Bible Study - August 26, 2020

Last time, you know, we got through Chapter 8. That was two weeks ago. Chapter 8 talked about the first four trumpets in Revelation. So tonight we will begin in Chapter 9, which is the fifth and sixth trumpets. And I think what we will try to do, since the Feast of Trumpets is not too far ahead of us, we will try to get through the trumpets, you know, so that by the time the day of Trumpets gets here, the Feast of Trumpets, we will have talked about those things, and that'll be fresh in your mind.

As we observe that Holy Day. So tonight we'll look at Chapter 9. We will go back and we'll look at the two remaining churches that we haven't talked about yet in Philadelphia and Laodicea. We will get to those, but, you know, we've talked about those for many times over the years, and we'll get back to those. And maybe the messages to Philadelphia and Laodicea will have even more impact as we look at what is coming ahead of us, that God will, as he brings his vengeance on the world and his day of wrath on the world.

So you'll recall in Chapter 8, you know, that as God began to, the trumpets began to sound, there was ceremony at the beginning of the, as we open Chapter 8, there's the silence that was in heaven for half an hour, you know, that dramatic pause before these events that, you know, heaven and all the angelic beings have been waiting for us as the foundation of the earth to occur, because it ushers in the time of the return of Jesus Christ, which will be, you know, which is the culmination of God's plan for this earth as we go through the Holy Days.

We know we'll picture that. But there was a lot of ceremony, and we saw the order and the structure and what God, you know, had put together. We talked about the incense and the censor, the prayers arising before heaven, and we can see the, we can see the ceremony that God had put along with those introduction of the trumpet blasts that began. And as we went through the trumpet blasts, we saw the grass, we saw the trees, we saw the ships, we saw the fish of the sea, we saw the waters poisoned, we saw the sun, moon, daylight darkened, all at one-third, just one-third in those trumpets, the other two-thirds remaining.

So then we move over to chapter 9, but before we begin there, are there any questions, comments, anything that might relate back to anything that we talked about, either last time or anything else that's on anyone's mind? Okay, well let's look at chapter 9 then. Chapter 9, you know, is, boy, it is just, it is just full of information when you look at the, and when you look at the detail surrounding the fifth and sixth angels. You know, at the end of chapter 8 there, it talks about the first four trumpets, and it says, you know, whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth, you know, from the blast of the trumpets of the three angels who are yet to sound.

And these are dramatic, dramatic things that will be occurring on the earth. And as we look at the detail of what God has planned and how these things will occur on the earth, you know, there's some things that we will, some things we'll talk about, and maybe, maybe a little, a little speculation as we get into the first two verses here of chapter 9 as well, and tra, you know, some other parts of the Bible into, into our discussion here.

In verse 1 of chapter 9, it says, the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. Well, we know, you know, in, in, in prior chapters, we've talked about stars, and sometimes stars can represent angels. Sometimes stars are literally those heavenly bodies that are out there. And in the prior cases, they were the heavenly bodies. But this one, this one is, is an angel that's talking about here in, in verse 1. Later on in this chapter, we, we see the word key that references this, this being that comes from heaven as the fifth angel who sounds right on time, right after the fourth, right after the fourth trumpet, the fifth angel sounds, and this other angel falls from heaven to earth.

And he has something that's notable. He has the key to one of the most maybe intriguing, one of the more intriguing parts of the Bible, this bottomless pit. You know, we think of a bottomless pit. It's one of those things, you know, we probably think at the end of, you know, after Jesus Christ's return, and when Satan is bound, it's a picture on the Day of Atonement, he's, he's thrown into the bottomless pit.

And he's restrained there in the bottomless pit during the thousand years of the millennium to be released after, after the thousand years are up. But we have here as the fifth angel sounds, this unique thing that, that happens. The angel descends from heaven to earth.

He's got a key. He's got a key to this bottomless pit. And verse two, it says, he opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So here's some dramatic things happening on the earth that haven't happened before. As God, you know, reeks his wrath on humanity that has always rejected him, that has turned against him, and we'll see that at the end of this chapter here, just so thoroughly turns against him and rejects him.

We have this, this unique event that occurs, you know, that obviously is from God. So as we think about bottomless pit and all that that might mean, you know, there's some, some things that occurred to me. Because as I've looked through our literature and, you know, the commentaries, the secular commentaries are almost, you know, worthless on the book of Revelation.

There are some verses there that, you know, fascinated people and that there's been discussion about and what exactly do they mean. And perhaps, just perhaps, you know, these verses tie into Revelation 9 verses 1 and 2 a little. Let's look at verse 6 here in the book of Jude. It says, Well, that verse says a lot. And that verse, you know, we may not understand until Jesus Christ returns and until we see these things happening exactly what that means. But when you look at that verse and look at the detail that is in there, you know, I think the church has long said, you know, that, you know, in Revelation 12 and verses 9 through and on to that chapter, you know, that the angels and it talks about a time where there's war in heaven and Satan is cast to the earth. And it says, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, you know, because the devil comes to you having great wrath and that these angels, this is their domain and this is where they're cast down to. But that isn't what the verse says. And if you look back at the Greek, you know, it's translated properly here. The angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode, God has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Now we can think about the judgment of the great day. Our minds might immediately go to the white throne judgment, but Satan isn't part of the white throne judgment.

But, you know, there is the wrath of God that comes on the earth and we talk about the day of the Lord, that great day, the judgment on the people of earth. And God says there is these angels, this group of angels that's reserved in everlasting chains. Knowing you're reserved in everlasting chains, you're not free to move around anywhere. You know, if we ever find ourselves in ever in chains, we're not going to be able to be free to even move around our homes, much less the angels, you know, being free to move around the earth and influence people and wreak havoc the way that they do. They're reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, under darkness, right? It's like, you know, sometimes we can think that and appropriately, darkness can mean spiritual darkness, but darkness can mean literal darkness. When you look at the Greek word that's darkness there, it means literal blackness. So, you know, as we have these, this group of angels, that God says they're reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, for the judgment of the great day. You know, could that great day be Revelation 9 verse 1? You know, the day of the Lord. And might they be in everlasting chains in darkness, in the bottomless pit for the angel when he goes down and opens and has the key and he opens the bottomless pit. Let me go on here because in verse 7, it kind of tells us a little bit about these angels that have been reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, for the judgment of the great day. It describes them and it says, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Now, if we stop, you know, everyone, when we hear Sodom and Gomorrah, we all know what we think of. We think of a depraved, perverted city, the extreme of what mankind's, you know, behavior can be. It was a very violent city, you know, but that gets underscored by the depravity, the perversity, the sexual immorality that marks that city. You know, we read the description of what went on in Sodom and Gomorrah as the angels came in and took them into his house. It's hard for us even to picture, even in a day that is marked by sexual immorality and the destruction of all, you know, the morals that mankind has lived with for the 6000 years he's been on earth. It's hard for us to imagine that happening in this land, or any land. It just seems that is so extreme. And, you know, and it makes you wonder about the angels who influenced the men of Sodom at that time and the cities surrounding them. You know, if God ties these angels who are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of that great day, he ties them to Sodom and Gomorrah. He does that also, and we'll go back to 2 Peter here in a minute and see, you know, see the same thing there. But could it be, could it be that, you know, just like we can look at men, you know, mankind is evil. We're all wicked. Our hearts are wicked. Jeremiah 17 and I tells us without God's Holy Spirit, you know, we are hopeless. It's only God and His Spirit that can clean, that can clean us up, walk Christ's sacrifice, that can wash away our sin, that we can have the power to overcome and develop the character, you know, of Jesus Christ.

