Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
***
ETERNAL LIFE: No Longer Possible!! ***

Whoso keeps the commandment shall feel no evil: and a wise man's heart discerns [will know] both time and judgment - Ec. 8:5

Part One
REVELATIONS 9: Who Are The Locusts?
An exposition of the spiritual 5 months from May 21, 2011  until the End
By Brother Mike (8-27-11; 58 minutes)

 

During this last time, God's people have come to realize that the spiritual (not literal) 5 month period of Revelations 9 known as Judgment Day from May 21, 2011 until the End is a period of spiritual judgment upon the entire unsaved world. Although this judgment is unseen to the vast majority of the human race, being spiritual and invisible in nature, it is, nevertheless, most real to the child of God. Having been revealed by the very Word of God itself in the relatively recent discovery of the biblical calendar of history, it has been being examined more closely in scripture than at any other time in history. The results of such study have produced two primary, but different understandings as to who the locust are bringing the spiritual judgment during the spiritual 5 month period of Revelations 9. We all agree that Revelations 9 is speaking about Judgment Day, but we differ as to who the locusts are who are bringing this judgment. Some believe the locusts are all the false prophets or false believers in Jesus Christ who are unknowingly leading people into a false gospel, while others believe that the locusts are the true prophets or true believers in Jesus Christ who are bringing judgment through their message that salvation has ended ever since May 21, 2011 .

Where do I stand in all this? Well, let me say to begin, I can sympathize with both sides of the coin. There is certainly warrant for thinking that the locusts are the false prophets, and there is certainly warrant for thinking the locusts are true prophets. Nevertheless, as you will discover, I do not conclude that the locusts are either of these. I have spent many hours contemplating these things, and I have honestly felt like giving up many times because of the complexity of it all. The verses are not easy to comprehend, and so they should never have been a point for division as I know it probably has by some of the emails I have received. We should always be willing to hear from others in great humility, and to not place judgment upon anyone. After all, to judge one of your brethren is the same as judging yourself. 


Do Not Judge Others 

Remember what our Lord said as recorded in Matthew 7,  

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

It is important for us all to fully realize that, " Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth" (1Co 8:1). And let us do as we are exhorted to do in Romans 14,

  19   Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. 


Defining "Locusts" 

Now since this entire discourse will be centered on the locusts of Revelations 9, let's first begin by defining this term locusts by the Bible. I know most of you already know that the term "locusts" is a term used in connection to the Judgment of God, but to set the context, let's refresh ourselves on the locusts of the Bible. 

The first account of locusts in the Bible is found in the account of the 10 plagues on Egypt where God brought judgment on Pharaoh and the Egyptians as recorded in Exodus 10,

Ex 10:12   And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, that they may come up upon the land of Egypt, and eat every herb of the land, even all that the hail hath left.
13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
14 And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. 

In this account, the Lord sent locusts upon the land to plague the Egyptians so that they might let God's people go free, but as the scripture records, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, requiring the Lord to bring a total of 10 plagues before Pharaoh would let God's people go into the wilderness to worship their God. Although these were literal insect locusts in this account, the simple point I want to make is that the locusts were clearly a symbol of the judgment from God. 

God refers to a judgment of locusts in a more symbolic way as well. We see this in how God uses the term locusts against His own Old Testament people. Because His people continued to stray further and further away from Him, He eventually brought other nations against His own people to destroy them. These destroying nations were typified by the terminology of locusts as, for instance, we read in Joel 1,

1  The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.
2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?
3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation.
That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

These judgments of God against His very own Old Testament people are a type of what has now already happened to the so-called Christian churches and denominations of our day. They have all been spiritually destroyed by the spiritual nation of Satan, which was typified by the literal Babylonians and their king Nebuchadnezzar who in 587 BC conquered Jerusalem and took God's people into exile to Babylon; a picture of what Satan, the spiritual king of spiritual Babylon, had done to all the New Testament churches beginning on May 22nd, 1988 and ending on May 21, 2011 . During this time of great tribulation, God's true people had all either left or were thrown out of the churches to go into exile in the world as commanded by their Lord (see Why Leaven All Churches), and this spiritual nation of Babylon had then so infiltrated the Christian churches and denominations that even the rulers of these organizations can now be termed as being locusts themselves as we see in Nahum 3,  

17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

My point being in all of this is that the term locusts is without question are a symbol of God's judgment whether they are literal locusts like insects, literal human beings like the Old Testament Babylonians or the New Testament false believers, or whether they are a completely spiritual and invisible entity, we should all be able to agree that the term locusts is representative of God's judgment when seen through the eyes of the Bible


The Scorpions defined  

Now since the locusts which brought judgment upon Old Testament Israel and later upon all of the New Testament churches are seen in scripture as being the people of another nation such as the Old Testament Babylonians, and in the New Testament, being the false believers in Christ who are actually in Satan's kingdom, it is quite reasonable to assume that these locusts of Revelations 9 are the false prophets or false believers in Christ. In fact, based upon the terminology of Revelations 9, the locusts are referred to as scorpions. We read in verse 3, 

3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power [authority], as the scorpions of the earth have power. 

And again in verse 5 we read, 

5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 

And finally in verse 10 it states, 

Re 9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

The reason I place focus upon these locust being as scorpions is because the term scorpions in the Bible also carries with it the meaning of false prophets or false believers. We can see this in Ezekiel, chapter 2 beginning in verse 3, 

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
4 For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD. 
5 And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 
 

From this scripture, we can see that the term scorpions refers to all those who are termed as God's people, and think they are God's people, but they really are not. They are equivalent to all the churches and denominations of our day who think they are God's people, but they are a rebellious and stiff-necked people beyond measure without even realizing it.

The meaning of the term scorpion can be further expanded upon in the account of Luke 10 when the Lord sent out 70 disciples to preach the gospel, and then they came back in great joy that even the demons were subject to them in Jesus name,

18 And he [Jesus] said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 

What we see then is that the term scorpions can not only give reference to false brethren and false prophets, but it can also give reference to the demonic forces of Satan Himself, which are typified in both scorpions and serpents


Could the Locusts be the False Prophets? 

Now having learned that the locusts are associated with the scorpions, and the scorpions are associated with Satan and His followers, it would be quite reasonable to see the locusts which are likened to scorpions in Revelations 9 as being all the false brethren or false prophets who are found in the so-called Christian churches of our day. This is further supported in that these scorpions have tails that sting and torment people, and the Lord even comes right out and tells us that the tail is the false prophet as we read in Isaiah 9, 

Isa 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.

Although I myself do not believe that these locusts are false prophets or brethren, or Satan, I do see the perspective of those who do as it is possible to see much of the terminology of Revelations 9 as in support of the locusts being the false prophets or false brethren in the churches of our day. For instance, we read that these locusts come out of the smoke from the bottomless pit. But how could it be said that God's people come out of the bottomless pit that is normally associated with Satan and His army? Or, how can they in verse 11 be said to have the angel of the bottomless pit as king over them whose name is Abaddon, which means destruction, and Apollyon, which means destroyer? Or, when we read in verse 7 of Revelations 9, 

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron. 

We see that these locusts have the attributes as if they are true prophets, so they cannot possibly be the true prophets of God because it is only as if they are the true prophets or people of God. 

Let me explain a little more what I mean: it can be shown in scripture that the phrases crowns like gold, the faces of men, the hair of women, the teeth of lions, and breast plates of iron are all representative of God's true people, but here in Revelations 9, all of these such phrases are qualified by the term "as." In other words, this is the same as saying that these locusts are not the true prophets or people of God, but they are only "as" the true people of God. If they were actually the people of God, the scripture would not qualify them with the term "as," but it would simply say and on their heads were crowns of gold, and their faces were the faces of men, and that they had the hair of women, the teeth of lions, and breastplates of iron

So how is it possible that these locusts be the true prophets or people of God? Furthermore, in verse 4 of Revelations 9 the locust are spoken to like this, 

4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

The terminology of grass, green thing, and tree can be shown to be God's people. But why, then, would it be said to God's people not to harm or hurt God's people, for they are God's people? When viewed from this perspective, it makes more sense if the locusts were seen as being the false prophets of the churches, for then these false prophets would be being told to not hurt God's people by their false gospels and teachings, which seems to make more sense in the simple reading of the scripture. 

So it is reasons like these why some have come to believe that the locusts of Revelations 9 are all the false brethren and prophets of the churches, and, admittedly, from their vantage point, they seem to have plenty of support. But I do believe they are wrong as I hope to now explain. 


The Locusts are related to the True Prophets of God
 

Perhaps the first great tee-off as to whom these locusts are actually related to comes from verse 3 of Revelations 9 where we read, 

3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power [authority], as the scorpions of the earth have power. 

What I want to zero in on is the word power, which can also be translated authority. The Lord is saying here that the locusts were given authority, but if these locusts were given authority or power, I find it difficult to see them as having anything to do with Satan or his false prophets. Why? Because on May 21, 2011 Satan was conquered, spiritually speaking! 

We can best picture all this by looking back on the type of what happened on May 21 , which we learned long ago was pictured in the conquering of Babylon and its king in 539 BC. If you will remember, the 70 year period of desolations against Judah was a type or foreshadow of the final great tribulation, which began in the churches on May 22, 1988 and ended on May 21, 2011 according to the biblical calendar. It is of great import to realize that at the end of this great tribulation of 70 years in Judah, Babylon and its king were conquered by the Medes and Persians as Jeremiah had prophesied would take place,  

Jer 25:12 And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans [another name for Babylonians], and will make it perpetual desolations. 

We actually read of the king of Babylon being conquered in the one and exact same night when Daniel interpreted God's message of judgment in the handwriting on the wall. We will begin reading in the last few verses of Daniel 5 beginning in verse 25, 

25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27 TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30  
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.  
 

What we see, then, in this account of the end of the kingdom of Babylon is that it took place in one night. Yes, we can say it took place in one day, which was the final day of the 70 years of desolations against the land of Judah according to the biblical calendar, which typified the final day of the great tribulation in our day on May 21, 2011 . Now in order to maintain consistency between the type and that which was being typified, we must assume also that just as the kingdom of the Babylonians and its king were conquered in just one day on the last day of the 70 year great tribulation of Judah's day, so also must have the spiritual kingdom of Babylon and its king, Satan, been conquered on the last day of the great tribulation of our day, which was on May 21, 2011 according to the biblical timeline of history. This means that on May 21 , Satan's authority or power was stripped from him as it was stripped from the king of Babylon in 539 BC, and we must, therefore, assume that the locusts of Revelations 9 who were given authority on May 21 cannot be Satan and his false prophets, for the king of Babylon and his kingdom, which typified the false prophets and Satan, were actually destroyed. Satan was conquered and spiritually killed on May 21 and stripped of his authority, and this leads me to read Revelations 9 beginning in verse 13,

13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

The four angels can be none other than the very people of God. The word angels in both Hebrew and Greek can also be translated messengers in reference to God's people, and the number four is symbolic of universality or worldwide (see here). So the four angels mentioned her as being loosed are all God's people worldwide. Because Satan and his kingdom were spiritually conquered or killed on May 21 as was typified in the killing of the king of Babylon and his kingdom in 539 BC, it is as if all God's people have been spiritually loosed from a great amount of bondage in accord with the type of what happened in 539 BC as described in Jeremiah 29,

Jer 29:10 For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place [like being  loosed].

Notice that once the 70 years was complete, the Lord loosed His people in causing them to return once again to their own land in Judah. This is a type of what happened on May 21 ; God's people were loosed while the opposite is true for Satan and all the false brethren in the churches. It is as if they have come into great bondage with no longer any hope for salvation like never before in history; it is as if they have already been killed, which has now already occurred spiritually, but will be fully realized at the end of the world.

So perhaps the greatest reason why the locusts of Revelations 9 cannot possibly be Satan or any of his followers including all the so-called Christian churches of today is because Satan no longer has authority or power during the last spiritual (not literal) 5 months as he once had. Revelations 9 says of the locusts that they were given authority, but Satan's authority was taken away. This doesn't mean that he doesn't still go about as a roaring lion to some degree, but nothing like he was allowed during the final great tribulation previous to May 21, 2011 .

There are other very significant reasons why the locusts of Revelations 9 cannot be Satan and his kingdom as well. One big reason is that these locusts are not considered to be scorpions, but only as scorpions as pronounced in verse 3 of Revelations 9,

3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 

In other words, the locusts are not considered to be actual scorpions, which, if they were actual scorpions, we would have to define them as being false prophets, but here in Revelations 9, they are simply considered to be as scorpion, which means they are not false prophets of Satan at all, but only like them in some way.


How can The Locusts related to God's People be likened to Scorpions? 

So the question now becomes, if the locusts are related to being the true prophets of God, how can the locusts related to the true prophets and brethren of God be likened to being as scorpions, which means as false prophets and false brethren who are of the devil? In my mind, the only way the false and true prophets could be likened to be as one another is that they both now bring a message during this spiritual 5 months of judgment that cannot save anyone. The false prophets continue unknowingly leading people to death by a false gospel and religion as they have always done, while the true prophets of God are now knowingly saying that there is no more hope for salvation to anyone who was not saved before or on May 21, 2011 . All the people who were not saved on or before May 21 are now being spiritually judged to death by the message of God's people, which judgment will be revealed to all at the end of the world. Just like false prophets bring a message which leads to death, so the true prophets during this last spiritual (not literal) 5 month period that we are now in do the same. This is how the true prophets can be like the false prophets, and why it can be said in relation to the true prophets that they are as scorpions


How can The Locusts related to God's People come out of The Bottomless Pit? 

Now at this point we can begin to answer the question, how can it be said that these locusts, which are at least related to God's people, came out of the smoke of the bottomless pit? This seems like something Satan and His followers would do. I mean, to come out of the fiery furnace of hell, how could that be referring to where the locusts related to God's very own people came from during this last spiritual 5 month period of Judgment?

The answer to this question should now be apparent. God's people appear to be like Satan and His followers of false prophets in that they both can bring only a message of death during this last spiritual 5 month period of Judgment Day. This is the sting of hurt or harm which is now stinging the entire human race, especially those in the churches. This all reminds me of the incidence in Israel's history when the Lord sent poisonous serpents into their midst to bite and kill them because of their complaining. We read of this account in Numbers 21, 

4  And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8
And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. 

What is so significant about this account is that the serpents which were biting and killing the people of God was the judgment of God against them, and in order to be cured, it was required that they look upon the very image of the serpent which had bitten them. How ridiculous does that seem! How could it be possible for the very image of the serpent which was killing them to heal them by looking upon the same image of it on a pole? It sure would have required faith, wouldn't it? We begin to understand what this historical event was all about when we read in John 3, 

Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. 

We see in this that the image of the serpent lifted up on the pole by Moses was a picture of Christ being lifted up on the cross, and by looking upon the serpent, which represented Christ, one was healed from the penalty of their sins which is death. The point I want to make in this illustration is that Christ, the true prophet of God, is here represented as a serpent, which is normally something that would be representative of Satan and false prophets, but here it represents Christ Himself. How can this be? Do you see, this is very similar to the same question we asked earlier, and are now in the process of answering. Remember what the question was: how can it be said that the locusts related to God's very own people came out of the smoke of the bottomless pit, which is something you would think only Satan and his followers would do? Or, to put the question another way, how can the true prophets of God be likened in some way to a scorpion or a serpent or Satan?

Answer: just as Jesus was likened to the serpent that Moses lifted up on a pole, so also the true prophets and brethren of God can now be likened to serpents or scorpions, which would normally give reference to false prophets and Satan. You see, Christ was represented by the serpents, which were killing the people, because He was picturing the judgment of God. Christ was coming in judgment against the people because of their sin, and so He was typified by the serpents. Now in the similar way, because we who are God's people are now an instrument of God's judgment against the entire unsaved human race ever since May 21, 2011 , we are being represented as scorpions and serpents even as Christ was represented by the serpents which were killing the people in the days of Moses. The only difference being in that Christ, the serpent, was also the only way to salvation back then, whereas we, as the serpents and scorpions, can no longer be an instrument bringing salvation since the days of salvation have come to an end forever ever since May 21, 2011 . The only picture which can be drawn during this last spiritual 5 month period of judgment is one of darkness in smoke, scorpions, serpents, brimstone and fire, for it is, after all, Judgment Day. 


How can the Locusts related to God's People have Death and Destruction as their King? 

We can now also answer the question, how can the locusts of verse 11 be said to have the angel of the bottomless pit as king over them whose name is Abaddon, which means destruction, and Apollyon, which means destroyer? It is simply this: when Christ, who is this king over the locusts, comes in judgment as He is now doing during the spiritual 5 months, He comes to bring destruction and to destroy. Although the destruction is not a literal destruction, it is a spiritual destruction unheard of in all of history. There has never been a time in the history of the world when there was no longer any possibility for salvation for anyone in the entire world. Far more than at any other time before, the hearts of humanity have been shut into their own sinful ways with absolutely no hope for eternal redemption. It is a terrible punishment, and, fortunately, the Lord in His tremendous kindness has hidden this all from the vast majority of humankind, for if they really comprehended the gravity of their situation, their philosophy of eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die would completely take over with very little concern for life, and the suicide rate would explode into epidemic proportions. And if the Lord is so kind as this to those who have trampled upon His Word and ignored His warnings of love, just think how much love and kindness is in store for those who love Him. Indeed, as the Lord said, 

Ro 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 

And then again the Lord says in 1Cor. 2, 

1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 

In summary, what we have learned so far is that the locusts are associated with the true prophets or brethren of the Lord. And notice that I did not say, they are the true prophets or brethren of the Lord, but I said, the locusts are associated with the people of God. As I stated in the opening words of this message, I do not believe the locusts are either the false prophets or the true prophets of God although as I have already stated I do think the locusts are related to the true prophets.

Here is why the locusts cannot possibly be a direct reference to God's people: 

Remember all the terminology which in the Bible I had said can be shown to be in reference to the true believers or prophets of God. The true prophets or people of God are the ones who have crowns like gold, have the faces of men, the hair of women, the teeth of lions, and breast plates of iron. But in Revelations 9 the locusts are not said to actually possess these attributes, but they are spoken of as if they possess these things. We had seen this beginning in verse 7, 

7 And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.

Now since it is as if the locusts possess these things, the entire terminology seems to support the locusts being the false prophets and brethren since they are the ones who are known to appear only as if they are God's people. The only way this language can be in reference in relation to the true people of God, which is what we have already concluded to actually be the case, is if the as ifs were eliminated and the locusts were said not to have as if all the various attributes, but that they were actually said to have all these attributes: the faces of men, the hair of women, the teeth of lions, breast plates of iron, and tails of scorpions. Since this is not the case, it is clear that the locusts cannot possibly be a direct reference to being God's people. 


What exactly are the Locusts? 

So what do the locusts actually and directly refer to if they cannot directly refer to the true prophets and people of God? The answer is not literal, but invisible, so that it tends to be overlooked. Here it is: The locusts are the spiritual judgment of God itself. They are the message of Judgment Day and the declaration of no more salvation. They are nothing literal or tangible to the human senses, but they are like an invisible, spiritual cloud of smoke that has now covered the entire earth, which has affected the spiritual air which we breathe and the spiritual Sun (I mean the Son of God) that can bring spiritual life. As we read in Revelations 9:2, 

2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit

We are told that the smoke rose out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace. This brings to memory the judgment which the Lord brought upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And when Abraham looked at the land of Sodom and Gomorrah the next morning after its destruction we read,

Ge 19:28 And he [Abraham] looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace

So we can see how the locusts and the smoke as the smoke of a great furnace have to do with God's judgment. The Lord brought judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of that valley due to their great sin, and the Lord is now bringing spiritual judgment upon the entire world due to their great sin with everlasting consequences. 

"The sun and air were darke ned by reason of the smoke of the pit" is speaking of the same thing that Matthew 24 is speaking about when it states, 

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

We see that this is clearly referring to the same spiritual (not literal) 5 month period of which we now find ourselves because it says immediately after the tribulation of those days, which is in reference to the great tribulation that ended on May 21, 2011 according to the biblical calendar, and so the time in which the sun be darkened is immediately after May 21 , which is the spiritual 5 month period of which we now find ourselves. It is at the beginning of this period that the spiritual light bearers are darkened. Obviously, these light bearers of the sun, moon, and stars have not literally been darkened as we look up into the sky, so it is obvious that this is all symbolic language. We know that the sun is the actual light source to both the moon and the stars in the night as they just reflect the light of the sun. If the sun is darkened, then so are the moon and the stars. 

But what is the sun symbolic of in the Bible? The answer is very obvious because just as the sun gives life and light to all living things on this planet, so also Christ, the spiritual Sun, gives spiritual light and life to this world, and in this we begin to see what God means when in Revelations 9 He says, 

2 ...; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit

The sun being darkened means that the spiritual light of the world who is Christ is no longer spiritually shining on this planet, which in simple terms means there is no longer any spiritual life or salvation available to the human race. In other words, ever since May 21, 2011 when Judgment Day began and on up to the end of the world , there is no longer any salvation possible. This is the judgment of God and what is represented in the symbolic language of the locusts and smoke, which darken the Sun and the air. The darkening of the air, as well as the sun, means there is no more spiritual life by salvation, as the air is a necessity for life - no air with its life giving oxygen means no life - and for it to be darkened by the smoke of judgment means there is no longer any spiritual life-giving air to bring about salvation. It is the time of judgment; a time in which God is not regenerating or not giving new birth to anyone who had not received it on or before May 21, 2011 . This is all so terrible, but it is exactly what is being taught here in Revelations 9. There is no longer any possibility for rebirth in Jesus Christ. O yes, it is possible that many were saved on or before May 21 , but whom are now just realizing their salvation. But with respect to the initiation of salvation through rebirth in Jesus Christ, this is no longer possible. 

This removal of any possibility for salvation during the spiritual 5 months cannot be overemphasized. The lord restates this in verse 6, 

6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.

Actually, in the original, the death spoken of in this verse has an article "the" before it so it would be more accurate to the original language to say this verse like this:

6 And in those days shall men seek THE death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and THE death shall flee from them. 

By recognizing that people will be seeking the death and not just death as many English Bible versions hide in the translation, the Lord is letting us know that this is a very special death. People will not just be seeking death as we might think, but they are seeking the death. The death could only give reference to the very special death that one can experience only in the salvation of Jesus Christ. We read of this death in Romans 6, 

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin

Thus, we can conclude that the death, which people will be seeking during this spiritual 5 month period that we now find ourselves, is the death in Jesus Christ through salvation. Unfortunately though, it is a death that every single unsaved human being will now never find because it is now Judgment Day and the initiation of rebirth in salvation is no longer possible. 

So now when we ask, who are the locusts? We should be more accurately asking, what are the locusts? For as we see these locusts for what they really are, we understand that the locusts are actually the very Judgment of God. They are not the false prophets; nor are they the true prophets, although they are certainly related to the true prophets, but they are the spiritual essence of what Judgment Day is all about. We cannot touch it, taste it, feel it, see it, or hear it, but it is, nevertheless, more real than the human senses can perceive, for because the Word of God teaches it, it is true and real, and must be considered more real then what the human senses are even capable of experiencing. Yes, we would like to identify these locusts with something that we can see such as false prophets or true prophets, but the reality is that they are neither of these in the most direct way.

Now when we see these locusts of Revelations 9 not for who they actually are, but for what they actually are, namely the spiritual essence of God's judgment during the spiritual 5 months, everything of difficulty in Revelations 9 fits together beautifully. Where we found it difficult to see the locusts as being the people of God because why would God's people - the locusts - be told to not hurt or harm God's people, but only the men who have not the seal of God on their foreheads (verse 4), it now makes perfect sense because it is not God's people being told to not hurt God's people, but it is the locusts that are being told not to harm God's people - who are not the people of God, but the very spiritual essence of the Judgment of God. This makes perfects sense because the judgment of God, which is one and the same as the message of no more salvation after May 21 , cannot possibly harm God's people, for they are already saved. 

In addition, when we understand the locusts to be the very Judgment of God, it helps us understand verse 17 of Revelations 9 where we read,

17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 

In this verse, notice that the ones who sat on the horses have "breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone." It does not say the horsemen have as breastplates of fire, and have as of jacinth, and as brimstone like the language of the locusts of which we looked upon earlier in this study. This is because the locusts are not in view here, but the very people of God. It is the very people of God themselves who have breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone - they are the horsemen.

But then notice in the same verse, when God starts speaking about the heads of the horses, He says that " the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions." So now it goes back to the "as" terminology which is that of the locusts as we saw earlier in this study. What we see, then, is that the horses are one and the same as the locusts, except that the horses are symbolizing the spiritual battle of Judgment Day and the locust just Judgment Day. And, as had previously been revealed, these locusts are the very spiritual essence of the judgment and wrath of God unleashed for a spiritual 5 months beginning on May 21, 2011


God's People have conquered Judgment Day!

One more thing of import before leaving verse 17 and ending this study, notice that it is the horsemen who sat on the horses, which the horses we have learned are identified as the locusts. God's people sitting on the horses means they have conquered the locusts or horses of which is the very judgment of God. The judgment of God cannot harm them at all because they have conquered or have come to rule over the spiritual 5 months of judgment through salvation in Jesus Christ. It is the locusts, which are the judgment of God that has been given authority and power during this last spiritual (not literal) 5 months. It is the horses, which are also representative of the judgment of God, that have been given power and authority. It is the message of no more salvation that has been given all the power and authority in this last spiritual 5 months. The symbolism of the horses emphasizes a battle, but it is NOT the people of God who are fighting the battle, but it is the message from God of no more salvation in Judgment that is fighting the battle, and the people of God sit upon the locusts and horses, which assures us that we, the people of God, have already won and conquered Judgment Day by the very Word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN!

To go to Part 2 of "Who Are The Locusts of Revelations 9, CLICK HERE.

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