The Awesome Fulfillment of The Feast of Trumpets

Trumpets - 2022

Fred R. Coulter—September 26. 2022

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Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the Feast of Trumpets!

We're certainly in tumultuous times like never before. That's exactly what's been prophesied. There will be perilous times:

• all kinds of sins
• all kinds of problems
• wars and rumors of wars

Just go through the first part of Matt. 24 and everything is being fulfilled to the letter today!

The Feast of Trumpets pictures the direct intervention of God into world affairs! That's why it's called the  Feast of Trumpets or the blowing of rams' horns, which are always the sound of alarm for war!

So, the Feast of Trumpets is a War Feast! Lev. 23 gives us the command. It's interesting as we look at it, it's not very long. But the fulfillment of it is awesome, as we will see!

Leviticus 23:23: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel saying, "In the seventh month… [according to the Calculated Hebrew Calendar] …in the first day of the month… [that's today] …you shall have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of ram's horns, a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein but you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD"'" (vs 23-25).

Well, we don't make an offering by fire today, but we make it according to our means as God has provided for us. God has promised that if we will give, that He will bless! And in proportion to what we give, He also says that He will bless.

But remember the two mites of the widow. What did Jesus say to the disciples as they looked down and saw this widow throw in her two mites? He said:

You see all these rich people throwing in the money, they give of their abundance, but she gave of her poverty! Even her living!

So, she had done more than all the rich people! It's not a matter of how much. It's also a matter of our heart!

You see, the New Testament is to change and convert the heart and the mind! We're going to see that the Day of the Lord is a magnificent day indeed, and one that the whole world is waiting for. But they don't even understand it!

(pause for the offering)

Isa. 40—here is a perfect example of what we've discussed on how God has constructed the Old Testament, especially in prophecy. It's not in chronological or sequential order, though the verses follow one after the other. The only way to understand them is to know the Sabbath and the Holy Days.

That's why we have the big, thick book: God's Plan for Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days! Without the Calculated Hebrew Calendar to know how these things come about, people can't understand it. But it's all there!

• knowledge of the Calculated Hebrew Calendar
• knowledge of the Bible
• knowledge of the prophecies

are all there! But people in the world just don't get it, even if they are suffering!

Isa. 40 is a very interesting chapter, because it starts out with quite a wonderful verse, which is the opening of the Messiah by Handel.

Isaiah 40:1: "'Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people,' says your God. 'Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins'" (vs 1-2).

Look at all the trouble that Jerusalem has had down through history: wars, wars, wars and being carried off into captivity!

Then you come to more modern times and there has always been war around Jerusalem. Look at the time of the Crusades; that's what they were fighting for. The fighting between the so-called Christians and so-called Muslim for control of Jerusalem. Many of them in those days thought that if they would get there and capture Jerusalem, that Jesus would come.

That's been over 500 years ago, and He still hasn't come! What we see is the first two verses are for when all the wars are over and Christ comes on the earth with all the saints and we take over the government.

Verse 3 goes to John the Baptist who was the messenger before the face of the Lord.

Verse 3: "A voice is calling out in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'"

One verse and that's true. Jesus came and where did He start His ministry? In the wilderness to meet Satan the devil!

Verse 4: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain."

Think about that! Every valley, every mountain, every hill!

Verse 5: "And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together… [Christ's second coming as He's coming to the earth] …for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

Remember that whenever God says something, it's going to happen! The only difficulty is that it's not going to happen the way that men think! It's going to happen the way that God has purposed!

Verse 6: A voice says… [John the Baptist calling out repentance] 'Cry!' And he said, 'What shall I cry?' 'All flesh is grass, and all the beauty of it is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass" (vs 6-7).

So, here's the mingling of the first and second coming. Also it's telling us about the nature of human beings. It's like Solomon wrote: Vanity of vanities!

Psa. 39 says that 'man at his very best is altogether vanity!' that's an amazing thing to understand! Let's make sure that our lives are not in vain.

Verse 8: "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God shall stand forever."

That's one thing we need to learn, it will stand forever!

Now let's see in Isa. 2 again how it blends into the meaning of the Feast of Trumpets, the coming of Jesus Christ and the saints to the earth. The first five verses are the beginning of the Millennium; then it comes down to how it came about.

