn for people who reject truth and embrace lies. They witness for Jesus, but their listeners hate and reject them.

Revelation 11:4: “These are the two olive trees and two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.”

God relates the two witnesses to olive trees and lampstands. Olive trees live longer than other trees. The oil for anointing people and the oil used to keep lamps burning was made from olives. Oil and fire are symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

In Zechariah 4:2-3, God gave Zechariah a vision of two lamps filled continuously with oil from two olive trees. They are continuously supplied with power by the Holy Spirit.

In Zechariah 4:14, the Lord says, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” Jesus Christ (the Word of God) and the Holy Spirit best fit this description. Anyone who is a faithful witness for God will have a relationship with Jesus the Word of God and will be filled, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

In Revelation 1:20, Jesus called His churches lamps.

Revelation 11:5: “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.”

According to 2 Samuel 22:8-9, when God is angry smoke goes up from his nostrils and a devouring fire from His mouth. God embodies this visual via His two witnesses.

In Psalm 68:2, David prayed, “As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.”

In Numbers 16:28-35, Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. ... And there came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the 250 men...” In 2 Kings 1:10-12, “Elijah answered and said to the captain of 50, if I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume you and your 50. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his 50.”

Moses and Elijah are symbolic of the Law and Prophets. They are types of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit is the power of God.

In Hosea 6:5, God said to Hosea, “I hewed them by the prophets. I have slain them by the words of My mouth: and Your judgments are as the light that goes forth.”

In Jeremiah 5:14, the Lord told Jeremiah, “I will make My words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.”

God’s Law slays us. It tells us that we are sinners against God. It tells us we deserve to be sentenced to hell forever due to our sins against God and against humanity. We are criminals.

Billy Graham preached, “The cross is offensive because it says that we are sinners in need of a Savior who saves us by His grace.” To be saved by grace means to recognize that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We must receive Christ and all that He has done for us as a gift from God. We cannot earn or merit Christ. We receive Him unworthily, but gladly.

“You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.”[3]

We, who believe in Jesus Christ, witness for Him. After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples, in Luke 24:48, “You are witnesses of these things.” And in Acts 1:8; He said, “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses for Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

In Acts 2:3-4, when the Holy Spirit baptized the disciples, divided tongues as of fire sat upon each of them, “and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

In Acts 2:32; 3:15; 13:31, the disciples identified themselves as witnesses of Jesus.

Revelation 11:6: “These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.”

The Lord gives these two witnesses power to stop the rain from falling, power to turn water into blood, and power to strike the earth with plagues.

In 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah told the ungodly king of his nation, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Jesus verified in Luke 4:25 that during “the days of Elijah... the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was great famine throughout all the land.”

James mentions this miracle in James 5:17-18, “Elijah... prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.”

The two witnesses of Revelation 11:3 prophesy 1,260 days which is three years and six months.

The two witnesses “have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy.” Mark 4:39-41 indirectly states that the power to stop storms comes from Jesus. Jesus delegates His power and authority to His two end times witnesses.

In Exodus 7:17-19, God commanded Moses to strike a river with a rod. Then, He commanded Aaron stretch the rod over streams, rivers, ponds and pools of water in Egypt. When Moses and Aaron obeyed God, the waters turned to blood.

In Psalm 2:9 and Revelation 2:27, the Lord speaks of breaking and ruling the nations. He speaks of breaking them as pottery breaks when struck with a rod of iron. Revelation 12:5 and 19:15 speaks of Christ ruling all nations with a rod of iron. In Jeremiah 18:1-10, the Lord told Jeremiah as a potter destroys and reuses the clay of a pot that did not come out right, so He can destroy a nation and rebuild it. In Jeremiah 1:10, God described the prophet’s ministry as uprooting and rebuilding. He uproots unbelief and lies, and plants faith and truth.

In Revelation 11:6, the two witnesses “strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.”

