Continued from previous post:
Sixth Trumpet:
Religious War, 1/3 of Man Killed
Then the sixth angel sounded,
and I heard a voice…”Release the four angels who are bound at the great river
Euphrates.” And the four angels, who had
been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that
they would kill a third of mankind. The
number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the
number of them. And this is how I saw in
the vision…the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of
their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three
plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of
their mouths. The rest of mankind who
were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands,
so as not to worship demons, and the idols…and they did not repent of their
murders nor of the sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts. Rev. 9:13-18,
20, 21
But when the sixth trumpet sounds, the angels will back off and a world war will erupt. We can see right now in world events that the Middle East has and is a place of trouble. Israel and its neighbors have fought for decades, and now the West and radical Muslims are fighting and it is going to get worse. The three plagues of fire, smoke and brimstone that kill one third of mankind can easily be seen as nuclear devastation.
Second Woe: Persecution, Probation
And it was given to him (the US religious power, the false prophet) to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Rev. 13:15
Here we have reached what we had been warned about: a repetition of the persecutions experienced by the Thyatira and Sardis churches. Remember in chapter five of this book that these churches were represented by two lampstands along with the two olive trees of the Holy Spirit and Jesus? They witnessed and were persecuted for 1260 years from 538 CE to 1798 CE. Well, if we go back to Revelation 11, we see in verse seven that the beast who had his wound healed and came out of the abyss (see the previous section of this chapter entitled “Resurrection of the Beast”) makes war, overcomes, and kills these witnesses. But how can that be? Thyatira and Sardis are church eras that existed long ago. Yes, that is true, but the Holy Spirit and Jesus (the two olive trees) are still in this world working with and for true believers, witnessing to the truth, and calling for all who will to accept salvation.
And their (the two witnesses, the two olive trees, the Holy Spirit and Jesus) dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city…Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 11:8-10
The persecutions will be widespread and will last for three and one half years (3 ½ days, see Appendix 2). The start time for this period could be when the beast regains power, when the laws are passed requiring everyone to obey the image of the beast, or it could be another event. We cannot know. But during this time the beast, its image, and the false prophet will appear to have complete control over the Christian world. The work of the Holy Spirit and Jesus will have been nullified and replaced with man-made rules and religions. The torment of a guilty conscience, the pleadings of the Holy Spirit, submission to the will of Jesus seem to have been eliminated and this will lead to great rejoicing by those bearing the mark of the beast.
Once again, we see works and deeds being substituted
for simple faith in Jesus’ righteousness.
Our duty is to God first and foremost, so when these laws are passed we
must compare them to what God has said in his Bible. To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word,
it is because they have no dawn. (Is.
8:20) Trust in Jesus and obey him; do
not trust in man-made laws or in any good deed you can perform.