But there are men on earth who are just more evil than other men. You know, the Bible gives us an example, the Amalekites. The Amalekites, you know, God told Saul with the Amalekites, He said, utterly destroy them. Just get rid of everything associated with them, and Saul didn't want to do it.

And even today, you know, we, you know, the Jews believe the Amalekites are over there in the Middle East. Not every single Muslim has the same animosity and hatred, but there are those that have this enormous, almost eccentric or exaggerated hate that just marks them.

And you have to wonder, is the same thing with these angels who influenced that they were so vile, so evil, that God said, you know, okay, Sodom and Gomorrah, they are going to suffer the vengeance of fire and for eternity.

That's what that city will be marked by. Did He take those angels and did He reserve them, not kill them, but did He reserve them in chains and restrain them in darkness for the judgment of that great day?

So let's go back to 2 Peter and see, you know, his writings on the same type thing. And clearly 2 Peter is also for the end time.

Both Jude and Peter in his epistle here, the second one, talks about the false prophets and the extremes of a false prophet who, if we're not close to God and if we don't keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, then it says even the very elect could be deceived by this. So it behooves all of us to stay close to God and to be sure that we are paying attention and growing more and more like Him so that we aren't disturbed by that. But here in 2 Peter 2, we find the same description, you know, in verse 4. In verse 4 of 2 Peter 2, it says, If God didn't spare the angels who sinned, if He didn't spare the angels who sinned, but He cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment.

Now, you know, I know there's probably someone who knows exactly what the word hell is translated from in verse 4. It's the Greek word, Tartarus. And Tartarus has a...it's the only time that the Bible is used, and I'm going to put up a screen here on Tartarus. As soon as I can find it here.

You know, Tartarus...well, there's darkness. Let me move my screen over here.

So here's Tartarus. Per-strong comes from the Greek word Tartarus, which is the deepest abyss of Hades.

It means to incarcerate...I've got something covering my...to incarcerate an eternal torment, translated as cast down to hell.

It comes from the Greeks. It says, this is the name of the subterranean region, doleful and dark, regarded by the ancient Greeks as the abode of the wicked dead, where they suffer punishment for their evil deeds.

And God inspired that word to be used in the Greek New Testament to show what the abode of these angels who were cast down into, into the deepest and darkest abode of the wicked. You know, the darkness there, you know, you have it as it talks about it. It's a time, it's blackness. It's blackness and darkness used of the darkness of the nether.

I think of the word nether regions or whatever, the last word there that got left off. But here we have, you know, these angels. These angels, again in 2nd Peter, God compares them or ties them to some very wicked times on earth.

You know, in verse 5 of 2nd Peter, he talks about these angels. And here's the time that he goes back to Noah. And we know that God, you know that we got that God destroyed the earth because of the wickedness and the perversity and the confusion and everything that was in the earth at that time. But he chose to end humanity and it says he even repented that he created mankind because the wickedness on the earth was so, was so bad. And it says of these angels who were cast and reserved and changed that he didn't spare the ancient world but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly, and then goes into Sodom and Gomorrah, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward will live ungodly. So we have, you know, we have again these angels, this group of angels that it says, God reserved them in chains, in darkness, for the day of judgment. What was it about these angels? At two extreme times of wickedness and violence that was on the earth, that God destroyed the world by flood and he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire.

There may be something with that. You know, the lesson to us is, or the thing that brings us home to the 21st century, the time we live in, you know, as we probably have watched the events of the last week, the last few days, and again we see violence erupting in the wake of a tragic event. But response anymore is just extreme violence that doesn't even make sense, you know, in response to, you know, a problem that existed with the police or how that occurred. But we see our society moving more and more to violence and an extreme violence. There's something that's different in the time that we live in now.

And we know that Jesus Christ said, as it was in the days of Noah, as it was in the days of Lot, it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. So we know where the world is headed. As it was in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, so it will be as the world grows worse and worse, more and more violent, more and more perverse, more and more apart from everything that you and I have been accustomed to living all of our lives to a new world and a new way of life and a whole new social order, whatever that means.

To the way it was at the time of Noah, to the time that it was at the time of Sodom, a time that these wicked angels who were reserved in chains for the day of judgment until the time that God sends an angel to earth and opens a pit. And then the fifth and sixth trumpets and the plagues that result on mankind occur.

So let me just...oh, you know what? This afternoon something came up. I want to show you something else. A comment got made this afternoon.

Hello? Okay. Let me get back to you in a minute. Let me show you one more thing and then I'll pause for a comment.

This afternoon someone made the comment that when they hear of demons, they thought of the situation or the incident with Jesus where a young man was just inhabited by so many demons.

And when they saw Christ, he cast him into the swine and the swine went over into the sea. Well, they did some investigation and look back at that verse, that section of Scripture. Let me show you something in Luke 8.31 that they showed me here this afternoon.

Luke 8 is where that whole incident is. And in verse 30, you know, as Jesus Christ confronts these demons, it says in verse 30, Jesus asked him, saying, What is your name? And he said, Legion, because many demons had entered, you know, this man.

In verse 31, they, the demons begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss.

Look up, look up the Greek word and it's the bottomless pit. Don't throw us into the abyss. Don't throw us into that.