In Genesis 12 and 20, God struck Abimelech’s household with diseases.

In Exodus 4:6, God made the hand of Moses turn leprous and then healed it. In Numbers 12, God gave Miriam leprosy and then healed her. In 2 King 5:27, after God healed the leprosy of Naaman, He placed his leprosy on Elisha’s servant Gehazi for being dishonest and exploitive.

In Exodus 7–12, God stuck Pharoah’s kingdom with ten plagues. The plagues on the earth mentioned in Revelation 8–16 are some of the very plagues God struck upon Egypt.

In Numbers 11, 14, 16, 25, the Israelites experienced plagues due to rebellion, complaining, and idolatry. For example, the plague that followed Korah’s rebellion killed 14,700 people.

In 1 Samuel 4:8, the Philistines expressed their fear of the God of Israel when they said, “Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness.”

How did the prophet Daniel pray when he realized his nation was being judged by God?

In Daniel 9, when Daniel perceived from God’s Word to Jeremiah that 70 years must pass before the desolations of Jerusalem would end, he pleaded to the Lord for mercy. He fasted and put on sackcloth and ashes. He confessed the greatness, faithfulness and love of God toward those who keep His commandments. He confessed that Israel had acted wickedly and rebelliously. He confessed that “the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses... have been poured out upon us.” He asked the Lord to turn away His wrath. He said, “For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of Your great mercy.”

The truth that the two end times witnesses speak along with the signs and wonders that they do will frustrate and anger the people who hate God and do not want God to exist. In my next article, which covers Revelation 11:7-14, we will learn how the world responds to God’s gracious overtures of kindness to help them believe in Him and be saved.


[1] Notes from Adrian Rogers sermon
[2] GotQuestions.org
[3] Jonathan Edwards expressed this exact concept—that our own actions and the very things we bring to God only serve to condemn us—throughout his actual writings. But this quote is attributed to pastor Jonathan Gibson as an adapted summary of Edwards’ view on grace.

Prophetic Ministry During End Times – Revelation 10:2-11

Revelation 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,”

In Ezekiel 2:10, during the era of Jerusalem’s first Babylonian captivity, the Lord gave Ezekiel a vision of a hand with a scroll in it. It had writings of lamentations, mourning, and woe on it. Here, in Revelation, we have another sort of “Babylonian captivity” with the ruling empire on earth coercing people to espouse its beliefs, agenda and cultural norms. The lamentations, mourning, and woe during the last days of earth before the Lord returns are due to people abandoning and opposing God to follow evil desires.

Revelation 10:3: “And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.”

In Jeremiah 25:29-30, the Lord said to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, “For behold, I begin to bring calamity on the city which is called by My Name... Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: ‘The Lord will roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation. He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.” This passage indicates that when God roars, it is because He is ready to bring righteous consequences to evildoers.

Revelation 10:4: “Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.’”

In Psalm 29:3, it is written, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters.”

In John 12:23-33, when the hour had come for Jesus to be glorified by dying for our sins, He said, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your Name.” When Jesus prayed this prayer, a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” The people who stood by, “said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’” Jesus said, “’This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.’ This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”

The death of Jesus on the cross for our sins signaled the beginning of the end for Satan. Such passion from Jesus for the souls of people demonstrated how serious God is about saving our souls from the devil.

The “seven thunders” relates to the “the “seven spirits of God” mentioned in Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5 and 5:6. The seven spirits of God are described in Isaiah 11:2. In Zechariah 4:2–6, the prophet sees a golden lampstand with seven lamps, which the angel explains represents the Spirit of God, saying, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.” In Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10, Zechariah mentions the “seven eyes of the Lord” that range across the whole earth, symbolizing God’s complete and all-knowing watchfulness.[1]

The end times judgments written on the little scroll of the mighty messenger in Revelation 10 are “roars” and “thunderings” of God against Satan and his followers. Their time is short.

