1. Three Woes
Jesus said, “The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”Matt 24:14
The fourth trumpet completed the cleansing of the Kingdom of Heaven. The grapes of the earth were ripe, the fullness of the Gentiles had come in, and the rider on the white horse treaded the great winepress of God’s wrath.
After these things, John “heard an eagle flying in mid-heaven, saying with a loud voice, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound.’”Rev 8:13
Those who “dwell on the earth” are those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in Revelation 11, 13, and 17. This tells us that even though the kingdom of heaven has been cleansed, there may still be other so-called churches in the world. But all of God’s elect will be in the Sanctified Church of the last days. They are known by the seal of God on their foreheads, the mark of the holy spirit. They are the eagles who fly in mid-heaven. They are not affected by the plagues of the seven trumpets. Like the ten plagues in Egypt, the seven plagues of the seven trumpets do not harm the children of God.
Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound.
Revelation 8:13
The last three trumpets are three great woes for the people dwelling on the earth. The first woe is the release of Satan and his final deception of the world. The second woe is the great battle that ends mankind’s existence, but Christ will come for the saints. The third woe is the last trumpet, which calls up the saints to Christ, and calls the world to judgment.
These three woes describe the punishment of those who refuse to repent when the sanctuary of God’s house has been fully cleansed—when the prayer of Jesus has been fulfilled. These are the three woes on the people of the world who continue to worship the beast and his image and receive his mark even when the truth has been firmly established.
2. After 1,000 Years
Matt 24:37-39, Rev 9:1, Rev 20:1-3
In Revelation 20, an angel with the key to the abyss locked up Satan for 1,000 years.Rev 20:2 We were told that after Satan had been bound for 1,000 years, he would be released to deceive the nations for the last time.Rev 20:3 He would gather them together at the place called Armageddon for their destruction.Rev 16:16
In Revelation 9, an angel with the key to the abyss released Satan to deceive the nations.Rev 9:1
The Sanctified Church has now been fully established. All the deceptions of Latin theology have been removed, and the Kingdom of Heaven has been fully cleansed, as Daniel prophesied. But man’s nature is to sin. The natural man rejects the things of God, and Satan will easily fool mankind once again.
When the 1,000 years have been completed, Satan will be released from his prison.
Revelation 20:7
We can understand why God allows this final attack of Satan. Now, the world knows that there is only one Church with the truth and power of God. All those who believe in Jesus are “one,” as He prayed for. The prophecies of the Bible have been shown to have already been fulfilled, and the people of the world who still worship the beast and his image and receive his mark are now completely without excuse.
The Sanctified Church is the Church of the living God, the dwelling place of God. By rejecting the Church, the people of the world are rejecting God Himself, and their torment will be well deserved.
Jesus said that when He returns, it will be like in the days of Noah—people were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the Ark.Matt 24:37-39 Those who refuse to enter the end-time Ark—the Church of the living God—will likewise perish. Paul said, “Because they did not receive the love of the truth to be saved, God will send them a strong delusion, that they will believe the lie.”2 Thess 2:10-11
3. The Smokescreen
In Revelation 9, when the Kingdom of God had been fully cleansed of all lawlessness, an angel released Satan from the bottomless pit. Smoke came out of the pit, “like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit.”Rev 9:2
We often use the expression “smokescreen” to describe a trick that blinds people from the truth. That is the meaning here. The smokescreen of Satan prevents men from seeing the sun and the air. The sun refers to God throughout the Book of Revelation.Rev 12:1 Rev 21:23 The air refers to the spiritual world. In Eph 2:2, Satan was called “the prince of the power of the air.”
For all that is in the word, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world.
1 John 2:15
This smokescreen put up by Satan takes men’s eyes away from God and blinds them from the truth of the spiritual world. When men can no longer see God and the spiritual battle, they are easily misled.
The smokescreen that always keeps men from the truth is the world itself. The apostle John described the distractions of this world as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.”1 John 2:16 These are the things that prevent us from entering God’s Church and receiving the love of God. John said, “Do not love this world or the things of this world, for if anyone loves the things of this world, the love of the Father is not in him.”1 John 2:15
As soon as Satan is released, he will blind men with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life”— men will seek their own glory. This is the goal of the locusts that came out of the smoke in Rev 9:3.
4. Locusts Harm the Unrepentant
Joel 2:4-6, Joel 2:25, Rev 9:1-12
The prophet Joel described the end-time plague of Satan as a plague of locusts, saying, “Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like the swift steeds they so run, with a noise of chariots…. Before them the people writhe in pain, and all their faces are drained in color.”Joel 2:4-6 Indeed, the faces of locusts do look like horses. In fact, the Italian word for locust means “little horse.”
