*Revelation 8:7 / *Rev. 8:7 -
(Re: Do the trumpets have to be God's wrath because they are sounded by His angels?)
No, the fact that angels will sound the trumpets of the future Tribulation (e.g. Revelation 8:7) does not require that the events which will follow the sounding of the first six trumpets cannot be the work of Satan; just as, for example, the fact that good watchmen can sound trumpets to warn a city of an approaching hostile army (Ezekiel 33:3) does not require that that approaching army is not made up of evil men.
(See also paragraphs 6-7 of 1 Thessalonians 5:9 above)
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*Revelation 8:8-9 / *Rev. 8:8 -
(Re: The *2nd trumpet)
Revelation 8:8a could refer to the future collapse into the ocean of a huge, erupting volcano, possibly one of the Canary Islands. Revelation 8:8b could refer to one-third of the North Atlantic turning blood-red due to a gigantic amount of blood-red mud pouring forth from the volcano into the sea for an extended period of time. Revelation 8:9a could refer to one-third of the sea creatures in the North Atlantic dying because of there being so much mud in the water. And Revelation 8:9b could refer to one-third of the North Atlantic's ships being destroyed in port by a massive tsunami caused by the volcano's collapse into the ocean. This tsunami could destroy the eastern seaboard of the U.S.
(See also paragraph 2 of the "Details" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above)
~
("Cast" into the sea)
In Revelation 8:8 the original Greek word (ballo: G0906) translated as "cast" can also be translated as "thrown down" (Revelation 18:21b). It could be Satan who will "throw down" a volcano into the ocean, such as by causing it to collapse during a huge eruption.
~
(Re: Does "the sea" in Revelation 8:8 have to be global? Or does it have to be a lake, like in Matthew 8:24/Luke 8:22?
In Revelation 8:8 the original Greek word (thalassa: G2281) translated as the "sea" is used in Matthew 8:24, for example, to refer to a non-global body of water.
So nothing requires that the "sea" (thalassa) in Revelation 8:8 is global. It could be the North Atlantic, which the U.S. and U.K. affectionately call "the pond".
Regarding Luke 8:22, it uses a different Greek word (limne: G3041), which is translated as "lake". It can also mean "a pond" (Strong's Greek Dictionary).
But "thalassa" in Revelation 8:8 does not have to refer to a lake, because "thalassa" is also used, for example, in Acts 27:38 to refer to the Mediterranean Sea.
~
(Re: How can Revelation 8:8 mean that a sea came to appear like blood, when the word "like" is not in Revelation 8:8?)
Note that it does not have to employ "like" in order to mean that.
For example, the "blood" of grapes is not literal in Genesis 49:11. But red wine can appear like blood.
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*Revelation 8:10-11 / *Rev. 8:10 -
See paragraph 3 of the "Details" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above.
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*Revelation 9:1 / *Rev. 9:1 -
The star could represent an angel, like the stars in Revelation 1:20 represented "angels".
~
(Bottomless pit)
See Job 33:22 above.
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*Revelation 9:4 / *Rev. 9:4 -
Those people without the seal of God on their forehead (Revelation 9:4) at the fifth trumpet of the future Tribulation (Revelation 9:1) will be those people who are not the 144,000 male-virgins part of the Church (Revelation 14:1,4). For only the 144,000 will be sealed on their forehead (Revelation 7:3-4) for physical protection (Revelation 9:4) before the Tribulation's seven-trumpets' events begin in Revelation 8.
(See also Revelation 7:3 and Revelation 7:4 above)
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*Revelation 9:5 / *Rev. 9:5 -
(*5 months)
(See the "5 months?" section of Luke 17:26 above)
Regarding the idea that the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 will last only five months because of what Revelation 9:5,10 says, the five months there are the entire length of only the time of the fifth trumpet's strange locust-like beings stinging mankind (Revelation 9:1-11). This time will not even begin until after the events of the Tribulation's second-through-seventh seals and then the first-through-fourth trumpets have occurred in the order shown in Revelation 6:3 to 8:13.
Also, the time of the fifth trumpet will end sometime before the sixth trumpet's events of Revelation 9:13-21, which could occur before the 1,335 days in Daniel 12:11-12 begin at the mid-tribulation setting up of the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the future Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of a future, third Jewish temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36, cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4). This setting up of the abomination of desolation could occur at the start of the future Antichrist's literal 3.5-year worldwide reign, which time period is shown from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11-14 (Revelation 11:2b-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5,7, Revelation 14:9-13).
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*Revelation 9:6 / *Rev. 9:6 -
"Those days" are the five-month period when strange locust-like beings will torment mankind with excruciating (yet nonlethal) stings during only the fifth-trumpet part (Revelation 9:1-11) of the first half of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.
