Rev 9:9-12 Part 6 of The Fifth Trumpet

[Study Aired August 18, 2024]

Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
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.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, [ which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [ is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [ his] name Apollyon.
Rev 9:12  One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

 The symbol we last covered was the fourth symbol which was the fact that these locusts which had the appearance of horses and the face of a man also “ had hair as the hair of women”. Our next symbol is:

5) They had breastplates, as breastplates of iron

We know what iron signifies in scripture:

Dan 2:40  And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

Iron is harder and stronger than any other Biblical metal. “Iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things.” So why do these locusts have “breastplates of iron”? The answer is that a breastplate covers the heart, and there is no way to get to the heart of these locusts because of the deep darkness and the pride and deception that is in our hearts at this stage of our walk.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Daniel’s image, which typifies our experience, begins with a head of gold, followed by arms of silver, followed by a belly and thigh of brass, followed by legs of iron, and finally it is standing on feet which are made of part iron and part clay. It is concerning the legs of iron that we read in Dan 2:40, that “iron breaks and subdues all things”. The reason these breastplates are of iron is to let us know that it will take the supernatural intervention of God and His Son coming into our lives to destroy these breastplates of iron and to destroy our hardened and darkened hearts, which are protected by the seemingly impenetrable deceits which these “breastplates of iron” signify:

Dan 2:45  Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands [signifying that it has nothing to do with our will], and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

6) the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

Our sixth symbol that describes these horse- like locusts is “the sound of their wings was a the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.” All locusts have wings, and the wings of these locusts sound like chariots of many horses going to battle.” ‘Wings’ in scripture signify those things which operate in the heavens, and the fact that the wings of these locusts “sound like chariots of many horses going to battle” tells us that we are up against an insurmountable and powerful army which has been given power over our heavens and is constantly warring against the spirit of our mind:

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:

Rom 7:23  But I see another law [the law of sin and death] in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

These ‘locusts’ are the messengers of “the prince of the power of the air”, and their influence upon our lives cause us to be “the children of disobedience” living to fulfill “the lust of our flesh” keeping us subject to “the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2) which ‘sting’ hurts us for a symbolic 5 months as we fulfil the desire of our flesh and mind while knowing that the Lord has commanded us to overcome those desires of the flesh and of the mind:

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.

Whether it is the destructive power of locusts or the lies spread into every house by the work of an unclean bird like a stork, it is all accomplished by the operation of ‘wings’ which can travel about in our heavens:

Zec 5:5  Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
Zec 5:6  And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
Zec 5:7  And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
Zec 5:8  And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
Zec 5:9  Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
Zec 5:10  Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
Zec 5:11  And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar [Babylon, Gen 10:10] and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

Gen 10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

“A woman…. is wickedness… through all the earth” is verified by these words in:

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
Rev 17:5  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

We are called “the bride” of Christ and women are universally accepted as signifying the church whether faithful  or apostate.

What we need to learn in this symbol is that ‘wings’ signify what the Lord is doing in our heavens. In this case He is sending evil spirits with false doctrines to trouble us just as he did to King Saul:

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

It was common knowledge in the days of King Saul that evil spirits were servants of God  The same thing happened to King Ahab:

1Ki 22:20  And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he [the Lord] said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

It is the same today, and it behooves us to simply acknowledge the sovereignty of God over both the good and the evil. In scripture evil men are called the Lord’s sword.

Psa 17:13  Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, [ which is] thy sword:

We need to acknowledge that the words ‘which is’ are not in the Hebrew and could just as easily have read ‘with’ instead of ‘which is.’ Nevertheless we are still told this in Pro 16.

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

So the Lord is definitely the Lord of both the good and the evil that is within us, and it is He who creates us as wicked first, for our own “day of evil” within each of us. It is He also who sends the angel that opens the bottomless pit and darkens our Sun and air by these locusts which hurt us for five months and crush us and bring us to want to die with Him on His cross. Here is Rev 9 in Joe 1. It is the same event. This is the “day of the Lord” which Peter said he had experienced just before the day of Pentecost.

Joe 1:1  The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
Joe 1:2  Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
Joe 1:3  Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
Joe 1:4  That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
Joe 1:5  Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
Joe 1:6  For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth [ are] the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.
Joe 1:7  He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast [ it] away; the branches thereof are made white.
Joe 1:8  Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.
Joe 1:9  The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn.
Joe 1:10  The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.
Joe 1:11  Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
Joe 1:12  The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.
Joe 1:13  Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God.
Joe 1:14  Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders [ and] all the inhabitants of the land [ into] the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,
Joe 1:15  Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD [ is] at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joe 1:16  Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, [ yea], joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Joe 1:17  The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
Joe 1:18  How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
Joe 1:19  O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Joe 1:20  The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

Is this not what the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven plagues are doing within us as we are caused to  “keep the things written therein?” (Rev 1:3) Is this not the very same “Lord’s day” which includes the events of the revelation of Jesus Christ? Is this not the destruction of our old life, which we must all experience to bring us into our new life? Speaking of this very battle, Joel continues:

Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Joe 2:30  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
Joe 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Christ mentions this very same battle in which these locusts as horses with the faces of men and the hair of a woman are involved:

Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

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

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

None are able to stand against his wrath in this battle. The lies of all these locusts, their strength as horses, and their iron breastplates will all fall victim to Christ, and the armies that are with him. He has created this army of locusts for our destruction. When they have accomplished their evil deeds and have destroyed within us all that the lies of Egypt and Babylon have produced within us, then He will destroy the destroyer.

Rev 17:14  These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

7) They had tails like scorpions…

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 scriptures tell us plainly what the significance of ‘tails’ is:

Isa 9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

8) They had a king over them…

Our eighth symbol is that of a king:

Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Kings exercise power over their subjects. Kings and princes are used interchangeably in scripture. Isaiah 14:3-23 is addressed to the king of Babylon while Ezekiel 28:1-10 is addressed to the prince of Tyrus. Both express the exact same message. Both condemn “the beast” who is also called “the man of sin” who sits on the throne of our hearts demanding to be worshipped as God until the brightness of the coming of Christ destroys this “man of sin” and his kingdom within us:

2Th 2:3  Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4  Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. [Exactly what the king of Babylon and the prince of Tyrus did]
2Th 2:5  Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6  And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7  For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Our last symbol is:

9) The angel of the bottomless pit

Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

The Lord has ordained that his “vessel of clay… first man Adam” is to worship himself and fulfill his every carnal desire. This is what the scriptures can “worshipping  the beast”. What the king of Babylon, the prince of Tyrus, and the man of sin within us fails to realize is that when we worship ourselves we are also worshipping the dragon who empowers us to put our own desires ahead of the Lord’s desires for us:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

“They worshipped the dragon” confirms the words of our Lord and the words of the apostle Paul both of who call us “of your father the devil” and “the children of disobedience… the children of the prince of he power of the air”:

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

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 dragon” who is the first to empower us to do his bidding], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

The Hebrew word ‘abaddon,’ becomes the name of the angel of the bottomless pit. This word appears 5 times in the Old Testament.