And he said, Fine, go into the herd of swine. The swine rushed over and jumped into the water and died. So, you know, it's interesting when you tie some of these Scriptures together, whether that is ties into Revelation 9 or not.

Only God knows what it might. So let me pause there for any comments or anything that anyone might have.

You know, I agree with the brother or sister who said it from this afternoon. I was going to recommend the same Scripture.

And both relate to a prison, and the one in Revelation is not opened for release until that trumpet is blown.

Apparently, God can send some there still. That depends on His judgment. But some are absolutely at a specific time imprisoned there, and they're still there until that appointment.

Yep. It looks that way, right? I mean, it looks there's something that happens when that bottomless pit is open. There is something that is released.

Otherwise, God wouldn't have this recorded in there for us. And what happens in the fifth and sixth plagues is, the fifth and sixth trumpets, is pretty grievous on man.

Mr. David.

Yes.

You know, in chapter 9 verse 1, it says, the star falls from heaven. It sounds like he was set.

He was sent, you said?

I say, it doesn't sound like he was sent. He felt.

Well, I don't know what the Greek word is, but that's kind of suspicious to me.

Okay. Well, in a minute, we're going to see. I'm looking for the verse right now where it says, He.

Well, look at that. And we'll see that that He is referring back to this angel. Now, it's not by accident. I believe God is in complete control, you know, of the day of the Lord.

So everything that happens during this time is under God's complete authority, and everything is orchestrated just exactly the way He planned it in the Bible.

I think we'll see that as we go through. We'll see the verse where the word He is there.

This is something that God had planned, especially as you look at what happens in the fifth trumpet here. So I'd have to look at the word fallen as well.

But, you know, I just think it means it's, you know, the angel, the angel comes from heaven to earth. He's got the key who gave him the key. Only God has the key to open this Bible.

Yep.

Mr. Shaby, with the parallel to what you read in Luke, Matthew 8 also, and Matthew 8, 29, when they said, they cried out saying, What have we to do with you, Jesus, you Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? Which I think is interesting to think about as well.

I think when you see some of those verses, it kind of ties into these everlasting chains that God has reserved some of those demons, some of those demons into you. Not all of them, because we know that there are plenty that are extant on the earth today.

Brother Shaby, to adjoin to what Brother Pomerra just said is, when Christ returns and Satan and the demons are all imprisoned, but they're talking specifically when they say, Don't you come to imprison us? They're not talking about where it talks about the lake of fire, because it says that is prepared for the future beyond that. But they will be imprisoned, all of them, during the thousand-year reign. Yeah. Satan is not in the bottomless pit right now. We know he's about the earth as a roaring lion. So he's not down there, but these angels are reserved in chains until the day of judgment. Mr. Shaby? Yes, ma'am. Hi, Sharon. Hey, Sharon. On verse 1, when you were looking at who that angel is, I think the verse you're looking for is verse 11. Okay.

Yeah, no, there's one. Let me, we'll come to it. I don't have it circled, but this afternoon I mentioned it and noticed that it said that. We'll come to it here as we get there. But there is a he that refers back to this angel, and I don't think it's an angel of Satan. I think it's God sends the, sends his angel down to open the pit. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. Only God has the key to the bottomless pit. Mr. Shaby? I'm sorry. Mr. Shaby, where? Revelation 20 talks about that angel that comes down to open the bottomless pit and has to chain Satan. Okay.

Yeah, I'm reading through real quick.

Okay, well, we'll find it or we'll get back to it. But again, I'm not saying that this is absolute 100% not a doubt in it. But I mean, when you put the Scriptures together, it looks like a real possibility of what's what's happening here at the beginning of Chapter 9, especially when you see what comes out of this pit. Okay.

Mr. Shaby, would the those that are mentioned in 1 Peter 3, 18 and 19, would that be would you say that's referring to the same set?

First, first. Yeah, 1 Peter 3 verses 18 and 19 and 20. Yeah, you know, we did a Bible study. You know, I'd have to that that that's a good verse that that it could be I'd have to think about that when I hadn't really thought about that one before this. But let me let me think on that one. So could what also really be spirits in prison? Yeah. Yes, sir. On the word the word, the Greek says I saw a star out of the heaven having fallen. It's a pepto cota. And it's it's the it's has as if something happened.

Something what I'm sorry, the last part.

I don't know. I got it. It seems it says having had fallen. Oh, it happened. But then a key was given to him at a specific time. I don't know the following happened. I'd like to be having a couple of or 13 saving and is able to fight and they're kicked out.

And because, you know, it was back and forth. And at the point in time, here's a key. Go do it. Go do what you're supposed to do. Okay. Mr. Shavey. Yeah, on verse one, the fallen in the Greek, it says not another way it says it is to a light. It's just like a soft landing, so to speak. It just kind of comes down from heaven to earth. Yeah, it seems like you could go down to verse five. It seems like he was he or somebody is giving orders to the earth.

He was giving orders to the ones that were released, not to do anything. So he's not part of those who were releasing. He's like a prison guard. Yes. Yeah, we'll say that God is in complete control of this and what's coming out of this pit, it is limited to what it can do. We'll see that very clearly here. Let's move on to verse two because, you know, there's some things in verse two that we can look at. It says, he opened the bottomless pit and smoke aroused out of the pit like the smoke of a grape furnace. We've probably done some things where we've had smoke and a tremendous fire opened something up and smoke comes out.

Smoke is associated with fire. As I was thinking about this and putting this together, it occurred to me that something that we learned in science back when we were in school, the core of the earth is extremely hot. You know, I looked it up and scientists are now saying that the core of the earth is so hot, some scientists are saying it's even hotter than the sun, which I don't know if that can possibly be true, but they're estimating, however they estimate, that the core of the earth that's literally on fire, they say, is 6,000 degrees centigrade.

I mean, that's really hot. That's like a furnace, right? That is, if you open that door, 6,000 degrees centigrade, the core of the earth, the bottomless pit down to the center of the earth, you know, there's going to be smoke when that's released into a much cooler atmosphere the way it is. And God says it's like the smoke that came from a great furnace. Well, there's not a whole lot hotter than a bottomless pit that has the core of the earth in it that scientists tell us is extremely, extraordinarily hot, more than we can even imagine.

And as that pit is open, the smoke comes out, as you would expect it to out of a great furnace that is so hot, that it's released into the air, so the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. It's so much, and it's escaping so quickly, that it just literally covers the earth. It's like it just covers the earth. And it's kind of one of those supernatural things that, again, as man is looking at this and experiencing this, I don't know, you know, we have no idea if they know what's going on, but all of a sudden there's this thick smoke that covers the earth.

