The Fifth Trumpet Judgment

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Chapter Ten - Verse Ten

And they had tails like unto scorpions, and

there were stings in their tails: and their

power was to hurt men five months. 

(Revelation 9:10)

SCORPION TAILS WITH STINGERS

In verse ten we find that God is reiterating much of what was previously spoken of in earlier verses of Revelation chapter nine. Although we have already discussed much Scripture in relation to scorpions and their tails, let us briefly examine yet more details of these symbolic tails, which are indicative of all who would aspire to teach and preach false doctrine. We saw in Isaiah chapter nine that the ancient or elder is the head and the prophet that teaches lies is the tail. The twelfth chapter of Revelation begins by depicting a woman being clothed with the sun and the moon being under her feet. Upon this woman’s head was a crown of twelve stars. This woman can only be representative of Israel, both Old Testament physical Israel and perhaps New Testament spiritual Israel. The twelve stars collectively being the twelve tribes of physical Israel, and again perhaps depicting spiritual Israel, represented by the twelve apostle of the lamb (Revelation 21:14). In verse five of Revelation chapter twelve we see that this woman brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. This same verse tells us that this man child was caught up onto God, and to His throne. This man child can only be God Himself (the Messiah) as He came to this world; being conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; crucified, dead and buried. He descended into hell and rose again on the third day and then ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Yes, this man child was the long awaited Messiah - The Christ - who would bring His light into this sin-darkened world. He came forth out of national Israel, the Old Testament woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, having a crown of twelve stars upon her head. This woman is synonymous with the Church who is clothed with the Sun (Christ: “...the SUN of righteousness…with healing in His wings.” (Malachi 4:2)). The Church, the New Testament Israel of God is indeed clothed with the SUN; the Church is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. As “The Christ” was finally about to enter the world, Israel “…being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered,” Revelation 12:2. One can only imagine the expectation and anxious anticipation of the “hope of Israel” displayed by both national and spiritual Israel at that particular time in history. Yes, spiritual Israel was in existence on the Old Testament side of the cross. All those who truly and genuinely looked ahead for spiritual redemption in the coming Messiah, for example, as did Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Daniel, and so many more, are even today a part of the true spiritual “Israel of God.” This woman being with child (meaning the nearness of revealing the Messiah) did indeed cry, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. The Greek word translated “travailing” means to experience the screams and cries of child birth, both literally and figuratively. This Greek word is used only once more in the New Testament, in Galatians 4:19: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.” The apostle Paul uses the expression figuratively in demonstrating his concern for the spiritual well-being of the church in Galatia. As the time drew near for the revealing of the Messiah, Israel “the woman” travailed in birth, and pained to be delivered. She knew that the battle between God and Satan was not over; not in the physical and certainly not in the spiritual realm. The Roman Empire would stand by ready to devour this man child, this King of the Jews as soon as He was born. The religious Jew of that day, for the most part, would have nothing to do with the salvation of Israel being manifested in a child and given birth in a stable in Bethlehem. Their Anointed One would come with a splendid army with all of God’s glory, to free the Hebrews from the Roman tyranny and oppression - or so they thought. Messiah would establish national Israel as the Holy Kingdom of the world. Anything less would be unacceptable, and so…“…they stumbled at that stumblingstone,” Romans 9:32. Christ was that stumblingstone and “rock of offense,” as Romans 9:33 tells us.

At the time Messiah was about to come into the world, Revelation 12:3 tells us that there appeared another wonder in heaven:

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.”

