8:1 Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the next three angels!
"The "woe, woe, woe!" was pronounced upon a church who walked in the sparks of their own kindling, who did not derive their light and power from the great central Light, the Sun of Righteousness, and diffuse that light and glory to those who were in darkness." PH028.003.002
A false, Christless religion arises to torment the Christian church.
9.1 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.
A STAR- This is the second time we see a star fall from heaven. Stars usually refer to spiritual beings either good or bad-- a fallen star is usually a fallen spiritual being. Satan is the fallen star from heaven, and he is the destroyer, the rebel, the instigator of evil.
The third trumpet reveals the fallen star in one of his agendas, and that star was called wormwood. Now we see a falling star who is either Abaddon or a representative of Abaddon, the king of the bottomless pit, who has been given the key to the bottomless pit.
The first star instigated the papal pollution of the gospel and of Christ's ministry. Could this second reference to a star bringing in a religion that claims a heritage from Abraham but follows a different path from Christianity altogether? These fallen stars represent spiritual powers; false spiritual powers, generated by Satan. The first pollutes the gospel of Jesus Christ, the second star denies the gospel of Jesus Christ.
‘THERE IS NO GOD BUT ALLAH, AND MUHAMMAD IS HIS MESSENGER.’
Who is Allah? Many people mistakenly say Allah is just another name for the Biblical God. They say it is the same God Abraham worshipped and we worship, except they call him Allah.
Comparing the two shows us Allah IS NOT the same as the God of the Bible!!!
ALLAH chose Hagar and her son Ishmael for his covenant. (A covenant that appears not to need a Savior, but is based on man's doings) THE GOD OF OUR BIBLE chose Abraham's other son, ISAAC, the son of promise, as heir to His Covenant. Gen. 17:19-21 (A covenant based on God's Promises, in which Christ is the true Israel, and all who are in Him are Abraham's seed.[Gal. 3:29])
ALLAH is singular, aloof, and says the biblical teaching that Christ is the Son of God is blasphemous. In fact they go so far as to say, "for the Christians to call Christ the Son of God is to imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. God's curse upon them." (Sura at-taubah, 30)
THE GOD OF OUR BIBLE is "ONE GOD" yet it is not singular, for He revealed Himself through the Son Jesus Christ, who is declared as God. (Heb. 1:1,8) "Let US, make man, in OUR image, in the image of God. (Gen. 1:26,27)
ALLAH advocates salvation by works THE GOD OF OUR BIBLE pays the atonement price with His own Blood and writes His laws upon our hearts.
Allah is not the God of heaven. ALLAH IS NOT GOD- Nor is the name Allah just a generic mid-east name for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Allah is a god of fear and terrorism that commands destruction upon those who refuse to convert to Islam.
History records that Allah originated as a purely Arabic Deity. Allah already existed in Mecca before Muhammad. The god Sin, "The Controller of the Night," had the crescent moon as his emblem, and the lunar-based calendar, which became the primary religious symbols of Islam, was worshipped in Arabia as AI-Ilah Lord of the Ka'aba. So the tribe to which Muhammad belonged was already worshipping AI-Ilah – the moon God. Allah is still associated with the crescent moon of the lunargoddess.
ALLAH was represented by a black stone which was believed to have come down from heaven. This black stone is supposedly a sign or symbol of being the corner stone in the Kingdom of Allah. "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner?” (Matthew 21:42); “The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). The Moslems, understand these verse to mean that Jesus (who they say was a prophet like Mohammed) made it clear the rejected stone in the prophecy (21:42) meant a rejected nation and that this rejected nation was none other than the Ishmaelites which have now been given what the Israelites (21:43). History, they say, has shown this to be the case.
Yet, the Bible tells us that Christ is the cornerstone! Eph.2:20 "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone";
9.2 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. 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.
The bottomless pit is linked to destruction and chaos. and demonic activities. The world, in Genesis one, was "a bottomless pit" without form and void. In Revelation at the end of earth's history, Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit, which will be this world in total ruins. (Rev. 20:1) The king of the bottomless pit is Apollyn which means the destroyer (Rev. 9:11). It is none other than Satan.