They have no idea. Nothing like this has ever happened before. As God teaches mankind, He is in charge of the earth. He is the one, you know, that commanded and kept all this together for us, all these millennia, to work with it. He can destroy it just as easily as, well, just as easily is not a good word, but just the same way that He created it.

And so mankind sees these things that aren't predictable, that they have no idea what's going on, no explanation, except God is in control. And as you move into verse 3, you know, you see something there that's, that all of a sudden out of the smoke, locusts, locusts appear. You know, John, you know, as we've, as the church has taught for years, you know, John has to write these things that he sees in the vision and in the language and in the, the scope that he had. And as he looks at what's going on out of the smoke that is emerging from the bottomless pit that covers the earth, there's these locusts that are out there, and he's describing them in the way that he would see them.

Because there's these things happening, and these locusts, these locusts are a plague on the earth. They're going to inflict harm, and they're going to, they're gonna, they're gonna wreak havoc, you know, with man. And in verse 3 it says, to them was given power. You know, it's God who was giving them the power. Wasn't Satan, God gave them the power. God gives the power. Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Demons can only do what God allows him to. And God gave them the power to do this.

They were given the power as the scorpions of the earth have power. Now, I asked this afternoon, has anyone ever been stung by a scorpion or know anyone that's been stung by a scorpion? Yeah, Bob, do you? You might want to tell me your... Yes. Yeah. I heard you like the devil, I'll tell you. Yep.

I got stung once also by a scorpion in a hotel. Okay. And did it hurt, like, more than anything that you, by this little bug? Did it last for a few days? Yes, it hurt tremendously and my hands were swollen for several days. Yep. Okay. That's what I've heard. I've never been stung by one, but, you know, I only know a few people who have that have described it over the years. It's like you say, the pain was enormous and it lasted, and it lasted. I mean, this little thing could sting as much as it did.

So, you know, most of us haven't experienced it, but John is, you know, John is kind of relating the pain that he sees that is being inflicted by these locusts, of all things, you know, on the earth. I'll go into verse 4, then I'm going to come back to locusts for a minute. Again, showing what God is in charge here. Now, we know who the men of God who have the seal on their foreheads are, right? That we talked about back in chapter 7 and verse 3, when God says, don't harm the earth, don't harm the sea, don't harm the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.

So then we talk about the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12,000 in each tribe, exempting Dan, and then the great multitude that comes through the out of the great tribulation have their robes washed there. So, you know, God says, you know, don't hurt those. That's what the first four trumpets did. He took care of a third of the grass, a third of the trees, a third of the, you know, other parts that are there in the first four trumpets. And he says, and only, but not the men who have the seal of God. They won't be harmed by these.

Kind of the same thing he did with ancient Israel in times of the plagues. You know, for a while Israel suffered the same plagues that ancient Egypt did, but then God differentiated. And the last plagues didn't hit Israel. And God says this fifth plague, this fifth trumpet isn't going to affect the people who had the mark of God on their foreheads, you know, who we described in chapter seven.

But let me go back up to locusts, locusts again. I'm going to put up another couple screens just that are interesting because I know what we've been, we've talked about. Let me share, you know, this screen here. Let me go back up. You know, there's, you know, I don't see many of these in Florida. Maybe you see them.

I don't see, haven't seen them in my yard since we've been down here once in a while. But, you know, this is a locust, a grasshopper. That's what they look like. We're all familiar with those. You know, if you grew up other places, it was kind of fun to catch the grasshoppers and everything. And there always seemed to be a plethora of them.

You know, John, when he's looking at it, you know, this is, he's looking at something supernatural, something that is for our, our time, right? The time before the return of Jesus Christ, right before the return of Jesus Christ. And so when we, when we look at some of the things that would, you know, weapons that would be in the earth today, you know, here's a, here's a military helicopter.

You know, it's got a tail on it. It's got a body shaped much like, much like the, you know, grasshopper. So when John's looking at it, not having any idea what a helicopter is, he's looking at these things that are flying, these locusts that are coming out of the smoke, and he goes, there's, there's, there's, there's smoke it, there's, there's locusts. And he sees, you know, he sees them.

And so you can kind of see if, if you had never seen his helicopter before, you might describe it exactly the same way. You know, while that pictures up, let's go down to verse seven here in chapter nine and, and pick up, you know, what, what God has inspired to be written here about these locusts that John sees. In verse seven, it says, the shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle.

There's a John is saying, you know, yeah, they're locusts, but they're, they're prepared for war. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

So he's looking in there and he sees, he sees something. It's not the eyes of a locust, but the faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women's hair and their teeth were like lions teeth. They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into the battle. So as he heard all these things in division, as he saw these locusts flying from the smoke, as he sees those wings and the sound that's going on.

If you've ever been around one helicopter, you kind of know the noise that they make. Just imagine a whole swarm of, you know, mechanical locusts that are out there and what they sound like. The sound was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions. Now the regular grasshopper doesn't have much of a tail. It's just sort of there. But this locust, it's got a tail and that's tail first, first men. They had tails like scorpions and there were stings in their tails.

Their power was to hurt men five months. We'll come back to five months here in a minute. But yeah, I know I'm on screen here with someone wanting to say something. Yeah, Mr. Shavey, just an interesting thing I came across a year or two ago, thinking about this scripture. The military has developed something called the Locust Project. It's very interesting. And it actually uses swarming drones. And I've seen tests. There's video of it on YouTube watching these things working concert to attack. And it sounds and looks like a swarm of locust coming over their drones and they all work autonomously.

And it was just kind of chilling the fact that they actually named the project Locust whenever I saw it and wondered how it would fit into this. Because I mean, it looks like a swarm of locust, sounds like a swarm of locust, and so forth. It's really fascinating where we're getting in today's technology.

I absolutely agree with you. Let me throw this screen up here. That's exactly where I was going. This is from the Washington Post and I won't take the time to read it all, James. As mentioned it, the military has named some of these things cicadas and locusts. When we read locusts in Revelation, it's right there in some of the military nomenclature that is there. Like James said, it talks about a swarm program, a robotic swarm there in that paragraph, and then this locust project that's there as well as part of the swarm program.

Sometimes it's just kind of amazing when you read in the Bible and you see what's going on in the world, you know, wow, it's right there. The words are right there. You can tie two and two together and see what John was saying. I was commenting to Debbie and some others that it's kind of interesting to me that we hear the word lawlessness on news. The Bible talks about when lawlessness abounds, the love of many will wax cold.