This is something; I want you to think about this, because men today think that they're able to do so many things and that they are nearly invincible. Those who are preparing for war are believing that they are invincible and the first one to win will rule the world! But it isn't going to happen that way!

Isaiah 2:9: "And men will be brought low, and humbled—forgive them not."

Why? Because we will see a little later that they didn't repent of their sins!

Verse 10: "Enter into the rock and hide in the dust for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of His majesty."

Comes right down to the sixth seal! See how amazing that the Bible is? It has to be put together properly, and this is what we're going to do today.

Verse 11: "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the pride of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day."

That's quite a thing to contemplate! We will read about it. Today it's not that way.

Verse 12: "For the Day of the LORD of hosts…"

Now we are talking about a specific time, the Day of the Lord is the last year of Trumpets to Trumpets as we find in the book of Revelation written 900 years after this! Amazing!

Remember our In-Depth Study on Daniel/Revelation. Daniel is like the lock to prophecy and Revelation is like the key that you put into the lock and it opens up everything! It gives us a timeframe for a lot of these prophecies.

Verse 12: "For the Day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every proud and haughty one, and upon every exalted one; and they shall be brought low, and it shall be upon all the high and lifted up cedars of Lebanon… [this is likening strong, powerful men with their armies to trees] …and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasurable craft. And the pride 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" (vs 12-17).

Then it goes right into the Millennium. What's the first thing that God is going to do?

Verse 18: "And the idols He shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth for fear of the LORD and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake terribly the earth" (vs 18-19).

God's going to get the attention of everyone when He shakes the earth. It's going to be the whole earth everywhere from top to bottom all the way around.

There are going to be some men who realize that all of their idols mean nothing. That their idols can't save them in the face of what God is doing.

Verse 20: "In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake terribly the earth" (vs 20-21).

What is that going to be like? That's going to be something indeed; isn't it?

Here's the thing, all the way through the Old Testament we have all of these things concerning the return of Christ. So, you can see why some of the scribes and Pharisees did not want to accept Him. They wanted Him to join them and setup a world government. But Christ wanted them to repent of their lies and false religions and repent and receive the Holy Spirit so they could truly develop the character that at His second coming they would be able to do that, but not His first coming!

God is going to shake the heavens and earth. And I hope you enjoyed the pictures that we showed you a couple of months back from the James Webb Telescope that reached out, they say, 13-billion light years away. That ought to tell you that God exists!

Haggai 2:6: "For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Once again—it is yet a little while—I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all the nations; and the desire of all nations shall come…'" (vs 6-7)—that's Christ!

They don't know that He's their desire; they just want peace. But the leaders want war; the armies want war, so they're going to get it!

"'…and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts" (v 7).

When Christ returns, as we have seen and will see during the Feast of Tabernacles, He's not going to build a temple. Ezek. 40 to the end of Ezek. is not the Millennial Temple. That's the second temple. The Millennial Temple is going to be a great and marvelous tabernacle! We'll look at it then.

Verse 20: "And a second time the Word of the LORD came to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying… [24th day of the 7th month, which is just after the Feast of Tabernacles] …'Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, 'I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the throne of the kingdoms…'" (vs 21-22).

Who is sitting on the throne of the kingdoms? None other than the beast who is possessed by Satan the devil!

"'…and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. And I will overthrow the chariots and their riders. And the horses and their riders shall come down, each one by the sword of his brother'" (v 22).

Now Zerubbabel—son of Shealtiel—is a type of Jesus Christ. How bad is this going to get. Let's look at it. Here again is quite a tremendous and fantastic thing that's going to happen:

Isaiah 24:1: "Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters its inhabitants."

How is that going to work? Because of all the hills that are brought low, the mountains that are brought low, the valleys that are exalted, that's turning it upside down without literally turning it upside down!

However, it has been known that the North and South Poles have switched. So, in a sense that would be like turning the earth upside down.

Verse 2: "And as it is with the people, so it shall be with the priest; as with the slave, so with the master; as with the handmaid, so it is with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be completely laid waste…" (vs 2-3).

Empty of what? Everything that man has done!

