Let us go to Revelation 9. I will read from verse 14 to the end. We read in Revelation 9:14-15:
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels [messengers]…
For anyone who is following us for the first time, I am substituting the word “messengers” for “angels” because we can do this; and in this case, we should.
It continues:
Loose the four angels [messengers] which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 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 messengers here are prepared and they are loosed. Their task is to slay the third part of men. Let us remember this as we continue reading.
It says in Revelation 9:16-18:
And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 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. By these three was the third part of men killed…
We are now reading about the 200 million horsemen and their task is identical to the four messengers. They are to kill the third part of men. This is because these two groups are one and the same. This is just two ways of referring to them.
Then we read in Revelation 9:18-21:
By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
No matter what city we live in, this describes what we read in our newspapers. No one is repenting. We are in judgment. We have been in Judgment Day since May 21 for this period of five months, and no one is repenting of their sins. It seems like they are getting worse. Of course, God knew this in advance.
“The rest of the men” is a reference to those not killed by the previous plague upon the third part. They are the rest. They are those who are left. And so the third part is killed by the four angels or the four messengers and by the 200 million, and this leaves the rest.
We might talk about this word “rest” a little later, because this is actually a key word in a couple of other places. For example, in Revelation 11 and in Revelation 19 and in some other places, this particular word comes up that helps us to understand what is going on.
But, again, we are talking about things that we thought would all take place on May 21. We thought that there would be a great earthquake, that the world would be destroyed, that God’s judgment would be upon the world; and yet we never really expected literal fire and brimstone. We never said that beginning on May 21 God would rain down fire and brimstone like He did on Sodom. He literally and historically did this on Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim, those four cities of the plain. We knew that fire and brimstone was a figure of speech for the wrath of God. The Bible tells us, “God is a consuming fire”; and there is also a verse in the Bible that says that His breath is “like a stream of brimstone.” And so fire and brimstone has to do with His wrath, with His judgment, and with His punishment on the wicked, which are most of the people of the world.
We have the wicked in the church and we have the wicked out in the world who have had nothing to do with the church. The wicked are the unsaved, and yet all men are wicked. We are wicked, but God in His mercy covered the sins of His elect. This is the only difference between the saved and the unsaved. He did not save us because of anything in us. It was not because of anything good in us. It was only because this was according to His good pleasure.
So He determined to save His people, which are said here in Revelation 9 to number 200 million. He determined to save these people before the foundation of the world. Throughout the 6100 days of the latter rain that is over now, He did save them; and it seems that He especially saved the best for last. Right before the end of this period, right before we entered into Judgment Day on May 21, He saved many millions of people.
This is what Revelation 9 is talking about. Revelation 9 is focused on this transition from the end of the 8400 days of the great tribulation into the five months or the 153 days of judgment, which we are in the midst of. This is why the locusts are loosed for five months, which is May 21, 2011 through October 21, 2011.
So we read that the locusts were commanded to bring torment but not to kill. They were not to kill. But the 200 million, which we are saying are one and the same, are also loosed on May 21, just like the locusts who come out of the bottomless pit, that holding station that God calls a prison. These locusts were bound, just as prisoners are bound, and they were bound in the great river Euphrates, and then both groups were loosed at the same time.
We find, however, that the locusts have a slightly different task, and yet this is still talking about the same people, because this is talking about the 200 million. Locusts swarm in great multitudes and these are the elect. They are the same as the 200 million or the four messengers.
What God did was that He saved all of His elect, all 200 million. Since He saved them all, this information is what actually kills the third part, which is referring to the two billion people who are in the churches and congregations. This is because there is no more salvation. He saved everyone whom He intended to save.
Those in the churches were in a situation throughout the whole 23 years or the whole 8400 days where God was not saving. They were in churches and congregations where God was not saving.
So God was not saving in the church, and then He opened up the Scriptures and told the whole world, especially the churches who knew about this, that Judgment Day was coming. He warned them that if they did not get out of the church, they would be bundled like a tare for the fire. He warned them that if they did not leave their church, they could not possibly be saved, because His Spirit was not within the churches.
He gave warning after warning as the watchmen blew the trumpet. He was telling them for years to get out and to leave their churches, and yet they disregarded these warnings and insisted that God was still in their churches. They decided not to worry about Judgment Day because they believed that no man could know the day or hour. They would say these things to strengthen themselves, which really only proved to harden their hearts.
