Rev 12:1-6, Part 1 – The Woman And The Manchild

[Study Aired Nov 17, 2024]

As we continue our study we must remember that chapters 11-16 are all part of the work of the seventh trumpet within our lives, which work begins to finish within us the mystery of God:

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

The seventh angel begins to sound in:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Rev 11:16  And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
Rev 11:17  Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

The words “art, was, and art to come” and the words “hast reigned” are all in the aorist tense signifying that what follows has begun to happen in our lives in every generation of the lives of the Lord’s elect:

Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
Rev 11:19  And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

The hail shall wipe away the refuge of [all the] lies of our Babylonian past and it is a traumatic earthquake in our lives when this seventh trumpet “begins to sound”:

Isa 28:17  Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
Isa 28:18  And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

We are commissioned to “read, hear, and keep the things written in the prophesy of this book” (Rev 1:3), because we are this “manchild”, and we are “the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of God, and [who] have the testimony of Jesus Christ”:

Rev 12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. [‘The man child’, God’s elect].

The Lord and His Christ both are “in heaven” even while being on this earth:

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down [Greek, aorist tense] from heaven, even the Son of man which is [Greek, present tense] in heaven.

The “appearance” of the woman, and the “appearance” of the “great red dragon”, are both in the Greek aorist tense, signifying the ongoing fulfillment of this prophecy in every generation since Christ. The pain of the woman and the casting of the stars of heaven to the earth, are also both in the aorist tense and are being fulfilled in this very generation in the heavens of the hearts and minds of the Lord’s Christ:

Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Rev 12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev 12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

Introduction

Chapter 11 deals with those who bear witness to this revelation of Jesus Christ within each of God’s elect. It details, in signs and symbols, the experience our Lord foretold us we would have as those who bear witness to His Words. So the hatred and death of those witnesses is nothing less than fulfilling of Christ’s prophecy that we “shall be hated of all men for my names sake…”

Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

This “hatred of all men” is signified and symbolized by these words:

Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Rev 11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

This rejection by all of our families and friends and “all men” is “they of the people and kindreds and tongues, and nations”. It is this rejection of all men which the scriptures refer to as being ‘dead and crucified with our Lord’, and “lying dead in the streets of the great city… where also our Lord was crucified”. This symbolic ‘death’ is central to the revealing of our Lord within us thoughout the New Testament:

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

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

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 2:19  For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
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.

Both phrases, “I… am dead to the law”, and “that I might live unto Christ” are in the aorist tense, signifying that this is taking place in every generation of the Lord and His Christ since the death and resurrection of Christ.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

All those verses describe the “life” we have when we “fall into the ground and die”. All those verses and many others reveal that life comes only “through death”. All these verses reveal the blessing of being found “dead in the streets of that great city… where also our Lord was crucified”:

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

It is after this symbolic death and crucifixion “in the streets of that great city” that we are raised up from the dead just at the time “when the seventh angels begins to sound his trumpet”. This is what Paul was speaking of when he wrote: “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live… [when] the seventh angel sounded”. This is a process that takes many “days”.

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

Rev 11:11  And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
Rev 11:12  And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
Rev 11:13  And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
Rev 11:14  The second woe is past; [and], behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

It is after we are told that the seventh angel sounded that we find this twelfth chapter, with all that is revealed in it. It is followed by chapter thirteen, which deals with the beast in all of his manifestations, followed by the fourteenth chapter dealing with the revelation of the 144,000 firstfruits of God, followed by another grand introduction in chapter 15 of the seven angels who are given seven vials, or bowls, in which are filled up the wrath of God under which we are all born and live our entire lives, until we are brought to cry out to the rocks to fall on us and hide us from the face of the lamb.

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.

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.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
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.

In other words, we have a complete summary of story of Adam before we are introduced to the actual event that is this seventh trumpet in chapter 16.

When is this chapter fulfilled?