John wanted to write down the words of the “roars” and “thunderings” but was told, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” The Holy Spirit will reveal these words to God’s people when the time is right to do so.

This is why at times we, who know the Lord and are very familiar with His prophecies, cannot clearly and fully explain various passages of Scripture. The Lord has not made their meaning fully known yet. He will do so at the appropriate hour.

Later, in Revelation 22:10, the Lord said to John, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.” Thus I, and others like me with a prophetic leaning from the Lord, are moved by God’s Holy Spirit to study the prophecies of Revelation, understand them and articulate them to people everywhere.

Revelation 10:5-7: “The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven. And swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.”

The lifting of the mighty messenger’s hand is like what Abram did before the king of Sodom in Genesis 14:22-24, when Abram said to him, “I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’”

Lifting the hand is a gesture one makes while speaking a solemn oath.

This lifting of the mighty messenger’s hand relates to Deuteronomy 32:39-41 where the Lord declares, “‘Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand. For I raise My hand to heaven, and say, ‘As I live forever, if I whet My glittering sword, and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, and repay those who hate Me.”

The mighty messenger’s “standing on the sea and the land” relates to Psalm 146:6, which declares, “The Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, who remains faithful forever.” God is sovereign over creation. He carries out His will on earth.

The mighty messenger says to John, “In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.”

In Revelation 11:15, the seventh angel sounds his trumpet, and loud voices in heaven declare, “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

The last judgment ends Satan’s activity on earth. He and his followers are cast into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone forever. Thereafter, Christ and His followers enjoy a new heaven, new earth and new Jerusalem.

Revelation 10:8-11: “Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, ‘Go, take the little scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.’ So I went to the angel and said to him, ‘Give me the little scroll.’ And he said to me, ‘Take and eat it. And it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.’ Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.’”

The little scroll is sweet to John’s mouth, but bitter to his stomach. The angel tells John, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”

It is sweet to receive words from God, but bitter to speak them to haters of God.

In Jeremiah 25:4, Jeremiah said to the hard-hearted people of Jerusalem, “The Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.”

In Ezekiel 3:1-3, the Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, eat what you find. Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So Ezekial opened his mouth, and the Lord caused him to eat that scroll. And the Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So he ate, and it was in his mouth like honey in sweetness.

Then, in Ezekiel 3:4-9, the Lord sent Ezekiel to speak to his own people... to “the house of Israel.” The Lord told Ezekiel they would not listen to him because they don’t listen to God. The Lord said of them, they “are impudent and hard-hearted.” But the Lord said of Ezekiel, “I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

In Acts 7:53-60, Stephen told the religious leaders of his day, “You received the Law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.” Those religious leaders stoned Stephen to death.

The calling to “prophesy about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” is bitter sweet. It is sweet to receive words of knowledge and wisdom from the Lord. As I mentioned in my previous article on Revelation 10:1, God gives these revelations to those He dearly loves, and who dearly love Him in return. However, it is bitter to have so much love for God and for people, and yet be rejected by people.

In 1 Corinthians 13:2-7, Paul wrote, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ...Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Love is pretty much everything that the world is not because love is of God.

In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

The ministry of end times prophesy involves lamentations, mourning and sorrow.

In 2 Samuel 18:19-23, there’s the story of Ahimaaz. Ahimaaz said to the general of David’s army, “Let me run now and take the news to the king, how the Lord has avenged him of his enemies.” At first, General Joab denied his request. Yes, the king’s enemies were dead, but so was the king’s son. But Ahimaaz insisted twice more, so Joab let him run with the news.

In 2 Samuel 18:33, when David received the news of his son’s death, he “wept, and as he went, he said thus: “O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!”

Jesus Christ did die in our place to save us from the death we deserve, but we must receive Him and believe in Him to appropriate His free gift of salvation to us. Have you done that?

End times prophecy is good news for those who know God and walk with Him, but bad news for those who hate God and hate His messengers. Deniers and rejectors of God will spend eternity with the devil in the lake of fire. The disaster that they will experience is far greater than any disaster ever experienced on earth. May God help us to pray for them and speak to them.


