5th angel trumpet. Star fell from heaven, falling into the abyss. Locust/scorpians crawl out to sting any not marked with seal of God. Don't kill them; torture them, the human race, for five months. Apollyon-Destroyer. From Joel's prophecy. A life refusing the way of repentance; repentance saves us from the terrors of sin.
6th angel trumpet. Four angels kill 1/3 of the human race. Today that would be over 2 billion people. If those not marked by the seal, number would be fewer. How many fewer? Who knows. Fire, smoke, brimstone. Those who remained "went on their merry way of life, didn't quit worshiping demons, didn't quit centering lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass and wood and stone. No change of heart. Kept on in murderous, occult, promiscuous and theiving ways.
Hardly seems just, that 1/3 would be killed and "that" would be left?! Destruction is not complete, not total.
7th angel trumpet. Rainbow over his head. 7 thunders called back. Time's up when this trumpet blows. All plans of God would be completed. "Give me the book." "Take it. Eat it. It will taste sweet like honey but will sour your stomach."
"Go and prophesy again over many peoples and nations and languages and kings."
Eating a book means you take it in. You assimilate and absorb it into the tissues of your life. Witnesses first become what they say before they say it. John is commanded to assimilate the Word of God so that when he speaks, it will be an essential part of him. Every witness experiences the polarity of sweetness and bitterness. It's sweet when received from God; it's bitter when rejected by others. Biblical witnesses are warned of this tension.
Two Witnesses. 42 months of prophecy, with super powers from these two. Beast of Abyss will rise, fight, and kill them, leaving them lying in the street. The Spirit of God will enter them after 3 1/2 days, and they'll rise again. Moses and Elijah. Giver of Law and Giver of Prophecy. They point to Christ. Must have both law and prophecy for complete witness.
Last trumpet sounds. Doors of heaven fly open. "The kingdom of the world is now, the Kingdom of our God and his Messiah. He will rule forever and ever!"
The Woman, her son and the dragon. Woman. Baby. Dragon poised to eat the baby. Flashback of Rosemary's Baby in my mind, a movie that gave me nightmares and shakes, even to today. Son born and given safety before God on his throne. Woman escaped for 1260 days. War in heaven. Good vs. evil. Angels vs. dragon. Dragon/devil/satan thrown out with all his angels, to earth, to chase the woman and seek to corrupt the children who keep God's commands and hold firm to the witness of Jesus.
"Kingdom" insists on a gospel that brings everything and everyone under the rule of God. Two temptations pull on Christian community. First is to retain the political dimensions of the gospel and to take up the unusual political means of force. The other is to give up the political and have a nice little fellowship, abandoning the world of government, economics, culture and society in favor of saving a few souls.
"We overestimate the politics of earthly governments and underestimate the politics of heaven. John's imagination is a rush of adrenaline to those of us with little faith. And so infused, we're fearless, unimpressed by the bluster of the Dragon. The child survives. Salvation is assured. And God's rule is intact. No matter how daunting the Dragon, the child always survives." EP
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