CHAPTER IV
Revelation 8:1 through 10:7
The Seventh Seal
(Revelation 8:1-6)And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
And 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 seal had provided thunder, the first response of the seventh seal is silence.
AAbout the space of half an hour@ of heavenly time would allow for a silence of twenty-one years. Peter had revealed that a day of heavenly time was likened unto a thousand years. The church, walking in this anointing, will be reaching out their hand to all flesh during this time. AFor by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.@1 Jude has seen this as Acompassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.@2 One of the best examples of the third realm of the church can be seen in the manner of Stephen. After preaching the Afull gospel@ to a Jewish audience, Ahe being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man=s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.@3
I cry as I write about this man of God, will the world every be worthy? Can we measure up to this standard? Paul was to spend the rest of his life fulfilling the ministry that was in this man. When he received Stephen
=s garments, the anointing came with them. Saul would not be Saul much longer.
As the church attains the third realm, their cleansing will bring them to the nature of Stephen. The name
AStephen@ means Acrown@. This crown of the meek, forgiving nature is a requirement to pass through the fire and open (or loose) the seventh seal with the Lamb.This point in time and space was written and cast in stone. That which God has sealed, no man could open and that which God has opened, no man can seal or close. Every open seal has been an eye opener for the church. The true sheep have walked with the Lamb choosing his nature, recognizing the voice of his spirit, enduring trials and tribulations and storms and battles. They have overcome false Christs and false prophets, choosing to follow the Christ rather than signs and wonders. The church judges nothing by the flesh, for only by the anointing is the yoke broken. They have beheld the lightning from the East to the West. They have seen the light and heard the thunder. To them it has been a voice and a path. The overcomers see with the eye of the spirit the transformed Lamb with the golden censer offering much incense with their prayers. The offering of incense behind the veil symbolizes the full atonement at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Lamb has brought the church to the final Feast. As the church stands in this realm of vision they look at the full picture of their walk, while the angels reveal what they as ministering spirits have done to perfect the church.
(Revelation 8:7)
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.
Isaiah had revealed that
Aevery valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.@4 The voice of God (his trumpets) brought his breath (spirit) upon all flesh. The tree which reflects the Aloftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.@5
The prophet Ezekiel speaking by the Holy Ghost said,
Athou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind: and I will draw out a sword after them.@6 The fire was tempered with ice and mixes with blood (mercy) as Jesus began to reveal himself in the flesh of man knowing the limitations.(Revelation 8:8-9)
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
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.
Jeremiah speaking of Babylon said,
Abehold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.@7 The Asea@ of unredeemed flesh, the Adam nature, is the receiver of the great whore as she seeks to quench the fire that has come upon her. She destroys life and the Aships@ which are ministries of truth. Within her is the blood of many martyrs, as she continues to Acall her own@. She represent the tares of all generations as the false imitates the truth.
(Revelation 8:10-11)
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 water:
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the water, because they were made bitter.
The
Agreat star@ wants to contaminate and make bitter through its influence. The waters not only poison, but they become one with the star. Wormwood brings forth wormwood.
Jesus anointed his church with a spiritual ability,
Aif they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.@8 Jesus also said unto his ministry, AI beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.@9
(Revelation 8:12-13)
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.
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 presence of sin raises up, Micah speaks of this
Adarkness@, Athus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine: and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.@10 Many ministries war against the one church, as they bit and snarl with their teeth protecting doctrines of darkness, supposing that theory is better than truth. The truth will appear as a thief to them. Isaiah prophesied, Abehold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.@11
The removing of the tares, the source of sin, prepares the righteous. Jesus said,
Aimmediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.@12
The First Woe
(Revelation 9:1-12)
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 their 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.
One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.
Jesus who has the keys of
Ahell and death@13, knew that the Lamb with his presence was ready to begin the final war. He commanded the destroying angel (Apollyon) to open the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit is the AABUSSOS PHREAR@ in the Greek which means the Adeep abyss@. The word AABUSSOS@ is rendered the Adeep@ in Luke 8:31, as a place the legion of demons didn=t want cast into, as Jesus brought deliverance to the naked man at the tombs of the Gadarenes. The word APHREAR@ means Aabyss or hole@ and is used with the word AABUSSOS@ only in the first two verses of Chapter nine of the Revelation, in the original writings. The word Apit@ is an added word elsewhere in the King James translation of the Revelation.
The opened pit caused the dark to get even darker as the battle lines of judgement were declared. Those who hold the truth in unrighteousness are the first judged. Their pet doctrines have not prepared them for any tribulation. They have not died out to sin, which means to err. They have not the knowledge of the spirit because of the lies (tares) planted in their earth.