Rev 12:1  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:

The woman, the manchild and the great red dragon, are the three main principles in this twelfth chapter of Revelation. This is a chapter which we will see makes very clear the absolute necessity of God’s elect “keeping of the things written therein” in every generation since Christ. This woman is the same woman who says:

Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

This is the same woman who says of herself:

Rev 3:17  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

This is the great harlot of Revelation 17 and 18. Christ was born of this harlot, and each of us “come out of her”:

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

It is this seventh trumpet which is fulfilling this verse in the lives of God’s 144,000 firstfruit elect who are:

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.

When we forget this admonition, we inevitably are forced to apply these words to someone else at some time other than “the time [which] is at hand”.

“Another wonder in heaven” means another miraculous revelation of what it means for Christ to be revealed in our heavens. The point is that this is just one part of an ongoing process that is being read, heard and kept by those to whom it is addressed.

The spiritual meaning of the woman, the sun and the moon in this verse is explained to us in the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis, where a woman and the sun and the moon are all mentioned. Let’s let the scriptures themselves show us what these symbols signify.

Gen 37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Gen 37:5  And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Gen 37:6  And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:
Gen 37:7  For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
Gen 37:8  And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

While it is true that there is no indication that Jacob or Rachel ever hated Joseph, they are nevertheless used in this instance as the types of “your father the devil” and of our mother when we were “the children of the bondwoman”. What we are told in this story of Joseph’s relations with his own family members is that we too, “shall be hated of all men”, especially of our own flesh and blood and especially by those of our own household, and we will, in the end, bear rule over our own flesh and over all those of our own household.

Rev 3:9  Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Gen 37:9  And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.
Gen 37:10  And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

The ‘sun’ is Jacob, and the ‘moon’ is Rachel. These are Joseph’s physical parents, just as the the devil and his doctrines and the bondwoman and her doctrines are our first physical parents in this world.

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.

Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

Sinai, where the law was given, “answers to Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”. Who was the apostle Paul before he was struck down on the road to Damascus? He was Saul of Tarsus, the son of the bondwoman, persecuting Jesus of Nazareth, the son of the freewoman, the manchild who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.

Act 9:1  And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord [son of the freewoman], went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2  And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

Hagar and her son, Esau, “answers to [physical] Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children”. Saul of Tarsus, spiritually speaking, was ‘of the son of the bondwoman’, before he became the ‘son of the free woman’. We all have to fall into the ground and die before we can be “resurrected in newness of life” as “the son of the freewoman”, and before we can say that, we “were in time past children of wrath, even as others.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

But just as the last Adam is of the first Adam, and just as the eighth is of the seven, so also does Saul of Tarsus, this manchild, and all who are in Christ, come first through this woman who is first a harlot before she is destroyed and is resurrected with Christ to become the bride of Christ, and “Jerusalem above, the mother of us all”. The church is her doctrines, more than she is those who are in her. The reason those who are in her are there, is because they believe her doctrines. Abraham had two wives, and it is true that we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free. But when we are granted to understand that there is one event to all men (Ecc 9:2), that mankind must all live by every word of God (Mat 4:4), that this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled (Mat 24:34-35), and that all things are ours, life and death, the world, and things present and things to come (1Co 3:21-22), only then we will understand that we are the “manchild who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron”, and we are the children of the freewoman only because we were first “in bondage” with our old mother as “the children of the bondwoman”.

What this all tells us is that “I, and your mother and your brothers” in Gen 37:10, are the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and that even that the ‘sun’ and ‘stars’ of Rev 12:1 are symbols of our first parents, who we once considered to be the source of all light and sight and understanding and knowledge. We now see them revealed as nothing less than our first father, the devil, and his wife, the bondwoman, and now even he, along with our bondwoman mother and our first physical brothers in Christ, are now all bowing down to us and being made subject to us. This must all be done within before it will be seen without.

That we are all first “carnal… in Christ” is made clear in these verses:

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
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?
1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Who is the woman, the twelve stars, and the manchild?

Rev 12:2  And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.