[1] Wearefaith.org

A Mighty Messenger from Heaven – Revelation 10:1

Revelation 10:1: “I saw still another mighty messenger coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.”

This mighty messenger comes down from heaven. Being “clothed with a cloud,” “and his feet like pillars of fire,” connects him to the Lord as described in Exodus 13:21. Our Lord led His people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In Psalm 18:11, God makes “the clouds of the sky His booth (Hebrew – sukkah – סֻכָּה) around Him.” In Psalm 97:2, clouds surround God. In Exodus 24:18, “the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire.” In Revelation 1:16, the feet of Jesus appear “like polished bronze refined in a furnace of fire.”

“A rainbow was on His head” connects him to the One who sits on the throne in Revelation 4:3 with “a rainbow around the throne.” In Ezekiel 1:26–28, the Lord gave to Ezekiel a vision of heaven in which he sees on a throne the likeness of a man whose appearance is as fire with a rainbow about it. The heavenly one’s “appearance was the likeness of the glory of God.”

The mighty messenger’s face shines like the sun. In Matthew 17:2, when Jesus was transformed in appearance before James, John and Peter, His face shone like the sun. In Revelation 1:16, the countenance of Jesus “was like the sun shining in its strength.”

This mighty messenger (or angel in Greek) is either Christ or the angelic messenger named Michael. Michael (מִיכָאֵל) means “who is like God.” Hebrews 1:3 speaks of Jesus being the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of God’s person. In John 1:14, Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us with the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus embodied God in human flesh.

In Jude 1:9, Michael is called a ruling messenger or archangel. When he contended with the devil, he did not bring a reviling accusation against the devil, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

In Daniel 10:5-6, God gives Daniel a vision of One whose facial appearance is as lightning. He is clothed with gold about His waist. His eyes are like torches of fire. His arms and feet are like burnished bronze. This description matches that of Jesus in Revelation 1:13-16.

In Daniel 10:13-14, the heavenly messenger who speaks to Daniel said that he received help from a chief prince named Michael. He tells Daniel, “I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days.”

In John 1:18, Jesus is called the “exegete” (Greek text), that is, the One who declares or explains God.

In Revelation 1:1, the entire book is called, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is the One who reveals the things that are to come to God’s servants.

In Daniel 12:1, it is written that Michael will stand up for God’s people during the earth’s last days of tribulation.

In Revelation 12:7-9, “Michael and his angels” fight against Satan, and cast him down from heaven to earth.

In the Gospels, Jesus casts demons out, but also gives this authority to His disciples.

The distinction between Jesus and Michael is so thin, it is difficult to know for certain at times if they are one and the same, or if Michael, the ruling messenger, is just that much like Jesus.

What we have here is a mystery. In Revelation 10:7, the Lord says, “In the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.” The reason some sayings in the Scripture are mysterious to us is because the truth about them has not yet been fully revealed to us.

In Mark 4:11, Jesus said to His disciples, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables.” Until Jesus revealed truth of various Scriptures to the disciples, they could not clearly understand them. Human reason and intellect is insufficient to understand the mysteries of God.

In 1 Corinthians 1:9, “It is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

In Daniel 10:11, the heavenly messenger said to Daniel, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you...”

In John 21:20, the Scripture refers to the Apostle John as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

Scripture indicates that God reveals His mysteries to those He loves. God’s loved ones also love Him. The first and great commandment is to love God with all one’s being.

In 1 Corinthians 2:11-12, God reveals His mysteries to us by His Spirit. “No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”

In Romans 16:25, Paul indicates that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a revelation of a mystery that was kept secret since the world began.

In Ephesians 1:8-10, Paul gives glory to God for making wisdom and prudence abound to those who are in Christ. He helps us to “know the mystery of His will which He purposed in Himself.” “That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth.”

