[Chapter 9-2] Have Bold Faith in the End Times (Revelation 9:1-21)
(Revelation 9:1-21)
Of
the plagues of the seven trumpets, we have just gone over the plagues
of the fifth and the sixth trumpets in the above passage. The fifth
trumpet sounds the plague of locusts, and the sixth trumpet announces
the plague of war at the Euphrates River.
The
first thing we need to find out is whether or not the saints will go
through these plagues of the seven trumpets. This is the first thing
that we must hear, know, and believe in.
Will
the saints find themselves in the middle of the plagues of the seven
trumpets? The saints, too, will surely find themselves in the middle of
these plagues. A third of the world’s forests will be burnt out, a third
of the sea and the rivers will turn into blood, and the sun, the moon,
and the stars will be struck and lose a third of their light. Although a
third of the nature of the whole world will either turn into blood or
lose light, this also means that the other two-thirds would still
remain.
The
Word tells us that we, the saints who have been saved, will find
ourselves in the midst of the first six plagues that will destroy a
third of the world. However, we do not fear these plague, because as God
commanded the locusts to harm “only those men who do not have the seal
of God on their foreheads” in His fifth plague, He will protect the
saints sealed by Him in the midst of these plagues of the seven
trumpets.
But
this still means that the saints will go through all these plagues. You
and I, as the ones who have been redeemed by believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit, will find ourselves in the middle of the
first plague, which will burn off a third of the world with the fire
rained down by God, as well as the second plague, turning a third of the
sea into blood with the fall of a blazing mountain, and also the third,
which will turn a third of the rivers and springs into wormwood with
the fall of a great star from the sky.
We
will live through the fourth plague as well, bringing darkness by
striking a third of the sun, the moon, and the stars; we will go through
the fifth plague also, when locusts harm people with scorpion-like
power; and, when the sixth plague brings a world war at the Euphrates
River, we will still find ourselves living through the whole plague. No
one can do anything about it, because this is the providence of God
waiting to be realized. That we will live through these six horrendous
plagues is the written fact of God’s Word.
Our
Lord has redeemed you from all your sins. He has taken away all our
sins through His baptism, His blood on the Cross, and His resurrection
from death. We received our atonement by believing in what Jesus Christ
has done for us. To those who have received the remission of all their
sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, even as
they live through the six horrible plagues, God’s special protection
will be with them. The Word tells us, in other words, that God’s special
grace will allow us to live on. We must realize just how worthy our God
is to receive all our thanks for giving these special privilege and
protection in the midst of the plagues to those of us who are saved.
When
the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, John saw “a star fallen from
heaven to the earth,” which “was given the key to the bottomless pit.”
The star here refers to an angel; the spiritual meaning of God’s stars
is that they are all His servants and saints. When this angel who fell
to the earth received the key to the bottomless pit and opened it with
its key, smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace.
The
“bottomless pit” refers to a place that has, quite literally, no bottom
or end. Also known as the Abyss, it is a pit of endless depth. When the
fifth angel sounded his trumpet, he, having received the key to this
bottomless pit, opened the pit with this key. From the pit came out
great smoke, as if from a great fire. This smoke from the abyss covered
the sun and the sky, darkening the whole world.
Smoke
was not the only thing that came out when the bottomless pit was
opened; also arising out of the pit with the smoke were locusts. These
“locusts” that climbed on to the earth were given power like that of
scorpions of the earth, stinging people with their tails. The Bible
describes them as having faces that look like the faces of men, their
shape like the horses prepared for battle, their teeth like lion’s
teeth, and their hair like women’s hair.
By
using the plural word “locusts” instead of the singular locust, the
Bible also tells us that we are not talking about just one or even a few
locusts, but a huge cloud of locusts, like those that plague the
tropical regions from time to time, consuming all the plants on its path
of destruction and leaving nothing behind but their roots. Such locusts
will arise out of the bottomless pit and torment the people for five
months.
Those
who will be struck by the fifth of the plagues of the seven trumpets
are only those who are not born again. This plague of locusts will pass
by the born-again. Our Lord will not bring the plague of locusts on us,
for He knows that the born-again, if were they stung by the locusts,
will spit out the gospel of salvation, wondering, “why was I saved at
all?” We can ascertain this with verse 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.”
We
know that 144,000 of the people of Israel will be sealed by the seal of
God, but the Bible makes no mention of the Gentiles. Does this then
mean that we will be tormented by the locusts just like the sinners? Not
at all! As 144,000 Israelites are sealed, so are we—that is, the hearts
of those who have received the remission of their sins are sealed
before God by the Holy Spirit. Do you not have the Holy Spirit in your
heart? Because those whose hearts are dwelt by the Holy Spirit have been
sealed as the children of God, we, along with 144,000 Israel, will
escape from the plague of locusts as His people.