Who is this woman and who are these 12 stars? They are of course, primarily within us, and secondarily they are round about us in the form of all who are the “first man Adam”. They are primarily each of us as we sit in the temple of God, proclaiming ourselves to be God, and demanding the complete and total dedication of our flesh to the service of the pleasures of our flesh. That is why her manchild son is caught up to God’s throne, while the woman herself goes into the wilderness. Here is another symbol of this woman and her sons who will bow down to Joseph as the symbol of God’s elect.

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.

We have already demonstrated with the scriptures that each of us is that “temple of God”, and each of us is that “man of sin [who] sits in the temple of God showing ourselves to be God”.

The “woman clothed with the sun” signifies the church out of which the manchild must come:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

The ‘sun’ signifies the light of the fading law of Moses. The Pharisees in that sense were “clothed with the sun”:

Mat 23:1  Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Mat 23:2  Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
Mat 23:3  All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

The twelve stars signify Joseph and his brothers who one and all signify outward Christians claiming to be the “one seed… the [spiritual] seed of Abraham” even as they hate God’s elect just like Joseph’s brothers who hated their own brother, Joseph, and wanted to kill him. The hatred of Joseph by his brothers signifes the Old Testament shadow of these verses:

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

The woman’s ‘child’ signifies “the Lord and His Christ”. Here is this spiritual truth in the form of its old Testament shadow:

Gen 37:18  And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
Gen 37:19  And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.
Gen 37:20  Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

They certainly were right about the “evil beast” part, but not as they meant those words.

Christ Himself “was made of a woman, made under the law”, and just as Christ came out of “the church in the wilderness”, so we also, must we come out of the church that is in the wilderness, where she is fed by God for the exact same period of time that we spent in the wilderness wanting our Lord and His doctrines dead.

Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Rev 17:1  And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it [she was “clothed with the sun”]; but now murderers.

Rev 17:2  With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
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.

Gal 4:1  Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Gal 4:2  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.
Gal 4:3  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

We will pause our study at this point and resume it in our next gathering.

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

[Study Aired Aug 2, 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.

Introduction

Before we begin to study the words of this fifth trumpet, let’s recall what is said of these last three trumpets in the last verse of the preceding chapter.

Rev 8:13  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

As the life of any man of God, whether in the Old or the New Testament demonstrates, the trials we endure toward the end of our walk, in the lion’s den, in the fiery furnace or in the Garden of Gethsemane, could never have been endured without first having our hearts prepared for those trials, by enduring easier trials earlier in our walk. So it is with each of these last three woes. Each of the first six seals and each of the first four trumpets were preparation for these last three “woes” culminating in the seven last plagues upon all who are to become the temple of God’s holy spirit.

1Ch 29:18  O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

Job 11:12  For vain man would be wise, though man be born [like] a wild ass’s colt.
Job 11:13  If thou prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him;

Psa 10:17  LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Jer 12:3  But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

“Pull out” who? Who is “pulled out” like sheep for the slaughter? Who is the temple, and who enters that temple? It is those who are “keeping the things written therein.” It is all who are now being judged by these seven trumpets. Being ‘pulled out like sheep for the slaughter’ is the greatest honor that can be bestowed upon mankind simply because ‘the slaughter’ refers to the death of our carnal minded old men and the destruction of what “is  in my flesh”:

Rom 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Psa 44:22  Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

Isa 53:7  He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

Act 8:32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He [ Christ] was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

Rom 8:36  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

“As He is so are we”, and just as Christ’s flesh was first judged for us, so must we “first be judged” for the sake of “the church which is His body”.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

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:

To remind us that the vials are but a later iteration of these trumpets, let’s take note of how both target the same subject:

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.