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*Revelation 9:7-19 / *Rev. 9:7 -
(*Locusts and *Horses)
The weird locust-like beings in Revelation 9:7-10, and the subsequent army of 200 million weird horse-like beings in Revelation 9:16-19, could both be literal, and could both be seen by the world as "aliens", or "demons", when in fact they could both be animal species which evolved or were miraculously created (at two different times) on the earth millions of years ago. The weird locust-like beings are currently living, or are in some state of extended hibernation, in the Bottomless Pit of the earth (Revelation 9:2-3,11), which may have a physical manifestation as a deep underground cavern. The top of this cavern could be deep under the city of Abadan (in Iran), just as the Bottomless Pit is under the angel Abaddon (Revelation 9:11). The weird locust-like beings will swarm up from the Bottomless Pit to torment mankind with excruciating stings for five months (Revelation 9:2-10). They will not kill anyone, but they will make those they sting want to die, the pain will be so bad (Revelation 9:5-6). They will hurt people who do not have a seal of God on their forehead (Revelation 9:4, cf. Revelation 7:3-4).
The world could see these locust-like beings as "aliens" who had lain dormant in deep underground caverns (like in the X-Files). The locust-like beings will be shaped like horses prepared for battle (Revelation 9:7). They will have heads on which they will have as it were crowns like gold (Revelation 9:7b). They will have faces as the faces of men (Revelation 9:7c), hair as the hair of women (Revelation 9:8), teeth as the teeth of lions (Revelation 9:8b), and breastplates as it were breastplates of iron (Revelation 9:9). They will have wings, the sound of which will be as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle (Revelation 9:9b). And they will have tails like unto scorpions (Revelation 9:10), and stingers in their tails (Revelation 9:10b).
Regarding the subsequent, weird horse-like beings (Revelation 9:16-19), because they will have to come from somewhere, and it could be difficult to keep 200 million of them hidden on the earth, they could be currently living, or be in some state of extended hibernation, in hidden underground bases somewhere away from the earth, such as on the far side of the moon, and/or on the next planet out from the sun (they could even be a source of the mysterious methane emissions which have been detected in places emanating from beneath the fourth planet's surface).
The 200 million literal, weird horse-like beings of the Tribulation's sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:16-19) have not come upon the earth yet (as is sometimes claimed), because one-third of mankind has not been killed by them yet (Revelation 9:18).
~
(Re: What about the horses' riders being called horsemen?)
In Revelation 9:16 the original Greek word (hippikon: G2461) translated as "horsemen" does not include any word for "men". All it requires is a horse-based (that is, a cavalry) military force. For it is based on the Greek word (hippos: G2462) which simply means "horse". And just as the strange and extremely-deadly horse-like creatures described in detail in Revelation 9:17-19 are not the horses which are on the earth today, so the riders of the horse-like creatures do not have to be humans, but can be unclean spirits, just as the army as a whole will be led by four fallen angels who are currently bound in the Euphrates (Revelation 9:14-19).
~
(Re: What about the locusts having the faces of men?)
In Revelation 9:7 the faces of the locusts are only "as" (Greek: hos: G5613) the faces of men. For the full and detailed description of the strange locust-like beings in Revelation 9:7-10 shows that they are not humans, just as it shows that they are not the locusts on the earth today. Similarly, some of the angelic beings called cherubims have hands like men (Ezekiel 1:8, Ezekiel 10:8,21), while their full description in Ezekiel 1:6-11 shows that they are not humans.
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*Revelation 9:10 / *Rev. 9:10 -
(Five months)
See Revelation 9:5 above.
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*Revelation 9:11 / *Rev. 9:11 -
Abaddon/Apollyon could be a powerful fallen angel whom Satan has assigned to rule the Bottomless Pit of the earth, and to serve as king over the strange locust-like beings who currently reside there (Revelation 9:2-11). Satan could be allowed to release the locust-like beings (and their fallen angelic king, Abaddon) to torment mankind for five literal months (Revelation 9:1-11), at one point during the first half of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.
Abaddon does not have to be Satan himself (the dragon, Revelation 12:9), just as the four fallen angels who will be in charge of the 200 million strange horse-like beings, who will subsequently kill one-third of mankind (Revelation 9:14-19), do not have to be Satan himself.
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*Revelation 9:12 / *Rev. 9:12 -
(*Woes)
There will be three woes during the future Tribulation (Revelation 8:13, Revelation 9:12, Revelation 11:14).
The first woe will be the fifth trumpet, the time of the weird, locust-like beings (Revelation 8:13 to 9:12).