Job 26:6  Hell is naked before him, and destruction [ abaddon] hath no covering.

Job 28:20  Whence then cometh wisdom? and where [ is] the place of understanding?
Job 28:21  Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
Job 28:22  Destruction [ abaddon] and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

Job 31:12  For it [ is] a fire [ that] consumeth to destruction [ abaddon], and would root out all mine increase.

Psa 88:11  Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? [ or] thy faithfulness in destruction [ abaddon]?

Pro 15:11  Hell and destruction [ abaddon] are before the LORD: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?

Will God’s loving kindness be declared in the grave? The answer is, yes, it will. Will His faithfulness be declared in destruction? Again the answer is, yes, it will.

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose [ Greek, apollumi] it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

It is only through the destruction of our old man that our new man can be born.

Mat 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy [ Greek, apollumi] both soul and body in hell.

Mat 12:14  Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy [ Greek, apollumi] him.

It is a grave mistake to think that the king of the bottomless pit is Adam himself. If that were so, then where is ‘Adam’ in these verses?

Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee

King Saul was not “troubled” until the Lord sent a spirit to do so.

Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

If Christ’s flesh was ‘satan’ what need was there to “go into the wilderness to be tempted?

Joh 13:27  And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly

Where was Satan before “the sop”. If Judas’ flesh was satan why wait till “after the sop” for satan to enter Judas?

Satan is not our flesh, but he is our ‘father’ (Joh 8:44) and he definitely has been given to rule over our fleshly bodies until the Lord comes and dethrones him with “the brighteness of His coming” (2Th 2:3-8).

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

There is no one here who is denying that “that old serpent the devil and Satan” dwells within us, just as Christ dwells within us whe He comes to dethrone “the man of sin”. When ‘the man of sin’ is cast out Satan goes with him. When we say that Satan is our flesh we are saying that Eve was speaking to Adam when she was seduced by the serpent. What utter nonsense! Adam was already in King Saul before “the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.” Christ was not being tempted of Adam when He was in the wilderness 40 days. Adam did not enter into Judas “after the sop.” Adam was there all along. And finally, Adam will be on earth being ruled with a rod of iron all through the thousand year reign of Christ, while Satan is bound in the bottomless pit which is within us all.

Therefore Abaddon, also known as Apollyon, is the king of the lies which are symbolized by the locusts which come out of the smoke of the bottomless pit, simply because God created him to be his lying Adversary, “from the beginning.”

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Summary

We have covered nine symbols in this study. There are six symbols which the holy spirit has used to describe these locusts which come out of the smoke that ascends up out of the bottomless pit.

1) They are shaped like horses prepared to battle, tells us that we are fighting an enemy with great strength.

2) They appear to have crown of gold on their heads, tells us that they will at first be mistaken for overcomers, and those who are the servants of, and the angels of God.

3) Their faces are “as the faces of men,” tells us that these lies are nothing more or less than idols of our own hearts, which we have carved out of the truths that are the Word of God.

4) They had hair as the hair of women, tells us that these doctrines are one and all the doctrines of that great harlot woman, and they certainly do darken our sun and air.

5) They had breastplates, as breastplates of iron, tells us that it is impossible for any man to reach our hearts and destroy these lies and deceits, and that it will take Christ, Himself to do so.

6) “The sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle,” tells us that these deceits are many and strong and they are ready and willing to do battle with our Lord and His Word.

The last three symbols are concerned with the function of the adversary, satan, in the Lord’s plan and purpose for our lives

7) They had tails like scorpions, and we saw that their ‘tails’ signified “the prophet that prophesies lies” :

Isa_9:15  The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

8) They had a king over them…

Our eighth symbol is that of a king:

Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

We saw that a king exercises power just as we will be “kings and priests” with Christ ruling this ear for a thousand years if we are granted to have a part in that “blessed and holy… first resurrection”:

Rev 20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

9) The angel of the bottomless pit

Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

The king that is over these locusts is “the angel of the bottomless pit”. What that means is that he ministers to our fleshly lusts with all of His lies. It all works to destroy our lives so He is named Abaddon, in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek.

This tells us that this is a life and death battle in all of these seven trumpets, and God had created the waster to destroy, and he is good at what he was created to do. That is to destroy all that we think we are, so that we can be “made again as seems good to the Potter to make us” (Jer 18:4). Just like the evil Joseph’s brother thought against him worked for the good of the entire family, so also is the evil that Satan is given to perform working good for all of the Lord’s creation.

Next week, Lord willing, we will begin our study of the sixth trumpet, which is also called “the second woe.”

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

Rev 9:7-8 Part 5 of The Fifth Trumpet

[Study Aired Aug 16, 2024]

Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

Introduction

We have established that these locusts are the fruit of the smoke of the bottomless pit, because we are told that they come out of the smoke. This smoke and the locusts it produces are what is “by nature” within us.

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.

Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mar 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
Mar 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

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.

One of the “locusts,” signifying one of the lies which come out of this smoke of the bottomless pit which we saw in our study of Rev 9:1-2 is within us, is the doctrine that denies what Christ had to say about what is “by nature… within… the heart of men.” This doctrine teaches that God created man in communion with Him and concludes that communion equals perfection. That is the false doctrine of a totally unbiblical “fall of man.” That is a phrase which neither Christ nor any of His apostles nor any New Testament writer ever uses. “Falling from grace”, which is a Biblical phrase, has nothing at all to do with the false doctrine of “the fall of man.”

God created man of dust and not of spirit; nothing else is truth.

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

He created mankind ignorant of his own shameful nakedness. He created mankind unclothed and without the righteousness of the saints.

Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

That is just another way of saying that they were completely unaware that they were created “marred in the hand of the Potter.”