Yet, when we're hearing words like, you know, if you're becoming a lawless society, I think, wow, people don't even have to think. We're there if you know the Bible when lawlessness abounds, the love of many will wax cold. So we have swarms, we have locusts, you know, that's the exact nomenclature that's in the Bible. And I found this on the Internet, this picture that you're seeing right now, you're seeing a picture of a helicopter, right, with it.

And this artist, it doesn't come from any church of God. I have no idea where this comes from. But this artist went back through and he drew the modern-day helicopter with all these descriptors that we read in verses 7 through 10 on it to show, you know, to show what that locust that John was seeing was likely, was likely. So there's very little doubt as we see John, you know, looking into the 21st century here where we are right now, what he was seeing and what was, you know, what's yet ahead of us.

So, let me... any other comments on that or anything that people want to talk about?

Go ahead. No, go ahead, Ms. Elaine. Go ahead. Mr. Shavey, you had mentioned a while back, you were trying to find a scripture, and I don't know if this is it or not, because it's Revelation 21 through 3. It doesn't talk about the demons or the locusts. It talks about how... you mentioned about the scripture was going to bring out how the God is in charge and that there was an angel who delivered them or is going to open it or so on. Well, this one, why wouldn't it follow suit with Revelation 21 through 3?

It said a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season. So that proves that there is an angel and that God is executing what he wants under control.

No, that's exactly what we see. It could well be the same angel in chapter 20 that God gave the key to the bottomless pit to let something out of it, to open it. And the same angel may now be crafting Satan into it and putting him in chains just like these angels that have been reserved in chains until the day of judgment. Very good.

Brother Chibi, you know, sometimes these movie makers like to broadcast their influences. I remember maybe a decade and a half ago, there was a movie, The Scorpion King.

It was based in the Middle East, and I'm sure it was Disney World who was the maker of it. And you see the same thing here. These guys move like locuses, but yet they are like scorpions and they have a king over them.

But if you ever get an opportunity, it's not a very edifying movie to watch, that's for sure. But it's interesting to see how they have their influence.

That's what it seems about today, right? Yep. What was that called? The Scorpion King, you said? Yes. Okay.

Okay, well, let's go on in chapter 9 then.

You know, we finished verse 4, but we have a good layout of what's going on here as the fifth trumpet sounds. And we can see the magnitude of things that are going on and what the detail of this fifth trumpet is. And as we look at it and we see what God is doing, imagine if you're the men of the world and you're seeing, well, us, as we are watching this play out on Earth, the magnitude of what God is doing and how men are going to be punished by these things that come up, just the specter of it, of the bottomless pit being opened, these locusts coming out of the smoke. And they're there to punish all of mankind, all of mankind, except those who have the mark or who have been sealed by God.

And in verse 5, then, you notice here's God authority then. It kind of reminds us of what God told Satan about Job. It says, they were not given the authority to kill men. So God says, you will torment them. The Greek word there really probably is better translated torture because it's a physical, an extreme physical pain that is inflicted on the men of the Earth. But just like when Satan went up to God the second time and said, let me hurt Job. If I can make him hurt, he'll curse you. And God said, do whatever you want to him, just don't kill him. And that's what God says to these locusts that are out there that are there to wreak their habit.

Maybe the worst of the worst of the demons, the ones who are really extreme, who have been loosed now on humanity, who deserves the punishment because they rejected God. They were not given authority to kill them, but to torment. And again, if you look at the Greek word, it could be translated torture. You know, torment, you can talk about mental torment, you can talk about other torments. This is physical torment. This is torture, right?

This is what to torture them for five months. That is very exact. Now here's a case where if you look at some of the commentaries, the secular commentaries, they're all over the place of what five months mean. You know, many of them will say, oh, five months, that's a year for the day principle, and therefore it's 150 years. But they have no idea what the 150 years are.

But in this case, five months is 150 days, 150 literal days. If we remember the Day of the Lord, we talked about it a few Bible studies ago. This is a year in length. The Day of the Lord, you know, is a verse in Isaiah, but the other verses we talked about, it is a year long. But of that year of the seven trumpets, five months, five months of it, is it that mankind is being really tortured by these scorpions? It's an ongoing, not a quick strike, and we're out of there, but an ongoing, pain-filled existence that people are living for five torturous months. Now, it's interesting that God would pick five months, and there is another place in the Bible tied to a time of destruction like we are living here, you know, in Revelation 9, where five months is a factor as well. Now, don't think of another place in the Bible where five months or 150 days plays a part in the punishment of man. But back in Genesis, right? Back in Genesis, I marked it down here, I think it's Genesis 7. Yeah, Genesis 7, verse 24, you can turn there if you want. You know, you don't need to. It was talking about the time that the flood was on earth. And of course, at the time of Noah, the rain was on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. And then the water was on the face of the earth for 150 days. 150 days that water stayed there before it began to, I guess, recede. So, in the time of Noah, another time where, you know, these angels who had been reserved in everlasting chains in darkness, reserved for the day of judgment, were extant on the earth. There was five months, you know, that water was on the earth as God purified the earth at that time and destroyed that civilization. How that ties together, I don't know. It's just interesting that it's exactly the same time period. But you also see, you know, when we see that, that God has this perfectly timed. It's the year of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the year in length. And of that, there's these five months. It's already been prescribed, the length of time, that the Smith plague, the Smith trumpet will go on, and this torture on men. Finishing verse 5, it says, their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. You know, I mean, those of you, you know, Bob and Wayne, who have experienced it, you know, you wouldn't want this to happen to you over and over again. I mean, I don't know if you had multiple eyes, but if there was, can you imagine if this was happening over and over and over to you, and there was a swarm of scorpions that, you know, that were stinging you, it would be miserable. Well, even if it was bees that were doing that, it would be miserable. So bad that in verse 6 it says, in those days, men will seek death, and they won't find it.

They will desire to die, but death will flee from them. It isn't designed for them to be killed. The demons, the angels, these angels that are loose from the bottomless pit, or whatever is released from the bottomless pit, that's in these locust-type, you know, helicopters or whatever.

It's not for them to kill men. And God says, I'm not going to let them die. They will suffer. They will suffer for what they do. They will have pain inflicted on them.

You know, to me, when I think about that, I couldn't help but think about Christ's sacrifice for us. We know that He gave His life that our sins could be forgiven.