In Revelation 9:12 the second woe will be the sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:13), which Revelation 11:14a shows will include both the weird, horse-like beings of Revelation 9:17-19, and God's future, human Two Witnesses of Revelation 11:3-13.
Revelation 9:13-19 will occur right before, and then Revelation 11:2b-13 will occur during, the literal 3.5 years of the future Antichrist's worldwide reign (Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 11:2b-3, Revelation 12:6,14).
In Revelation 9:12 and Revelation 11:14, the third woe will be the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:14-15), which will announce the legal end of the future Antichrist's reign (Revelation 11:15). And then out of the seventh trumpet's heavenly-temple opening will come the seven plagues of the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 11:19, Revelation 15:5 to 16:1), the future Tribulation's final stage, which will be poured out on the Antichrist's worshippers (Revelation 16).
~
(Re: So the sixth trumpet, or second woe, will last seven years?)
No, it could last about 3.6 years, that is, including the possibly month-long time of the 200 million weird horse-like beings (Revelation 9:16-18), and then the subsequent 3.5 years of the future Antichrist (Revelation 13:5-18) and God's Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:3,14).
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*Revelation 9:14 / *Rev. 9:14 -
Here the four angels are four fallen angels who are currently bound in the Euphrates.
(See paragraphs 3-4 of the "Beast" section of Revelation 13:5 below)
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*Revelation 9:20 / *Rev. 9:20 -
This does not mean that there will not be any obedient Biblical Christians on the earth at the time of the sixth trumpet of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. Instead, Revelation 9:20 simply means that the surviving non-Christians at that time will not repent from their sins, just as Revelation 13:3-8 means that all of the nonelect non-Christians will consciously and openly worship Lucifer the dragon (Satan, Revelation 12:9) and the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), not that all of the Christians and elect non-Christians still alive on the earth at that time (Revelation 13:8b-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-31) will worship Lucifer and the Antichrist.
(See also the "Surviving" section of Revelation 13:15b below)
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*Revelation 10 / *Rev. 10 -
Here the angel and the little book could refer to a powerful, unfallen angel giving the apostle John understanding of the little book of Daniel, which foretells the literal 3.5-year worldwide reign of the future Antichrist (Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7), which John was just about to see from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11 to 14 (Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 14:9-13).
(See also Daniel 12:4 above)
~
(Re: Same angel event as in Daniel 12:7?)
The angel event in Daniel 12:7 happened back when the prophet Daniel saw it in the sixth century BC, whereas the angel event in Revelation 10:1-7 happened when the apostle John saw it in the first century AD, after he saw the future Tribulation's sixth-trumpet events of Revelation 9:13-21, and before he saw the future Antichrist's worldwide reign from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11 to 14. The Tribulation's seventh trumpet referred to in Revelation 10:7 will sound at the legal end of that reign (Revelation 11:15).
Also, in Daniel 12:7 the angel is on a river and holds up both of his hands, whereas in Revelation 10:1-7 the angel has one foot on the sea and one on the land and holds up only one of his hands.
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*Revelation 10:4 / *Rev. 10:4 -
(Re: Means that what the *7 thunders uttered was not from God?)
Something can be a message from God even though He has not yet revealed it. For example, God gave the ancient Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar a prophetic dream, but Nebuchadnezzar could not remember its details (Daniel 2:5). It took the prophet Daniel, by a miracle from God, to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar the details of his dream (Daniel 2:19). Similarly, the seven thunders could have uttered something from God, without Him yet revealing (to us) the details of what they said.
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2); and God has made Christians kings (Revelation 5:10).
The seven thunders in Revelation 10:4 may have spoken of some events, not revealed in the book of Daniel or Revelation, which will happen between the future Tribulation's sixth-trumpet events in Revelation 9:13-21 and the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15-19, that is, some events which will happen during the literal 3.5-year worldwide reign of the future Antichrist, which the apostle John was about to see from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11 to 14 (Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 14:9-13).
(See also Revelation 10(space) above)
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*Revelation 10:6 / *Rev. 10:6 -
"That there should be time no longer" could simply mean that the future Tribulation's final stage, the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 16), will no longer be off in the future once the Tribulation's seventh trumpet sounds (Revelation 10:7). For the seven vials' plagues will come out of the seventh trumpet's heavenly-temple opening (Revelation 11:15,19, Revelation 15:5 to 16:1).
(See also section 2 of Revelation 8:1(space) above)
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*Revelation 10:7 / *Rev. 10:7 -
(*Mystery)
In Revelation 10:7, "finished" in the original Greek is "teleo" (G5055), which can mean "performed" (Luke 2:39). Revelation 10:7 means that the prophetic writings regarding the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 will finish being performed at the Tribulation's seventh trumpet. For out of the seventh trumpet's heavenly-temple opening will come the final stage of the Tribulation, the seven plagues of the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 11:19, Revelation 15:5 to 16:1).
