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Rev 9:3-4 – Part 3 of The Fifth Trump

[Study Aired August 9, 2024]

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Introduction

As we “look behind us” to see the process of this “revelation of Jesus Christ” has already begun (Rev 1:10). We see that this revelation reveals the very beginning of the judgment of our old man. The fact that we are ‘looking behind  us’ signifies that judgment has already begun before we ever become aware that “Thou art the man” who has betrayed and denied our Lord (2Sa 12:7). Others have, of course done so, but so have you and me. Christ can only be revealed through the daily dying of our rebellious old man, and the dying of our old man entails this painful sting of the ‘scorpions’ of this study which accompany this part of our walk signified by the “power of scorpions of the earth.”

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

This “voice as of a trumpet” is revealed in its ‘complete’ form as “seven trumpets. These seven trumpets are the seventh seal of this revelation of Jesus Christ. This “great voice, as of a trumpet” is the ‘voice’ of the words of our Lord, who is giving us this revelation of Himself within us. This mystery of Christ and His kingdom, which is at this time being formed in us, is hidden from the masses of mankind and from the multitudes of orthodox Christianity. He does not give the masses that come to Him the ability to see and hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God, ‘within us’:

Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

That kingdom is within us only if its King is within us.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

The means by which God has hidden the mysteries of the kingdom of God within us is to cause us to believe all the lies and false doctrines of the many daughters of Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots, and keep hidden from us the meaning of any of His parables, all of which concern the kingdom of God, also called ‘the kingdom of heaven’:

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The Truth is that the kingdoms which comprise Nebuchadnezzar’s great image are also all first within us. It is the kingdom of God, which is within, which destroys all the kingdoms of this world, that are also,  one and all, within mankind. All that is “in Adam” is also within his seed, just as surely as all that is “in Christ” will be in His seed.

Dan 2:31  Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness [was] excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. [Are you, at this moment, thinking of Nebuchadnezzar, or are you thinking of Matthew 4:4 and Luk 17:20-21?]
Dan 2:32  This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Dan 2:33  His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34  Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

Remember what we learned was “the earth” upon which these locusts are sent forth.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

The earth signifies the Lord’s own people, and it is also we who, because we all ‘leave our first love’ we become the nations of this earth, and we are those who are hurt by these devouring locusts before we become the green things which are not hurt of these hurtful, scorpion- like locusts.

All of the metals which comprise this great image are also within us, and if we “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”, then we must understand that all of the beasts of Daniel 7 are also first one composite beast within us.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Dan 7:2  Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.
Dan 7:3  And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.
Dan 7:4  The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle’s wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it.
Dan 7:5  And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.
Dan 7:6  After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.
Dan 7:7  After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

The point is that we are not just the “green things” which are not hurt by the power of these locusts, but we are first those who are hurt by the power of these locusts. We must all first be the first Adam and come to know that life of darkness. Then, and only then, will we be dragged by God to become the green things which are not hurt by the power of the locusts of the earth. This message is throughout the Word of God, and is hidden from us by our inability to see the mysteries of the kingdom of God, which kingdom is within us. We are the grass that is burned up before we become the grass that is not hurt of the locusts.

Col 1:12  Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6  For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

We are all under “the power of darkness”, and we were all “the children of disobedience” before we are granted to become “the children of light” and we are “raised up together and made to sit in the heavens in Chist”:

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Remembering that this is all being told us so we will know what we are to keep and live by, let us note what the symbols of these two verses of this fifth trumpet of the revelation of Jesus Christ are within us.

1) Our first symbol is smoke. 2) The second is locusts. 3) The third is the earth. 4) The fourth symbol is the power as the scorpions of the earth. 5) the fifth is the grass, any green thing, and trees. 6) the sixth is those men who have not the seal of God. 7)  The seventh symbol is their foreheads. 8) The eighth symbol is “they shall be tormented five months. 9) Our final symbol is “they shall seek death and shall not find it”.

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only t hose men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

What is smoke?

1) We saw last week that the smoke that darkens the sun and the air is the false doctrines, whether Christian or Pagan, which are used to keep us from seeing the Truth as being the light of the world.

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the [dark] house.
Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Mat 6:22  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil [full of false doctrines], thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

It is instructive that an evil eye is not contrasted by a righteous eye, but by a single eye. Until we come to see that God is sovereign, we have an evil eye that cannot acknowledge the truth that it is that sovereign God Who is working all things after the counsel of His own will, and that not just all good but even all evil is created and worked by God.

Gen 45:8  So now it was not you that sent me hither [as a slave in Egypt], but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.

Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it [the evil you did to me] unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it [Christ, the cloud] was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

We all first think that light is darkness, and we think that darkness is light, because we all first have “an eye that is evil.” We all “sit in darkness and the shadow of death” until the light comes to us. When the light of God’s Word does come, we eventually acknowledge that our God is the sovereign Creator of both all the good and all of the evil that is in this world.

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Good and evil are both alike to God because they are both the work of His hand. That is not true for us.

Isa 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

God alone can make good come from evil. We cannot do that and must never be guilty of attempting to justify evil, even as we acknowledge that God is the Creator of both.

What are locusts?

2) Locusts are not themselves darkness any more than the fruit of a tree is the tree. John the Baptist was nourished with locusts:

Mat 3:4  And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

In most cases, locusts signify destruction and ruin both physically and spiritually:

Exo 10:12  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.

The locusts in this verse here in Revelation 9 signify the product of the “darkness by reason of the smoke of the pit”, just as fruit is the product of the tree. So what is it that darkness produces? Here are just a few of the fruits of darkness which are symbolized by these “locusts.”