Like the plagues in Egypt, this plague of locusts will not harm the children of God. It will harm only those who do not have the seal of the living God on their foreheads. It is therefore a plague on those who are not in the Sanctified Church. Rev 9:4 says, “They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”
They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Revelation 9:4
In verse 11, we learn that these locusts have Satan as their king. He is called “the angel of the abyss.” The name of Satan is given as Abaddon—in Greek, Apolluón, meaning “destroyer.” In John 10, Jesus tells us that the thief comes to “kill and destroy” but He came “that they may have life and may have it abundantly.”John 10:10 Satan will deceive men as a thief. He will use false religion to steal their salvation. He does not need to lure men into places of prostitution or gambling halls; he only needs to lure them into places of false religion, where they will have no power over the weakness of the flesh.
John told us that the locusts are not permitted to kill anyone but only to torment with their sting for five months.Rev 9:5 These five months can only be 150 years—five months of 30 days each. Throughout the Book of Revelation and the Book of Daniel, days have been shown to represent years. And here, we can see it again.
5. The Deception of the Locusts
1 Tim 4:1-3, 2 Tim 3:4-5, Rev 9:7-9
The apostle Paul explained the false teachings of the last days as the doctrines of demons and deceiving spirits.
John said, “On their heads they wore what appeared to be crowns of gold. Their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like the teeth of lions. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sounds of chariots, many horses rushing for battle.”Rev 9:7-9
The crowns of gold signify that these demons work through the respected in society and deceive men through their status. These demons have “faces of men,” meaning they work through people. They have “hair like the hair of women” and teeth “like the teeth of lions,” suggesting that they are seductive and will devour those who do not love the truth.
In returning and rest you shall be saved … but you would not, and you said, ‘We will ride on swift horses.’ Therefore, those who will pursue you shall be swift.
Isaiah 30:15-16
These demons have “breastplates of iron,” and the sound of their wings was like that of “many horses rushing for battle.” Here, we should remember the words of Isaiah, who said, “In returning and rest you shall be saved … but you would not, and you said, ‘We will ride on swift horses.’ Therefore, those who will pursue you shall be swift.”Isa 30:15-16
Paul described the deception of the end-time demons as teachings that place confidence in the flesh. Paul wrote: “The Spirit explicitly says that in the latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons … forbidding marriage and advocating abstaining from certain foods.”1 Tim 4:1-3 In Colossians, Paul denounced this confidence in the flesh as “self-abasement and severe treatment of the body [that] has no value against fleshly indulgence.”Col 2:23 Paul said that in the last days men will become “conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.”2 Tim 3:4-5
6. The Sting of Death is Sin
1 Cor 15:56, Heb 6:4-6, Heb 10:26, Rev 9:1-12
Those who refuse to enter the Sanctified Church in the last days will be tormented by demons or locusts, who have power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.Rev 9:3
John said the locusts are not permitted to kill anyone but only to torment with their sting for five months.Rev 9:5
The Apostle Paul said the “sting of death is sin.”1 Cor 15:55-56 Why is the sting of sin so great in the last days? Simply because all men will know the truth. The truth of the Bible and the power of God will be shown to all. All men will be without excuse for not believing the truth of the Bible, and their condemnation will be even greater. Heb 10:26 warns us that “if we go on sinning willfully after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for our sins.”
And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for five months; and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings a man.
Revelation 9:5
In Hebrews 6, the writer of the Book of Hebrews warned us that if we turn back even after tasting the power of the age to come, there remains no more sacrifice for our sins.Heb 6:4-6 Once Jesus’ prayer is fulfilled, the world will know who Jesus is, and many will taste the power of the age to come. The truth will be fully revealed, and men will understand the choices that they will make. Those who will refuse salvation will choose death rather than eternal life.
Rev 9:6 says that men will desire death and it shall flee from them. In their rejection of eternal life, they will hate life itself. Satan will easily gather the kings of the earth for destruction at the place called Armageddon. They will be deceived by the king of the locusts, the “destroyer,” Abaddon, the thief who came to “kill, steal and destroy.”John 10:10
7. The Frogs
Exod 8:3, Matt 24:24-26, Rev 16:12-21
John said that Satan will deceive the kings of the earth and will gather them together to battle Israel. This will be the work of three unclean spirits “coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are spirits of demons performing signs that go out to the kings of the whole world.”Rev 16:13-14
Moses described the plague of frogs in Egypt, saying, “[They] shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants.”Exod 8:3 These frogs sound like the end-time locusts described by Joel: “They run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall, they climb into the houses.”Joel 2:9 However, frogs are unlike locusts because they hop. They hop out of the mouths of the dragon and the beast and the false prophet.
For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24
The mouth of the dragon represents the lies of Satan. The mouths of the beast and the false prophet represent the lies of false Christs and false prophets. Jesus said, “False Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”Matt 24:24
Jesus warned us, “If they say to you, ‘He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or ‘He is in the inner room,’ do not believe them.”Matt 24:26 His meaning must be this: They will say, “Jesus is still in the wilderness. Daniel said that desolations will continue until the end. Our church also has the power of salvation. There is no need to go to the so-called True Church to pray in the holy spirit. It is better for you to pray in your inner room, just as Jesus said.”
False Christs and false prophets will perform great signs and deceive many. They will make the kings of the earth powerless in righteousness, and these kings will easily be fooled by Satan’s schemes.