In Revelation 10:7 the "mystery" is currently known by the Church, just as, for example, the "mystery" in Romans 16:25-26 and Colossians 1:26 is currently known by the Church. For the mystery in Revelation 10:7 has already been "declared to his servants the prophets" (Revelation 10:7), just as the "mystery" in Romans 16:25-26 and Colossians 1:26 is already "made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets" (Romans 16:26).
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*Revelation 10:11 / *Rev. 10:11 -
The apostle John's prophecies in the book of Revelation were originally sent to the first century AD Church (Revelation chapters 1-3), which probably expected all of his prophecies to be fulfilled shortly thereafter (shortly from the viewpoint of humans, not God). But when the book of Revelation's future prophecies (Revelation 4:1b) in chapters 6 to 22 did not happen right away, as the centuries passed the Church began to pay less and less attention to the book of Revelation. It is only in modern times that a significant portion of the Church has become interested again in the book of Revelation and the future fulfillment of (its never fulfilled) chapters 6 to 22, so that, in effect, the apostle John is, through the enduring book of Revelation, "prophesying again" (Revelation 10:11), this time to the modern Church, just as he prophesied originally to the early Church.
(See also the "relevant" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above. And see the "Soon" section of Revelation 1:1,3 above)
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*Revelation chapters 11 to 14 / *Rev. chs. 11-14 -
These chapters show from four different angles the same, literal 3.5 years (Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 14:9-13) of the worldwide reign (Revelation 13:4-18) of the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"). His reign will occur after Revelation chapters 6 to 10 and before Revelation chapters 15 to 21, and will legally end at the future Tribulation's seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15).
(See also the "Chronological" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above)
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*Revelation 11:1-2 / *Rev. 11:1 -
(*Temple)
Revelation 11:1-2, Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36, and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 require that there will be a third Jewish temple in the earthly Jerusalem during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. This third temple will coexist with the Church like the second temple did (Luke 24:53, Acts 2:46, Acts 22:17) and like the temple building in heaven does (Revelation 11:19). The third temple could be built on Jerusalem's Temple Mount by the ultra-Orthodox Jews after they (or great earthquakes) clear the site by destroying the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. Shortly after they build the temple, the future Antichrist could attack and defeat them, and a false Messiah leading them (Daniel 11:22).
Then the Antichrist could "cut" a peace treaty with them and their false "Messiah" (Daniel 9:26a, Daniel 11:23a), permitting them to keep the temple and to continue to (mistakenly) perform the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices in front of it for at least seven years (Daniel 9:27a), so long as they give up the outer court of the temple (Revelation 11:2a) to the Muslims so that the Muslims can rebuild the Al Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the Temple Mount and resume worship there. The ultra-Orthodox Jews could grudgingly agree to this, if the only other option is for them to lose the temple entirely. They could then build a high wall between the temple and the mosque to keep the temple from being "defiled".
But then, only some 3.5 years after making the peace treaty, the Antichrist will break the treaty, attack the temple, stop the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices, place the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of the temple (Daniel 9:27b, Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15), and then sit himself (at least one time) in the temple and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). Thus could begin the Antichrist's literal, 3.5-year Luciferian (Satanic) worldwide reign of terror (Revelation 13:4-18, Revelation 12:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:9).
At the very end of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the Antichrist (Daniel 11:45) and the world's armies will pillage Jerusalem, right before Jesus Christ's Second Coming (Zechariah 14:2-21). And at the Second Coming, there will be tremendous earth changes in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4-5). These events could result in all of Jerusalem's structures, including the third temple and the Wailing Wall (also called the Western Wall), being broken down so that not one stone will be left upon another (Luke 19:44, Matthew 24:2). Then the returned Jesus (Zechariah 14:4, Acts 1:11-12) will rebuild Jerusalem and make it the capital of the world (Zechariah 14:8-19, Micah 4:1-4). He will also build a fourth temple there (Zechariah 14:20-21, Zechariah 6:12-13). It will serve a similar function for the Church during the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6) as the second temple served for the Church in the first century AD (Luke 24:53, Acts 2:46, Acts 22:17) and as the temple building in heaven (Revelation 11:19) serves for those in heaven (Revelation 7:15).
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Dec 30, 2018
(Re: Do the trumpets have to be God's wrath because they are sounded by His angels?)