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

This particular ‘locust” uses the name of Christ and quotes many scriptures about Christ being within. But this locust does not mention that Christ has to remove what is naturally within us before He will take up His abode within this earthen vessel.

We have seen that this smoke out of the darkness that is within us darkens our heavens and our air. In other words, this smoke that produces these locusts and darkens our heavens and our air is ignorance of the Truth of God’s Word, of which ignorance is the source of the many false doctrines we have entertained so long. It is all our false doctrines which have blotted out the light of the Truth and has defiled God’s dwelling place, keeping our hand out of God’s hand for many years via the “darkened air”, the blinded spirit of darkness and deception which has taken up residence in God’s own home, which we are destined to become. This is how that is done.

Mat 12:22  Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

Rom 11:8  (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

The spiritually blind always think they see, and the spiritually dumb bring many false doctrines and are totally incapable of speaking one word of Truth.

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

If we accept and acknowledge our own blindness and we acknowledge that it is only Christ’s Words which “are spirit and Truth”, then, and only then, will we be given eyes to see that it is only in those words of Christ that we can hope to learn what is the meaning of the symbols of these verses which describe these locusts which come out of the smoke of the bottomless pit, which is within each of us.

The description of these lying locusts

Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
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.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

The symbols which describe these locusts are very revealing for those who know what the scriptures reveal concerning the meaning of these symbols. There are six symbols which the holy spirit has used to describe these locusts which come out of the smoke that ascends up out of the bottomless pit.

1) They are shaped like horses prepared to battle.

2) They appear to have crown of gold on their heads.

3) Their faces are “as the faces of men”.

4) They had hair as the hair of women.

5) They had breastplates, as breastplates of iron.

6) The sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. The last symbol of this fifth trumpet is:

7) the king that is over these locusts. His name is Abaddon in Hebrew and Apollyon in Greek.

We covered the symbols of verse 10 when we were on verses 3-5, so we need not repeat that study here.

Here are those verses, side by side.

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.

These three verses concern the power that God himself uses to break us to pieces, and bring us to our wits end, and to humble us and bring us to repentance, and to drag us to Himself:

Joh 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [G670. ‘helkuo’, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

These three verses, Reev 9:3-5, are summarized by verse ten.

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.

Then in verse 11, we have our final 7th symbol in these verses. It is the symbol of the king of these locusts which come out of the smoke of the bottomless pit. His name is given in both the Hebrew and in the Greek, and he is called “the angel of the bottomless pit.”

So let’s look at how the scriptures interpret these symbols which describe the locusts which come out of the smoke which proceeds from the bottomless pit within us. The first symbol is…

1) They are shaped like horses prepared to battle.

Those who are not given to discern the things of the spirit will, once again attempt to discredit scripture and say ‘You cannot look like both a grasshopper and a horse.’ But God’s Word is not limited by our lack of understanding. As we have already pointed out, this is a book of symbols which were never intended to be understood by what they say, but they are to be understood by what the scriptures reveal they mean. So each word symbolizes a point that is being made. The locusts symbolize the complete and systematic destruction of Egypt and all that Egypt has produced within us. So we do not care that a grasshopper does not look like a horse. All we want to know now is what do horses symbolize in scripture? Here are some verses which answer that question:

Job 39:19  Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Job 39:20  Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible.
Job 39:21  He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men.
Job 39:22  He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword.
Job 39:23  The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield
Job 39:24  He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
Job 39:25  He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

The horse is the symbol of fierceness and strength, and does not fear or even hear the sound of the trumpet as he goes to do battle with armed men. Christ comes on the strength of a white horse, but these are not said to be white horses. We are told that they come out of the smoke that darkens our sun and our air. These horses are doing battle against anything that would allow the light of the gospel to come to us. Here is what God thinks of these “horses.”

Psa 33:17  An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.

Psa 147:10  He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
Psa 147:11  The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Do not ever underestimate the strength of the flesh or of the Adversary. He has been granted “great strength” so that no man “can make war with the beast.”

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

Rev 13:7  And it was given unto him t o make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

But as King David tells us in Psalms, if Christ is living in us, “a horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength”, and the Truth of this matter is:

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

So Christ’s strength is much greater than the strength of these horse like locusts, or the strength of the beast or the strength of the Adversary.

2) They appear to have crowns of gold on their heads.

Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

And this is where these locusts as horses get these crowns like gold.

Eze 16:12  And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head.
Eze 16:13  Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.
Eze 16:14  And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

Babylon is full of “gold, silver and precious stones”, and only those who know how to try the spirits can tell the gold of Babylon from the gold that is upon the breasts of God’s elect. It is God’s own gold with which these horse-like locusts are crowned. But they are crowns of pride that will be stripped in due time.

Isa 28:1  Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

The lies of these lying ‘locusts shaped as horses’ are one and all perversions of God’s Truths which have been perverted into the “images” or doctrines “of men”, and you and I have worshiped those “idols of our hearts.”

Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

3) Their faces are “as the faces of men,”

What do the scriptures mean by the word “men”? These verses should tell us why these destructive, strong locusts, wearing golden crowns of God’s own gold covering the idols of our hearts, are said to have “faces of men.”

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

These are “men” who are in councils or the Sanhedrin and who are in synagogues. These are religious “men” of whom we must “beware”. The word ‘men’, unless otherwise qualified by phrase like ‘rightous men’ or ‘men of God’ most always refers to carnal minded men of this world.

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [ there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Tit 1:14  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.

1Pe 2:4  To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

1Pe 4:2  That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

These are “carnal… men who will “scourge you in their synagogues.” That is the significance of  “their faces [ were] as the faces of men.”

Rev 16:21  And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

1Th 2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, y e received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

It is “the word of men” that we need not have “any man to teach us.” It certainly is not the word of God which “God has set… teachers… in the church,” for that very purpose of teaching His body of His Words.

Act 8:29  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
Act 8:30  And Philip ran thither to [ him], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
Act 8:31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. .

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

1Co 12:28  And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

4) They had hair as the hair of women,

What is the spiritual significance of “the hair of women”? What is the Biblical difference between the hair of women and the hair of men? Is it color? Is it texture? No, there is no Biblical comment which distinguishes the color of a man’s hair or the texture of a man’s hair from “the hair of women”. The only Biblical difference between the hair of men and the hair of women is given to us in 1Co 11.