In Ephesians 3:5-6, Paul gives glory to God for revealing to him the mystery of Gentiles and Jews becoming fellow heirs, of the same body. This was something new to the Jews.

In Ephesians 3:7, Paul marvels that though he is the least of all the saints, God gave to him the gift of grace to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

In Ephesians 3:9-10, He wrote, “To make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God... now... made known by the Church.”

In Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul speaks of bowing His knee to the Father, and praying that He would grant to his listeners ability to comprehend the depths of God’s love which surpasses knowledge, that they might be filled with the fullness of God.

This is the desire of all, who like the apostles Paul and John, serve Jesus Christ. We want Jesus to clearly reveal to us the mysteries of God so that we might understand them and explain them clearly and rightly to our listeners.

In Revelation 10:1, John saw a mighty messenger. In my next article, my plan is to study the Scripture and ask the Lord to reveal to me the meaning of the mysteries he brings to light in Revelation 10:2-11.

The Sixth Trumpet – Revelation 9:12-21

Revelation 9:12: “One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.”

In its noun form “woe” is a state of being, namely, grieving a loss. As an Interjection, “woe” is an exclamation of grief. In Revelation 9:12, “woe” is used as a warning that great losses are coming unless people repent of sin and begin glorifying God. God created us to bring Him glory!

According to the King James Bible Dictionary, the exact word “woe” is used 106 times in the King James Version, while related forms like “woeful” and “woes” appear once each.

In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces seven “woes” against the scribes and the Pharisees.

In Matthew 23:13, woe for shutting people out of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In Matthew 23:14, woe for exploiting widows while making long prayers to hide their greed.
In Matthew 23:15, woe for making their followers fit for hell.
In Matthew 23:16–22, woe for making legalistic rules that supposedly please God but don’t.
In Matthew 23:23–24, woe for obsessing over stats but neglecting justice, mercy, and faith.
In Matthew 23:25–26, woe for posing as holy, but being greedy and self-indulgent.
In Matthew 23:27–33, woe for dressing themselves as holy, yet being murderers of prophets.

In Proverbs 15:11, it is written, “Hell and destruction are before the Lord, so how much more the hearts of the sons of men.”

Do you really want trumpets six and seven to sound after what happened during the previous five trumpet blasts?

In Joshua 6:1-25, the people of Jericho did not repent after six days of trumpet sounds. They should have! All of them except Rahab the harlot gambled that the God who destroyed Egypt would not destroy them. They were wrong. On the seventh day, trumpets sounded again and all of the people perished except for Rahab and those in her household.

In Joshua 2:18, Rahab tied a scarlet cord in the window of her home signifying that she believed Israel’s God was God. In Hebrews 11:31, Rahab is mentioned alongside such heroes of the faith as Noah, Abraham, and Moses. In Matthew 1:5, her name appears in the genealogy of Jesus.

Revelation 9:13: “Then the sixth angel sounded. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God...”

In Exodus 30:1, this golden altar with the four horns is the altar of incense which represents the prayers of God’s people ascending before Him.

In Revelation 6:9, John saw the souls of the martyrs praying at this altar for God to take vengeance on those who murdered them. Like Abel in Genesis 4:10, their blood cries out to God for vengeance.

In Revelation 8:3-5, an angel takes a censer filled with prayers and incense from this altar and casts it to earth. When he does, thunderings, lightnings and an earthquake break out on earth.

Revelation 9:14: “Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’”

In Joshua 1:3-5, the Lord promised to Israel, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you... the River Euphrates... to the Great Sea [the Mediterranean]... No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.”

In Genesis 2:14, the Euphrates River is mentioned as the fourth river breaking off from the river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden.

In Genesis 10:8-10, Nimrod built Babel near to the Euphrates River. Babel and Babylon are fundamentally the same geographical location and city, with “Babel” being the original Hebrew name and “Babylon” being the later Greek form. בָּבֶל is the Hebrew rendering of the Akkadian phrase Bābilim, meaning “Gate of the God.”