No, the fact that angels will sound the trumpets of the future Tribulation (e.g. Revelation 8:7) does not require that the events which will follow the sounding of the first six trumpets cannot be the work of Satan; just as, for example, the fact that good watchmen can sound trumpets to warn a city of an approaching hostile army (Ezekiel 33:3) does not require that that approaching army is not made up of evil men.
(See also paragraphs 6-7 of 1 Thessalonians 5:9 above)
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*Revelation 8:8-9 / *Rev. 8:8 -
(Re: The *2nd trumpet)
Revelation 8:8a could refer to the future collapse into the ocean of a huge, erupting volcano, possibly one of the Canary Islands. Revelation 8:8b could refer to one-third of the North Atlantic turning blood-red due to a gigantic amount of blood-red mud pouring forth from the volcano into the sea for an extended period of time. Revelation 8:9a could refer to one-third of the sea creatures in the North Atlantic dying because of there being so much mud in the water. And Revelation 8:9b could refer to one-third of the North Atlantic's ships being destroyed in port by a massive tsunami caused by the volcano's collapse into the ocean. This tsunami could destroy the eastern seaboard of the U.S.
(See also paragraph 2 of the "Details" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above)
~
("Cast" into the sea)
In Revelation 8:8 the original Greek word (ballo: G0906) translated as "cast" can also be translated as "thrown down" (Revelation 18:21b). It could be Satan who will "throw down" a volcano into the ocean, such as by causing it to collapse during a huge eruption.
~
(Re: Does "the sea" in Revelation 8:8 have to be global? Or does it have to be a lake, like in Matthew 8:24/Luke 8:22?
In Revelation 8:8 the original Greek word (thalassa: G2281) translated as the "sea" is used in Matthew 8:24, for example, to refer to a non-global body of water.
So nothing requires that the "sea" (thalassa) in Revelation 8:8 is global. It could be the North Atlantic, which the U.S. and U.K. affectionately call "the pond".
Regarding Luke 8:22, it uses a different Greek word (limne: G3041), which is translated as "lake". It can also mean "a pond" (Strong's Greek Dictionary).
But "thalassa" in Revelation 8:8 does not have to refer to a lake, because "thalassa" is also used, for example, in Acts 27:38 to refer to the Mediterranean Sea.
~
(Re: How can Revelation 8:8 mean that a sea came to appear like blood, when the word "like" is not in Revelation 8:8?)
Note that it does not have to employ "like" in order to mean that.
For example, the "blood" of grapes is not literal in Genesis 49:11. But red wine can appear like blood.
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*Revelation 8:10-11 / *Rev. 8:10 -
See paragraph 3 of the "Details" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above.
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*Revelation 9:1 / *Rev. 9:1 -
The star could represent an angel, like the stars in Revelation 1:20 represented "angels".
~
(Bottomless pit)
See Job 33:22 above.
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*Revelation 9:4 / *Rev. 9:4 -
Those people without the seal of God on their forehead (Revelation 9:4) at the fifth trumpet of the future Tribulation (Revelation 9:1) will be those people who are not the 144,000 male-virgins part of the Church (Revelation 14:1,4). For only the 144,000 will be sealed on their forehead (Revelation 7:3-4) for physical protection (Revelation 9:4) before the Tribulation's seven-trumpets' events begin in Revelation 8.
(See also Revelation 7:3 and Revelation 7:4 above)
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*Revelation 9:5 / *Rev. 9:5 -
(*5 months)
(See the "5 months?" section of Luke 17:26 above)
Regarding the idea that the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 will last only five months because of what Revelation 9:5,10 says, the five months there are the entire length of only the time of the fifth trumpet's strange locust-like beings stinging mankind (Revelation 9:1-11). This time will not even begin until after the events of the Tribulation's second-through-seventh seals and then the first-through-fourth trumpets have occurred in the order shown in Revelation 6:3 to 8:13.
Also, the time of the fifth trumpet will end sometime before the sixth trumpet's events of Revelation 9:13-21, which could occur before the 1,335 days in Daniel 12:11-12 begin at the mid-tribulation setting up of the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the future Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of a future, third Jewish temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36, cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4). This setting up of the abomination of desolation could occur at the start of the future Antichrist's literal 3.5-year worldwide reign, which time period is shown from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11-14 (Revelation 11:2b-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5,7, Revelation 14:9-13).
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*Revelation 9:6 / *Rev. 9:6 -
"Those days" are the five-month period when strange locust-like beings will torment mankind with excruciating (yet nonlethal) stings during only the fifth-trumpet part (Revelation 9:1-11) of the first half of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.