1Co 11:13  Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
1Co 11:14  Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
1Co 11:15  But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

It is not the purpose of this study to cover the subject of the spiritual significance of the length of a woman’s hair, but these verses should establish the fact that these horses like locusts with faces like a man had long hair that is like “the hair of women.” What we are concerned with is why the holy spirit wants us to connect these locusts with women. What do women portray in scripture? Here is the answer to that question. It is right here is this same 11th chapter of 1Co.

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Paul informs us that our wives typify our own relationship to Christ. “The head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man.” He comes right out and tells us this is so in Eph 5.

Eph 5:24  Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28  So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Eph 5:31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The Greek for ‘women’ and ‘wife’ or ‘wives’ is the same one word. It is gune. Here is how Strong’s defines this word.

G1135
γυνη
gune
goo- nay’
Probably from the base of G1096; a woman; specifically a wife: – wife, woman.

The relationship between a man and woman, according to Eph 5, is a type of the relationship between Christ and His church, and the reason these locusts have “the hair of women” is to tell us that these locusts appear as a wife that is subject to her husband, Christ, and to his word, while in reality they are the words and doctrines of  a harlot who is not subject to her husband’s words, even though they have “the hair of women.”

Eze 16:15  But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.
Eze 16:16  And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so
Eze 16:17  Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them,

We will pause at this point and seek to understand the significance of the symbols of these next verses concerning the fifth trumpet:

Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
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.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, [ which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [ is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [ his] name Apollyon.
Rev 9:12  One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

Rev 9:3-6 – Part 4 of The Fifth Trumpet

[Study Aired August 11, 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.

We resume our study on the meaning of the sixth of the nine symbols we find here in this fifth trumpet. We will never understand what the holy spirit is telling us in the symbols of this fifth trumpet until we are given the scriptural meaning attached to each symbol. This is not guesswork and we dare not “speak above that which is written” (1Co 4:6), nor take away from the words of the prophecy of this book:

1Co 4:6  Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

Rev 22:18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Here again is that list of holy spirit inspired symbols of what comes out of the bottomless pit:

1) Our first symbol is smoke. 2) The second is locusts. 3) The third is the earth itself. 4) The fourth symbol is the power as the scorpions of the earth. 5) the fifth is the grass, any green thing, and trees of the earth. 6) the sixth is those men who have not the seal of God. 7)  The seventh symbol is those men which have not the seal of God in 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”.

We  have given the scriptural meaning assigned to each of the first five symbols describing the affect of the smoke of the pit upon the earth, the darkening of the sun and the air by reason of that smoke, and we are now seeking to know what the holy spirit proclaims to be the significance of the 6^th symbol which is “those men who have not the seal of God” being the target of the scorpions that come out of the smoke of the pit and hurt men with the sting they inflict of the those who are in the earth:

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.

6) The sixth symbol is “those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” Who these men signify is revealed to us in the ninth chapter of Ezekiel. As is always the case, our challenge is to constantly remember that these men and all these events are within us, and each of us are required to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and keep the things written therein.”

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.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

What that means is that an integral part of this revelation of Jesus Christ, requires that we are all King Saul who persecutes David, before we can become King David, and we are all Saul of Tarsus who persecutes God’s church, before we can become the apostle Paul who fills up in his body what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Our understanding of this prophecy of Rev 9 is greatly enhanced by reading the prophecy of Ezekiel 9. This is what is taking place within those who have the mark of God upon their foreheads. This is what happens to those ‘men’ within us who are not yet “sighing and crying for all the abominations that be done in the midst of Jerusalem” which is above, and is also within us.

Eze 9:1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
Eze 9:2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
Eze 9:3  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side;
Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Eze 9:5  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Eze 9:6  Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Eze 9:7  And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
Eze 9:8  And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
Eze 9:9  Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah [ is] exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
Eze 9:10  And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, [ but] I will recompense their way upon their head.
Eze 9:11  And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which [ had] the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Those who are destroyed by the destroying weapon are each and every one of us who have at our own appointed time accepted all the doctrines of all the men who have twisted and distorted the word of God down throughout the years of our time spent living our lives according to all of those false, lying Babylonian doctrines, signified by “the abominations that be done therein” in this verse:

Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

This prophecy here in Ezekiel and the prophecy of the book of Revelation are both addressed to the Lord’s own people. Ancient Israel was but the type of the Lord’s elect. This prophecy of the book of Revelation is addressed to the seven churches of Asia, signifying the complete Christian Church. In both cases, typical Israel, and the true spiritual “Israel of God” are both being judged for forsaking their own Lord.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

It is each of us as the Lord’s own apostate people who are “those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”

7) What is meant by “their foreheads.”

7) The seventh symbol is “those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.” That “destroying weapon” of Ezekiel 9 is both “the fire” of “the sword of the spirit” which will “try every man’s works of what sort they are” and as “a flaming sword” it will burn up all that will burn, and it will purify all that is in need of being purified.

Jer 5:14  Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

Jer 23:29  Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

This seal which is not in the foreheads is that same Words of God which are in the hearts and minds, and mouths of those who do have the seal of God. Those who have that seal at first did not have that seal  or ‘mark’. It is when we do not have the mark of the Lord in our foreheads that the Lord’s words are burning us up, with all the false doctrines of  apostate men and the apostate kingdoms and principalities that are all within us. That word is Christ, and Christ is in our forehead because our forehead is the symbol of the heavens of our hearts and minds.

Eph 6:12 Because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but, against the principalities, against the authorities, against the world- holders, of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. (REV)

“The spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavens” is also where we find the mark of the beast under which we all labor before we receive the mark of God in our foreheads. The great whore’s forehead is what keeps her from being ashamed:

Jer 3:3  Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

We have covered the symbol of the forehead in Rev 7:3 where the 144,000 are said to be “sealed in their foreheads.”

Rev 7:3  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

The spiritual significance of ‘the forehead’ is the heavens of our hearts and minds which is either being purified or is defiled with the false doctrines of Babylon and all the fruits of those lies and false doctrines:

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Heb 9:24  For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

8) What is the significance of five months of torment?

8) The eighth symbol is “they shall be tormented five months… as the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man.”

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.