Because
the plague of locusts will harm only those who are not born again,
people will probably hate and persecute us even more. During the
five-month period of the plague, only those who are not born again will
be stung by the locusts, tormented in great pain and yet unable to die.
The faces of these locusts look like the faces of men, their hair like
women’s hair, their teeth as ferocious as lions’ canine teeth, and their
shape like horses prepared for battle, with tails of scorpions. These
locusts will threaten everyone in their path with their heads, bite them
everywhere with their teeth, and sting them with their poisonous tails,
bringing indescribably excruciating pain to their victims.
A
single sting will be enough to bring incredible pain, perhaps akin to
being shocked by high voltage electricity, which will last for five
months. And people will not be able to die, no matter how much they are
tormented by the locusts or how much they themselves want to rather die
than to live with such suffering. Because the plague of the undead is
included in this plague of locusts, there will be no death on the earth
for five months. This plague will torment the world for five months.
We
have not seen such plagues with our own eyes, but they are nevertheless
all planned by God. God tells us that He will bring these plagues on
this earth, to the people of this world—that is, to those who do not
believe in God, neither in His love and salvation, nor in His gospel of
redemption. All these have been planned by God. Because God has planned
to do all these things, we must believe that God will indeed bring all
of them to pass.
All
that we can do is only believing in God, for no man can ever argue
about what God plans and does. Even in this situation where people are
suffering from the locusts, God will not allow the locusts to bite or
sting us and protect us from this plague, for He will commanded them not
to harm those who have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Why Does God Bring the Plagues of the Seven Trumpets?
God’s
purposes in bringing the plagues of the seven trumpets are, for the
born-again, to receive glory from them; for those who are yet to be
born-again, to give them another chance to be born again; and for every
and each one in this world whom God created, to show them that the Lord
is God, the Creator of this world, the Savior, and the Judge of all.
First,
by bringing suffering to the sinners through the plagues and allowing
the righteous to escape from them, God makes the righteous to praise the
Lord’s greatness, His grace, blessings and glory.
Second,
God allows the plagues for His last harvest. He brings the plagues of
the seven trumpets to save, for the last time, those who have known the
gospel of the water and the Spirit but have not believe in it. It is to
give through the Tribulation all whom God created, both the Gentiles and
the Israelites, their last chance to return to the Lord and be saved.
Third,
as nothing in this world came into its existence without the Lord,
Jesus Christ—who came to this earth in the flesh of a man, took upon the
sins of the world on Himself with His baptism, and wiped out all sins
with His death on the Cross—will show, through these terrifying plagues,
His majestic power to those who have not accepted His love and the love
of His Father, and not believed in the gospel of salvation. To those
who are not born again, He will bring both their suffering in this world
and their eternal condemnation to hell in afterlife.
God
brings the plagues to this world with such purposes and plans. We must
know and believe that these plagues will indeed come. Though we will be
especially exempt from the plague of locusts, we must realize that we
will nevertheless live through all these plagues. The plague of fire
that burns down a third of the nature and the forests of the whole
world, the plague of water that turns a third of the sea into blood and a
third of the rivers and springs into wormwood, the plague of darkness
that darkens the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the plague of war
that destroys the world—we will all be right in the middle of all these
plagues. But we must also realize that even as we live through such
plagues, we will still be filled by ever greater joy.
With
the plagues of the seven trumpets, we will lose all interests in
earthly life. Let’s assume, for a moment, that volcanoes are erupting
everywhere, earthquakes are uprooting the ground, mountains are burning
up in smoke, and a third of the sea, the rivers, and springs have turned
into blood and wormwood. Dust, smoke, and ashes cover the whole world;
the sun rises around 10 in the morning and sets by 4 in the afternoon;
and the moon and the stars have lost their light that we can’t even see
them anymore. Would you feel excited about your earthly life in such a
world? Of course not!
This
is why the saints will look only at God and place their hope only in
His Kingdom at this time. All our hope, 100 percent of it, is found in
God alone. Neither would we have any interest in living on this earth
anymore, nor could we ever do so, even if we were given all the riches
of the world to live for a thousand years. Because all these plagues
have been planned and permitted by God, no one can stop them. As God has
planned these plagues, so will He allow them.
Why
are the plagues planned by God recorded in the Bible? Why did God lift
up John to Heaven, let him hear and see all the plagues that would
happen with the sounding of the seven trumpets, and make him write down
what he heard and saw? In showing what would happen to this world, it
was to make the saints place their hope only in the Kingdom of God, to
make them preach the gospel on this earth, and to make everyone believe
in Jesus Christ.
