Lord Jesus and Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for the blessings You've poured upon us all day long, and now the blessed opportunity to be able to get back into Your Word. Please help us as we do that. Help us to understand the prophecies that we've been studying through this series, and help us to be prepared to give an answer to those out there when they're curious about it, to help draw them in before they have to face some of these tribulation times that we're studying. We thank You so much for the opportunity to be a part of Your work, and please help us now as we pray in Jesus' precious Holy Name. Amen. Continuing our last days prophecies, going through the last days of the tribulation time and so forth. We've covered quite a few of the categories of this. The chart that I've been using, The layout comes from the Tim LaHaye's Prophecy Study Bible where the 20 major prophetic events yet to be fulfilled is our outline that we've been using. And if we go on down our list there, as I've spoke, this list of 20 key points here. Many of them overlap and occur consecutively or from the beginning all the way through to the end or one after the other. So you have to take all these pieces of the puzzle you might say and overlap them and apply them together to see the entire picture. So remember that when you go down through this list. It isn't that item number one occurs, then number two and three and so forth. So we have to apply that in its proper setting. And we are now speaking of, we've covered the seven seal judgments, and we have the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments, and you also have the bowl or vow judgments. The seal judgments and the trumpet judgments are believed to occur in the first half of the tribulation, and then the second half kicks in with the the vial or bowl judgments which are even more severe than the second half of the first half, you might say, the second quarter. The first quarter are pretty mild in comparison and they start out even with some peace time. But then the second quarter it starts ramping up pretty serious when the trumpet judgments kick in and then when the midpoint of the tribulation kicks in, then it is really, really bad. And we'll get right into Revelation chapter 8 here in verse 1. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. So we've seen in chapter 6 about the 6 seals, and now here at the beginning of chapter 8, the 7th seal is actually a moment of silence, a moment that lasts for 30 minutes. And it's just in reference to, it's really going to ramp up now for some of the judgments that are coming upon the planet for the sinful behavior of man. As he continues, ìAnd I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer. And there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail, and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up." Now, many times you see the reference to various things that are literal and in others that aren't actually literal. And in this, it's believed that the blood isn't actual blood, but it appears as blood to John, who is witnessing all this and seeing this occur. Because we know these colors can occur from some of the smoke and some of the minerals and some of the things that would be spewed out by an eruption from the earth. a volcanic reaction and that would explain the fire and the burning of the trees and so forth as it continues. And the second angel sounded and as it were a great mountain burning with fire. So see here he points out as it were because a mountain as he continues flying through the air. Burning with fire was cast into the sea, so we saw a great large amount of mass, burning mass, that was cast into the sea, as big as a mountain, as he's saying. So this could be a great meteor. And the third part of the sea became blood. It became blood, it became reddish-like blood possibly, not actual literal blood, but it was poisoned by the substance that was in this great meteor that struck the ocean. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed, and the third Well this destroying of the animals that would be in the water, all the sea creatures that you mentioned and the ships, if you have a great meteor that would strike the water it would cause like a tidal wave effect and a great wave would expand from that in all directions and destroy the ships that was in the area. And the third angel sounded and there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters." Notice the first meteor he calls a mountain burning with fire and now he's identifying one as a star from heaven burning as a as it were a lamp. So this one glowing red hot, lightening up like a meteor would as it enters the atmosphere and ignites and begins to burn from the heat and the friction of that. And this one strikes on the land rather than in the ocean. And it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." This word, wormwood, is a very interesting word. A lot of prophecy has been discussed about this word. In the Scriptures, we know it's used to describe something that is bitter. It's actually an herb that is described as being bitter to the taste. And if you was to translate the word Wormwood into Russian, or rather Ukrainian, it actually is translated as the word Chernobyl. And the word means dangerous, or means great calamity. If you remember the account of the meltdown of the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, many believe that that was actually a reference to this or another clue to what this meteor is going to cause. It's going to cause great increase of radiation, the radioactive meteor striking the ground and contaminating the water, making it Poisonous, because speaking of it being made bitter there and that people died. It was died from the radiation result of this great meteor that will strike the earth at that time. We know the Lord uses all of his creation, and he uses it to fulfill what he wants to be fulfilled, and this would be a way to be able to do that, of our understanding of the sciences, and of the universe, and of meteors, and the effect of meteors, and the fact that they are radioactive, or many of them are radioactive, and this could be very well what occurs. We have evidences of meteor strikes on this planet, all over this planet, Most visible meteor in the United States is out in Arizona with that big crater. And that meteor that made that big crater out in Arizona was about the size of a Volkswagen. And yet it's about a two mile wide crater that that made when it struck the Earth. And there's other evidences of meteor strikes, even some others up in Russia that have devastated, and they were very small. This is going to be something far larger, and the one that was mentioned earlier, to the point of describing it as being a mountain, is how big this meteor is. So it's going to have very catastrophic effect on the planet. And when something strikes the ground so violently, a plume of dust and debris gets splashed out into the atmosphere. And it can cause effects that would, as we continue, see how it's described in verse 12. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten. and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars. So as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." So this plume that comes up from these two great meteor strikes will pollute the air so greatly that it has this effect on everything that you see in the atmosphere. Looking up at the stars, looking up at the moon, looking up at whatever you're trying to look through the smoke and the sediment and the material that was left behind as it come through the atmosphere as well as what got splashed out as it struck the ocean and the effects of all that will actually darken things. Verse 13, And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of the voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet too sound. Three woes. Woe, woe, woe for the three more. That's three warnings that are going out. That there's going to be three more horrible judgments in this section that are going to be coming. As we roll right into chapter 9, we see here the fifth angel. Chapter 9 verse 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. Now here we have the use of the word star again, but this is speaking of an angelic being. Here, because many places through the Scriptures the word star is used for an angelic being or an angelic creature. And here, that's where we find this. Now, earlier we saw a great star fall from heaven, burning as it were a lamp. That word star there, used differently from here in chapter 9 where we see the word star used again. Where it says, 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." There again, you have a volcanic reaction, you have a vast amount of smoke coming up from the molten lava and everything that's down into the mantle of the earth. You get a lot of gases that come up from that. Another reference to that, as the earth is cracked open, as it opened up, all this would be spewing out, affecting the atmosphere, affecting the air that you breathe, affecting the light that you see. Verse 3, And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. Now this has led a lot of people to do a lot of study to figure out what in the world they're talking about, what is this, what kind of locusts, what are the size of the locusts, the ability of the locusts, Now we understand a locust. We have references through the scriptures of locusts that were part of the plague that came upon the Egyptians at the Exodus and locusts throughout the scriptures. Locust references in the Old Testament are references to grasshoppers as we know them. A grasshopper is a locust. Now we have around here what we call locusts that come around every 7 years or 14 years or whatever it is, and they make a lot of noise and racket. Those are actually cicadas, they're not locusts. People have mislabeled them as being locusts, but they are not locusts. Locusts is a grasshopper. You go down to Florida or go down to Texas, Louisiana, some of them southern states, they got grasshoppers down there that are 5 to 6 inches long. Great big things. And is that what they're talking about here, a great big locust bug, maybe a foot long or maybe even larger? We don't know. We're not given a reference to the size of this creature, whether it's an insect, whether it's a demonic being, whether it's an angelic being, what it is. There's even been references to these locusts aren't even animals or creatures, but they're mechanical devices that'll be utilized by mankind at that time to wreak havoc on each other. So there's a lot of speculation and a lot of theory when it comes to what are these locusts actually. But don't go getting too hung up on what they actually are or how they will be, because there are many things in the book of Revelation and in the other prophecies that we will never be revealed until it happens, until it is time for us to understand it. As we know, the closer we get to the fulfillment of the scriptures, of the prophecies of the last days, it becomes clearer and clearer to us And we are able to see more and understand more than they were 50 years ago, 100 years ago, or 1000 years ago. Because we're closer to that. And things like this, this creature, they're not going to know exactly what it is until it happens. And it's going to be a very horrible experience. As we continue, we see the description of these locusts. 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." What power would that be as a scorpion? A scorpion is an insect creature that has a stinger that can sting you. Some of them is a deadly sting. Some of them is just an extremely painful and aggravating pain that goes throughout your entire body and affects your nervous system. As we continue in verse 4, And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, because normally locusts eat vegetation, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. These that have the seal of God in their foreheads are those that are born again." So at this point, there's a judgment that's coming upon all those that have not yet received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That this plague of affliction will come upon them, a torment will come upon them. You think, well that's horrible! Why would the Lord do that? It's nothing compared to what they're going to suffer for eternity if they don't yield to the Lord. It's awesome that we're currently under a time of grace where He doesn't have to do stuff like send locusts after us to torment us to get our attention. But here He's trying to annoy them enough to where, hey, wake up! Giving them an attitude adjustment with these creatures. Yet we see so many will not yield to them. 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." Now this torment is when you get stung by one of these, you have that excruciating pain that goes all over your body and there just is no relief for it. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it, and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." They'll pray and scream and holler and even try to kill themselves or be killed, but it isn't going to work. The only prayer that the Lord hears from the sinner is a prayer to ask for forgiveness, to ask for salvation, to yield to the Lord. That's the only prayer from the sinner that the Lord is going to pay any attention to. Praying for mercy or praying for healing from the sinner is useless unless they first ask for forgiveness and become one of His. Verse 7, and the sharps 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 it the faces of men." Notice, as it was, as it was. John's trying to describe these creatures that he's seeing in a way that he can understand, that we might be able to relate to. of how these little creatures look. There are some fascinating insects out there in the world. Up there at the Creation Museum, Hebron, Kentucky, up there near Cincinnati. They have an awesome display that they have set up of various insects around the world. And some of them are so fascinating looking. The details, the images that you see and the appearance. Some of them are very scary looking. Some of them are to the point of being something that you could take home and have as a nice little pet. But yet, these are very vicious. These that he's speaking of, if they are insects or what they are, have these descriptions. It says, as horses prepared for battle. Horses prepared for battle have shields on them. They would make leather shields that they would put over the horse's head. and across their back and so forth to protect them from the strikes from swords or arrows. So these have shields like on them, as we know many insects as well as the grasshoppers or locusts that we know have these shields that they have on them. and their heads are like crowns. As it says here, like crowns of gold. So that might suggest the color of them. And their faces were as the faces of men. What is that? Do they have what appears to be their eyes and their nose and mouth like a man that you can see that, relate to? But you pick up a regular grasshopper and look at it now, they don't look much like a man. And they had hair as the hair of a woman, which is very curious there. This insect or this creature would have that hair like that. And their teeth were as the teeth of lions. If you look at the teeth of a regular locust, they come out kind of like a spider. Just two mantles that come from left and right and close forward with two more that come down from top and bottom where they chew on things. But this is going to be different. These are going to have different teeth. They had hair as a woman. and their teeth was 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." So many of them that you're going to hear them. Those areas that have been infested with locusts claim that they can hear them when they come in. They come in and you can actually hear all their wings flapping. There's going to be so many of these and they're going to be so big and so noisy with the way they're designed that it's going to sound like 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." This angel is the star that was mentioned in verse 1 of chapter 9. "...whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past, and behold, there come two woes more hereafter." Notice this is still within the second half, or I should say the second quarter of the Tribulation. It's within the second half of the first half, or the second quarter. And it is ramping up. They are not killing the individuals that they're tormenting, they're just tormenting them. As it continues in verse 13, And a sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed. which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men." Now it kicks in to actually killing. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand, and I heard the number of them. Note the way that John describes the number. Two hundred thousand thousand. which is actually 200 million, if you would translate it in what we would know. The word million or the number million wasn't familiar to John when he wrote this. We know this would be equivalent of 200 million of these horsemen. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and hands of jaspeth, 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." There again, a lot of descriptions that we really don't know exactly what this is going to be, what these are that are coming after them. To have this description of them, metaphorically speaking or literally speaking, we don't really know. By these three was the third part of men killed. The judgments are ramping up to where those that have not yielded are being killed. by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone which issued out of their mouths. So when you have a volcanic eruption, you have a lot of toxic gases that come out. We went to Hawaii and went to the big island where you can go in the National Park there, of the Volcanic National Park there. And you can walk right on up to the volcano if you are properly prepared with the kind of suit to be able to do that. Well, when Tammy and I went to Hawaii, I mean, it's been many years ago, but I was dumb enough to go ahead and, well, you wait here. I want to see how close I can get. Not a very bright thing to do, but I've done a lot of things that weren't very bright. And I had tennis shoes on. And my tennis shoes were beginning to melt. That's how close I got to this. And the smoke that was coming up around me, I could smell. It was toxic. I kept looking back to see. And I told her, keep an eye on me, because if you see me go down, it means I done got asphyxiated by the vapors that could come out of the volcano. So these vapors are toxic. And some of them, you can't even smell. Carbon monoxide, you can't smell. But it's very toxic, and that's what he's speaking of here. These that are coming out of the bottomless pit have these toxic fumes or toxic gases available to them to use as a weapon to kill these people. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails. For their tails were like unto scorpions, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." An opportunity to come to the Lord, trying to get their attention by bringing these judgments upon them, but yet they still would not repent. Those that reached the point where He was finished with them, He went ahead and killed them. Others still had an opportunity to come to Him. But as I said, many of them did not. That's all we have time for today. We'll get back into this next time, but let's pray. Lord Jesus and Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for Your Word. It is so powerful. Even these prophecies of the things to come, so mysterious they are, and so curious. It helps us to really know that there is so much that we still don't understand. We thank you so much. Let us know that we Christians that have already trusted you as Lord and Savior are not going to have to go into those times. We're not going to have to be a part of that suffering. But please help us be about the work that you have set before us so more can come in and know you before these things become initiated. We thank you so much for our opportunity to be a part of your work as we pray in Jesus' precious holy name. Amen.