"…and utterly stripped; for the LORD has spoken this word…. [notice what it says that He does to the earth, and the earth's response to God]: …The earth mourns and languishes; the world withers and languishes; the proud people of the earth wither. And the earth is defiled under its people; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and have broken the everlasting covenant" (vs 3-5).

What do you think the Protestants are going to feel about this time? They, their ministers and all the people down through history who do away with the Laws of God, and those in the end-time that are actively doing it in the face of God are going to really understand what's happening.

Verse 6: "Therefore, the curse has devoured the earth, and they who dwell in it are desolate; therefore, the people of the earth are burned, and few men are left."

This is why the book of Isaiah is such an amazing book, because there are so many things in it, but it's like a puzzle, like a thousand piece puzzle that is dumped on a table and all mixed up, and all of the parts look almost identical. The only way you can put the puzzle together is to understand the Word of God; to understand the key of the Holy Days.

So, with the Feast of Trumpets this tells us what God has to do to straighten out the world.

Isaiah 13:1: "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw."

Remember that there's Babylon in the days of Judea, toward the end of the 600s; Israel taken into captivity by Babylon, and after 70 years they come back! Without the book of Revelation to understand there is a Babylon the Great—which describes the whole world—you wouldn't understand this chapter here.

Verse 2: "Lift up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice to them, wave the hand so that they may go into the gates of the nobles. I have commanded My Holy ones, I have also called My mighty ones for My anger, even those who rejoice in My triumph" (vs 2-3).

Verse 4: "The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together; the LORD of hosts gathers an army for the battle."

Those are the battles of Rev. 8 & 9 and the last Battle of Armageddon.

Verse 5: "They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, the LORD and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole earth. Howl! For the Day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty" (vs 5-6).

That's going to be a time! In spite of all of this, in addition to the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude—which we covered on Pentecost—there will be people who will be human beings to survive through all of this.

That's going to be an amazing thing! Think about what we're going to have to do to help those people; help them understand. To come to them and say, 'Now be healed!' And they are healed! We tell them that Christ is ruling in Jerusalem and He has sent us to help you so that you can recover from all of these terrible things that have come upon the earth. It's going to be an amazing thing indeed!

Verse 6: "Howl! For the Day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore, all hands shall be faint, and every man's heart shall melt; and they shall be afraid. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them. They shall be in pain like a woman who travails. They shall be amazed at one another, their faces are like blazing fire" (vs 6-8).

Don't know exactly what that means, but I can't imagine that!

Verse 9: "Behold, the Day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it."

It's going to be quite a thing when that happens and God shakes the heavens and the earth.

Verse 10: "For the stars of the heavens and their constellations shall not give light; the sun shall be darkened in its going forth, and the moon shall not reflect its light. 'And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants. I will make man more scarce than gold; even man more than the fine gold of Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall move out of its place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger" (vs 10-13).

That's breathtaking to read all of those things. When you understand that it's going to happen exactly that way. We also need to understand something else.

Jer. 25—here's a prophecy that Jeremiah was never able to fulfill in the journey that He was told to take.

Jeremiah 25:13: "And I will bring on that land all My words which I have spoken against it…"

You take all the words of the Old Testament and you line all of them up concerning the wars that are going to happen at the end. Then, as we will do, you go the book of Revelation and see how it comes to pass.

• every word will be fulfilled
• everything that God has said will take place

Verse 13—God says: "And I will bring on that land all My words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book… [the whole Bible] …which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations."

So, you start with the book of Jeremiah and you go to the other books of the Bible!

Verse 14: "'For many nations and great kings shall make them slaves, also. And I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.' For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to me [Jeremiah], 'Take the wine cup of this wrath at My hand…'" (vs 14-15).

When we get to the book of Revelation, we're going to see that wrath comes out in seven vials!

"…and cause all the nations to whom I shall send you to drink it. And they shall drink, and reel to and fro, and be crazed because of the sword that I will send among them" (vs 15-16).

Verse 17: "Then I [Jeremiah] took the cup at the LORD'S hand…" and then in vision Jeremiah goes to all the nations of the world!

Verse 26: "And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the face of the earth… [everyone; no one is going to escape this] …and the king of Sheshachshall drink after them."

That is the coming Beast Power of the book of Revelation! Let's see what God is going to do and see how it's going to be done.