These are words which we are to read, hear and keep (Rev 1:3). It is each of us who symbolically are “tormented five months… as the torment of a scorpion when he strikes a man.”  Why are we said to be “tormented five months.” Why are we not tormented four months? Or why are we not tormented six months? Why are we told that we are tormented five months? As is usually the case, the number itself is never the point, just as the words themselves are never the point. The point of being tormented five months is that we are brought to our wits’ end in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in faith of Jesus Christ we are brought through God’s chastening grace and we learn to forsake ungodliness and worldly lusts:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811, ‘paideuo’, chastening]us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Chastening “grace through faith” is the significance of the number five.

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [3811, ‘paideuo’], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

We have a series on the web site about The Spiritual Significance of Numbers in Scripture which deals, in depth, with the spiritual significance of most of the major numbers mentioned in scripture. Read that series of studies for an in depth study of this number 5, as well as all the other numbers mentioned in scripture. We will give but a few verses in this study but there are many more in this study on the number 5:

https://www.iswasandwillbe.com/numbers_five/

For the sake of this study, and to understand why we are tormented for five months instead of 6 months or 4 months or any other number, let’s take note of these verses which give us an idea of the spiritual significance of this number five.

Notice how Joseph, an Old Testament type of Christ, favored and showed great grace to his full brother, Benjamin.

Gen 43:34 And he took and sent messes unto them from before him: but Benjamin’s mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Benjamin is not guilty of selling his brother into slavery, and while we are all Joseph’s ten brothers before we become Benjamin, nevertheless Benjamin here is a type of God’s elect who, like Joseph did in type, partake of the Lord’s chastening grace in this present age:

Tit 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12  Teaching [G3811, ‘paideuo’, to chasten] us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth [G3811, ‘paideuo’, to chasten], and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

Another verse revealing the spiritual significance of this number five is:

Gen 45:22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment.

“Raiment” in scripture, in its positive application, signifies “the righteousness of saints” (Rev 19:8). Raiment is our spiritual clothing. In its negative application ‘raiment’ also signifies the unrighteousness of saints:

Zec 3:3  Now Joshua [the Lord’s high priest, vrs 1] was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Zec 3:5  And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with [clean white linen, Rev 19:8] garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.

The priests were to be clothed only with linen which does not cause sweat:

Eze 44:15  But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
Eze 44:16  They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.
Eze 44:17  And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.
Eze 44:18  They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

Our ‘raiment’ is what covers us. As priests of Christ clean white linen clothes covers our sins. Clean white linen raiment is a type of “Christ in [us] the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). What clothes are covering each of us? White linen robes are said to be the righteousness of the saints.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev 19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Benjamin was given five changes of raiment. In type, Benjamin was given five times as much of Christ as any of his brothers. Both the food and the raiment joseph bestowed on his brother, Benjamin, are types of Christ and His Word. Benjamin was given five times more food than his brothers were given even though they were also Abraham’s seed. Joseph had not been stingy toward his ten brothers who had sold him into Egyptian slavery. Like the workers in the vineyard who had been hired first, Joseph’s ten elder brothers, who had been born first, were shown loving grace, but it was not given to them first, nor was it given in the abundance which was shown to Benjamin. Like the workers who came in at the 11^th hour, Benjamin was singled out for special attention. The number five has everything to do with God’s people. There were five wise and five foolish virgins, and they are all God’s people. But like Benjamin, the five wise virgins typify those who are given grace through faith first and most abundantly. In Mat 25 we are given the parable of the talents. The most favored servant was given “five talents.”

Mat 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

It is in God’s great grace and through Christ’s own faith that we are all brought through the chastening torment, of ‘fiery scorpions’ to Christ. Five months has nothing at all to do with five literal  months any more than five messes had anything to do with Benjamin’s appetite, or five changes of raiment had to do with Benjamin’s need for clothing. ‘Five months’ signifies the fact that God is “in this present time” (Rom 8:18) bringing His elect to their wits’ end through the symbolic torment of the symbolic “sting of a scorpion”. It takes a symbolic five months of being stung by scorpions to bring us “to [our] wits end”, before the Lord can then “bring [us] to our desired haven”:

9) Why cannot those who are tormented die as they wish?

9) Our final symbol is “they shall seek death and shall not find it.” What does that mean? Once again we can turn to Joseph’s brothers to show us the meaning of wanting to die but not being granted that wish. While we are not told Joseph’s brothers wanted to die we are told they feared dying all the years they were in Egypt while their father, Jacob, renamed Israel was still alive. Jacob signifies our own old man who has to die before we are delivered from the fear of death:

Gen 50:15  And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him.
Gen 50:16  And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying,
Gen 50:17  So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him.
Gen 50:18  And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.
Gen 50:19  And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God?
Gen 50:20  But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Gen 50:21  Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.

It is not until after we want to die that we are granted the privilege of dying daily with Christ and being crucified with Him and being buried with Him in baptism. Only after we are tormented and “brought to our wits’ end,” through “the stinging of scorpions” are we found worthy to die with Christ and live in newness of a resurrected life.

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.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

We are one and all “brought to our wits’ end” at some point. That is the point at which the holy spirit takes over the throne of our heart and the man of sin begins to be destroyed with the brightness of His coming (2Th 2:8). But even then “judgment must begin at the house of God” (1Pe 4:17). Each storm we endure prepares us for the next trial as we “endure to the end… are being crucified with Christ… and dying daily.” (Mat 10:22; Gal 2:20; 1Co 15:31)

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The stings of these scorpions are what bring us to despair of life and desire to die. It is in God’s mercy that we are granted that ability in spirit and we are able finally, only after five months of torment, to be baptized into Christ’s death and be raised with Him from among the spiritually dead, to walk in newness of life. A dead man is not tormented by scorpions, and those who “are [ being] crucified with Christ, are dying daily” with Him on His cross and no longer experience the hopelessness of being brought to their wits’ end. A person who is dying with Christ we now see a purpose in suffering and we rejoice in our trials:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

But it is a peaceful dying in which we rejoice in our trials, and rejoice that we have been counted worthy to suffer with Him because we know that we will also reign with Him.

Rom 8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint- heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The inability to die begins to subside after the symbolic five months when we are granted a new mind which rejoices in being crucified with Christ, and can now begin to fill up what is behind of His afflictions in our own flesh for the sake of the church, which has rejected this straight and narrow way for the ‘smooth things’ like a rapture and never knowing God’s wrath upon our own sins and blasphemies.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:
Col 1:25  Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
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:

Summary

1) Our first symbol was smoke, and we were reminded that smoke symbolizes that which darkens our sun and air, as do the desires of our flesh, and all the false doctrines which are so appealing to our flesh.