The ancients believed mystical things took place in caves and often had rituals involving spiritualistic encounters. Mohammed’s place of retreat was Hira’, a cave in a mountain called the Mountain of Light What was in the Cave with Mohammed? Whatever it was certainly convinced Mohammed to lead souls away from Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the light... It gave Mohammed a form of religion that offers no way to redemption, yet inspired thousands of men to fight and destroy for what they supposed would earn them paradise. The smoke that rose from the cave of Hera resulted in a supernaturally driven movement that spread from Arabia, over a great part of Asia, Africa and on into Europe with remarkable speed.
SMOKE- In Scripture, whenever the smoke as of a furnace" is described as rising from, or from beneath the earth, the context shows that it is the smoke of JUDGMENT fire.-- The fires of "hell" and destruction, creep over the earth, and the smoke of error hides truth.
Compare the passage with:
Here we also see symbolic smoke which, in this instance represents the Assyrian host, which is about to ravage the country of Philistia, but Jerusalem "escapes".
In like manner the locusts and scorpions in the fifth trumpet depict the blighting power of another "host" -- the Muslim warriors.
They too, bring darkness. The first "falling star" brought darkness by obscuring Christ's heavenly ministry, this Muslim star, denies Christ's divinity altogether. The scriptures say; "He that believes on the Son has everlasting life; and he that does not believe in the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him." (John 3:36)
The key “was given” to Mohammed and with it he opened the abyss and released the scorch that was to afflict the Christian world for centuries. Mohammed claimed the angel Gabriel revealed the Koran to him. Through this supposed revelation Mohammed assumed religious authority. Yet, was this spirit really the angel Gabriel?
Gabriel appeared to many people before his alleged visit to Muhammad and each time the first thing he did was to allay that person's fear. We see this in his encounter with Daniel, (Dan. 8:16-18; 10:12) the encounter with Zachariah (Luke 1:13) the encounter with Mary (Luke 1:3) But the spirit who squeezed Muhammad left him frightened and in great distress.
Gabriel told Mary that this “holy one to be born will be called the Son of God./” (Luke 1.35) The spirit that revealed things to Muhammad said, Christ Jesus ‘The son of Marywas a messenger of Allah, …Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth.” (4.171)
The key gave Mohammed power over the Saracens roving bands. This key was not given to him by the angel Gabriel, but rather by the fallen angel, Satan.
It is a spirit inspired counterfeit of Christianity by which a destructive religious delusion was united with military conquest. It spread like wildfire over a great part of the Christianized world, a scorch to Christianity.
In the pages of history we find an interesting story. Christians opposed to Catholicism were “protected” from the Muslim Saracens. For instance, C. A. Scott was to say, of the Paulicians, that they were:
The Muslims regarded them as a separate group from the mainline Christians who were persecuting them, and often assisted and protected them, not only in Asia but also in Europe. C.A. Scott continues to say the so called “Paulicians” in Europe was “a generic description of any of these movements which opposed the development of Catholic hierarchy and doctrine” including the Albigenses and other anti-Catholic sects.
Now, all these “anti-catholic” sects have been called heretics and many heretical beliefs have been ascribed to them by their enemies. Some so called "heretical sects" may very well have held unbiblical doctrines, denying the divinity of Christ, etc., and these would not be considered as having "the seal of God". But, in light of this prophecy, and also the prophecy of Rev. 12, where the “woman”, the true church, is the one fleeing into the wilderness, not sitting in the seat of popular acceptance, one wonders greatly concerning the truthfulness of the reports concerning their “heresies”.
God knows who His true followers are, and in this punishing scourge upon the Christian Church, His faithful followers, hiding from the persecution of this church that called itself by His name, were not harmed by sweeping scourge, but found a degree of respite from their persecuters.
In the mainline Christian church during the seventh and eighth centuries the apostasy was great—not only had a counterfeit Sabbath supplanted the true, (while many of the anti-catholics maintain the 7th day Sabbath) but superstition, idolatry, verneration of “saints” and other strange things were prevalent. The Arabians felt themselves commissioned as Allah’s messengers to punish “the infidels”.
Five months in prophetic time equals 5 X 30 =150 years. Historians usually place the starting date of the Saracenic conquests under Abu-Bekr, in the year 632 A.D. Between 632 and 641 they conquered Syria, Palestine, Persia, Egypt, by 709 they held all of northern Africa. In 711 they invaded Spain, and moved on into Gaul, where they were stopped by Charles Martel in the Battle of Tours in 732. Though "checked" they were by no means crushed, they continued to "torment" for another half century. It took another two generations for the Franks to drive all the Arab garrisons out of what is now France and across the Pyrenees. Charles Martel's halt of the invasion of Islamic conquests, and the unification of the Frankish kingdom would lead to the "Holy Roman Empire".
