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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.                                                                                                                                                    /
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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. ...                                                                                                                                                /
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                                                                                                                                                                                                      /
  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.                                                                                                              /
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