But He was beaten, He was beaten, you know, so that we could have physical healing. He took the chastisement for our sin. It wasn't for Him to just, you know, die a death where, you know, His head was just chopped off and it was immediately over.

He died an agonizing, torturous death. And He took that pain for us. And when we accept Jesus Christ's sacrifice, you know, we should be very appreciative of what He has done for us. Not only the fact that He gave His life that we might have, you know, our sins forgiven, and then the hope of the resurrection, eternal life, but also that He took that suffering because, you know, we won't be part of this fifth plague.

And neither are the people who came through the tribulation or these 144,000 of Israel that were sealed. They won't be part of that either. The ones who accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But those who don't, you know, pay a pretty steep price, you know, disobeying God, disregarding Him, you know, rejecting Him in any way, shape, or form. There's a very, very strong price. And none of this time bear the brunt of that.

Let me pause there for a moment, if there's anything. We'll move on over to verse 11 here, if not. Okay, let's look at verse 11. It says, They had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. And your margin, like mine, probably says literally Abaddon or Apollyon means destruction. One of them means destroyer, the other one means destruction.

So here, here, you know, God names things for exactly what they are. And these angels, and Satan here, you know, is named for many, many things that Satan is. But here they're king is destruction. They're bent on the destruction and the end of mankind. That's what they've always been about. That's what Satan wants is mankind to be eliminated from the face of the earth.

None of them to survive. God's will, on the other hand, is that everyone come to repentance and have eternal life. Satan's and the demons' wishes and desires and such is exactly the opposite happens. They all die and none live over into the millennium. But God sees to it, you know, that that isn't going to happen. And so in verse 12, it tells us, you know, as we have some very specific language here to look at what the fifth trumpet means and what is going to occur at that time and the significance of all of it. One woe is passed. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

So we have the fifth the fifth trumpet, a time literally of woe. You know, so bad that men would want to die, but they are not permitted to do so.

Okay, let's move over into the sixth angel then.

And again, notice the orchestration here. You know, what we see what we see with God and these trumpets, you know, it's it's it's telling what he does is punishment on mankind is punishment on the earth as he commands and shows man he is sovereign. Everything is under his control. But look at how God does things. You know, we go back to chapter eight, we see where, you know, the silence of heaven, as I mentioned, for half an hour before the trumpets begin to sound.

The angel coming down in perfect time, you know, with with the sensor of incense that's offered up to heaven with the with the prayers of the saints, you know, all these things that are happening in exactly the right order, the beings of God are perfectly ready for this time. They're perfectly in order. They do things in exactly the timing that they've been trained and they've reversed. They know exactly where they should be. They know exactly what they should be doing.

And as we come to the sixth angel, we see the same thing. When that woe is passed, when the fifth woe is passed, those five months are up the sixth angel sounds. And John says, this is the sixth angel sounds. I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, right on time. You know, a voice comes from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God.

Now, you know, we get these visions of what's in heaven, you know, and we talk about as it is in heaven. You know, we pray, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And we see in heaven, here's these four horns of a golden altar. And we can go back, you know, we won't take the time to do there. You can go back. Look at Exodus 30, because as God gave the detailed instructions to Moses to build the tabernacle in the wilderness and later the temple, you see there's a golden altar with four horns. That's part of the temple. It's there before the mercy seat as you go into it. And it's the very altar we talked about, I believe. Well, yeah, last time when we were talking about chapter eight, the altar, you know, on which in the chapter in which Aaron is told, incense will burn before God night and day.

In the morning, you burn the incense. In the evening, you burn the incense. That very same altar in here, as we get a glimpse into heaven of what's going on, John in a vision sees, here's a voice coming from this altar of gold in heaven, the replica of which is on earth in that temple that God put into wilderness.

I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, saying exactly what he has been told to say and exactly the timing that God told him to. And he says, release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.

Though we see there's four more angels there on the great river Euphrates. They're waiting there. They're waiting for everything to be done in exactly the order that God has said, exactly the way they've been trained, exactly where they should be.

And through all this, we should be getting lessons of what God expects to us in our training. You know, what he expects in heaven and what he has trained in heaven. You see beings who are doing exactly what they've been trained to do in exactly the order and exactly the timing. They're exactly where they need to be, where God has commanded them to be. And they do things very precisely, very promptly in exactly the order. And no one is saying, well, wait, wait, wait. No, no, I didn't get there in time. Hold off. Hold off a minute. I'm not there yet. They're there and they're ready. You know, what does God expect to us? If he expects that of the angels as we see this order, you know, what does that say to us about the character of God that he wants in us? He wants us where he wants us when he commands us to be there. He doesn't want us walking 15 minutes late, 10 minutes late, 5 minutes late. If we know the time, he expects us to be there on time. And if that happens to be part of our, you know, as we look at ourselves and the way the angels demonstrate themselves, what have we learned from that about who we should be? And what we should not be neglecting and the way we need to be training ourselves so that God can use us in whatever it is that he has us for because he's preparing us for, as it says here in verse 15, those four angels at the Great River Euphrates who are just standing there, they're ready. They're ready, waiting for the command. And in verse 15, it says, they have been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year. They knew exactly when it was going to happen. They knew exactly where they needed to be, and they were exactly where they needed to be at the time that that voice of the angel came and said, release the four angels who are bound at the Great River Euphrates. You see the perfect orchestration in heaven. You see the plan of God being carried out in beautiful symmetry, in beautiful order, in a way that is just absolutely stunning and awe-inspiring when you look at it. And in that same way, when God tells us, you learn my way. You do the things that I say. You carefully and diligently. You look at every aspect of it, and you keep with the power of God and the Holy Spirit that shines, the lights on, and perfection. You work at perfection and purity and blamelessness all of your life to the point when God resurrects us as spirit beings. We are perfect creatures like these angels who are perfectly trained for what their mission is and this whole plan of God as we play out the seven trumpets.

