81. THE FIFTH TRUMPET Revelation 9:1-11 “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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 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 they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 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. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 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.” In this section of Revelation we see what has been called the army of the demon locusts. This host of horrible monsters with complex appearance like locust, horses, scorpions, lions, and humans came out of the Abyss (9:1, 2, 11), (“bottomless pit” in the King James) led by Abaddon or Apollyon, who was the Devil/Satan, or one if his angels. This gives us a picture of the hellish origin of the woes to follow. Satan has already been mentioned as persecuting and corrupting the Churches in Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira (2:9, 10, 13, 14, 24); and is named as the instigator of Rome’s imperial persecutions of the church (12:13-16). Of what he is now about to do in the locust plague, we are warned, “Woe, woe, woe,” hinting as to its frightfulness. These demon locusts are thought, by many good Biblical Commentators, to be a predictive picture of the rise and spread of Mohammedanism; of the Tribulation period of the last days; or possibly both. I personally tend to lean towards the Tribulation period as being the correct view. We need to speak a little on what Mohammedanism is: In the 7th Century A.D., Mohammedanism swept the Eastern world like a tidal wave and blotted out Christianity in: Southwest Asia and North Africa Euphrates and Nile Valleys Eastern and Southern Borders of the Mediterranean lands of the Bible Story lands in which the Bible originated and grew from lands in which God’s Revelation of Himself to mankind was nurtured and brought to completion lands in which God formed and trained the nation of Israel for two thousand years to pave the way for the coming of Christ lands hallowed forever as the scene of Christ’s life and death and resurrection and His redemptive work for mankind lands which were the cradle of Christianity, and which were for over 600 years Christian the original Christian world In these lands, by one fell blow of their swords, Christianity was blotted out, and Mohammedanism was established. These lands have been Mohammedan ever since. For 600 years of being Christian, and now for 1400 years, Mohammedan. There are now more Mohammedans in the world than Protestant (those who protested against Catholic doctrine and Baptists do not fit into that category) Christians. Mohamed (A.D. 570-632), in Mecca, Arabia, declared himself to be the Prophet of God, and set out, at the head of an army to propagate his religion by the sword, and soon the whole of Arabia was conquered. Mohammedan armies under successive leaders, swept on in their conquest; Syria fell (A.D. 634), Jerusalem (A.D. 637), Egypt (A.D. 638), Persia (A.D. 640), and North Africa in (A.D. 689). At the time, Asian and African Christianity, was thus swept away. Mohammedans moved into Europe and Spain fell (A.D. 711). Then they headed on into France, where at Tours, the Mohammedan Army was met and defeated (A.D. 732), by Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne. That was one of the decisive battles of the ages. Except for that victory, Christianity might have been entirely exterminated from off the face of the earth. However, Jesus did say “...I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). That is the one thing that stopped Mohammedanism from destroying Christianity from off the face of the earth. Now, we have Islam trying to do the very same thing: they will not succeed. Here are a few things that seem to point to Mohammedanism: “Locusts” (vs. 3). Arabia was a land of Locusts. It was in Arabia that Mohammedanism originated. “Shapes of Locusts like war-heroes, with Scorpion-like tails, crowns like Gold, Faces like men’s faces, hair like woman’s hair, teeth like lion’s teeth, breastplates as of iron, and wings that sounded like chariots and horses rushing to war” (Vss. 7-10). This is indeed a pretty good description of the Mohammedan armies, composed of fierce, relentless horsemen, famous for their beards, with long hair like a woman’s hair, with yellow turbans on their heads that looked like gold, and they had iron coats of armor. “Smoke for the Abyss/bottomless pit” (Vss. 2, 3). It was out of this smoke that the locusts came. The smoke had darkened the sun and the air. This may refer to the false teachings which had clouded and corrupted the church of Mohamed’s day in its worship of images, relics, and saints. It was the idolatry of a degenerate and apostate church that gave Mohamed his chance. Destruction of idols was his slogan. “Hurt not the grass, nor any green thing” (vs. 4). Mohammedans spared the trees, the grass and all vegetation, because Mohamed had so commanded; for those living in the wastes of the Arabian deserts, trees and vegetation were actual blessings. “Torment men five months” (vs. 5). Five months, the normal stay of locusts, May to September, is about 150 days; which on the year-day interpretation (Ezekiel 4:6) would be 150 years. That was approximately the period (A.D. 630-786) in which Mohammedan continued its efforts at world conquest. With Haroun-Al-Raschid (A.D. 786-809) at the height of Mohammedan power and glory, they abandoned the idea of conquest and began to cultivate peaceful relations with other nations. You can see how close this Mohammedanism fits with John’s prophecy. Christ said that His church would not be destroyed and the gates of hell would not prevail against it, but rather, a portion or remnant would remain to make sure His church would be here until He takes it out of this world. This will happen at the rapture of the church. According to the prophesies of Jesus and many other prophets, the time is ripe for the rapture of the church to happen. It could happen tonight, it could happen tomorrow. We do not know, but we do know the signs and seasons that will be on this earth just prior to it happening. The question is, and will be asked, till He comes back: “Are you ready to meet the LORD?” If that answer is “no”, then now is the time to do so because the time is short. He is coming back for His Saints/Church. Receive Him into your heart now; do not delay hoping for a better day to do so. (by Dr. Terrry Cleaveland: Book #2 - Understanding Gods Word - One Day at a Time)
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 12:54:13 +0000
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