Verse 27: "Therefore, you [Jeremiah] shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Drink and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you…. [that will happen] …And it shall come to pass if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'You shall certainly drink. For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city, which is called by My name… [remember where we started in Isa. 40] …and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished. For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,' says the LORD of hosts" (vs 27-29).

Verse 26: "…and all the kingdoms of the world…"

Verse 30: "And prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, 'The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His Holy habitation. He shall mightily roar over His dwelling place…. [Jerusalem] …He shall give a shout, like those who tread out grapes, against all the people of the earth…. [that's something to consider] …A noise shall come to the ends of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead with all flesh…'" (vs 30-31)

• Will you now turn from your sins?
• Will you now forsake them?
• Will you now worship the true God Who is coming on this earth and causing all of these terrible things to occur?
• What is that you will do?

Verse 32: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be stirred up from the farthest corners of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; they shall not be mourned, nor gathered, nor buried. They shall be as dung on the ground'" (vs 32-33).

Look at what's going to happen to the leaders; v 34: "Howl, you shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, you lords of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and of your scatterings are fulfilled; and you shall fall like a choice vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the lords of the flock to escape" (vs 34-35).

It's not going to be that anyone will escape any of this! That's something! We know that the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude will be protected.

We will go to the book of Revelation and see how all of these things will be fulfilled, because it will!

(break@40:15)

Rev. 6 is where we see the fulfilling of the words that we have read from the Old Testament, the beginning of it. But it's spread out from here all the way through the seven last plagues. This world is going to come to the point of war and frenzy and just everything that we read in the Old Testament! Here is where all of this is going to begin, and it's overlapped with Pentecost.

Let's back up to the Pentecost that this happens on. This is Christ opening from heaven to let the world know that He is God! God is coming to the earth!

Revelation 6:12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake…"

If you're going to raise every valley and lower every hill, guess what you're going to have? Earthquakes! There are number of earthquakes, and we'll see them in the book of Revelation from here going forward in the fulfilling of all of these prophecies of the return of Christ and the destruction of Babylon the Great, which is the whole world. As we saw with the prophecies in the Old Testament, it includes all nation, all people, all kingdoms, the whole world!

• every eye is going to see Him
• every eye is going to see this

Verse 12: "And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as the hair of sackcloth, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its untimely figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind" (vs 12-13).

God said that He's going to shake terribly the heavens and the earth. There it is right there!

Verse 14: "Then the heaven departed like a scroll that is being rolled up…"

As we covered on Pentecost, this opens up the heavens and then all of a sudden the sign of the Son of Man—tie in Matt. 24—appears as it shines from the east to the west. In Mal. 4 says the Sun of Righteousness shall come upon you! So, it's going to show what looks like a second sun.

When that first happens, the whole world is going to think that, yes, the return of Christ. But that Sun out there, that the sign of the coming of the Son of man does not come any closer to the earth.

Since Satan is leading the whole world, he convinces them that this is an invasion from outer space, which it will be. When we get to the seven last plagues, why would they fight against such odds?

Verse 16: "And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him Who sits on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of His wrath has come…" (vs 16-17).

When this happens it opens up all of a sudden there's a great calm! Then God selects the 144,000—12,000 from every tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel—and a great innumerable multitude. Even though they are saved at this point, they will still be on the earth.

As we found out in Hosea 5 & 6, that the Tribulation will end in 2 day—two years—and that leaves a year and a half to finish all the events with Christ returning. The first event to take place is sealing the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude!

We know, because it tells us—these are living—that the dead in Christ shall rise first. We're told that we are not going to be raised until the seventh trump sounds, the last trump sounds.

These who have been saved here will remain alive as human beings until the last trumpet has sounded—the seventh trumpet of the seven trumpets—and they will be changed from flesh to spirit.

From the time of this taking place on Pentecost to the time when these great wars are unleashed, it's about four months plus. It runs from Pentecost to Trumpets. During that space of time, the 144,000 and great innumerable multitude are saved and sealed by the angel. The world gets a chance to get everything straightened out as much as possible from the way that the earth has been shaken and everything upside down. Everything has to be put in order.

Now then, the battle between the angels of God and men against Satan and the demons and men (Rev. 8 & 9).