And so you get this majestic feel as the sixth angel sounds, just like we did as the fifth one did, as we see the drama and as we see everything that's going on in heaven. And remember, they're all rejoicing because the end of this means that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth and the kingdoms of this world will become His, what heaven has been waiting for from the foundation of the earth. So we have these four angels at the Great River Euphrates. They have been bound at the Great River Euphrates, and they're prepared for what they're going to do. And it says, they were released. They were released to kill a third of mankind. A third of mankind. So just like the first four trumpets, a third of the grass, a third of the trees, a third of the fish, a third of the sun, moon, and stars, a third of mankind, they weren't killed during the fifth trumpet, but here during the sixth trumpet, a third of mankind will be killed. You know, as these four angels are released. And we see, you know, the number of the army that is marching toward, that is going to wreak this havoc on earth, it says the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million. And you know, sometimes, you know, we can look at crowds and we can say, oh, there looked like there was a couple hundred there that day, or oh, there looked like there was a thousand people there that day. So, so John, you know, he says 200 million, our minds don't even conceive of what 200 million, but that's two thirds of the United States. Here's an army that's two thirds of all the population of the United States, here bound at the river Euphrates, ready to kill a third of the mankind. However they do that, by whatever means that God has orchestrated, it will happen. And they're ready, they're ready to do this. And God, you know, John says, oh, I heard the number. It's an exact number. There's no exaggeration. There is an army of 200 million men that is there. And he talks about the warfare in verse 17. I saw the horses and the vision, and he's again reminds us, this is a vision of the end time right before the return of Jesus Christ. Those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, sulfur yellow.

You know, I have very little doubt when you and I are watching what all this is unfolding, you know, at the seventh trumpet, you know, as our sixth trumpet as we're watching this. I have very little doubt that that army is going to be clad in those colors, exactly what exactly what John, you know, saw. And the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire and smoke and brimstone. You know, he sees the weapons of warfare. He has no idea what cannons are like. He has no idea about bombs. He has no idea about guns. None of that stuff was there in his lifetime. But all he can see is this, what's emitting out of this army. And he sees fire. He sees smoke. He sees all these things, you know, and we see it, we'll kind of know from the movies we've watched, the pictures we've seen, just like James mentioned. You look at, you watch the videos about the locust swarm that the military is developing there. We'll know exactly what's going on. And if, you know, and John, if he was alive at that time, he would be seeing what's going on, you know, which is exactly the vision that he saw as this is happening.

And in verse 18 it says this by the three plays, a third of mankind was killed. Two and a half billion people, two and a half billion people killed by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. Just incredible, you know, and a different sense of the word awe. I mean, just kind of like your mouth drops when you think of the magnitude of what is going to happen at that time and what mankind is going to have to endure. Well, if anyone's got any comments on that, let's find it. I want to turn back to Joel and read a few verses from Joel too because the book of Joel, you know, as we say, what we read in the New Testament about the Day of the Lord, we can find the prophecies in the Old Testament because this isn't something that God just added. You know, it said, oh, I got to finish this, the Age of Man up here at some point. This is prepared before the foundation of the earth. And we find, you know, the prophecy of the Old Testament that just kind of describe for us the same things that we read in Revelation. But before I go to Joel, we're going to Joel 2 if you had there. Are there any comments or anything? OK, let's look at Joel 2 then. Joel 2, again, just interrupt me whenever you want. Joel 2, verse 1, I'm just going to make a comment here and there, but just look at what we read here in this, you know, minor prophet and compare it to what we've just read in Revelation 9. Verse 1, Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming, it is at hand. A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. Remember the smoke that comes from the bottomless pit, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, two hundred million strong, the like of whom has never been, nor will there ever be any such after them even for many successive generations. A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Surely nothing shall escape them.

Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like swift steeds so they run. With the noise like chariots over the mountain tops they leap, like the noise of a flaming fire that devours the stubble, like a strong people set in battle array.

Before them the people writhe in pain. All faces are drained of color. They run like mighty men. They climb the wall like men of war. Everyone marches in formation, and they do not break ranks.

They are a very, very disciplined army, doing exactly what they have been trained to do. Even though they're on and doing the adversary's work, Satan's work, they too are very disciplined in what they are doing.

They don't push one another. Everyone marches in his own column. Though they lunge between the weapons, they are not cut down. They run to and fro in the city. They run on the wall. They climb into the houses.

They enter at the windows like a thief. The earthquakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness.

The Lord gives voice before his army, for his camp is very great, for strong is the one who executes his word, for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it?

You know, we read those words, and indeed, you look at what's going to happen unto mankind, and if we didn't have God's Holy Spirit and we were living through that, they're not even going to want to endure it. But who can endure it? No one. No one can endure what God is doing. It's his might. It's his power.

And it's only by his mercy that some of mankind will live over into the kingdom, because all the forces that are at work at that day are for the destruction of man. That's what Satan wants, and God allows that punishment to come on man.

But remember, through it all, he's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life.

So a third of mankind died in this sixth trumpet, if you will, and it's a terrible time. It's a terrible time, and if it wasn't for the mercy of God and his love for mankind, all of mankind would be wiped out at that time.

Let's go back. Let's go back to Revelation 9.

Revelation 9. You know, we read, again, what we read in the fifth and sixth trumpets, the first two woes, where God pauses after the first four trumpets and says, whoa, whoa, whoa, to man, for the three trumpets that are yet to sound.

And you know, in a few weeks we'll get to the seventh trumpet that has the seven bowls that are even more devastating and mind-bending than the sixth trumpets that we've talked about already as we go through those.

And we find something remarkable. I'm going to read verse 19, because I know we haven't done that yet, in the effort of reading every verse that says, Again, their power is in their mouth and their tails. Their tails are like serpents having heads. And without them or with them they do harm.

You know, think about what mankind has been through. Can you imagine living through that and not immediately wanting to fall down on the ground, you know, prostate before God, like we read of the men in Revelation 6 and the sixth seal, when the heavens were shaken by supernatural means.

A man couldn't predict, you know, that this happening was clear that God was shaking the universe. And they wanted to hide in caves. They knew it was God.

But here we come to this terrible, terrible, you know, series of events in the first six trumpets. And look at what mankind's attitude is. It's kind of, again, mind-altering when we think about it. How you can go through all of this and see all these things and have the attitude that man does toward God. Not the ones who are sealed, not the ones who have the sealed God in their foreheads, but the rest of mankind.

Verse 20. Notice that God doesn't give any, you know, there's none of the people during this time that he says, oh, you know, out of the seven trumpets, there's a multitude that comes out of that who had their robes washed white.

In the seven trumpets, he doesn't say that at all. He says, but the rest of mankind, you know, all the two-thirds who weren't killed during that time, the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, they didn't repent to 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.

Isn't that an amazing thing? Look what mankind has done. You know, we talked about hardness of heart. You know, a few weeks ago, last time I talked about having, you know, heart of hearing and not listening, having our ears, you know, dull toward the word of God.