Pro 4:19  The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Darkness causes us to stumble, and when we stumble, we do not prevail or overcome. Like the apostle Paul, we are all first Saul of Tarsus, persecutors of the way of Truth, before “the Lord is with us.”

Jer 20:11  But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.

Here is what happens to us all when we are persecutors of our Lord and of those who brought us His Truth.

Exo 10:4  Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:
Exo 10:5  And t hey shall cover the face of the earth, that one cannot be able to see the earth: and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field:
Exo 10:6  And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians; which neither thy fathers, nor thy fathers’ fathers have seen, since the day that they were upon the earth unto this day. And he turned himself, and went out from Pharaoh.

When our spiritual house is full of that which darkens the sun and the air and devours everything that is attempting to grow, we are quickly being destroyed. We are as Pharaoh, and we are given a hardened heart before we are delivered out of that darkened and devastated condition. Our substance [our false doctrine] is devoured as if by locusts.

Exo 10:12  And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, [ even] all that the hail hath left.
Exo 10:13  And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Exo 10:14  And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.

What is the affect of these locusts upon Egypt within us?

Exo 10:15  For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left: and there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt.

The locusts are thorough in devouring “any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields” of Egypt within us. The locusts devour anything that is left after the destruction of the hail upon the things of Egypt that are within us.

What is the earth?

3) The third symbol is the earth. We have seen in great detail that “the earth” within is the Biblical symbol of who we are when we have rejected the truths of God’s Word.

Jer 22:29  O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

We received that word with joy, but when persecutions and tribulations arise because of the word, we are quickly offended and fall away into the lies of Egypt, which all the rest of society believe, and which are far more appealing to our flesh. The earth, the land, the world and the field, all have very much in common, according to our Lord.

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children [the doctrines] of the kingdom; but the tares are the children [the doctrines] of the wicked one;

“The field is the world.” That is why we read this of Esau, the symbol of God’s rejected twin, born of the same free woman.

Gen 25:27  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

This verse contrasts the true man of God with the rejected man of God. “A cunning hunter, a man of the field” is contrasted with “a plain man, dwelling in [temporary] tents,” which is the essence of Christ and those in whom He dwells.

Isa 53:2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness [He was “a plain man”]; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

“The earth” within us, the “man of the field”, sees no beauty at all in the things of the man of the spirit.

What is the power of the scorpions of the earth?

4) The fourth symbol is the power given these locusts, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

What power do the scorpions of the earth possess? Here is the power scorpions have been given.

Rev 9:5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
Rev 9:6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Rev 9:10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

The pain of the sting of a scorpion is a severe and sharp pain. If it persists, it truly does cause us to want to die. This is that part of our walk that ‘brings us to our wits’ end.’

Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.

What is the grass, any green thing and trees?

5) The fifth symbol is the grass, any green thing and the trees.

Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

That God intends for this revelation to be hidden from the multitudes of Christianity is demonstrated by the symbols of this fifth trumpet and by this symbol in particular. For many years I personally could not understand the meaning of this symbol simply because it seems, to the natural man, to contradict the obvious meaning of this very same symbol, which is referenced to in the previous chapter in the description of the first trumpet:

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

In the previous chapter and in the previous trumpet, the first trumpet, the “trees… and all the green grass are burned up” by the “hail and fire mingled with blood.”  As we saw when we covered that verse, “the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies.”

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

Mat 3:12  Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff [the lies and false doctrines] with unquenchable fire.

So if the grass and the trees and green things symbolize the lies of Babylon in chapter eight, how can it possibly symbolize “those men which have the seal of God in their foreheads” in chapter nine? How is that possible? It is possible in the same way that so many Biblical symbols are given a positive connotation in one context and a negative connotation in another context. For example, Adam is both positive and negative throughout scripture as both the old man and the new man.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.

The symbol of the lion is used as both a symbol of the Devil and a symbol of Christ:

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

Psa 17:9  From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
Psa 17:10  They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.
Psa 17:11  They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Psa 17:12  Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Here in Psalms 17:13, ‘the wicked’ are used as “Thy sword”, the Lord’s sword which He uses to punish us when we  defy Him and His ways. That is the same principle by which the king of Assyria is called “the rod of mine indignation” when the Lord use the king of Assyria to punish His people:

Isa 10:5  O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Isa 10:6  I will send him against an hypocritical nation [The Lord’s own people], and against the people of my wrath [His own people] will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

The symbol of a ‘sword’ also has this “two-edged” application. It is both “the wicked, which is your sword,” and it is “the Word of God.”

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Why then cannot “the grass, the trees and every green thing” also have the negative meaning of the things of the flesh in Revelation 8:7 and the positive meaning of those in whom is the Word of God, and who have the seal of God in their foreheads in Rev 9:4?

Rev 8:7  The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
Rev 9:4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

This characteristic of God’s Word, being both positive and negative, is deeply hidden from the natural man, and He is thereby rendered completely incapable of either “rightly dividing the Word of Truth” or “trying the spirits to see whether they are of God.” The natural man certainly does not recognize that if we do “rightly divide the word of truth” then we will recognize and acknowledge that we must all be “the first man Adam… which has not the mark of God,” before we can become “the last Adam… with the mark of God in our foreheads.” It is by the use of this principle of the Word of God being both positive and negative that the Lord has kept the natural man from understanding the things of the spirit:

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

6) The sixth symbol is “those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads”.

Who are “those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads?

We will pause our study of the meaning of the symbols of this fifth trumpet at this point and  resume our next study examining what the scriptures reveal to be the meaning of the sixth symbol of this fifth trumpet judgment, which is “those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”