Rev. 8 begins with the Trumpet plagues. That starts on the Feast of Trumpets. So, you have that space of time from Pentecost to Trumpets where it looks like nothing further is going to happen. But the kings of the earth are planning war!

Revelation 8:1: "Now, when He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them" (vs 1-2).

They have to sound them! Something happens every time that they do! We will read that. Here is the only place in the Bible where we have numbered the succession of trumpets and the number is seven! So, the seventh trump is the last trump, and that's when the resurrection takes place. But that does not take place on the Feast of Trumpets! That takes place on Pentecost, because the next Pentecost is the Pentecost of the resurrection!

Verse 3: "And another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar; and much incense was given to him, so that he might offer it with the prayers of all the saints…"—the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude, and those few in a place of safety!

All of the rest have been martyred because of the fifth seal.

"…the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that was before the Throne" (v 3). Think about that!

Sidebar: Your prayers go straight to God! That's the whole purpose of grace! God's connection with you with His Spirit, and your connection with God because of His Spirit!

Verse 4: "And the smoke of the incense went up before God from the hand of the angel, ascending with the prayers of the saints.  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire from the altar, and cast it into the earth; and there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and an earthquake" (vs 4-5)—another earthquake!

• Rev. 6—the sixth seal—earthquake
• Rev. 8—earthquake

Verse 6: "Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound their trumpets."

Here comes the first four trumpet plagues, and they come in rapid succession. Then the last three are broken down into two and one.

Verse 7: "And the first angel sounded his trumpet; and there was hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was cast upon the earth; and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. Then the second angel sounded his trumpet; and there was cast into the sea as it were a great mountain burning with fire, and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the living creatures that were in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed" (vs 7-9).

Doesn't pay to be a sailor at that time, does it?

Verse 10: "And the third angel sounded his trumpet; and there fell out of heaven a great star, burning like a lamp; and it fell on a third of the rivers, and on the fountains of waters. Now, the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from drinking the waters because they were made bitter" (vs 10-11).

Verse 12: "Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet; and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars; so that a third of them were darkened; and a third part of the day did not shine, and likewise a third part of the night." Turning everything upside down!

That is the result of sin and the punishment that is coming. All of those who are caught up in it are receiving the full wrath of God.

Verse 13: "And I looked; and I heard an angel flying in the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 'Woe, woe, woe to those who are dwelling on the earth, because of the voices of the remaining trumpets of the three angels who are about to sound their trumpets.'"

It's going to be something! Then we have the fifth angel, and this is quite a thing, because the wars of Rev. 9 are the worst wars in the whole history of the world up to that time!

Revelation 9:1: "And the fifth angel sounded his trumpet; and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to the earth, and there was given to him the key to the bottomless abyss."

That's the person of the Satan and the demons! But Satan is not there, yet! We will see that when Christ returns they will all be put into the prison for a thousand years.

Verse 2: "And he opened the bottomless abyss; and there went up smoke from the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit. Then locusts came onto the earth from the smoke; and power was given to them, as the scorpions of the earth have power" (vs 2-3).

This is interesting: is this the secret weapon where no one could make war against the beast. It's now brought out in its full demonic posture.

Verse 4: "And it was said to them that they should not damage the grass of the earth…"

Remember that it said that the grass was all burned up (Rev. 8:7). What happens when it's all burned up? Grass doesn't think! If it gets water it grows! So, with all the things going on and the darkness taking place, and the clouds so there must have been a lot of rain, so the grass comes back. Now they're told:

"…they should not damage the grass of the earth  or any green thing, or any tree, but only the men who did not have the seal of God in their foreheads" (v 4).

So the 144,000 and great innumerable multitude are protected!

Verse 5: "And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death but will not find it; and they will desire to die, but death will flee from them" (vs 5-6).

This is an excruciating weapon coming against all of the armies. These are probably the armies of the beast! The armies from the east will come in the next one, when the next trumpet is sounded, the sixth trumpet. This is going to be awesome!

Verse 7: "And the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for war; and on their heads were crowns like those of gold; and their faces were like the faces of men; and they had hair like women's hair; and their teeth were like those of lions. And they had breastplates like iron breastplates; and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots drawn by many horses running to war" (vs 7-9).

This is a phenomenal weapon that they have, going out and paralyzing everyone who gets it. They can't do anything for five months!