Now that's a danger. That's a life sentence to us, a death sentence if we allow that to happen to us. We always need to keep our ears open to what God is saying, not provide the extensives. But here, look at what mankind has done. They have totally shut their mind against God. It's hard to even imagine how they could do that after everything they've been through, but they didn't repent of anything.

They simply steal their hearts against God as in, we will not heal. Look at the power and the influence of Satan and those men.

How powerful is his influence? Because Satan is exactly like these men, right? Satan knows. He knows the Scriptures as well as we do, I guess.

He knows he's going to be bound a thousand years. He knows he's never going to be victorious over God. He's never going to win a victory over God. He's doomed to whatever God determines for him after the Great White Throne Judgment. And yet he will not yield. It's kind of interesting. And you can think, if I absolutely knew that I couldn't win this, there isn't any chance.

There's some movie from long ago, I remember it's like, oh, you say I have a little bit of chance. I think it was the movie was Dumb and Dumber as I think about it, a pretty funny movie. But there is no chance. No chance that Satan can win victory over God. There's no chance that mankind can survive God, and yet they will not, they will not repent. They will not yield to him.

That's the power of the influence of Satan. So powerful, you know, that we need the Spirit of God because we would be just like these people without the Spirit of God that lets us know and that when God gives us the gift of repentance.

But anyway, you know, God says that, remember what he wants, what he wants, the reason he's doing all this is he wants mankind to repent. He wants them to turn to him so he can, you know, give them eternal life, so he can work with them, but they don't do it.

You know, verse 21, I'll pause there. Any comments on that? Or I'll just let it sink in for a minute here because as we go through these things, these are notable verses of what's going to happen and what the attitude of man is and how powerful the influence of Satan is.

Mr. Chabie?

I think Satan's vanity and pride blinds him to the reality that he can't win. I think he always thinks he's going to be smart enough to figure out a way.

Good point, Paul. And that's good. So we know when we get into the seventh, that we see this army marching toward Armageddon, right? What are they going to do? They're going to fight against God because in their pride, they still think they could overcome God. Exactly.

You know, a warning to us again about pride and thinking that, you know, we're okay. I mean, humility is the first step in yielding to God and becoming one of his people.

Okay, let's look at verse 20. Someone else?

I was going to ask the question at this point. Would most of mankind save those with the seal of God? And would most of mankind at this time, I'm sure there might be a few who don't have the mark of the beast?

There's a year. There's the year of the Lord. So there's a year left. So you'd have to assume that the majority of mankind has the mark and our worship in Satan and the beast.

And so they're just... the delusion is... the strong delusion is on them. Like the angel says, flying through the sky, if you've received it, you're doomed. Right. Definitely read that, right? You know you're exactly right. All of mankind except for those who had the seal of God, right? Have to accept the mark of the beast. It's those who had the seal of God who resisted the mark. So, yeah. Good point.

That's the same name? Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Cynthia.

Before Angel, Revelation 9, about the same angels in Revelation 7-1.

Let me see Revelation 7-1. I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four corners of the earth, the four winds of the earth.

You know, it could be Revelation 7. There is a period of time before the beginning of Revelation 7. It may be the same four angels, but it may be a different four angels, too, who have been prepared for that day.

Remember how many angels there are and how many, you know, the heavenly beings have a part in this, you know, in this plan of God that's being unfolded.

It might be the same four. It might be a different four, though, as well. We don't know.

Thank you.

Okay. Let's look at verse 21, you know, as well.

We know mankind won't repent, and God talks about the things they won't repent of.

And of course, we've talked about idols of gold, silver, brass, and stone, and how those relate to the, you know, the 21st century world that we live in.

In verse 21, we see, you know, some more 21st century things that, you know, mankind doesn't repent of as well.

And they did not repent, it says, of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

So we look at those three, those four things that God wraps up, you know, the sixth trumpet in. And we relate to three of those. We know we live in a land of murders anymore when we watch the news.

We hear about what's going on in Chicago and some of the other places, the cities on Earth, where there's murders and, you know, breaking records about murders.

We know about thefts. We can just watch even the looting on the, you know, on our TV screens in the last few days, where people break into stores, and they just kind of walk out with anything that they want.

Sexual immorality, we don't even have to talk about that when we know how sexually immoral our society has become and the depths to which it's going.

But then there's that word, sorceries, that is in there that just doesn't seem to fit the time of the end right before the return of Jesus Christ.

And yet that word, sorceries, keeps showing up in Revelation. It's there at the end of the Revelation 21 and 22. We've read it before.

But we have this word right here, you know, at the end time before the return of Jesus Christ.

You know, I don't know about your Bible, but my Bible has a little asterisk by that word, sorceries.

And it says that the minority and the majority texts of the Bible translate that literally drugs. Drugs.

And the Greek word, you know, for sorcery there is pharmakea.

And as we look, you know, we look at the society that we live in today.

I mean, it's marked by murders, thefts, lying, all the things, the book of Revelation. It is marked by drugs.

You know, when I was in high school, I graduated in 1972.

I, you know, I remember hearing a thing or two about someone and some drug. I was so clueless. I didn't know what it was about, but it certainly wasn't anything that was anything that was there at all.

It was, that was kind of like such an innocent time when I compared to where we are, you know, now.

But you look at where society is now, and we live in an age where drugs dominate.

We can talk about illegal drugs. So we see the country that we live in.

More and more states are legalizing marijuana. First for medicinal purposes, and then recreational use.

Legalization of drugs is people turn to a substance because they can't deal with the things of life, or they're looking for some joy in their lives that they're not finding in the world around them.

You know, we talk about, you've heard it on the news, an opioid crisis.

You know, it's there's, you know, people get addicted to opioids as they try to eliminate the pain, you know, of what they do, and then they're addicted to it, and then they have to become unaddicted to opioids.

You know, we have drugs that dominate our society.

It's an issue as prices go, and people look to drugs, solve this problem for me, solve this problem for me, eliminate this pain, cure this disease, heal me.

And we have a society in a world that's marked by murders, marked by thefts, marked by sexual immorality, and marked by drugs, you know, that the Bible that's represented there are translated as sorceries.

And I don't want to expand on that any further right now. I just want you to think about it, because John is describing the time we live in, the time before the return of Jesus Christ.

And he says to the people alive at that time, they won't repent of any of those things. You and I need to have repented of all of those idols, and all of those things in our lives that stand between us and God.

And let me just let me leave it at that, and we're at 8, what is it, 825?

So let me leave it there and open it up for any comments or discussion.