The physical ruins of ancient Babylon are located along the Euphrates River in present-day Iraq about 50 miles south of Baghdad.

In Genesis 11:1-9, rather than spreading out to fill the earth as God had commanded them to do, people wanted to gather in Babylon, build a city and make a name for themselves. God had to stop them. Babylon is a code word for people who try to rule themselves apart from God.

In Genesis 14:1-9, the first international battle took place between a coalition of four eastern Mesopotamian kings and an alliance of five local kings from the Jordan plain. Mesopotamia is the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

In Revelation 9:14, the sixth angel says to release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. Why were they bound? They are evil. God restrained them. 2 Thessalonians indicates that God restrains lawlessness. God can also release lawlessness.

Revelation 9:15: “So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, day, month, and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.”

In Zechariah 6:1-6, four horsemen are pulling war chariots. The Lord explained to Zechariah that these four are spirits of heaven. They go out from the Lord to all the earth. In Revelation 6:2-8, the riders on four colored horses bring curses based on the Law of Moses against lawbreakers.

Cumulatively, they bring forth sword (war), famine, pestilence and death. These four judgments are like four prescriptions designed to humble people and to bring them to repentance. The words, “sword, famine and pestilence” appear together in 26 different Bible verses. Death usually follows war, hunger and disease. Death is the fourth horseman.

In Revelation 18:8, God says of Babylon, “Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” In due season, God brings down those who exalt themselves against Him.

Revelation 9:16-19: “Now the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million. I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire, the smoke, and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.”

In Ezekiel 38, God foretold of “Gog,” the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal advancing with a great coalition of forces from Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer and Togarmah against Israel. Biblical scholars and historians generally link Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Togarmah to ancient regions in modern-day Russia, Turkey, and Eurasia.

In Ezekiel 38:9, God speaks to Gog, saying, “You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land.”

In Ezekiel 38, God promises to shake the earth with His presence, and turn the swords of these soldiers against each other. He will rain down great hailstones, fire and brimstone on them. As a result many nations will know that God is the Lord of heaven and earth.

A third of mankind was killed as a result of this war. In Revelation 14:20, God speaks of blood as high as horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs which is 200 miles. Isaiah 34:2-3 speaks of the Lord’s indignation against all nations. His fury against their armies to destroy them. “Their stench shall rise from their corpses.”

A third of mankind means that one out of every three people on earth will be dead. Imagine the logistical nightmare for the survivors to clean up after such a mess. In Ezekiel 39 and Revelation 19, God calls for birds and scavenging beasts to consume the corpses of defeated armies.

Imagine the level of bereavement on the earth.

When God removes restraints, battles break out. A 200 million soldier army has never been assembled before. The total size of all armies at the height of WWII was 70 million.

This army was recruited by Satan to attack God’s people in Israel. They have fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow breastplates. These colors represent fire in its various forms depending on how hot it is. These soldiers are full of fiery hatred of God and Israel. The heads of their horses are fierce like the heads of lions. The horses also have the spirit of murder in them. Out of their mouths comes fire, smoke, and brimstone alluding to the evil spirits within them.

Revelation 9:20-21: “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”

As in Genesis 6:5, the “wickedness of man is great in the earth. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” They harden their hearts against God and refuse to repent.

When Jesus was brought to trial before the people of Jerusalem, they chose to acquit the insurrectionist Barabbas rather than Jesus. In the last days, many people, will run with the devil rather than walk with Jesus.

In Revelation 9:21, sorceries is mentioned. The Greek word for sorcery is “pharmakos” from which we get the word “pharmacy.” Some drugs are medicines that are helpful. Others are not! Some drugs cause harm to and through people.