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*Revelation 9:7-19 / *Rev. 9:7 -
(*Locusts and *Horses)
The weird locust-like beings in Revelation 9:7-10, and the subsequent army of 200 million weird horse-like beings in Revelation 9:16-19, could both be literal, and could both be seen by the world as "aliens", or "demons", when in fact they could both be animal species which evolved or were miraculously created (at two different times) on the earth millions of years ago. The weird locust-like beings are currently living, or are in some state of extended hibernation, in the Bottomless Pit of the earth (Revelation 9:2-3,11), which may have a physical manifestation as a deep underground cavern. The top of this cavern could be deep under the city of Abadan (in Iran), just as the Bottomless Pit is under the angel Abaddon (Revelation 9:11). The weird locust-like beings will swarm up from the Bottomless Pit to torment mankind with excruciating stings for five months (Revelation 9:2-10). They will not kill anyone, but they will make those they sting want to die, the pain will be so bad (Revelation 9:5-6). They will hurt people who do not have a seal of God on their forehead (Revelation 9:4, cf. Revelation 7:3-4).
The world could see these locust-like beings as "aliens" who had lain dormant in deep underground caverns (like in the X-Files). The locust-like beings will be shaped like horses prepared for battle (Revelation 9:7). They will have heads on which they will have as it were crowns like gold (Revelation 9:7b). They will have faces as the faces of men (Revelation 9:7c), hair as the hair of women (Revelation 9:8), teeth as the teeth of lions (Revelation 9:8b), and breastplates as it were breastplates of iron (Revelation 9:9). They will have wings, the sound of which will be as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle (Revelation 9:9b). And they will have tails like unto scorpions (Revelation 9:10), and stingers in their tails (Revelation 9:10b).
Regarding the subsequent, weird horse-like beings (Revelation 9:16-19), because they will have to come from somewhere, and it could be difficult to keep 200 million of them hidden on the earth, they could be currently living, or be in some state of extended hibernation, in hidden underground bases somewhere away from the earth, such as on the far side of the moon, and/or on the next planet out from the sun (they could even be a source of the mysterious methane emissions which have been detected in places emanating from beneath the fourth planet's surface).
The 200 million literal, weird horse-like beings of the Tribulation's sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:16-19) have not come upon the earth yet (as is sometimes claimed), because one-third of mankind has not been killed by them yet (Revelation 9:18).
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(Re: What about the horses' riders being called horsemen?)
In Revelation 9:16 the original Greek word (hippikon: G2461) translated as "horsemen" does not include any word for "men". All it requires is a horse-based (that is, a cavalry) military force. For it is based on the Greek word (hippos: G2462) which simply means "horse". And just as the strange and extremely-deadly horse-like creatures described in detail in Revelation 9:17-19 are not the horses which are on the earth today, so the riders of the horse-like creatures do not have to be humans, but can be unclean spirits, just as the army as a whole will be led by four fallen angels who are currently bound in the Euphrates (Revelation 9:14-19).
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(Re: What about the locusts having the faces of men?)
In Revelation 9:7 the faces of the locusts are only "as" (Greek: hos: G5613) the faces of men. For the full and detailed description of the strange locust-like beings in Revelation 9:7-10 shows that they are not humans, just as it shows that they are not the locusts on the earth today. Similarly, some of the angelic beings called cherubims have hands like men (Ezekiel 1:8, Ezekiel 10:8,21), while their full description in Ezekiel 1:6-11 shows that they are not humans.
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*Revelation 9:10 / *Rev. 9:10 -
(Five months)
See Revelation 9:5 above.
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*Revelation 9:11 / *Rev. 9:11 -
Abaddon/Apollyon could be a powerful fallen angel whom Satan has assigned to rule the Bottomless Pit of the earth, and to serve as king over the strange locust-like beings who currently reside there (Revelation 9:2-11). Satan could be allowed to release the locust-like beings (and their fallen angelic king, Abaddon) to torment mankind for five literal months (Revelation 9:1-11), at one point during the first half of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24.
Abaddon does not have to be Satan himself (the dragon, Revelation 12:9), just as the four fallen angels who will be in charge of the 200 million strange horse-like beings, who will subsequently kill one-third of mankind (Revelation 9:14-19), do not have to be Satan himself.
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*Revelation 9:12 / *Rev. 9:12 -
(*Woes)
There will be three woes during the future Tribulation (Revelation 8:13, Revelation 9:12, Revelation 11:14).
The first woe will be the fifth trumpet, the time of the weird, locust-like beings (Revelation 8:13 to 9:12).
In Revelation 9:12 the second woe will be the sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:13), which Revelation 11:14a shows will include both the weird, horse-like beings of Revelation 9:17-19, and God's future, human Two Witnesses of Revelation 11:3-13.