Verse 10: "And they had tails like scorpions, and stingers; and they were given power to injure men with their tails for five months. And they have over them a king, the angel of the abyss…" (vs 10-11).

Who is the angel of the abyss? None other than Satan the devil!

"…his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but the name he has in Greek is Apollyon. The first woe is past. Behold, after these things two more woes are still to come." And the sixth angel sounded his trumpet; and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God; and it said to the sixth angel, who had the trumpet, 'Loose the four angels who are bound in the great River Euphrates'" (vs 11-14).

Imagine that! Four demons bound somewhere in the great River Euphrates! They're there now, but they can't get out until this time in the future when it's time for them to come out.

Verse 15: "Then the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year…"

Does God fulfill things according to His schedule? Yes, indeed! It's going to happen!

"…were loosed, so that they might kill a third of men" (v 15).

That is going to be the greatest slaughter up until that time that has ever been in the history of the world!

As we go through how bad and how terrible these things are, let's look back at the time when the world was so bad that everyone's thoughts were only evil continually! That's why the Flood had to come and destroy everything on the earth except what God saved with Noah and his family in the ark.

When it comes time for God to act, He's going to act! He will have all the armies, all the mechanisms, everything all ready to go! The angels ready to go! Notice how huge that these armies are going to be. If you think China is rising to the height right now, you have seen nothing, yet! It's going to get greater and bigger and more powerful than anything has ever been, along with the different nations of the East.

Think about this a minute: these armies are so many that they will be strung back from the River Euphrates all the way to the East!

Verse 16: "And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred thousand thousand… [200-million] …and I heard the number of them."

It says armies; you can't have an army of 200-million, you have an army here, and here and here. You need millions of soldiers and millions of those backing up with supplies and everything ready to go, all the implements of war. The only place that this can come is from the East.

Verse 17: "And so, I saw the horses in the vision, and those sitting on them, who had fiery breastplates, even like jacinth and brimstone. And the heads of the horses were like heads of lions, and fire and smoke and brimstone shoot out of their mouths."

People have wondered if these are going to be like robots. No, I don't think so. Robots can be done in very easily. Men, if they're highly protected, can endure quite a few things.

Joel 2 talks about this is God's army! They come and they're powerful and everything before them is subdued and destroyed.

Verse 18: "By these three a third of men were killed…"

A total of two-thirds of men being killed up to this point. So the earth is going to decimated of people; stacks of corpses and bodies everywhere.

"…by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that shoot out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouths; for their tails are like serpents, and have heads, and with them they inflict wounds" (vs 18-19).

This is going to be an awesome thing when all of them have this power and it's released on the earth. Notice that it's talking about men, not robots:

Verse 20: "But the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands…"

So, through all of this God is looking for any to repent!

• Are they going to turn from their evil?
• Are they going to recognize that God is involved in this?

"…that they might not worship demons, and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, which do not have the power to see, nor to hear, nor to walk. And they did not repent of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornications, nor of their thievery" (vs 20-21).

Rev. 10 is a very short, but very interesting chapter, because the angel who had the seven thunders was ready to release them and John was ready to write it down. Then a voice came from heaven and said, 'Don't write them down.' This means that no one knows what the seven thunders will be!

There are some men who claim that they know, but they don't! they go back into the seals and the trumpet plagues and draw from that and say that that's what the seven thunders will be. We don't know!

John didn't know, but he had to take a little book from the hand of the great angel who stood with one foot on the earth and one foot in the ocean. He was told to take an eat it, that it will be sweet in your mouth and bitter in your belly. So he did! The message was this:

Revelation 10:10: "Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it; and it was sweet as honey in my mouth; but after I ate it, my belly was bitter. And he said to me, 'You must again prophesy against many people, and nations, and languages and kings'" (vs 10-11).

Whoever is left! Two-thirds of men will die up to this point. That means—if there are at that time 9-billion people on the earth—3-billion are still left. The message of repentance must go out! How that will happen, we do not know! But it will happen!

Rev. 11—the two witnesses. The key to this is that the two witnesses prophesy for 1,260 days. They're the first two raised on the last Pentecost. The seventh trumpet sounds when they're being raised. All the rest of the dead are resurrected and we who are alive are carried up and we're taken to the Sea of Glass!