2) The second symbol was locusts, which come out of the smoke, and we saw that these locusts were used to destroy all that Egypt has produced within us. We saw that these locusts devour our substance and bring us into spiritual poverty and despair.

3) The third symbol is the earth. As we have seen so many times before, the ‘earth’ is God’s people who are living in rebellion against the ever present truths of God’s Word.
4) The fourth symbol is the power of these locusts to hurt those who dwell on the earth, with power as the scorpions of the earth have power. It is our own rebellious ways which chasten us, and it is our own sins and false doctrines which bring spiritual torments and spiritual bitterness and despair upon us.

Jer 2:19  Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that [ it is] an evil [ thing] and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

5) The fifth symbol of this fifth trumpet is the grass, any green thing and trees which these locusts with the power of scorpions cannot hurt.  What we saw was that obedience to God’s doctrines and to His words removes the wrath of God upon us. The overcomers are this “grass, trees and any green thing” which cannot be hurt by these scorpion- like locusts which darken our sun and air and torment us as scorpions of the earth have power to “sting and torment”. Overcomers are not innately overcomers. Overcomers are those who were innately rebellious but were, by the grace of God, given to repent and do the things the Lord tells us to do. (Luk 6:46; Rom 9:15-16; Rev 15:2)

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

6) The sixth symbol is those men who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads. As unpopular as it is to have to say, we are all “the children of wrath” before we begin to “believe the Son.” So we are all hurt of these stinging locusts before we are granted  immunity from their power to sting and to hurt us.

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 [by default] the children of wrath, even as others.

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.

7)  The seventh symbol is their foreheads. We saw that both the mark of God, in the foreheads of those that sigh and cry for the abominations in Jerusalem of Ezekiel 9 and in the foreheads of the 144.00 of Rev 7, is the same mark. We also saw that the mark of the beast is also in the forehead, and that we all have ‘the mark of the beast… a whore’s forehead’ in our hearts and minds before we are given the thoughts and mind of  God “in our foreheads.”

Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

Deu 11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 11:17  And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
Deu 11:18  Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

It is the words and thoughts of our Lord which are His mark “as frontlets between our eyes” and as a “mark in our foreheads.”

8) The eighth symbol is “they shall be tormented five months.” We saw in this symbol that this torment lasts five months simply because it is connected with God’s chastening and scourging grace that is the stings of these locusts which drive us to our wits’ end and make us want to die to the things of this world.

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

9) Our final symbol is “they shall seek death and shall not find it.” We saw that this really is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and that Christ Himself was “weary even unto death,” and that according to Psa 107, we too, will be made “weary unto death.” But we will have to wait a symbolic five months before we are brought to the point that we are granted to be crucified with Him and in that way be relieved of that five months of torment:

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

We saw that once we relinquish this life and all of its false values, our own crucifixion with Christ (Gal2:20), and our “dying daily” with Christ (1Co 15:31) can actually come to be one of rejoicing in the certainty of our glorification with Him.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial [dying daily] which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

The mind of Christ can discern the things of the spirit which the natural mind cannot discern:

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.

Dying daily “by little and by little” (Deu 7:22) cannot be accepted by the natural mind as anything to “rejoice [in] inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings”. Neither is the natural man given the faith of Christ to “have respect unto the recompence of the reward as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt and better than the pleasures of sin for a season”.

Next week, Lord willing, we will learn more about the identity, the power, and the king of these locusts which come out of the bottomless pit and darken the sun and air.

Rev 9:7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
Rev 9:8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
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.
Rev 9:11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [ is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [ his] name Apollyon.

Rev 9-1-2 Part 2 Of The Fifth Trumpet

[Study Aired August 4, 2024]

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Here are the last two paragraphs of our last study:

If you search for the phrase ‘bottomless pit’, you will find it seven times in the King James Version, and all seven are found only in the book of Revelation. The first is right here in this ninth chapter of Revelation.

We will pause our study here, and we will examine the verses which contain the words “bottomless pit” in our next study. It is very revealing to discover that the Greek, G5421, ‘phrear’ translated ‘pit’ appears in only two of these seven entries containing the phrase ‘bottomless pit’

That is what we will do in this study. We will examine the seven verses containing the phrase ‘the bottomless pit’, and Lord willing we will come away knowing what the scriptures reveal to be this bottomless pit.

Here are those seven entries:

The first is right here in this ninth chapter of Revelation:

1) Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless [G12. ‘abussos’, deep] pit [G5421, ‘phrear’ pit, well].

2) Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless [G12, ‘abussos’, deep] pit [G5421, ‘phrear’, pit or well]; and there arose a smoke out of the pit [G5421, ‘phrear’ pit or well], as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

3) Rev 9:11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, [Single Greek word, G12, ‘abussos’, deep] whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon [ Hebrew- Destroyer- Strong’s number 11], but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

4) Rev 11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit [G12, ‘abussos’, deep] shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

5) Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit [G12, ‘abussos’, deep], and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

6) Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit [G12, ‘abussos’, deep] and a great chain in his hand.

Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

7) Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit [G12, ‘abussos’, deep], and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

What do we see here with these seven verses containing the words ‘bottomless pit?’ What we see when we go to our concordance, is that the Greek word for ‘pit’,  [G5421, ‘phrear’ pit, well] appears only two times in these seven verses. Here once again are the only two times this word, G5421, ‘phrear’, pit, well] appears in this entire “revelation of Jesus Christ”, and it is used in conjunction with the word ‘abussos’ both times.

Let’s examine each of these entries and let the scriptures tell us what this phrase signifies. The first two entries are these first two verses of this ninth chapter of Revelation:

1) Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless [ Greek, abussos] pit [ Greek, phrear].

2) Rev 9:2 And he opened the bottomless [ abussos] pit [ phrear]; and there arose a smoke out of the pit [ phrear], as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit [ phrear].

The Greek word for ‘pit’ in these two verses is ‘phrear,’ Strong’s number 5421. This Greek word is also found a total of seven times in the New Testament. Of those seven entries, four of them are found right here in verses one and two of Rev 9. They are all emboldened above. It appears a fifth time translated as ‘pit’ in Luk 14.

Luk 14:5  And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit [G5421, ‘phrear’], and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?