To have a hard heart means that one has a strong heart and that they are full of strength. This means that they were not afraid of God. They were behaving just like Pharaoh when he said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go?” Pharaoh hardened his heart. He thought that he had strength. And so those in the churches hardened their hearts again and again and again to these warnings.
God was not saving there because the Holy Spirit had left; and so nobody could be saved in the churches all the way up until Judgment Day. Then we moved into judgment, and this judgment is really the same. This was the shutting of the door of Heaven, which was the significance of the 17th day of the 2nd month. God shut the door to the ark on that day. Seven thousand years later on May 21, 2011, the 17th day of the 2nd month in the Hebrew calendar, God shut the door to Heaven.
We knew this and this is what we told people would happen on May 21. However, we did not focus as much on the good news that He was also opening up all of the prison doors of the elect and letting them go free. We did not focus as much on this, but we did know that the door to Heaven would shut forever. It is just that we thought that we would not be here. We thought that we would be gone, but that is the only difference.
Some people had no problem telling others that there was going to be five months of torment on earth where nobody was going to be saved, as long as they were not here to experience this. Since we are here, some people have quickly changed what they are saying. But the Bible has not changed. God has not changed. It is just that some people are very uncomfortable with this information because they have to live with family members and neighbors who directly confront them now, and so they do not like this idea. None of us like this idea, but this is what God is teaching from the Bible.
We really have to discuss everything that we look at. I do not know how we cannot discuss this. For example, if we talk about God’s grace, about the characteristics and the attributes of God, do we not have to say that God is very gracious but that His grace is no longer available? If we talk about His love, do we not have to say that God is a loving God but that He has already saved all of His people? Do we not have to say that He has already loved Jacob, which now leaves Esau? If we talk about the mercy of God, do we not have to say that He is extremely merciful but that He has judgment without mercy?
No matter what particular attribute of God that we look at, in order to be honest, we have to talk about the door shutting. This has everything to do with the torment that the locusts bring. This has everything to do with the task of the 200 million, which is the slaying of the third part.
Who are the 200 million? We are. We are those people. We are those who are typified by the locusts. But we do not need to go around saying, “October 21 is going to be the last day.” We do not need to advertise this. We do not really need to press this point at all, because this has already been said. But we also do not need to shy away from this information at all and not talk about May 21.
Let us go back to Genesis 7 to see how God views these five months. This may differ with how you, others, and even myself for awhile were viewing this. If we go to Genesis 7, which is the flood account, notice that after the Lord shut him in in verse 16, this secured the safety of Noah and his family, eight souls. God secured them. They were safe. They could not be hurt. They could not be killed. They were safe and secure. Then we read in Genesis 7:17-20:
And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed…
These waters have to do with the Gospel. This word “prevailed” means victory. It means that you are the winner; you are the victor. It continues:
And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Then we read in Genesis 7:24:
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
We read of victory, victory, victory, victory. Four times, we read of victory. The waters prevailed for five months.
This is a different story than the media paints. According to them, nothing happened. This is also a different story than the church would tell you. As far as they are concerned, nothing happened, except they believe that the Gospel has been mocked. But we know where the mockery has been coming from.
Maybe this is also a different story than even you are thinking and that even you are understanding, but this is the story of God. This is what He is saying is happening right now.
This, however, was not a defeat. We have already mentioned this a few times. This was the greatest day that the Kingdom of God has ever experienced, outside of what Christ did before the foundation of the world and in living out that tableau when He went to the cross. This was a tremendous victory.
First of all, on May 21, God officially put down Satan. He slew him, in a sense. “The beast” was taken on May 21.
Secondly, God slew the third part of men, the ones who gave Him the greatest opposition, the ones who knew His will better than anyone else. He slew them on May 21 as soon as the 8400th day ended and Judgment Day came, and He did this immediately.
This reminds us of Egypt because it was the slaying of the firstborn that finally released the Jews, and this was almost simultaneous. As soon as God brought that last plague upon the firstborn of Egypt, then Pharaoh and all of the rest of the people of Egypt had had enough. They hasted Israel to get out of Egypt and to go. The Israelites then spoiled the Egyptians. And so the death of the firstborn at around midnight goes hand in hand with the release of Israel, with the release of all of the prisoners.
This is what we are seeing now. We saw a great earthquake in Acts 16, and it is important to note that God does not use these two words for “great earthquake” just anywhere. He uses them very specifically, and we saw that a great earthquake opened up the prison. And so we are also finding that on May 21, on that day, the third part of men were slain.