The spiritual significance of the number seven in Scripture usually implies perfection or completeness, as in the seven churches of Revelation portraying the complete Church of Christ. Satan’s kingdom having seven heads would seem to imply his final kingdom of the New Testament Era. Even though his kingdom was described as having seven heads and ten horns as far back as two thousands years ago at the birth of Christ, his kingdom is nevertheless in its final form. Revelation 17:3 again describes Satan’s final kingdom in identical language:

“So he carried me away in the spirit unto the wilderness; and I saw a woman [the false church] sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

Clearly Satan’s final effort at attempting to destroy Christ will entail the manipulating of the corporate church itself. As Satan, that great red dragon stands ready to devour Christ as soon as He is born. We read the following from Revelation 12:4:

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

We know that all six trumpet judgments taught in the Book of Revelation have the destruction of the “third part” in view. As mentioned earlier, the “third part” is a figurative term in much of Scripture which implies the Church of Jesus Christ. (See Section XII in this study entitled “The Church: The Third Part.” Satan’s tail draws the third part of the stars of heavens and cast them to the earth. Who or what are the stars of heavens? They are unquestionably the true believers in Christ. “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever,” Daniel 12:3. Who or what does Satan utilize as his weapon in his attempt at destroying the Word of God? His power is clearly in his tail, as Revelation 12:4 states. With the tail he draws the church, the “third part” and “casts them to the earth.” To be “cast to the earth” implies from Scripture to be stamped upon. Daniel 7:19 tells of Satan’s end-time kingdom, as he “stomped the residue (meaning remnant or chosen) with his feet.” Daniel chapter eight speaks to the same events of the great tribulation period. In verse ten Satan is said to “…cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.” Daniel 8:12 again speaks to this abomination:

“And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered.”

Satan embraces the use of his tail in attempting to destroy the Gospel of salvation through Christ. Satan’s tail is, of course, metaphorically depicted as his offensive weapon. The true identity of his symbolic tail, as revealed in Scripture, is representative of all false teachers of the Bible - “the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the T A I L,” Isaiah 9:15.

We again want to refer to the sixth trumpet judgment, as previously done, to compare the similarity between these trumpet judgments. Once again, a reminder that all six trumpet judgments are depicting the same events; the silencing of the Gospel near the end of time. At the commencement of this sixth trumpet judgment, God is describing His attackers as an army of horsemen two hundred million strong!

Revelation 9:16 -

“And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.”

Many false and erroneous scenarios have been designed based upon this one verse alone. All have adopted the literal method of interpretation in their quest to understand the symbolism used in the Book of Revelation and much of the Bible as well. This two-hundred-million man army has been said by many well known evangelists to be a prophecy of the Red Chinese Army as they march across what was once the great Euphrates River, but is now dried up in order to make way for these Chinese soldiers. They take this verse in conjunction with Revelation 16:12, which reads: “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.” Naturally the assumption is made that the kings of the east can only be China, and perhaps a few allied Asian countries at her side. They then combine these two verses and arrive at a literal but false conclusion, one in which has China marching into the Middle East to participate in a literal battle called Armageddon. A vast number of books have been written on this subject in the past three and a have decades, since the Israeli Six Day War of 1967 and the recapture of Eastern Jerusalem. These conclusions might all seem to be biblically based. However, simply because a few scattered verses seem to support their conclusions in a literal manner does not mean that they have taken these verses in their context and compared Scripture with Scripture. It all may seem very exciting at first glance, but these types of conclusions that would convey a literal “mark of the beast,” or a literal world war called Armageddon, or even a literal Russian invasion of national Israel (based on the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of the Book of Ezekiel) are all formed upon erroneous or mistaken interpretations of what should and can only be interpreted correctly by comparing spiritual with spiritual, as 1 Corinthians 2:13 tells us.

The locusts of Revelation chapter nine are said to have stings in their tails. The Greek defines this word stings as being poison in the figurative sense. Yes, the doctrines that flourish from these locusts are indeed spiritual poison in the worse sense. This same word is used in 1 Corinthians 15:55-56:

55 - O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 - The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

TO HURT MEN FIVE MONTHS

Let us briefly review the latter part of verse Revelation 9:10 - “…and their power was to hurt men five months,” and contrast it to Revelation 9:5, which reads: “And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months.” In essence, these locusts are allowed power and authority by God to deceive mankind. They are God’s instruments of judgment upon the apostate church and world itself. Verse five reveals that they are commanded to torment men five months, while verse ten declares that they are to hurt men five months. Both phrases have the same consequences in view, which is eternal and outer darkness. This very same Greek word that is translated as “torment” is used in other places of Scripture in describing hell itself. For example, Revelation 14:10 tells us the final outcome of all who are under Satan’s spell, who wear his spiritual mark of 666.