When we get on the Sea of Glass we're going to see a marvelous thing! We've already covered everything that's going to happen on the Sea of Glass.

There are the seven angels with the seven last plagues:

Revelation 15:1: Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and awesome: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is filled up."

They are the assigned the seven last plagues, but they don't get them until you come to v 5; they have to be given the plagues in the vials so they can pour them out.

Verse 5: "And after these things…"—everything on the Sea of Glass!

Tie in Rev. 19 and the three hallelujahs of celebration that we're born into the Kingdom of God, that the wedding supper of the Lamb is taking place and the marriage of the Lamb and His wife takes place. Everybody makes themselves ready. That will last from Pentecost to Trumpets.

Verse 6: "And the seven angels who had the seven last plagues came out of the temple; they were clothed in linen, pure and bright, and girded about the chest with golden breastplates. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden vials, full of the wrath of God, Who lives into the ages of eternity" (vs 6-7). That's the seven last plagues!

Verse 8: "And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and no one was able to enter inside the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled."

Now here is the last devastation of the earth. All of these plagues that come are devastating! It's going to be a finality of war. Yes, there will be some of the 200-million who don't die of these things. When we come down from the Sea of Glass then we're all going to fight against all of them, and the beast and false prophet will be taken! But first all the seven last plagues come out"

Revelation 16:2: "And the first angel went and poured out his vial onto the earth; and an evil and grievous sore fell upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who were worshiping his image. And the second angel went and poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood, like that of a dead man; and every living soul in the sea died" (vs 2-3)—souls die!

Verse 4: "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers, and into the fountains of waters; and they became blood."

Go back to the other ones and it was poured out there, but then the waters started flowing again and it cleared up. Now we have the same thing here. Everything cleared up and now they're going to be turned into blood.

Verse 5: "Then I heard the angel of the waters say, 'You are righteous, O Lord, Who are, and Who was, even the Holy One, in that You have executed this judgment. For they have poured out the blood of saints and of prophets, and You have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy'" (vs 5-6).

Verse 7: "And I heard another voice from the altar say, 'Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.'"

Verse 8: "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given to it to scorch men with fire…[extreme heat blasting from the sun] …Then men were scorched with great heat; and they blasphemed the name of God, Who has authority over these plagues, and did not repent to give Him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; yet, they did not repent of their works" (vs 8-11).

Verse 12: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial into the great River Euphrates; and its waters were dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared."

So that they could come, and he's going to gather them to Armageddon. But because of everything that happened, they've got to be convinced that they can win. That they can turn back this invasion of the aliens to take over the earth. This means that all the Chinese, all the Indians, all the remnant of the armies of the 200-million—we don't know how many that will be—are going to come and have to be persuaded. So, here's what Satan does:

Verse 13: "Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon… [Satan the devil] …and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet; for they are spirits of demons working miracles, going forth to the kings of the earth, even of the whole world… [how long that takes we don't know, but it's going to happen] …to gather them together to the battle of that great day of the Almighty God" (vs 13-14).

Here's a little inset verse for all of us to take warning and take heed!

Verse 15: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is the one who is watching and is keeping his garments, so that he may not walk naked and they may not see his shame."

Tie that in with the Laodiceans; poor, blind and naked! So, here's a warning! Now it comes back to the gathering of the armies:

Verse 16: "And he gathered them together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the Throne, saying, 'IT IS FINISHED.' And there were voices and thunders and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were on the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great" (vs 16-18).

Think about what we're going to have to do to help clean up this world:

• with all these dead people
• with all these broken buildings
• with everything shattered and tuned upside down
• with everyone's mind and emotions absolutely shot because of the shock that is coming upon the whole world

Verse 19: "And the great city was divided into three parts; and the cities of the nations fell; and Babylon the Great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. And every island disappeared, and no mountains were found… [right there in the area] …and great hail, each stone the weight of a talent, fell down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague was exceedingly great" (vs 19-21).

Everything is all done in heaven; we've all been instructed. We know what we're going to do, we're given our white horses and we're to follow Christ down for the final battle that is going to finish off the battle there.

Revelation 19:11: "And I saw heaven open; and behold, a white horse; and He Who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. And His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no one knows except Him. And He was clothed with a garment dipped in blood; and His name is The Word of God" (vs 11-13)—tie in John 1:1!

Verse 14: "And the armies in heaven were following Him on white horses…"—that's us!

It's not some old nag; it's a brand new white horse ready to go. We've learned how to ride it. Here we come with Christ down to the earth. 

"…and they were clothed in fine linen, white and pure. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He shall shepherd them with an iron rod; and He treads the winepress of the fury and the wrath of the Almighty God. And on His garment and on His thigh He has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords" (vs 14-16).

We're kings and priests under Christ. Here comes the Government of God on earth. Jesus Christ and all of the saints direct from God the Father from heaven above; right from the Temple of God right down to the earth. Here we come!

Verse 17: "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, 'Come and gather yourselves together to the supper of the great God."

We're going to see what's going to happen to the flesh of all of those that come to fight this last thrust of Christ, as Christ and the saints come to the earth.

Verse 18: "So that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of chief captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, and small and great."

In other words, God's going to clean up the mess with all of these birds eating the flesh. Can't you just hear the noise? We're coming down this way, and here come all the buzzards, vultures and ravens from everywhere in the world gathering. They come down and look down on the earth and see all of these corpses and the flesh and they say, 'Let's go eat!'

Verse 19: "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him Who sits on the horse, and with His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked miracles in his presence, by which he had deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Those two were cast alive into the Lake of Fire, which burns with brimstone; and the rest were killed by the sword of Him Who sits on the horse, even the sword that goes out of His mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh" (vs 19-21).

Zech. 14: Here we are coming back to the earth; here is a prophecy of it over 2,000 years before it occurred.

Zechariah 14:1: "Behold, the Day of the LORD comes, and your spoil shall be divided in your midst,  'For I will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem…'" (vs 1-2).

Where did we begin? Speak unto Jerusalem, that her warfare is accomplished!

"'…and the city shall be taken, and the houses plundered, and the women raped. And half of the city shall go into exile, and the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.' And the LORD shall go out and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle…. [tie in Rev. 19] …And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives…" (vs 2-4).

The same mountain from which He ascended to go to God the Father after He was resurrected and went to present Himself to the Father.

"…which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall split in two, from the east and to the west, and make a very great valley. And half of the mountain shall move toward the north, and half of it toward the south" (v 4).

This is whole change in geography there; something you would never expect, but it's going to take place.

Verse 5: "'And you shall flee to the valley of My mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.' And the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with You. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark. And it will be one day, which shall be known to the LORD, neither day nor night; but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them shall go toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea. In summer and in winter it shall be. And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD, and His name shall be one" (vs 5-9).

Now here's the plague that is going to come on all of those in Rev. 19:

Verse 12: "And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the people who have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets. And their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall be in that day that a great panic from the LORD shall be among them. And they shall each one lay hold of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations all around shall be gathered—gold, and silver, and clothing in great abundance" (vs 12-14).

Yes, indeed! Everything is going to be made right at that time.

Verse 15: And likewise shall be the plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and of all the beasts which shall be in these camps—it shall be as this plague."

Then it gets into they're going to start keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. What does the Feast of Tabernacles picture? The Government of God and the Church of God on the whole earth! But there's one thing yet that has to happen before this can be fulfilled.

That one thing comes on the Day of Atonement. So, we will continue the rest of the story on that day!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:23-25

• Isaiah 40:1-8
• Isaiah 2:9-21
• Haggai 2:6-7, 20-22
• Isaiah 24:1-6
• Isaiah 13:1-13
• Jeremiah 25:13-17, 26-29, 26, 30-35
• Revelation 6:12-14, 16-17
• Revelation 8:1-13
• Revelation 9:1-21
• Revelation 10:10-11
• Revelation 15:1, 5-8
• Revelation 16:2-21
• Revelation 19:11-21
• Zechariah 14:1-9, 12-15

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 24

• Psalm 39
• Ezekiel 40-48
• Malachi 4
• Hosea 5; 6
• Joel 2
• Revelation 11
• John 1:1

Also referenced:

• Book: God's Plan For Mankind Revealed by His Sabbath and Holy Days by Fred R. Coulter
• In-Depth Study: Daniel/Revelation

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 7-25-22

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