Revelation 9:13-19 will occur right before, and then Revelation 11:2b-13 will occur during, the literal 3.5 years of the future Antichrist's worldwide reign (Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 11:2b-3, Revelation 12:6,14).
In Revelation 9:12 and Revelation 11:14, the third woe will be the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:14-15), which will announce the legal end of the future Antichrist's reign (Revelation 11:15). And then out of the seventh trumpet's heavenly-temple opening will come the seven plagues of the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 11:19, Revelation 15:5 to 16:1), the future Tribulation's final stage, which will be poured out on the Antichrist's worshippers (Revelation 16).
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(Re: So the sixth trumpet, or second woe, will last seven years?)
No, it could last about 3.6 years, that is, including the possibly month-long time of the 200 million weird horse-like beings (Revelation 9:16-18), and then the subsequent 3.5 years of the future Antichrist (Revelation 13:5-18) and God's Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:3,14).
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*Revelation 9:14 / *Rev. 9:14 -
Here the four angels are four fallen angels who are currently bound in the Euphrates.
(See paragraphs 3-4 of the "Beast" section of Revelation 13:5 below)
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*Revelation 9:20 / *Rev. 9:20 -
This does not mean that there will not be any obedient Biblical Christians on the earth at the time of the sixth trumpet of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. Instead, Revelation 9:20 simply means that the surviving non-Christians at that time will not repent from their sins, just as Revelation 13:3-8 means that all of the nonelect non-Christians will consciously and openly worship Lucifer the dragon (Satan, Revelation 12:9) and the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"), not that all of the Christians and elect non-Christians still alive on the earth at that time (Revelation 13:8b-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-31) will worship Lucifer and the Antichrist.
(See also the "Surviving" section of Revelation 13:15b below)
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*Revelation 10 / *Rev. 10 -
Here the angel and the little book could refer to a powerful, unfallen angel giving the apostle John understanding of the little book of Daniel, which foretells the literal 3.5-year worldwide reign of the future Antichrist (Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7), which John was just about to see from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11 to 14 (Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 14:9-13).
(See also Daniel 12:4 above)
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(Re: Same angel event as in Daniel 12:7?)
The angel event in Daniel 12:7 happened back when the prophet Daniel saw it in the sixth century BC, whereas the angel event in Revelation 10:1-7 happened when the apostle John saw it in the first century AD, after he saw the future Tribulation's sixth-trumpet events of Revelation 9:13-21, and before he saw the future Antichrist's worldwide reign from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11 to 14. The Tribulation's seventh trumpet referred to in Revelation 10:7 will sound at the legal end of that reign (Revelation 11:15).
Also, in Daniel 12:7 the angel is on a river and holds up both of his hands, whereas in Revelation 10:1-7 the angel has one foot on the sea and one on the land and holds up only one of his hands.
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*Revelation 10:4 / *Rev. 10:4 -
(Re: Means that what the *7 thunders uttered was not from God?)
Something can be a message from God even though He has not yet revealed it. For example, God gave the ancient Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar a prophetic dream, but Nebuchadnezzar could not remember its details (Daniel 2:5). It took the prophet Daniel, by a miracle from God, to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar the details of his dream (Daniel 2:19). Similarly, the seven thunders could have uttered something from God, without Him yet revealing (to us) the details of what they said.
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2); and God has made Christians kings (Revelation 5:10).
The seven thunders in Revelation 10:4 may have spoken of some events, not revealed in the book of Daniel or Revelation, which will happen between the future Tribulation's sixth-trumpet events in Revelation 9:13-21 and the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15-19, that is, some events which will happen during the literal 3.5-year worldwide reign of the future Antichrist, which the apostle John was about to see from four different angles in Revelation chapters 11 to 14 (Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 14:9-13).
(See also Revelation 10(space) above)
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*Revelation 10:6 / *Rev. 10:6 -
"That there should be time no longer" could simply mean that the future Tribulation's final stage, the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 16), will no longer be off in the future once the Tribulation's seventh trumpet sounds (Revelation 10:7). For the seven vials' plagues will come out of the seventh trumpet's heavenly-temple opening (Revelation 11:15,19, Revelation 15:5 to 16:1).
(See also section 2 of Revelation 8:1(space) above)
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*Revelation 10:7 / *Rev. 10:7 -
(*Mystery)
In Revelation 10:7, "finished" in the original Greek is "teleo" (G5055), which can mean "performed" (Luke 2:39). Revelation 10:7 means that the prophetic writings regarding the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 will finish being performed at the Tribulation's seventh trumpet. For out of the seventh trumpet's heavenly-temple opening will come the final stage of the Tribulation, the seven plagues of the seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 11:19, Revelation 15:5 to 16:1).