Rev 16:10  And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat [G2362: ‘thronos’, throne] of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

With this reminder that “The sum of thy Word is Truth” is the proper approach to this prophecy (Psa 119:160 ASV), let’s number the symbols of the first two verses of this fifth trumpet. 1) The first symbol is the angel that sounds the trumpet. 2) the second symbol is a star that falls from heaven to the earth. 3) The third symbol is the heaven from which the star falls. 4) The fourth is the earth to which which the star from heaven falls. 5) The fifth is the key to the bottomless pit. 6) The sixth is the bottomless pit itself. 7) the seventh is the smoke of a great furnace. 8) The eighth is the darkened sun, which is darkened by the smoke of the pit, 9) and finally, the ninth is the air that is also darkened by the smoke of the pit.

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.

Since we have already given the Biblical revelation of what the first four symbols are and since we have already given the Biblical, spiritual meaning of what the eighth symbol of the darkened sun is, we will simply list and briefly review what these symbols and their meanings are before getting into what the scriptures reveal about the remaining four symbols.

1) What is the angel?

The angels that sound the trumpets, as we have demonstrated, signify the priests who alone are commissioned to “blow with the seven trumpets”:

Jos 6:4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

Go back to our earlier study on Rev 8:1-6 – Part 2, What Is Fire of The Altar Cast Into The Earth? to review all the scriptures which reveal who these seven angels signify. They themselves tell us that they signify “your fellowservants who keep the sayings of this book and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev 19:10, Rev 22:8-9), and Peter and John tell us that if we are in Christ then we are these  seven angels…‘seven priests’:

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

Rev 1:6  And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Rev 5:10  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth:

2) What is the star?

This star that “falls from heaven to the earth” is a messenger from the God who “dwells in the heavens.”

Rev 9:1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall [G4098: pipto] from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

The use of the pronoun ‘he’ demonstrates that this ‘star’ is indeed a messenger from God, who is sent with a key to open up this thing called “the bottomless pit.” When the angel uses the key to open the pit, the sun and the air are darkened by the smoke from the pit.

This “key to the bottomless pit” appears again in the hand of an angel who does not “fall” (G4098: pipto) from heaven, but rather “comes down (G2597: katabaino) from heaven” and binds Satan for a thousand years and “casts him into the bottomless pit.”  Look at what this angel with this key is doing the next time we see him:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down [G2597: katabaino] from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit 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,
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.

We are told that this star here in Revelation 9:1 “fell from heaven”, a phrase used elsewhere only of Satan and his angels.

Isa 34:4  And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

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 [ G4098, pipto] from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Luk 10:18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall [G4098: pipto] from heaven.

Rev 12:3  And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
Rev 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast [G906: ‘ballo’] them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

In Revelation 20:1 We are told “I saw an angel come down [G2597: ‘katabaino’] from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit.” Christ is certainly the preeminent ‘Star’ and as such it is He who sends both a good angel to cast “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan… into the bottomless pit… for a thousand years, and it is Christ who also sends an evil star, or angel, to open the bottomless pit and let the smoke of that pit darken the light of the sun and darken the air.” It is Christ who sends an angel “to testify unto [us] these things…”

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

It is by the agency of this “star,” Christ, that this angel is sent to open the bottomless pit so “the sun and air are darkened by the smoke from the pit.” It is God who sends evil spirits to darken the sun and the air.

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.

1Ki 22:19  And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
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 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.

This “star” in this ninth chapter “falls [G4098: pipto] unto the earth.” and has the key to open the bottomless pit and releases evil and lying spirits signified by the smoke of the pit which darkens the sun and the air. The angel of the 20^th chapter cast the dragon, that old serpent the devil and satan, into the pit and locks him up for a thousand years.

3) Where and what is heaven?

The heaven from which this star falls and “the heavens” through which this angel is “flying”, we have established beyond question, are the hearts and minds of God’s elect.

Heb 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [the blood of animals – verse 22]; 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:

Exactly where is Christ? We just quoted the verse that tells us where Christ now is.

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:

Upon what throne is Christ seated? Where is the kingdom over which Christ is ruling? Into which “holy place” has He entered? Exactly where is the dwelling place of “the presence of God?” Wherever all this is taking place – wherever all of these things are to be found – that is where Christ will be found “Making known to us the things that must shortly be done, [and] keeping the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Here is exactly where the kingdom of God is located.

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

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

So where is the temple where God dwells in His heavenly kingdom at this very moment?

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, 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.

4) What is the earth?

The fourth is the earth to which the star from heaven falls. Since we have seen in our previous studies that scripturally speaking, the “earth” is our physical bodies in which the spirit of God dwells in the heavens of our hearts and minds, we will gain much from the things which are written in the words of this prophecy, only if we keep all of these Biblical truths in mind, as we continue this study into the seven trumpets of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

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

2Co 4:7  But we have this treasure [“Christ in us” (Col 1:27)] in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

We must not fail to remember that both the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as well as the tree of life, (Christ), both come out of the ground, out of the earth. That is why Christ was “made of a woman”…the ground… the earth:

Gen 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Gal 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

8) What is the darkened sun?

The eighth symbol is the darkened sun, which is darkened by the smoke of the pit. We we have already covered this symbol in our study of a darkened sun in the previous trumpet where we saw that darkness is a word associated with lack of knowledge, and faith in the lies and false doctrines of Babylon. A darkened Sun is a deceived condition, with faith in the doctrines of “another Jesus… another spirit… and another gospel.” That ‘darkness’ is the lying doctrines of a triune God, an immortal soul, an ever-burning hell, a rapture, etc; etc; etc… “two hundred thousand, thousand” false doctrines of the messengers of Satan who appear as messengers of light.

Joh 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
Joh 12:36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

2Co 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Rev 9:16  And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
Rev 9:17  And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
Rev 9:18  By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
Rev 9:19  For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Isa 9:18  For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Isa 9:19  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.

That is the “darkness of the sun,” with which we will be dealing throughout this revelation of Jesus Christ. This ‘darkness’ signifies all the lies and false doctrines of all the harlot daughters of Baylon the mother of harlots. Being caught up in that deception is all a necessary part of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

5) What is the key to the bottomless pit?

The fifth symbol of this fifth trumpet is the key to the bottomless pit. What is this key? The answer is that this key unlocks and unleashes upon us those doctrines which cause us to be blinded by the lies of the Adversary and His messengers.

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.

It is needful at this point to remind ourselves that his prophecy is “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” which we are commanded to “read, hear and keep, for the time is at hand.”  It is also needful at this point to remember, and to once again recognize “the preeminence of Christ in all things.”

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

“All things” includes Christ’s preeminence among the stars, good and evil. Christ is the preeminent “Morning Star,” or angel of God, as we pointed out above when discussing the meaning of a star.

Rev 22:16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

So while Christ certainly does not Himself “darken the Sun and the air with the smoke of the pit,” He nevertheless tells us that it is “He who has the keys of death and hell.”

Rev 1:18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Just as Christ gave the keys to the kingdom of God to Peter, and to all the apostles, likewise He gives the key to the “bottomless pit” to this “star”, and this angel opens the bottomless pit with this key.

Mat 16:19  And I will give unto thee [Peter and you and me, Mat 18:18] the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be [have been] bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Mat 18:18  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye [all the apostles and each of us if we are in Christ] shall bind on earth shall be [have been] bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be [have been] loosed in heaven.

If the kingdom of God is within you (Luk 17:20-21) then we are all given those “keys to the kingdom of heaven”:

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

What does that have to do with the key to the pit? That key to the bottomless pit is also given to an angel who is within each of us, just as the kingdom of heaven is within us. The key of the bottomless pit is all the false doctrines which empowers us to deceive and be deceived and to confuse and lie to those who would enter the kingdom of God. That is the key to the bottomless pit out of which comes the smoke which darkens “the sun and the air”:

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 how this angel uses this key to the bottomless pit.

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 [with the wicked lies that burn like a furnace’ (Isa 9:18) lies and false doctrines.

