/ 1 And when he had opened the Zechariah 2:13 Be silent, O all "the seventh seal" / seventh seal, there was silence in flesh, before the Lord; for he With the opening of the seventh / heaven about the space of half an is raised up out of his holy seal the scroll can now be opened / hour. habitation. and all its contents revealed. / 2 And I saw the seven angels Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Many scholars assume that the / which stood before God; and to Zion, and sound an alarm in seven trumpets revealed are a more / them were given seven trumpets. my holy mountain: let all detailed explanation of the work / 3 And another angel came and inhabitants of the land Luke 1:9-11 According to the custom of the horsemen and others see / stood at the altar, having a tremble: for the day of the of the priest's office, his lot them as a sequential continuation / golden censer; and there was given Lord cometh, for it is nigh was to burn incense when he went of the time of sorrows. / unto him much incense, that he at hand; into the temple of the Lord. / should offer it with the prayers Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be And the whole multitude of the "silence in heaven" / of all saints upon the golden set forth before thee as people were praying without at We have here a reverent pause as / altar which was before the throne. incense; the time of incense. the prayers of the saints are / 4 And the smoke of the incense, Psalms 144:5-6 Bow thy heavens, O And there appeared unto him an presented at the golden altar in / which came with the prayers of the Lord, and come down: touch the angel of the Lord standing on the heaven as was for many centuries / saints, ascended up before God out mountains, and they shall right side of the altar of symbolized in the earthly temple / of the angel's hand. smoke. incense. on the Day of Atonement. We are / 5 And the angel took the censer, Cast forth lightning, and Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, repeatedly reminded that the / and filled it with fire of the scatter them: shoot out thine the place was shaken where they design of the Tabernacle, the / altar, and cast it into the earth: arrows, and destroy them. were assembled together: and they Temple and the ceremonies that / and there were voices, and thunder- Zephaniah 1:16 A day of the were all filled with the Holy were performed at them were given / ings, and lightnings, and an trumpet and alarm against the Ghost,... as an replica of the heavenly / earthquake. fenced cities, and against scene. / 6 And the seven angels which had the high towers. / the seven trumpets prepared them- Joel 1:19 O Lord, to thee will I "a third part" / selves to sound. cry: for the fire hath devour- The woes that follow the first / 7 The first angel sounded, and ed the pastures of the wilder- four trumpets are limited in their / there followed hail and fire ness, and the flame hath effect to a "third part of the / mingled with blood, and they were burned all the trees of the earth". We assume that the selec- / cast upon the earth: and the third field. tive nature of these events is / part of trees was burnt up, and Exodus 9:23-24 And Moses stretch- of His design so that those of / all green grass was burnt up. ed forth his rod toward heaven: the earth who are most inclined / 8 And the second angel sounded, and the Lord sent thunder and to repent are given yet another / and as it were a great mountain hail, and the fire ran upon the opportunity to change the hard- / burning with fire was cast into ground; and the Lord rained ness of their heart. Scholars / the sea: and the third part of the hail upon the land of Egypt. have long noted the similarities / sea became blood; So there was hail, and fire of some of these tragedies to / 9 And the third part of the mingled with hail, very the plagues on Egypt before the / creatures which were in the sea, grievous ... release of the Children of / and had life, died; and the third Exodus 7:20-21 ... And all the Israel. These are all similar / part of the ships were destroyed. waters that were in the river to events that can and have / 10 And the third angel sounded, turned to blood. happened on earth in the past / and there fell a great star from And the fish that was in the due to volcanic actions and or / heaven, burning as it were a lamp, river died; and the river visiting formations from outer / and it fell upon the third part stank, and the Egyptians could space. Also scholars like to / of the rivers, and upon the drink of the water of the point out that these same effects / fountains of waters; river; ... could also be similar to the / 11 And the name of the star is Jeremiah 23:15 I will feed them results of the war of man as he / called Wormwood: and the third with wormwood, and make them releases the newly developed forces / part of the waters became worm- drink the water of gall: of nuclear warfare. Therefore / wood; and many men died of the Isaiah 13:9-11 Behold, the day men that should repent could mis- / waters, because they were made of the Lord cometh, cruel both take the effects of these events / bitter. with wrath and fierce anger, as that of the forces of nature / 12 And the fourth angel sounded, to lay the land desolate: and or of man and may be deceived so / and the third part of the sun was he shall destroy the sinners that they will not recognize / smitten, and the third part of the thereof out of it. them as the wrath of God. / moon, and the third part of the For the stars of heaven and / stars; so as the third part of the constellations thereof "Woe, woe, woe" / them was darkened, and the day shall not give their light: The first four trumpets are / shone not for a third part of it, the sun shall be darkened in unfortunately only a sampling of / and the night likewise. his going forth, and the moon the wrath of God upon the unjust / 13 And I beheld, and heard an shall not cause her light to Luke 17:1 ...It is impossible and much more is to come. / angel flying through the midst of shine. but that offenses will come: / heaven, saying with a loud voice, And I will punish the world but woe unto him, through / Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters for their evil, and the wicked whom they come! / of the earth by reason of the other for their iniquity; and I will / voices of the trumpet of the three cause the arrogancy of the / angels, which are yet to sound! proud to cease, and will lay / low the haughtiness of the / terrible. / / / 1 And the fifth angel sounded, Psalms 140:10 Let burning coals Luke 10:18 ...,I beheld Satan as "a star fell from heaven" / and I saw a star fall from heaven fall upon them: let them be lightning fall from heaven. Satan is cast from heaven and / unto the earth: and to him was cast into the fire; into deep allowed to release the power of / given the key of the bottomless pit. pits, that they rise not up a multitude of his demons who / 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; again. had been bound. Scholars who see / and there arose a smoke out of the the trumpets as describing events / pit, as the smoke of a great of the past often attribute the / furnace; and the sun and the air characteristics of the locusts to / were darkened by reason of the be descriptive of past warriors / smoke of the pit. such as those of Attila the Hun. / 3 And there came out of the smoke Exodus 10:14-15 And locusts went Luke 8:30-31 And Jesus asked him, Other scholars see the descript- / locusts upon the earth: and unto up over all the land of Egypt, saying, What is thy name? and he ions of the locusts and the army of / them was given power, as the ...and did eat every herb of said, Legion: because many devils horsemen to be characteristic of / scorpions of the earth have power. of the land, and all the fruit were entered into him. modern war machines such as / 4 And it was commanded them that of the trees the hail had left: And they besought him that he helicopters and tanks with the / they should not hurt the grass of would not command them to go out smoke and fire of their missiles. / the earth, neither any green thing, Ezekiel 9:4 And the Lord said into the deep. The problem we have with these / neither any tree; but only those unto him, Go through the II Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the explanations is with the selective / men which have not the seal of God midst of the city, through the foundation of God standeth sure, nature of these woes. The power / in their foreheads. midst of Jerusalem, and set a having this seal, The Lord know- of warfare of man is nonselective / 5 And to them it was given that mark upon the foreheads of the eth them that are his. And, Let in that usually on both sides are / they should not kill them, but men that sigh and that cry for every one that nameth the name of found innocent people who also / that they should be tormented five all the abominations that be Christ... suffer and are killed. But the / months: and their torment was as done in the midst thereof. locusts are instructed not to dest- / the torment of a scorpion, when II Chronicles 10:11 For whereas roy vegetation and to hurt "only / he striketh a man. my father put a heavy yoke those men which have not the seal / 6 And in those days shall men upon you, I will put more to of God in their foreheads". Their / seek death, and shall not find it; your yoke: my father chastised source is from the bottomless pit / and shall desire to die, and death you with whips, but I will where they have been bound, yet / shall flee from them. chastise you with scorpions. they can hurt only those that have / 7 And the shapes of the locusts Job 3:21 Which long for death, not been sealed. This does not / were like unto horses prepared but it cometh not; and dig for appear to be like the normal war- / unto battle; and on their heads it more than for hid treasures; fare of man since it is a woe of / were as it were crowns like gold, Joel 2:3-4 .. and nothing shall torment in which " men shall seek / and their faces were as the faces escape them. death and shall not find it". / of men. The appearance of them is as " and they had a king over them. / 8 And they had hair as the hair the appearance of horses; which is the angel of the bottom- / of women, and their teeth were as Joel 1:6 .. strong, and without less pit", the destroyer satan but / the teeth of lions. number, whose teeth are the still their action is against / 9 And they had breastplates, as teeth of a lion, and he hath the unsealed, the Lord is still / it were breastplates of iron; and the cheek teeth of a great lion. in control. (The time of five months / the sound of their wings was as Joel 2:5 Like the noise of is the same as the normal time of / the sound of chariots of many chariots on the tops of mount- locusts from May to September in the / horses running to battle. ains shall they leap, like the area of the promised land.) / 10 And they had tails like unto noise of a flame of fire that / scorpions, and there were stings devoureth the stubble, as a "four angels which are bound in the / in their tails: and their power strong people set in battle great river Euphrates" / was to hurt men five months. array. Four more bound angels, or demons / 11 And they had a king over then, Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past are released and they lead an / which is the angel of the bottom- ye walked according to the course mighty army of 200 million horse- / less pit, whose name in the Hebrew of this world, according to the men. Many scholars like to point / tongue is Abaddon, but in the prince of the power of the air, out that the nation of China can / Greek tongue hath his name the spirit that now worketh in put together an army of this size. / Apollyon. the children of disobedience. Unlike the plague of the locusts, / 12 One woe is past; and, behold, these horsemen have the power to / there come two woes more hereafter. kill and again they will have / 13 And the sixth angel sounded, Exodus 27:2 And thou shalt make power over a third part of the / and I heard a voice from the four the horns of it upon the four remaining men. Some scholars have / horns of the golden altar which is corners thereof: his horns proposed that these horsemen / before God. shall be of the same: and