Can we say that these were Satan’s firstborn? Is this what is in view? We read in Exodus that all of the firstborn would die, “From the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon.” God slew them and then Pharaoh finally relented, but he would not let the people go until that point.
So we know that God is telling us that He killed the third part of men. But as we looked at the third part a couple of times, we found that this normally identifies with the true believers. For example, Zechariah 13 tells us that the third part goes through the fire and that God will call them His people. We also read this as well in other places.
But God is also using the identification of the third part with the churches, because this is where the third part would have normally been found during the church age. And so He identifies them as the third part, but then He calls His people out.
This is why in Revelation 8 we see this judgment on the churches or on the third part. Repeatedly in Revelation 8, God pronounces a judgment on the third part. He speaks of this eleven times. His judgment is on the third part of the sun, on the third part of the moon, on the third part of this and that. Then two times in Revelation 9, which is the next chapter and which would be thirteen times total, He speaks of killing and slaying the third part.
So the third part in Revelation 8 has to do only with the church. This is why we read of just a third part of the sun and a third part of the moon, etc. But once we entered into this period, the sun is darkened; and it is not just a third part. It is completely darkened. The moon does not give its light; and, again, it is not just a third part. It is complete. We also read of the stars falling, and they fall completely. This is because there has been a transition. This is moving from the place of the church into the entire world.
By the way, this judgment on the church was also an enormous judgment. This is because about one-third of the world’s population are professed Christians who go to church. This means that at least two billion or more are professed Christians. And so the third part is actually a very good way of describing the churches today; because even though we do not know the exact numbers, they are literally one-third of the world’s population.
The rest, the two-thirds, would be those who are not involved in the church in any way. This would be referring to the Buddhists, the Muslims, the Hindu, the agnostics, the atheists, as well as to those who are just secularists. All of these are the two-thirds. And the decimal for two-thirds is .666, which Revelation 13 tells us is “the number of man.” These are all of those who are unsaved in the world but who do not identify with the church.
So here we find in Revelation 9 that the third part is killed. Then we find that the locusts and the 200 million are one and the same, but that they accomplish two different things. And so God’s people accomplish these two things.
On the one hand, the two-thirds of men, the rest of the men, are tormented for five months; and it is commanded in Revelation 9:5 that the locusts are not to kill the rest. But we know that if someone was stubbornly in the church and still disregarding all of this on May 20th and then went into May 21st, we know that there is no way that God could have saved them.
But for others, for those who are just out there in the world, there is still hope. Some of these could have even been scoffers and mockers. They could have been someone who got a tract, ripped it up, and threw it immediately into a trashcan. The odds are that most of them are not saved either, but there is some hope that maybe God did something. Even though their initial reaction might have been anger, maybe God did something.
There are people in my family who have not been to church in fifty years, and yet they were not open to the idea of May 21 at all. But this can be our hope and this is what we can continue to pray, because maybe God did something. And even though it does not look good right now either, because we are in the midst of these five months and they do not seem to have changed, we do not know the workings of God. It could be that God did something and He just has not moved them to the point of working in them “to will and to do of his good pleasure” to where we are noticing any changes.
This is our hope and this is why two-thirds of the world are not slain. This is because this is the hope that we have from our perspective, and there can also be this hope from their perspective. This is especially true for someone who does not know whether or not they are saved. Maybe God did do something in their heart, so they can keep hoping and praying to see if fruit might be seen; because God might have done a work of salvation in them.
This is why only the third part is killed, because we cannot go from a situation where there was no salvation, which is bad, to a situation where God is not saving anyone, which is worse. Still, during those 23 years, anyone could have come out of the church. If they had come out of the church, they would have been in the world where, possibly, God could have saved them.
But today, no one can go anywhere for salvation. Someone could leave their church today, but this is not going to help them. Salvation is done. No one can think back and say that maybe God saved them the day before May 21, or any period before this during the latter rain if they had stayed in the church. This is not possible, because the Holy Spirit was not working in the church. He could not have saved them while they were in the church; and so now the door is shut. But, again, we can have hope for the rest of the men.
Let us now look at this word “plagues” in Revelation 9:20. Revelation 9:20 says:
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands…
This word “rest” is the Greek word loipoy (pronounced loy-poy'). This is also translated as “remnant” or as “other,” as in “the other virgins” from Matthew 25:11, which is not speaking of the five wise virgins.