2Ti 3:13  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

Having the key to the bottomless pit and opening that pit and darkening the sun and air, by reason of the smoke of that pit signifies “taking away the key of knowledge.” We have all been guilty of opening the bottomless pit, and darkening the sun and air, by reason of the smoke from that pit. We have all been guilty of “deceiving and being deceived” as we use the key to the bottomless pit in our own lives

Where is the bottomless pit?

6) The sixth symbol of this fifth trumpet is the bottomless pit itself. Where and what is this thing called “the bottomless pit?” All of the commentaries think this pit and its smoke is speaking of some great false spiritual leader, and indeed it is. However, this great deceiver is sitting on Christ’s throne within each of us, and it is there that this entire revelation is taking place. Here is Gill’s very typical ‘somewhere out there’ take on what this bottomless pit is.

“Rev 9:2  And he opened the bottomless pit,… With the key that was given him; he made use of his universal power over all bishops and churches, enacted laws, issued out decrees, made articles of faith, and imposed them on men’s consciences, and obliged all to submit to his hellish principles and practices; and this, as it may be applied to Mahomet, the eastern antichrist, may regard the publishing of his Alcoran, and obliging all his followers to receive it as the infallible word of God:.”

If ever we need to remember that we are to “read, hear and keep the things written therein,” it is as we consider what the scriptures mean by “the bottomless pit.” All the comments and commentaries, such as this comment by Gill, serve only to further the function of the smoke that comes from this thing called “the bottomless pit.”  The last thing in the world the Adversary wants us to know is the correct location and the Biblical understanding of where this “bottomless pit” is.

Many of us have been taught that this bottomless pit doesn’t even really exist until the beginning of the millennium, when Satan is cast into the bottomless pit and restrained for one thousand years. Here are the verses which are most familiar to the majority of Christians.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit 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,
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.

We are not yet in Revelation 20. We are in Revelation 9, after which an angel is “given” the key to this bottomless pit and is permitted to “darken the sun and the air by means of the smoke that arises out of the pit.”

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.

If you search for the phrase ‘bottomless pit’, you will find it seven times in the King James Version, and all seven instances 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 ‘bottoneless pit’.

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Awesome Hands – part 167

“The Sun stood still”

April 1, 2020

Our study today finds us joining Joshua and Israel in chapter 10 of Joshua. In this chapter, we will find that the Lord does truly hear us when we pray to Him whether He is answering how we’d prefer or in accordance with what the Lord has planned for us.

This should comfort us because the Lord always has the “new man in us” at the forefront of doing what is best for the new man to continually emerge in us. In other words, Jesus will be increasing, and we will decrease, daily, and that means we are more and more like Him as we experience the things the Lord has prepared for us in our lives.

To set the stage for the study today, I am going to read from a section of the previous study starting in Joshua 9:10-13.

Jos 9:10  And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.
Jos 9:11  Wherefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, Take victuals with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, We are your servants: therefore now make ye a league with us.
Jos 9:12  This our bread we took hot for our provision out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy:
Jos 9:13  And these bottles of wine, which we filled, were new; and, behold, they be rent: and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey.

Our physical senses are so easily deceived. What we see is not always what is there. You can’t fault the Israelites for seeing with their eyes, and holding in their hands, the moldy bread, spent bottles, and used up shoes and clothes.

The fault is in the conclusions they drew  from what they were SEEING.

Moldy bread does not happen due to a long journey, though that can be one reason. Moldy bread happens from, wait for it……., mold.

If an angel suddenly appeared to you, or you suddenly “heard the voice of God”, what would be your first instinct? Naturally, our instinct would be to instantly worship.  However, our first spiritual instinct, Lord willing, would to be to listen for the voice of the True Shepherd in the voice of the one who suddenly shows themselves or speaks.

Today, we are continuing to see the consequences of the union that Israel made with Gibeon. As it turns out, Gibeon was a “great city” and they were fairly threatening to their neighbors because their soldiers were highly respected.

As a result, the other kings decided they must band together to take on Gibeon and their new found alliance.