The remaining two entries are found in…

Joh 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well [phrear] is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Joh 4:12  Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well [G5421, phrear], and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

So the only time this Greek word ‘phrear’ or ‘pit’ or ‘well’ is used in this entire book of Revelation, is in these two verses of Rev 9, which we are now considering. There is no ‘pit’; the Greek word ‘phrear,’ Strong’s number 5421, mentioned in any of the other five verses here in the revelation of Jesus Christ, where we find this English phrase “bottomless pit.” The other five times this phrase ‘bottomless pit’ appears in the book of Revelation, it is translated from the single Greek word ‘abussos,’ Strong’s number 12.

What is so interesting and revealing is that when we go to our concordance, we discover that the Greek word ‘abussos’ (Strong’s number 12, translated “bottomless pit”) appears more than seven times. This word ‘abussos’ appears nine times in scripture, and it is those two extra times where the meaning of “the bottomless pit” is made clear. Here is the first of those two very revealing entries.

Luk 8:31 And they [ the demons named legion] besought him [ Christ] that he would not command them to go out into the deep [ G12, ‘abussos’, the sea].

Before we get to the last remaining verse where the word abussos is found in the New Testament, let’s take note of what this verse in Luk 8:31 shows us about the world of demons. This verse reveals to us that demons and all false spirits much prefer to be enthroned in God’s church rather than to be sent out into the deep sea of all the uncalled masses of mankind. What newsman wants to be stuck with reporting on the lives of Chinese peasants, when he could be at the United Nations reporting on the lives of the leaders of this world. Like all of us, demons want to be where the action is, the action is where God’s people are being deceived. Demons seek rest in dry places on ‘the earth’, God’s people (Jer 22:29), which have been pushed up out of the sea. Demons really prefer to be in God’s very temple and sitting on the very throne of Christ, where Christ will give them “no rest”:/p

Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44  Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth [ it] empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45  Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last [ state] of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

Luk 11:24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God [“dry places” sought by evil spirits], and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Demons “walk through dry places” simply because they do not like ‘the deep’. They very much prefer ‘dry places’ where they can find rest and feel at home, just as Christ ought to feel at home within each of us.

Now let’s look at the only entry for this word abussos which we have not yet considered. It is this entry which will reveal to us where the ‘bottomless pit’ is located.

Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down [ from above]:)
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep [ abussos]? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Christ has just informed us that both ‘heaven’ and “the deep”, the ‘abussos’, are within us… “even in thy heart and in thy mouth…”

Now notice how this Greek word ‘abussos’ or ‘deep’ is translated when we go back to the Old Testament and read the verse from where Rom 10:7 is quoted:

Deu 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Deu 30:12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deu 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deu 30:14 But the word [ Christ] is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

So where is the abussos? Where and what is this thing referred to as “the bottomless pit?” The ‘abussos’, the bottomless pit, just like ‘heaven’, is not way out beyond the milky way. Neither is it in the depth of the physical oceans and physical seas. The ‘abussos’, just like heaven, is within each of us, “In your mouth, and in your heart.” That is where “the bottomless pit” is located and that is from whence comes the smoke to “darken the sun and the air” in this fifth trumpet judgment which we are to “read, hear and keep.

When we read in Rev 20 that Satan is cast into the ‘abussos’ and is imprisoned with a great chain, he doesn’t ‘go’ anywhere. He is simply restrained and is under ‘house arrest’ until the time appointed to be released from the ‘abussos’ and be commissioned to go forth and deceive the nations again. According to Deu 30, both the abussos and heaven are “very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart.”

What does this great furnace signify?

7) The seventh symbol is the smoke of “a great furnace.” What is this great furnace? It happens to be “a furnace of both iron and earth,” as we will see. Both are types of the image of the first man Adam. It is in this “great furnace” that the fire of God’s Word does its purifying work of burning out all that will burn, and it is in this “great furnace” that God’s words are being purified and lived out. Here is the simple Biblical definition of this “great furnace.”

Gen 15:12  And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
Gen 15:13  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Gen 15:14  And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Gen 15:15  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
Gen 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.
Gen 15:17  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.
Gen 15:18  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

“When the sun went down and it was dark” signifies the “darkening of the sun and the air.” It is then that we enter into that “great furnace” that “a horror of great darkness, falls upon” us all because we begin to see with “a burning lamp” that we are mere slaves in Egypt and we begin to cry out to the Lord for deliverance:

Exo 2:23  And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

It is during this time in our “experience of evil” when this ‘great furnace’ generates the smoke which darkens the sun and the air and keeps us in bondage to “that nation whom we shall serve”. But at the predestined, appointed and due time, “when the iniquity of the Amorites” is filled up within us, “at the time appointed of the Father”, we will no longer be in bondage to the elements of this world, and we will come out of Egypt and do so “with great substance”.

It is no coincidence that “a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, are the symbols of both the third and fifth trumpets of the revelation of Jesus Christ:

Rev 8:10  And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

Here is the “iron furnace” from which “smoke darkens the Sun and the air” through which we all must pass before we can become the children of light and the sons of God.

Deu 4:20  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.

Iron is the symbol of the legs and feet of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar, which image was destroyed by the stone that was cut out of the mountain without hands. The mystery of the bottomless pit, is no mystery at all when we know what the furnace is, out of which the smoke that darkens the sun and the air, comes. Great heat and a fiery combustion in a “furnace of iron” must precede the spiritual process of purification. The whole orthodox Christian world recognizes that Egypt symbolizes the world within us, and it is only through that “furnace of iron” and being made to “cry out to the Lord” that we are delivered from that world within.

Here is what a furnace accomplishes in our lives.

Pro 17:3  The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts.

Now notice where God’s fiery words are said to be purified.

Psa 12:6  The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

We are that “furnace of earth” and every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God will be purified within us even as it purifies us through the seven seals, trumpets and vials of His wrath. Here is this same message in the parable of the sower and the tares.

Mat 13:37  He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38  The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [ one];
Mat 13:39  The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40  As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. [G65, ‘aion’, age]
Mat 13:41  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42  And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth
Mat 13:43  Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

We are the furnace of iron through which Egypt is burned up and destroyed. We are the furnace for the gold through which God tries our hearts. We are the furnace in which those tares are burned up. And we are the great furnace which produces “smoke, by reason of the pit”, the “smoke of a great furnace [which] darkens the sun and the air” which are also within us.

What is the air?