The Muslims released during the fifth trumpet, were not to destroy the church (not to kill or utterly destroy) but to "torment" the church. It seemed a miracle that they did not destroy the church (Charles Martel's victory between such disparate forces seemed unprecedented)thus the Muslims did not destroy the Roman state.
By 762 the Saracen Empire started into a new phase, moving it's capital to Bagdad, they began to concentrated on luxury and taking their ease. By 782 war was no longer their passion.
9.6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
The opening of the abyss is the release of deceptions and destruction that do their deadly work. Death is sought by those in bitterness and grief, for whom life has lost is meaning.
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.
It is interesting that historians repeatedly refer to the rise and conquest of the Muslims as "locusts"! Arabia is noted for its locusts.
Scriptures describe huge armies as locusts:
locusts‘arbah,locusts
Locusts naturally destroy green plants not men, BUT these locusts are not natural locusts, their attack is directed against unrighteous men. They have the faces of men—they are men with breads. In regard to the turban-crown, it is interesting that Ezekiel (23:42) describes the turbans of the Sabaen or Keturite Arabs under this precise appellation;
The Saracen Muslims were an army on horseback! The Arabian horses were their pride!
The whole picture is one of fierce and ruthless swarms of armies harassing the Christian Roman Empire.
9.8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
The Muslim men had hair long and uncut. It was the religion of Muhammad that made the Saracens (Arabs) what they were. United by a common religion they speed forth as its propagandists like locusts with the teeth of lions to convert the world with the sword.
9.9 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.
The breast-plate of iron was a feature mentioned in the Koran as -- God's gifts to the Arabs, their coats of mail for defense are appreciated. Wings symbolize the speed with which they moved forward to conquer.
Joel 2:4 The appearance of them [is] as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 2:5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
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 prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
The opening of the abyss was the release of deceptions. Scorpions inject their venom through a barbed stinger on the end of their tail. Like a scorpion, Muhammad’s religion stung the subjects being proselytized and infused the poison of the Islamic doctrine into the people. Wherever they conquered there the religion was imposed.
9.11 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.
The Son of God declares: "I will give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you" (Luke 10:19) The GREENthings represent the fruit-bearing people connected with Christ in righteousness.
Locusts naturally destroy green plants not men, BUT these locusts are not natural locusts, their attack is directed against unrighteous men. It has been noted that the Muslim conquerors were not to simply destroy wantonly so long as the Christians and Jews submitted to the payment of tribute. It has also been noted that a command was given by Mohammed's successor, Abu-bakr, to kill those who "belonged to the synogogue of satan" and shaved their heads in a manner to look like they wore crowns.
Those who have not the seal--
The sign of the covenant--
The "locusts" come as a judgment against the church who has "thought to change God's times and laws" (Dan. 7:25) and was enforcing Sunday worship and condemning those who keep God's Sabbath. Who were worshiping images, and incorporating other pagan worship styles, dressed in Christian clothes.
We need to keep in mind that it's not the swift speed by which the Muslims conquered, nor because of their tyrannical, aggressive methods that they are described in the Bible. Rather it is because Christianity was in apostacy that God allowed this nation to come into being and be a trumpet judgment upon the church. The areas of the world which had received great gospel light in the early days, but had either reject it, or misinterpreted it and turned God's truths into darkness.
Had the church remained pure, they would never have lost so many of their churches to the Muslims.
However, the warrior in trumpet five are allowed to go only so far,-- they do not "kill" the church, nor the eastern empire, they only torment. After 150 years things quiet down, the fifth woe has ended, will the church use this period of comparative calm to seek a true relationship with God? There is another woe of even greater magnitude on the horizon!
In conclusion: Thus far the trumpets have warned us of four establishments working against true Christianity: 1. The Jewish nation which has rejected Christ 2. State religion that uses religion for political purposes 3. Apostate Christianity that has absorbed paganism 4. The Moslem religion which claims to be the true heirs of Abraham.
Yet there is one true religion: It consists of those who believe in, and are intimately connected with, and serving Jesus Christ in faith and obedience