Jos 10:1  Now it came to pass, when Adonizedek king of Jerusalem had heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king, so he had done to Ai and her king; and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel, and were among them;
Jos 10:2  That they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty.
Jos 10:3  Wherefore Adonizedek king of Jerusalem sent unto Hoham king of Hebron, and unto Piram king of Jarmuth, and unto Japhia king of Lachish, and unto Debir king of Eglon, saying,
Jos 10:4  Come up unto me, and help me, that we may smite Gibeon: for it hath made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.
Jos 10:5  Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, gathered themselves together, and went up, they and all their hosts, and encamped before Gibeon, and made war against it.

Given that there was an agreement of peace made between Gibeon and Israel, the other kings then feel threatened due to fear. Fear is a very powerful emotion as it turns out. Fear causes many things to happen in our minds and hearts with most of those things being quite irrational.

When talking about the current coronavirus scare we are going through as a collective world today, I often comment that the fear people have of not having a job, food or shelter will lead many into doing whatever it takes to help themselves and their loved ones survive the current situation.

Getting COVID-19 creates a fear in people that they are going to die when most of the people who get it will have mild cold-like symptoms. That isn’t to say that COVID-19 isn’t deadly for some, because it certainly is, but when you see the numbers, graphs and charts, COVID-19 is being survived by most people.

However, the collapse of societal norms will be what most come to fear and react to.

Bringing this back to the study, these 5 kings fear the union between Gibeon, who they already consider mighty, and Israel who have already proven that they are capable of waging and winning wars.

This fear will ultimately lead to the utter destruction of these 5 kingdoms.

Jos 10:6  And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
Jos 10:7  So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour.
Jos 10:8  And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.
Jos 10:9  Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

While reading Joshua 10:9, I noticed just how closely it is worded to how Jesus comes upon those whom He is going to visit “in the night”.

2Pe 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Yet, that isn’t the full “picture” of what the visitation of the Lord means for those who it means something to, i.e. the children of the Lord, the children of the light.

1Th 5:1  But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

Is it possible that we can apply this knowledge to any situation we encounter today including the current unrest we see the world over with COVID-19?

1Th 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
1Th 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Notice that “they” is being contrasted with “ye” or “you”. “They” are being compared with the children of light.

1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

It is always interesting to ponder why certain things are said next to other things that are said in scripture. Notice that those that sleep are being compared with the same group who are also drunken.

Well, we can become drunk on wine. In this case, because we are talking about the day of the Lord and His visitation in the night, we can see the linkage between the day of the Lord and the wrath of the wine of God.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

In the study titled, “Confidence in the Lord”, we talked about the will of God being directly connected to thinking and speaking as Christ does when He knows that He must go on to be crucified. We too must always have the same mindset of  “thy will be done”. This is what allows us to continue the process described in 1 Timothy 5:8-11.

1Th 5:8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
1Th 5:9  For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
1Th 5:11  Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

We are going to need to have the protection of the Lord in order to get through this war in our heavens that we are in. Faith, hope, and love are mentioned together here for good reason. All of these attributes, our pieces of armor as described, are what protect us from the wiles of the devil and everything else that is going on around us.

The Lord fights for us, so who can be against us? He clothes us with all of the armor that we need. Under that armor, He clothes us with His righteousness, therefore who can stand against the Lord?

The day we are reading about is like no other before or after it. Spiritually, this day of the Lord being visited upon His enemies is the start of the destruction of the old man in those who are visited.

Jos 10:10  And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.
Jos 10:11  And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
Jos 10:12  Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
Jos 10:13  And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Jos 10:14  And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.
Jos 10:15  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

The Lord fighting for Israel has never changed. It fought for physical Israel, and He continues to fight for spiritual Israel … those Jews are Jews inwardly.