9) Finally, the ninth and last symbol of the first two verses of this fifth trumpet is the air that is also darkened by the smoke of the pit. What scripturally is the air? I wondered for many years what this verse meant:

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Meeting the Lord in the air sounded fine. But shouldn’t we go somewhere and do something after that? “So shall we ever be with the Lord,” just sounded a bit anticlimactic, and indeed, if we dwelt with the Lord in the literal ‘air’ that really would be anticlimactic.

There are two words translated as ‘air’ in the New Testament. The word here in Rev 9 is the Greek word ‘aer’, Strong’s number G109. The other, far more common word is ‘ouranos’, G3772, heavens].

Here is how that word ‘ouranos’ is used by our Lord.

Luk 13:18  Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it?
Luk 13:19  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air [ ouranos, heavens] lodged in the branches of it.

To understand the true Biblical meaning of “the air” and the air being darkened by the smoke from the bottomless pit, we must as always, place line upon line and precept upon precept.

With that principle in mind let’s look at Eph 2:2, and notice that the Greek word ‘aer’ is translated into our English word ‘air’ in this verse.

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 [G109, ‘aer’, air], the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

So “the prince of the power of the ‘aer,’ is “the spirit that works in the children of disobedience.”  If we now carry the concept that the children of disobedience, are subject to the prince of the power of the air, over into the parable of the sower, we will find that it is “the wicked one” who “catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.”

So now we know that whether the Greek word behind the English word ‘air’ is the word ‘aer’ or the word ‘ouranos’, it does not matter, because “the wicked one” is, at this time, in both the ‘aer’ and the ‘ouranos.’ We know that to be true because of this verse and many others which confirm this to be so.

Eph 6:12 for it is not ours to wrestle with blood and flesh, but with the sovereignties, with the authorities, with the world- mights of this darkness, with the spiritual forces of wickedness among the celestials [ Greek, epouranios, the heavens].

The single most common phrase in scripture, containing the word ‘air’ in both the Old and the New Testaments, is the phrase “the fowls of the air.” Here is the first appearance of this phrase “fowls of the air” from both the Old and the New Testaments respectively.

Gen 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

While the dove is a “fowl of the air” which brings the olive leaf back to the ark and descends from heaven and rests upon Christ, nevertheless, what is it that Christ Himself tells us “the fowls of the air” generally represent? If we can discover the meaning of the fowls of the air, then even though there are two Greek words for ‘air’, we should be able to understand what “the air” that is darkened by the smoke of the bottomless pit, means, because Eph 2:2, among many other verses, has tied both of those Greek words together.

Here now is what Christ tells us “the fowls of the air” signify. It is found in His interpretation of the symbols which He used in the parable of the sower. Notice what Christ says happens to the “seed that falls by the way side.” Here is the part of that parable which mentions the fowls of the air.

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
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 13:4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Who does Christ say the fowl of the air symbolize?

Mat 13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

By Christ’s own words “the wicked one” is signified by the fowls of the air.

But what is the air itself? To whom has the “air” of this present world been given? Here are those who have been given the power of the air at this time.

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:

The last vial of the seven last plagues, is not poured out into our earth. Instead it is poured out “into the air”.

Rev 16:17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Rev 16:18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [ and] so great.

It is in the air, the realm of the spirit, that the most permanent changes are affected. It is in the air that we are ever with our Lord, because, as we have seen, “the four winds of the heavens” are nothing less than the air in motion, so that the air and the wind are both the symbols of the spirit world. That world, at this stage of our walk, is darkened by the smoke that ascends up out of the bottomless pit.

Summary

We have seen that the symbols of the first two verses of this fifth trumpet are:

1)      The angel that sounds the trumpet. We have seen the scriptures which demonstrate that these seven angels which “stand before God of heaven” are defined by scripture as seven priests which blow the seven trumpets in Jos 6 and are the same seven angels that are in Christ’s right hand and are the same seven angels who are our brothers who keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

2) The second symbol is a star that falls from heaven to the earth and is given the key to the bottomless pit. Once again, we saw that this star is a spirit from heaven which darkens our understanding of spiritual matters and darkens our sun and air.

3) The third symbol is the heaven from which the star falls, and we have shown in depth that the heavens are the hearts and minds of the people of God, where every word of all the sayings of this prophecy must be read, heard and kept.

4) The fourth symbol is the earth to which the star from heaven falls, and we have demonstrated that wherever we see the word ‘earth’, we are talking about the people of God who are called but not necessarily chosen.

5) The fifth symbol is the key to the bottomless pit, and we saw that this key is the means by which the smoke that darkens the sun and the air is released out into our heavens. This ‘key’ is given us to keep us from receiving the “key of knowledge” before we are able to receive that life saving knowledge.

Luk 11:52  Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

A ‘key’ both locks away, and reveals what is locked away. When the “key of knowledge” is taken from us, that is signified by giving us the key to the bottomless pit which will serve to darken our sun and our air.

6) The sixth is the bottomless pit itself., and we saw that the bottomless pit is simply the sea of our flesh, and the flesh of mankind as the first deceived and rebellious Adam who cannot hear the words of Truth. We saw that the imprisoning of Satan in that bottomless pit is nothing more that restraining him within us during the thousand years, with a rod of iron. We all have our own “rod of iron experience” as we rebel against the things of the spirit as “carnal babes in Christ” (1Co 3:1-4).

7) The seventh symbol is the smoke of a great furnace, which we saw was the fiery trials that are even now coming upon the house of God, as we are being brought out of Egypt, which is called “the furnace of fire” within us. We saw that this furnace of fire is a necessary part of our walk if we are counted worthy of being judged now instead of being judged at the great white throne (Rev 20:11-15).

8) The eighth symbol is the darkened sun, which is darkened by the smoke of the pit. The darkened sun is that time of our lives where we prefer lies over truth and the word that has been planted has been snatched away by the wicked one.

9) Finally, the ninth symbol is the air which is also darkened by the smoke of the pit, and we saw that the air typifies the struggles we must endure in the realm of the spirit. We saw that it is mentioned last simply because it is that spiritual struggle “against the powers and principalities of the heavens” which follows our struggles upon the earth. Each struggle is a matter of life and death, but we saw that our Father prepares our hearts for every trial into which He leads us.

Next week, Lord willing, we will examine more of the symbols connected with this fifth Trumpet which is also called ‘the first woe’ which we are commanded to read, hear and keep.

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.