In Revelation 9:21, sexual immorality is mentioned. The Greek word for sexual immorality is “porneias” from which the word “pornography” is derived. Pornography is the study of sexual immorality. The enemy of our soul knows what arouses are sinful nature. He wants to lead us astray from worshipping and serving God just as he did with Adam and Eve.

Consider this, Adam and Eve were in a paradise, and still opted for something other than God. Jesus was in a wilderness. He had not ate for forty days but would not turn stones into bread to satisfy His hunger when the devil tempted Him. In 1 John 5:5, the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world. In 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Jesus delivers us from wrath.

In Proverbs 10:17, the Lord says, “He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.”

In Proverbs 10:25, the Lord says, “When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, but the righteous has an everlasting foundation.”

Let us pray for God to have mercy on the human race. We are for the most part deceived and distant from God. May the Lord in His lovingkindness graciously grant us repentance from sin and faith in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Fifth Trumpet of God – Revelation 9:1-11

In Revelation 8:13, John heard an eagle say as it flew over him, “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!’”

Four angels have already sounded four trumpets. They caused various disasters to happen on earth. Their plagues were similar to the ones that happened in Egypt during the days of Moses. The next three trumpet sounds are, “Woe, woe, woe!” The woes cause significant losses.

When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, a star falls from heaven, and an angel opens an abyss and out of it comes locusts that bite like scorpions.

Revelation 9:1-2: “Then the fifth angel sounded. And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the abyss. And he opened the abyss, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So, the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.”

The word “abyss” (άβυσσος) is formed from the Greek prefix “a” meaning “without” plus “byssos” meaning “bottom” or “depth.” It was commonly used to describe an immeasurable chasm, a vast void, or a profound difference between two things. In biblical texts, it refers to the underworld.

In Revelation 11:3-7, after the two witnesses finish their testimony, “the beast that ascends out of the abyss will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.”

In Revelation 17:8, people whose names are not written in the Book of Life, marvel at the beast, that is the antichrist. This beast ascends out of the abyss and goes to perdition.

In Revelation 20:1-3, John sees an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He binds Satan with a great chain and casts him into the abyss, shuts him up and seals the door for a thousand years.

In Luke 8:30-31, demons in a man named Legion asked Jesus not to send them to the abyss.

Where did the angel get the key to the abyss? Most likely from Jesus.

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus gives the keys of the kingdom of heaven to His disciples to lock and unlock heaven’s supply. In Revelation 1:18, Jesus said, “I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” In Revelation 3:7, Jesus quoted Isaiah 22:22 as being fulfilled in Him: “The key of the house of David I will lay on His shoulder. So He shall open, and no one shall shut. And He shall shut, and no one shall open.”

Revelation 9:3: “Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.”

In Exodus 10:12-15, the Lord told Moses to stretch out his hand over the land of Egypt so that locusts would come and eat every herb that the fiery hail had left behind. The locusts covered the earth and the land was darkened by them. There remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.

The locusts of Revelation 9:3, have the power of scorpions which is to grasp its prey, sting it with poison and devour it. Who knows but that God created scorpions on the earth as prophetic signs of what is to come in the last days.

In Ezekiel 2:6, the Lord compares those who defy Him with briars, thorns and scorpions, saying, “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions. Do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house.”

In Luke 10:19, Jesus said to His disciples, “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Jesus used the terms “serpents” and “scorpions” to refer to servants of Satan.

Revelation 9:4: “They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

Praise God for placing His seal on those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. They are spared from the plagues that others suffer.

According to 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and Ephesians 1:13, God’s seal is His Spirit: “Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” In Ephesians 4:30, the Lord says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” The angels of God know whom God has sealed.

In Revelation 7:4 and 14:1, the 144,000 Jewish followers of the Lamb are mentioned as having God’s seal on their forehead.

God commands these locusts not to harm green vegetation or trees, but only people unprotected by His seal. The fact that these locusts are released from an abyss and attack people not plants indicates that they are demons released to torment people.