Jos 10:16  But these five kings fled, and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah.
Jos 10:17  And it was told Joshua, saying, The five kings are found hid in a cave at Makkedah.
Jos 10:18  And Joshua said, Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave, and set men by it for to keep them:
Jos 10:19  And stay ye not, but pursue after your enemies, and smite the hindmost of them; suffer them not to enter into their cities: for the LORD your God hath delivered them into your hand.
Jos 10:20  And it came to pass, when Joshua and the children of Israel had made an end of slaying them with a very great slaughter, till they were consumed, that the rest which remained of them entered into fenced cities.
Jos 10:21  And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue against any of the children of Israel.
Jos 10:22  Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings unto me out of the cave.
Jos 10:23  And they did so, and brought forth those five kings unto him out of the cave, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon.
Jos 10:24  And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them.
Jos 10:25  And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.
Jos 10:26  And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
Jos 10:27  And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, that Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave’s mouth, which remain until this very day.
Jos 10:28  And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho.

After reading all of these verses, it is easy to conclude that the nations and kings whom the Lord sends us to, for slaughter, are indeed slaughtered. However, as with all things we are considering in scripture, we should be looking to the inside if the cup, toward the heavenly places, and taking the wrath of the Lord to those places within us.

When we read about these southern Canaanite kings, we should be seeing these kings within ourselves. How do we recognize a king or a giant “within the land”?

Well, I am not the best person to consult to figure this out for you. The Lord is the best person to consult because He will reveal to us what it is that needs to be adjusted. It is all up to Him whether or not a giant or a king is slain (they represent the same thing), but we are still in the FIGHT. How do I know this to be true?

Jos 10:25  And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight.

The Lord will do the killing THROUGH you to those enemies He has sent you to fight. This is no different than “work out your OWN salvation with fear and trembling”.

Php 2:12  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:14  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

Are we not talking about salvation? Does this not sound like the same thing with only the timeline and characters being different? You versus Joshua and your enemies versus the southern Canaanite kings?

Let me remind you:

Jos 10:9  Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.

1Th 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
1Th 5:7  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

Joshua came “unto them suddenly at night” tells us that this event is much more than Joshua killing these kings in war. This is about how the salvation process works in the children of the day, the children of the light.

It is the trial of our faith that is precious to the Lord. The “faith part” He gives out freely to those whom He gives it to, but it is the TRIAL and the OVERCOMING which helps that Faith be ALIVE.

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold thatperisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Jas 2:20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21  Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23  And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24  Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
Jas 2:25  Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
Jas 2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Here is this moment in time where the Faith of Israel, in type, was accompanied by works. Now, I do not read the following verses to bore you . I read them to help solidify just how “on your side” the Lord is. However, He is on our side for the benefit of bringing good from evil in our lives.

Jos 10:29  Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah:
Jos 10:30  And the LORD delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel; and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it; but did unto the king thereof as he did unto the king of Jericho.
Jos 10:31  And Joshua passed from Libnah, and all Israel with him, unto Lachish, and encamped against it, and fought against it:
Jos 10:32  And the LORD delivered Lachish into the hand of Israel, which took it on the second day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein, according to all that he had done to Libnah.
Jos 10:33  Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him none remaining.
Jos 10:34  And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon, and all Israel with him; and they encamped against it, and fought against it:
Jos 10:35  And they took it on that day, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day, according to all that he had done to Lachish.
Jos 10:36  And Joshua went up from Eglon, and all Israel with him, unto Hebron; and they fought against it:
Jos 10:37  And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein.
Jos 10:38  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it:
Jos 10:39  And he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.
Jos 10:40  So Joshua smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the LORD God of Israel commanded.
Jos 10:41  And Joshua smote them from Kadeshbarnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon.
Jos 10:42  And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
Jos 10:43  And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promises toward us. He will fight for us, but it will be THROUGH us. We are a part of the process according to what He has willed for us.

Our battles are MENTAL and SPIRITUAL. Our fights are in the heavens. We must always be diligent in consulting with the Word of God when we need to gain more Faith or strength so that we can continue to fight the good fight.

The Sun of righteousness still fights for us today. This is obviously something that happened physically for Joshua (the sun standing still along with the moon), but it is something that happens even today spiritually in type because we are the children of the Light and the Lord fights for us to overcome the world in us.