“The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without measure into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”

The above is a clear picture of being cast into outer darkness, having all hope of eternal salvation gone forever. To be tormented with fire and brimstone is of course metaphoric in describing the awfulness of a Christ-less eternity. We do not know what hell will be like, but it is described in Scripture with man’s worse type of physical fear possible; to be a victim of a continual and ceaseless burning. Revelation 20:10 uses this same Greek word, translated as torment, in describing again eternal hell as a “lake of fire.”

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

As we stated in chapter five, even the demon possessed asked Christ if He had come to torment them before their time! Had He come to throw them into eternal hell, (torment) before their time is the question they asked. We saw from chapter five as we examined the parable of the rich man and Lazarus that the rich man died and went to hell while Lazarus, this physically impoverished and wretched soul, died and went to heaven. God momentarily removes the barrier between this life and eternity, allowing us a glimpse of eternal reality. While Lazarus’s life on this earth was one of faith coupled with sickness and destitution with regard to worldly possessions, he now is seen dwelling for ever in eternal bliss - in Abraham’s bosom, which is another way of saying heaven itself. On the other hand, the rich man, whose desire was to enjoy the riches of this life only, is seen in hell, and describes the horrors this way:

Luke 16:23-24:

23 - And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

24 - And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

The horrors of hell cannot be explained in our language other than to use the description of being in an eternal fire. Can we say then that hell is indeed a literal and physical fire that will never be quenched? No, it cannot be literal, but that is no reason to breathe a sigh of relief. Since Scripture depicts it as an everlasting fire, it is - in one’s worse fears - a total horror. It cannot be a literal fire, since all will be resurrected, some to eternal life and some to eternal damnation. Believers will be given a new spiritual body while the nonbelievers will have their souls or eternal spirits sentenced to outer darkness. A literal fire can have no effect upon spirit beings - but the horrors must be comparable.

As we look into verse ten of our study of Revelation chapter nine, we find the Greek word hurt meaning the same as torment. For example, we read in Revelation 2:11 “…he that over cometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” The second death is spiritual death, eternal hell. He that over cometh, that is he that over cometh the world (1 John 5:4) through Christ shall not be hurt or subject to hell, the second death.

The sixth trumpet judgment sees horses and horsemen with heads and tails, having mouths issuing forth the fire and smoke and brimstone, which is God’s own judgment upon not only the pagan world, but upon the apostate church itself. Their heads, tails and mouths are instruments of judgment, as Revelation 9:19 declares: “…and with them they do hurt.” Revelation 6:6 discloses the coming judgments of the great end-time period as well, however within this verse God states “…and see thou HURT NOT the oil and the wine.” The oil and the wine are portraits of the true Christians upon the earth. The wine signifying the blood of Christ, therefore those who are covered by the blood of the Passover Lamb, Christ Himself, are not to be subject to or HURT by this eternal death. Oil is unquestionably a picture of the Holy Spirit. All true Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God and cannot be hurt or subject to hell.

Those who are subject to being tormented or being hurt five months would seem to include all of mankind since the fall of Adam and Eve. (Please see “Lazarus and the Rich Man: A Clue to the Five Months” in chapter five of this study.) One’s only chance of escaping this eternal judgment is by genuinely calling upon Christ Jesus for salvation, which is now rapidly coming to a close as we enter into the judgments of the time of the end. The wrath which Christ and His Church will distribute (1 Corinthians 6:2) is an everlasting judgment, symbolized by a period of five months. This period would appear, and not surprisingly, as being symbolic in nature and prefigured by the flood of Genesis, which was a global judgment of God that more than likely pictured the last and final judgment. This previous judgment lasted five months (Genesis 8:3).

END OF STUDY