AThe letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.@14 They camped out with their talent, instead of joining the marching Lamb. Now they search for the word that will deliver them, for the garment must not be spotted by the flesh. They are the first to be fooled by the army of the Antichrist, who is trying to imitate the anointing of the sealed. Their crowns look like gold, their faces look like men and their breastplates resist the righteous. They have power like the sting of scorpions. The angel of the Lord revealed the Arebellious, as scorpions@ when speaking to the prophet Ezekiel, Aand thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.@15 Scorpions are one of oldest creatures, they predate dinosaurs by millions of years. They are nocturnal and cryptozoic, loving darkness rather than light. They feed only on animal food, mostly insects, though lizards and mice have also been their victims. The poison of their sting relates to the size of the scorpion. Many have stridulating organs comparable to the rattles of rattlesnakes. They are extraordinarily susceptibal to heat and succumb rapidly to the warmth of fire. Victims of scorpions are paralyzed by their sting. The Bible, when exposing the scorpion nature of the Antichrist and relating it to a man, could not have found a better example in nature: to paralyze or render their victim disfunctional by touch or sting. Their five segmented tail represents the five fold ministry of the >imitation church=. Their poison from two glands relates to the two beasts that we will expose in a later chapter.
A
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace (means prosperity) shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.@16 The Antichrist, the great delusion that can touch and stun and work wonderfully (miracles) will destroy (ruin, corrupt, spoil) the unsealed portion of the church. AWitchcraft@17, a work of the flesh, will prosper in his hand. But like the scorpions, he will be Abroken without hand.@ The anointing will break the yoke.
The Second Woe
(Revelation 9:13-21)
And the 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.
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The sixth angel, after sounding his trumpet, was commanded by Jesus from the horns of the golden altar to loose the four angels which are bound in the Euphrates. This will dry up the spiritual bondage that has held back the kings of the East (see Revelation 16:12). The Eastern religions will join in the war against the Lamb. Many will be caught by this influence that cultivates the carnal mind. This Eastern horde will number two hundred million. Their influence is like a plaque as many imitate the dragon who is the root of these beasts. Many will worship in a fire, as the dragon produces his counterfeit army, calling it the church and himself the Holy Ghost. He knows his power is temporary as all power comes from God. This is the strong delusion sent from God for those that have pleasure in unrighteousness (see II Thessalonians 2:11-12).
The Lamb is neither male nor female, but a new creation of the anointing. The Eastern power can stun men and turn them to the carnal mind which is death. Ancient secrets of the flesh will cause many to worship devils, idols of gold, silver, brass, wood and stone: all made by the hands of flesh. But the church is not a man neither a woman, neither a Jew nor a Gentile and greater is he that is in thee, than he that is in the world. One can put down a thousand, two can overcome ten thousand, three would have victory over one hundred thousand, four over one million, five would have have victory over ten million, six over one hundred million and seven can defeat a billion. God ordained the overcoming church with power over the enemy. His unified body with him as the head cannot fail.
(Revelation 10:1-7)
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth.
And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write then not.
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven.
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
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 prophet Daniel wrote of a time that
AMichael shall stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise (teachers) shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall turn to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.@18 To Aawaken@ is to come to a higher level of awareness. Many, because of the earth shaking events, shall examine their condition with regard to God=s wisdom. Those without the oil will try to purchase it.
Daniel was told to
Ago thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.@ As the great angel Michael, whose names means Ahe who is like God@ stands to hand the book that was sealed in Daniel=s day to John, he symbolized the union of the sea and the sand with the rainbow of the covenant upon his head and the cloud of the many witnesses around him. He who comes to this nature of the Lord will have no respect of persons. The Jew and the Gentile will be treated the same in the eyes of God. The seven thunders revealed unwritable things which the Lord commanded to be sealed. Michael declared by the power of Jesus who made all things, that there should be time no longer. He was not declaring the end of the world, for the word Atime@ in this scripture means Adelay@. God will no longer delay the completion of his mystery.
Paul in revealing this mystery said,
Ahaving made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.@20 AAnd to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.@21 Paul=s summation to the church was Awhereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 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.@22 Christ in us will have reached a fulness determined by the spirit of Christ. We will receive, along with John, the final revelation of our walk.
REFERENCES
1 Isaiah 66:16
2 Jude 22-23
3 Acts 7:55-60
4 Isaiah 40:4-8
5 Isaiah 2:17
6 Ezekiel 5:2
7 Jeremiah 51:25
8 Mark 16:18
9 Luke 10:18-19
10 Micah 3:5-6
11 Isaiah 13:9-10
12 Matthew 24:29
13 Revelation 1:18
14 II Corinthians 3:6
15 Ezekiel 2:6
16 Daniel 8:23-25
17 Galatians 5;20
18 Daniel 12:1-4
19 Daniel 12:9-10
20 Ephesians 1:9-10
21 Ephesians 3:9
22 Colossians 1:25-27
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