In Revelation 10:7 the "mystery" is currently known by the Church, just as, for example, the "mystery" in Romans 16:25-26 and Colossians 1:26 is currently known by the Church. For the mystery in Revelation 10:7 has already been "declared to his servants the prophets" (Revelation 10:7), just as the "mystery" in Romans 16:25-26 and Colossians 1:26 is already "made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets" (Romans 16:26).
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*Revelation 10:11 / *Rev. 10:11 -
The apostle John's prophecies in the book of Revelation were originally sent to the first century AD Church (Revelation chapters 1-3), which probably expected all of his prophecies to be fulfilled shortly thereafter (shortly from the viewpoint of humans, not God). But when the book of Revelation's future prophecies (Revelation 4:1b) in chapters 6 to 22 did not happen right away, as the centuries passed the Church began to pay less and less attention to the book of Revelation. It is only in modern times that a significant portion of the Church has become interested again in the book of Revelation and the future fulfillment of (its never fulfilled) chapters 6 to 22, so that, in effect, the apostle John is, through the enduring book of Revelation, "prophesying again" (Revelation 10:11), this time to the modern Church, just as he prophesied originally to the early Church.
(See also the "relevant" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above. And see the "Soon" section of Revelation 1:1,3 above)
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*Revelation chapters 11 to 14 / *Rev. chs. 11-14 -
These chapters show from four different angles the same, literal 3.5 years (Revelation 11:2-3, Revelation 12:6,14, Revelation 13:5-18, Revelation 14:9-13) of the worldwide reign (Revelation 13:4-18) of the future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast"). His reign will occur after Revelation chapters 6 to 10 and before Revelation chapters 15 to 21, and will legally end at the future Tribulation's seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:15).
(See also the "Chronological" section of Revelation chapters 6 to 22 (Overview) above)
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*Revelation 11:1-2 / *Rev. 11:1 -
(*Temple)
Revelation 11:1-2, Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31,36, and 2 Thessalonians 2:4 require that there will be a third Jewish temple in the earthly Jerusalem during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24. This third temple will coexist with the Church like the second temple did (Luke 24:53, Acts 2:46, Acts 22:17) and like the temple building in heaven does (Revelation 11:19). The third temple could be built on Jerusalem's Temple Mount by the ultra-Orthodox Jews after they (or great earthquakes) clear the site by destroying the Muslim Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. Shortly after they build the temple, the future Antichrist could attack and defeat them, and a false Messiah leading them (Daniel 11:22).
Then the Antichrist could "cut" a peace treaty with them and their false "Messiah" (Daniel 9:26a, Daniel 11:23a), permitting them to keep the temple and to continue to (mistakenly) perform the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices in front of it for at least seven years (Daniel 9:27a), so long as they give up the outer court of the temple (Revelation 11:2a) to the Muslims so that the Muslims can rebuild the Al Aqsa Mosque on the southern end of the Temple Mount and resume worship there. The ultra-Orthodox Jews could grudgingly agree to this, if the only other option is for them to lose the temple entirely. They could then build a high wall between the temple and the mosque to keep the temple from being "defiled".
But then, only some 3.5 years after making the peace treaty, the Antichrist will break the treaty, attack the temple, stop the daily Mosaic animal sacrifices, place the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the Antichrist) in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of the temple (Daniel 9:27b, Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15), and then sit himself (at least one time) in the temple and proclaim himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). Thus could begin the Antichrist's literal, 3.5-year Luciferian (Satanic) worldwide reign of terror (Revelation 13:4-18, Revelation 12:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:9).
At the very end of the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, the Antichrist (Daniel 11:45) and the world's armies will pillage Jerusalem, right before Jesus Christ's Second Coming (Zechariah 14:2-21). And at the Second Coming, there will be tremendous earth changes in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4-5). These events could result in all of Jerusalem's structures, including the third temple and the Wailing Wall (also called the Western Wall), being broken down so that not one stone will be left upon another (Luke 19:44, Matthew 24:2). Then the returned Jesus (Zechariah 14:4, Acts 1:11-12) will rebuild Jerusalem and make it the capital of the world (Zechariah 14:8-19, Micah 4:1-4). He will also build a fourth temple there (Zechariah 14:20-21, Zechariah 6:12-13). It will serve a similar function for the Church during the future Millennium (of Revelation 20:4-6) as the second temple served for the Church in the first century AD (Luke 24:53, Acts 2:46, Acts 22:17) and as the temple building in heaven (Revelation 11:19) serves for those in heaven (Revelation 7:15).
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Dec 30, 2018