God
has planned and permitted all these things so that through these
plagues, people would think again and not suffer in the lake of fire and
brimstone burning in hell. God has given them, in other words, a refuge
to escape from the plagues. Because God does not want any of us to end
up in hell, He wants the sinners’ hearts to return to Him through the
plagues. I believe that the Word was written and shown to us so that
everyone would be led to Heaven.
The
plagues that God brings to us, in other words, are not just to make us
suffer. God brings these plagues to the world and to us so that we would
place our hope not on this earth but in His Kingdom. We must also
realize that He permits all these things to make us preach His love of
salvation to the countless lost souls who are bound to the eternal
flames of hell, so that they, too, may believe in the Word of salvation,
be saved, and escape from this Tribulation.
Some
kinds of catfish are renowned, among other things, for the pain that
they can cause with their stings. If you are not careful in handling
these fish, your hand can get stung by their poisonous fins, and then
excruciating pain will follow, as if you were shocked by electricity.
This pain is nothing compared to the pain of being stung by the locusts.
Now
imagine having such pain for five months. It will be the worst pain
possible, for even as people would rather die than live in their agony,
they will not be able to do so. They will not even be able to kill
themselves, as the Word tells us, “They will desire to die, and death
will flee from them.” But because we have become God’s children by
believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and because we thus
have the Holy Spirit in us, God will protect us from this plague so
that we would not suffer the pain brought by the locusts. We are
protected even amidst such a plague because we have received the
remission of sins by believing in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit.
We
should not regard the Book of Revelation with only fear, but through
the Word of Revelation, we must realize how God would give us His
special protection from the plagues, how He would be glorified through
us, and how we, too, would be clothed in glory by God. By knowing these
things, we can be bolder, preach the gospel more, and give even more
glory to God when the time of the Tribulation comes. As such, we must
live this era without any fear in our hearts, nor any greed for our
earthly lives. God teaches us all these things beforehand, so that we
would have the courage. We must therefore have the faith of boldness.
God
classifies the seven plagues into two categories, the first four
catastrophes and the last three woes, and He clarifies that the latter
will be far more horrible and terrible in scale and intensity. So, He
announces especially, when the fifth plague is over, “One woe is past.
Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.”
The
second woe is the plague of the sixth trumpet: “saying to the sixth
angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the
great river Euphrates.’ So the four angels, who had been prepared for
the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of
mankind.” In verse 16, it says, “the number of the army of the horsemen
was two hundred million.” It shows that a massive war will break out,
and a third of all mankind will be killed by this warfare. God will
bring, in other words, a horrendous plague of war to this earth.
Verses
17-18 say, “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 and the smoke and the brimstone
which came out of their mouths.” God will allow that a countless number
of people will be actually brought to death to by the massive army of
the horsemen. This is the plague that will come with the sounding of the
sixth angel’s trumpet.
What
happens when the seventh trumpet sounds? Resurrection and rapture will
come. Up to the sixth trumpet, all the preceding plagues would be
brought either as natural disasters or as a war that would directly
bring death to people. Because all these are including in the plagues of
the seven trumpets and recorded in the Bible, I believe in this Word.
But what about you? Do you also believe in this truth?
Have
you received the remission of your sins by believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit? Though included in these plagues, for you to
escape from the suffering of the eternal plague and to never enter hell,
you must believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit now, which
God gave you to make all your sins disappear, to deliver you from the
Great Tribulation, and to give you His Kingdom, the New Heaven and
Earth. You must have faith that believes in this gospel. You must know
and believe in this gospel. There is no other way to Heaven but by your
faith in this gospel of the water and the Spirit.
Jesus
told Peter, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
The keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are given to us when we believe in
Jesus Christ as our Savior—that He came to this earth, that He took upon
all the sins of mankind and of the world on Himself with His baptism
received from John the Baptist at the Jordan River, that He carried all
these sins and died on the Cross, and that He rose from the dead again.
We can enter Heaven and be protected from these plagues only when we
have this faith—faith that believes that all our sins have been blotted
out.
With
the sounding of the seventh trumpet comes the rapture, together with
the martyrdom described in Revelation 13. When the Antichrist emerges,
we will face our righteous death, martyred for the gospel.
You
must realize just how precious and important is this gospel that you
know and believe in. Believe in this gospel of the water and the Spirit.
You will then be able to overcome the end times in boldness and dwell
in the Millennial Kingdom and the New Heaven and Earth promised by the
Lord. To worship the Lord as one of the 24 elders standing around Jesus
Christ, who is God, there is no other way but to boldly overcome the
Tribulation by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
I
hope and pray that you will, as the saints born again by believing in
this gospel with your hearts, all overcome the end times and inherit
God’s Millennial Kingdom and His eternal Heaven.
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