Revelation 9:5-11: “And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. And they had as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon [Destroyer], but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [Destroyer].”

In Revelation 20:1-3, Satan will be placed in the abyss. He is the king and destroyer that reigns over the locusts. In John 10:10, Jesus said that the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy.

In 2 Corinthians 4:4, demons “blind the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The greatest loss Satan wants for people is the loss of their soul. Thus, he tries to keep people from believing in Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 5:5, a man who behaved immorally was delivered over to Satan by the Church for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, Paul indicates that the disciplinary process worked, leading to the man’s repentance. Thus, he urged the congregation to forgive and confirm their love for him so he would not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

In the Book of Job, the Lord allowed the devil to test Job’s faith in God, but set limitations on how much suffering he could inflict on him. In Job 3:21, Job lamented for those, “Who long for death, but it does not come.”

As with Peter in Luke 22:31-32, Satan desired to have Job, that he could sift Job as wheat, but the Lord kept Job’s faith from failing. In Luke 22:32, Jesus said to Peter, “After you are converted, strengthen your brothers.” And in Job 42:10, “the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

In Revelation 9:7, “The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.” In Joel 2:24, the Lord compares an army’s galloping horses to a swarm of locusts.

In Revelation 9:7, they have something like gold crowns upon their heads. The crowns indicate authority over certain people. They have authority to attack those who are not sealed in their foreheads by God. The “something like gold” indicates that they are imposter authorities who do not serve God or people. They serve Satan.

In Revelation 9:8, their woman-like hair indicates that they are seductive. In 2 Corinthians 11:14, Paul wrote that Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. In Proverbs 5:3, the lips of an immoral woman drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil. In Proverbs 7:5, 21, the seductress uses enticing and flattering words to seduce her prey. Proverbs 7:26-27 says that she has slain strong men. “Her house is the way to hell.”

In Revelation 9:8, though they look alluring, they have teeth like lions. Cults are seductive, thus easy to join, but difficult to escape. The same goes for sin. Sin’s pleasures turn into chains. Jesus said to beware of false prophets. In Joel 1:4-6, the Lord compares an invading army to a swarm of locusts with teeth of a lion. It is hard to free one’s self from the jaws of a lion.

Their iron breastplates symbolize their cold-blooded nature towards their victims. For example, sex traffickers use the bodies of their captives as long as possible. Their victims want to die but are kept alive.

The Lord sets two limits on these locusts: severity and duration. They do not have authority to kill people. Their freedom to torment people ends after five months.

In Exodus 10:4-14; Deuteronomy 28:38; 1 Kings 8:37; 2 Chronicles 7:13, Joel 1:4; Amos 4:9, plagues of locusts are God’s judgment on sin. Spiritually speaking, when people abandon God, they become vulnerable to demonic attacks and takeovers.

The fifth trumpet judgments alert people to the fact that something is missing. It is faith in Christ.

If you have not yet asked God to forgive your sins, I urge you to do so. Pray to God in the Name of Jesus. Ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior. Denounce your sins and Satan. Ask God to keep you from temptation and deliver you from evil. Ask the Lord to maintain your faith in Him. Trust in Him! He will come through for you. He does not fail or forsake those who trust in Him.

If you are already a believer, but your faith is being severely tested by various trials, lean on Jesus. Don’t try to shoulder the burden alone as though you deserve it. God loves you! He hasn’t forsaken you. Your faith amidst trials is a great witness for Christ to those around you.

In Revelation 2:10, Jesus told the Christians in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.”

In Revelation 2:13, Jesus commended the Christians in Pergamos, saying, “You hold fast to My Name, and have not denied My faith... even when Antipas... was slain among you.”

In Revelation 3:9, Jesus told the Christians in Philadelphia, “I will make them [their critics] to come and bow before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.”

During the tribulation era, multitudes of people from every nation believe in Jesus. Despite the devil’s best efforts to destroy every person’s faith in Christ, he fails. Christ is greater than he.