thou represent the hoard of Turks that / 14 Saying to the sixth angel which shalt overlay it with brass. crossed the Euphrates river in / had the trumpet, Loose the four 1057 AD to gain dominion over the / angels which are bound in the Mohammendan world. These same / great river Euphrates. scholars would see the locusts to / 15 And the four angels were loosed, represent the Mohammedan hoard / which were prepared for an hour, that swept over the eastern world / and a day, and a month, and a year, in the 600's. But from verses / for to slay the third part of men. 20 and 21 we understand that the / 16 And the number of the army of purpose of the woes is that men / the horsemen were two hundred should repent. The unsealed are / thousand thousand: and I heard the not tormented and destroyed but / number of them. for the purpose of the Lord that / 17 And thus I saw the horses in Acts 2:19-21 And I will show wonders men should repent of their ways. / the vision, and them that sat on in heaven above, and signs in the The time of closing out the / them, having breastplates of fire, Jeremiah 25:6-8 And go not after earth beneath; blood, and fire, chance for men to repent or suffer / and of jacinth, and brimstone: and other gods to serve them, and and vapour of smoke: the final judgment has not yet come. / the heads of the horses were as to worship them, and provoke me The sun shall be turned into There are yet many woes to come / the heads of lions; and out of not to anger with the works of darkness, and the moon into blood, upon this earth and the opportun- / their mouths issued fire and smoke your hands; and I will do you before that great and notable day ity for repentance is still avail- / and brimstone. no hurt. of the Lord come: able. As we study yet in chapters / 18 By these three was the third Yet ye have not hearkened unto And it shall come to pass, that following, the Lord will still / part of men killed, by the fire, me, saith the Lord; that ye whosoever shall call on the name send witnesses on earth to tell / and by the smoke, and by the might provoke me to anger with of the Lord shall be saved. the Word. / brimstone, which issued out of the works of your hands to your / their mouths. own hurt. "yet repented not of the works" / 19 For their power is in their Therefore thus saith the Lord I Corinthians 10:14&20-21 Wherefore, The love of evil for the follower / mouth, and in their tails: for of hosts; Because ye have not my dearly beloved, flee from of satan is so great that even / their tails were like unto heard my words, idolatry. these terrible woes are not enough / serpents, and had heads, and with But I say, that the things which to bring them to repentance. The / them they do hurt. the Gentiles sacrifice, they power of satan to deceive is truly / 20 And the rest of the men which Psalms 135:15-18 The idols of the sacrifice, they sacrifice to amazing. The transgressions of / were not killed by these plagues heathen are silver and gold, devils, and not to God: and I men mentioned in the last verse / yet repented not of the works of the work of men's hands. would not that ye should have are very characteristic of this / their hands, that they should not They have mouths, but they fellowship with devils. day and age which leads many to / worship devils, and idols of gold, speak not; eyes have they, but Ye cannot drink the cup of the conclude that the times of / and silver, and brass, and stone, they see not; Lord, and the cup of the devils: judgement can not be far off. / and of wood; which neither can They have ears, but they hear ye cannot be partakers of the Many men will propose that / see, nor hear, nor walk: not; neither is there any Lord's table, and of the table civilized and educated man can / 21 Neither repented they of their breath in their mouths. of devils. bring "utopia" to the earth, / murders, nor of their sorceries, They that make them are like Ephesians 5:6 Let no man deceive you but there is little evidence of / nor of their fornication, nor of them: so is every one that with vain words: for because of this as one looks at the actions / their thefts. trusteth in them. these things cometh the wrath of of men that glorify the performance / Isaiah 47:9-10 ...they shall come God upon the children of of these transgressions. / upon thee in their perfection disobedience. / for the multitude of thy / sorceries, and for the great / abundance of thine enchantments. / For thou hast trusted in thy / wickedness: thou hast said, None / seeth me. ... / / / / Matters of Contention: Many scholars prefer a symbolic interpretation of "for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year" Many scholars / the trumpet judgements rather than a literal interpretation. have pondered long on the sequencing and the length of times / The earth can be seen as being symbolic of Israel and the sea indicated in prophecy. The particular phrase repeated above seems / as being symbolic of the gentiles. A mountain can be seen to most scholars to indicate that the four angels are loosed at a / to be symbolic of a government and the sun, moon and stars particular time which has been long in preparation and is the exact / as being symbolic of leaders of government or religions. They time that has long been known to the Lord and that there is no force / would interpret the plagues as being forces that would cause in the universe that can change this time. / conflict and turmoil amongst empires, governments, organized / religions and as not being actual physical destructions. "five months" Does the day for a year concept apply to this / Many scholars however believe that the similarities to the time period? Some scholars will say so while others will say that the / many plagues described by the earlier prophets is too striking, period corresponds exactly to the destructive life span of the locust / and most scholars agree that in ancient times actual physical and therefore should be takes as a literal five months. Timing is / occurrences are intended. a subject for debate which may never be settled until the final day / comes. / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /