Brother Mike Ministries

The many days of Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011!  
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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 Two
REVELATIONS 9: Who Are The Locusts?
An exposition of the spiritual 5 months from May 21, 2011  to The End
By Brother Mike (9-18-11) 



Now, in the last message, I had shown how the locusts can neither be a direct reference to God's people or Satan's people, but that, nevertheless, they do have an indirect relation to God's people. If you will remember, they could NOT possibly be a direct reference to God's people because the locust terminology is one that is always qualified by the term "as" or "like." For instance, we read,

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

We would think that if these locusts were actually God's people, it would NOT say of them that they have "as" or "like" all these attributes, but it would say of them that they actually "have" all these attributes. This is because crowns like gold, faces of men, hair as women, the teeth of lions, as it were breastplates of iron, and the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle are all attributes that can be shown in scripture to be of God's very own people. But here in Revelations 9, it is said that these locust do not "have" these attributes, but it is only "as if" they possess these attributes. So instead of being God's people, it is only "as if" they are God's people, and we must, therefore, understand these locusts to not be the very people of God although as was shown in the previous message, they are clearly related to God's people. 

But if these locusts are not God's people, they are not Satan's people either. The scripture says of the locusts,
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

And again we are told,

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 in verse 10,

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

Each verse states that these locusts are "like" or "as" scorpions in some way. Now if these locusts were actually Satan's people, we would expect to read of the locusts as not being "as" or "like" scorpions in some way, but that they actually are scorpions since the term scorpions in the Bible can be defined as being Satan's demonically guided people. Instead, we read that it is only "as if" these locusts are Satan's people. Therefore, we must conclude that the locusts cannot be Satan's people; otherwise, these locusts would not just be as scorpions, but they would actually be scorpions. 

There is more I could go into to show that the locusts cannot possibly be God's people or Satan's people as some things in the last message had revealed, but I will not do so in this message.

I want to now turn to the question: if the locusts are not God's or Satan's people, then who or what are these locusts? 

In Part 1 of my last message, I concluded the locusts to be the very spiritual and invisible essence of Judgment Day itself in which the initiation of salvation by spiritual birth into the death of Jesus Christ was no longer possible. I did not go into detail on how I concluded this in the last message because the entire context of Revelations 9 itself when looked upon spiritually pretty much did that for me. I mean the locusts being symbolic of Judgment, the smoke as a great furnace being symbolic of judgment, the Sun and air being darkened being symbolic of judgment, the scorpions with tails which sting and torment people for 5 spiritual (not literal) months being symbolic of judgment, and so on. It is obvious that the theme of Revelations 9, especially the 1st woe and the sounding of the 5th angel is the spiritual 5 months of judgment from May 21 to the end of the world.  

Furthermore, when we see the locusts as being the very spiritual essence of the spiritual 5 months of Judgment Day from May 21 to The End , everything suddenly seems to more easily fit into place. For example, when the scripture says, 

11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 

It is not directly saying that God's people have the angel of the bottomless pit as king over them, but that the locusts do. To say that God's people have as king over them the messenger of the bottomless pit just doesn't initially sound right. But since these locusts are not a direct reference to the people of God, but the very spiritual essence of the Judgment of God, it is simply saying that the angel of the bottomless pit is king over Judgment Day. This should be easier to stomach for those who cannot see it possible for the king of the bottomless pit to be the Lord Himself although it can be shown that this king actually is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. His name is Apollyon, which means Destroyer because He is coming to spiritually destroy during this spiritual 5 month period of Judgment from May 21 to The End

There are various ways to show that this king of the bottomless pit is the Lord Jesus Christ, and one of the strongest pieces of support is that the Lord is identified as being the Destroyer in another place in scripture as we read about the last plague upon Egypt,

Ex 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you

Notice that the scripture says the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; not Satan, and so the Destroyer must be the Lord Himself, which is why the king over the locusts in Revelations 9 is known as Apollyon, which means Destroyer

Yes, the locusts defined as the very spiritual judgment of God might also help us to more easily understand other parts of Revelations 9. For instance, with respect to the locusts, we read,

4 And it was commanded them [the locusts] 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.

If the locusts are the people of God, it would here be being said to them not to hurt or harm the people of God since the terminology of the grass of the earth, any green thing, and any tree can be shown in scripture to define God's very own people. But that does not make easy sense. Why would God's people be being commanded not to hurt God's people? On the other hand, if the locusts are defined as being the very spiritual essence of the judgment of God, then it becomes more sensible in that the Judgment of God, which is the locusts, personified would be being commanded not to harm God's people. This seems to make better sense since the judgment of God cannot possibly harm God's people, for they are already saved and cannot, therefore, be harmed by the spiritual nature of Judgment Day, which has now locked all unsaved people into an eternity of death, but all God's people into an eternity of life. 

Another passage of Revelations 9 that might be more easily grasped a hold of in the light of seeing the locusts as being the very Judgment of God and not the very people of God begins in verse 1,

1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
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.
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. 

First of all, let's recognize that when it says in verse 1 that " the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit," some have thought this star, which falls from heaven, to be Satan because one thing they say, if it were Christ, the key would not have had to been given to him, for he would have already have had the key in advance. But when we take a closer look at the original language of this verse, the verb " was given," or "edothE" in the transliterated Greek, is in the aorist tense and the passive voice. The aorist tense means that the action of the verb took place at some specific point in the past with no reference to when or the duration of the action - it's just the mentioning of the fact that it took place in the past. So when we are told that the star was given the key, it simply means that at some specific point in the time of the past, the key was given to the star. What this means is that the key could have been given to the star long before it fell from heaven, and not after falling from heaven, which is what must be concluded since the right to the key of the bottomless pit and of life and death can be shown to have been given to Christ Himself at the time of His actual atoning death.

Furthermore, we are aided in seeing this star which fell from heaven as being Christ and not Satan when we compare this verse with a verse of similar terminology such as Revelations 20, 

Re 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. 

In this passage, we know absolutely without question that the angel, which can also be translated as the messenger, is Christ Himself; He is the one who bound Satan for the 1000 years, and it is He who, as we read, has the key of the bottomless pit. Therefore, we can conclude that the star who was given the key of the bottomless pit in Revelations 9 must be Christ Himself as well - the terminology is quite similar. That He is spoken of as a star who fell from heaven in Revelations 9 whereas in Revelations 20 it is said that He came down from heaven is emphasizing that the time of Revelations 9 is a time when the light of world has fallen from the sky in accordance with what we read in Matthew 24,

Mt 24:29 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 have learned in the previous message that these stars which fall from heaven are symbolic of no more light of salvation to the world during the spiritual (not literal) 5 months, and since this is what Revelations 9 is all about, we should be able to see why the star, who is Christ, is said to fall from heaven instead of come down from heaven as in Revelations 20. 

Now let's get back to seeing how Revelations 9 can be more easily grasped in the light of seeing the locusts as being the very Judgment of God itself and not the very people of God. To refresh our minds, let's begin reading once again in verse 1,

1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 
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.
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. 

Now how can it be said that the locusts came out of the smoke, which, in turn, came out of the bottomless pit? If the locusts are the people of God, this might be thought to be saying that the very people of God came out of the pit - although they are said to come out of the smoke, it is a smoke, after all, which first came out of the pit - but how, then, could it be said of God's people that they came out of the pit? Are not God's people from heaven in the spiritual sense? How can it say that they came from the pit of hell sort of speak?

Well, although it can be shown how the locusts of these verses can relate to God's people in at least an indirect way, it is easier to understand these verses by seeing the locusts for what they actually are, namely the Judgment of God itself. From this perspective, the verses in discussion are simply saying that the very spiritual essence of Judgment Day - which is the locusts - came out of the bottomless pit. They are death and destruction because they lock all unsaved people into a spiritual hopelessness, which ends in complete death at the end of the world when all this that is spiritual in nature will be manifest into the realm of the human senses with utter annihilation of the entire unsaved human race for all eternity. 

So what we see in the defining of the locusts to be the very spiritual essence of Judgment Day, and not first of all the people of God, is the falling together of everything in revelations 9 in a more easy to grasp and understandable fashion, which is what we would expect if we were on the right track to truth.

I think it is of some import to realize that these locusts are not, as I have stated before, the people of God, and neither are they the people of Satan. But this does not mean that both of these are not a part of the judgment of God during the spiritual 5 months. Up till this point, I showed how God's people are closely associated with the locusts of Revelations 9 while not actually being them. In a similar vein, it could be said of Satan's people that they too are associated with the Judgment of God, and, therefore, related to the locusts of Revelations 9 as well. This helps us see why some of the language of Revelations 9 makes more sense in relation to Satan's people while other language makes more sense in relation to God's people. Both are involved with the Judgment of God during these last spiritual 5 months, which Judgment of God is exactly what the locusts are all about in the most direct sense.

Remember that we found the locusts to be "as" scorpions in one way or another: that they were given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power ; that their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man ; and that they had tails like unto scorpions . This terminology supports that of God's people being in relationship to Judgment Day, which is the locusts, because it could not be said of Satan's people that they are "as" scorpions, but only that they "are" scorpions. On the other hand, we also found that the locusts are represented in terminology that supports Satan's people being in relationship to Judgment Day as well. Remember we found the same locusts described as having:

7 ... 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.

This terminology supports that of Satan's people being in relationship to Judgment Day, which is the locusts, because it could not be said of God's people that they just have "as" all these attributes, but that they actually "have" all these attributes. I know I haven't spent any time actually defining the terminology - I leave that to you - and the reason for this is that the terminology does not seem to be the heart of the controversy between God's people. This message on "Who Are The Locusts" was done in order to hopefully bring those who see the locust as being Satan's people into more harmony with those who see the locusts as being God's people. The locusts directly refer to neither, but both are alluded to in Revelations 9. 

What we see in the terminology of Revelations 9 is both an indirect allusion to God's people and an indirect allusion to Satan's people, and this makes perfect sense as soon as we realize that the focus of Revelations 9 is not primarily on God's or Satan's people, but upon the very spiritual essence of Judgment Day itself, which is what the locusts are all about. Both God's people and Satan's people are a part of this. God's people are identified with the locusts in that they are associated with carrying the spiritual judgment message of no more salvation, which leads people to death, while Satan's people are also associated with the spiritual judgment message, but unknowingly as they continue misleading people into a false gospel and religion, which also leads people to death. Both God's people and Satan's people are now carrying a message of death. This is how the allusion to God's people to being "as" scorpions, or "as" Satan's people, with tails that sting or torment people in Revelations 9 can make any sense. God's and Satan's people are now likened to one another because they are both bringing the very same judgment of the locusts, which only brings death whether via God's people, or whether via Satan's people; the outcome is all the same, namely death. This all goes quite deep into the Spirit, and there is a point at which it all becomes incomprehensible where our finite minds touch the infinite mind of God, so we can only cry out in amazement as did the apostle Paul, and say with respect to it all,

Ro 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

In conclusion, what we have learned is that Revelations 9 is a chapter portraying the terrible spiritual (not literal) 5 months of judgment against the entire human race. This Judgment began on May 21, 2011 and will continue until the end of the world . We found in this chapter of Revelations 9 that the locusts in the most direct sense are not God's people although closely related to them; nor are they Satan's people in the apostate church or otherwise, but they are the very spiritual essence of judgment which has now completely come upon this earth like a dark cloud of smoke from the fiery furnace of God's wrath. There is no longer any possibility for salvation ever since May 21 , but the world goes on as usual eating, drinking, and giving in marriage until when on that final day God's judgment will suddenly be revealed to all and they shall not escape. While on the other hand, God's people will be lifted up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we forever be with the Lord. Although this rapture will be most glorious for the children of God, it will be a witness against the entire world and the apostate church and believers in a most direct and literal way, and they shall mourn as they see the son of man coming on the clouds with power and great glory.

Now in the next message I hope to as the Lord wills speak more on Revelations 9 in the sounding of the 6th angel and the pronouncement of the 2nd woe in the 2nd half of Revelations 9. As you will see, I believe the 2nd woe and sounding of the 6th angel is fulfilled in the rapture of God's people at the end of the world. Until then, and as always,

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

This is Brother Mike. I am looking forward to spending some time with you once again.

Can you believe it; can you imagine it. The Lord is about to return, and we are in that very generation in which all that God ever promised is coming into complete fruition, and will soon be fulfilled. Amen!

Click here to go to the next message on Revelation 9 entitled "The Horsemen of Revelation 9."

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