So in looking at this word “plagues,” turn to Revelation 16. The Greek word for “plagues” is plege (pronounced play-gay'), which sounds very much like our English word for this. We read in Revelation 16:8-10:
And the fourth angel [or messenger] poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power [or authority] over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
We know that the “man of sin” took his seat “in the temple of God.” “The beast” is Satan’s name particularly, if not exclusively, for the great tribulation when Satan was ruling in the churches and congregations.
So in Revelation 16, these seven messengers are bringing these seven last vials of the wrath of God. This is speaking of Judgment Day, which is now. It calls these vials “plagues,” and we also read that some men do not repent as a result of these plagues.
It says this in Revelation 9 also. Revelation 9:20 says that the rest of the men who were not killed by these plagues, which represent the slaying of the third part, repented not. Let us read this again. Revelation 9:20 says:
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands…
So the people of the world who were not killed by what happened in the churches at this transition are not going to repent. They are not going to repent, even though they should.
The Bible requires the repentance of man while under the judgment of God. Man never has an excuse to where he can say, “Since I am being judged, I do not care. I am no longer under any Law and can now say whatever I want and do whatever I want.” But, no.
So they repented not, and this is as if God is looking at them and still seeing their sins and that they are not turning away from their sins. They are continuing in their sins, and their sins might even be getting worse; and yet God would have even an unsaved individual who is under the wrath of God repent.
We can look at Jesus. How long was Christ obedient? Was it only until He went into the garden of Gethsemane? No. He went and prayed, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” We also read in Philippians that He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” And so under the judgment of God, Christ maintained obedience to the Law of God, to the will of God. But what if out of agony and frustration He would have cursed God?
Job is a good picture of Christ as he was experiencing all of those terrible afflictions. And what was the advice of Job’s wife? She said, “Curse God, and die.” But Job thought correctly as he responded to her, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Then we read, “In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”
We are to obey God, and this is one big reason why there cannot be a place called “hell” that goes on forever and ever and ever. This is because God looks at those under judgment. If they still continue to rebel and sin against Him, God counts that as sin. This would still be sin and He would still have them repent.
Think of placing sinners in a place called “hell” if men are not repenting now. If they are not doing this now while we are really under a gentle and gracious wrath – and we could almost say that this is a merciful wrath – the wrath of God that is being poured out upon men for this limited time of five months, what would be the reaction of men who would be thrown into a place called “hell” and whipped and beaten and tortured forever and ever and ever? Imagine the amount of sin that they would pile up, and God would still count this as sin.
In other words, God would have never extinguished the rebellion. He would have never gotten rid of sin. Sin would still be there eternally, and this would dwarf anything that had happened in the 13,000 years of earth’s history. If under the wrath of God men could still not obey God completely, sin would go on forever and ever.
Let us now look at this word plege in Revelation 18:8. This says:
Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
This is the same word plege.
If you have a concordance, you can look up this word; because I am not going to go to all of the verses.
Let us look next at Revelation 22:18, which says:
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Again, this is plege.
So when we are reading that the third part is killed by a plague, which is the wrath of God, this is the same word that many have read and thought applied to eternal damnation. But we are seeing that this applies to these five months, to this period of time, and that this has nothing to do with a place called “hell” that would go on forever and ever.
Let us look at Acts 16, because we find this same word there. This word plege is actually in this chapter twice. We read in Acts 16:23:
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
This is referring to Paul and Silas whom the magistrates judged and then commanded that they be beaten with stripes; and this word “stripes” is the word plege.
This is the same word that we find in Revelation 22:18 where it says:
…God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
So in using this word, the same word that is very clearly related to a whipping, let us look at verse 33. This is after the Philippian jailer has been saved, because God did save him. We read in Acts 16:33:
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes [plege]; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
So they had laid stripes on Paul. And Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians that he had been beaten with stripes. He said there, “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.” This means that he received how many stripes? If we add these all up, he received 195 stripes.
So Paul received 39 stripes five times, and the number 39, of course, relates to the number 13, which is 3 x 13. Five times he received 39 stripes. In Acts 16, this was one of them; and so he was whipped and beaten.
God is looking at this word and He is connecting this word to His wrath, to His judgment, and to His punishment for sin, because this is the same word plege that we find often in the book of Revelation.
Turn over to Luke 12. It says in Luke 12:41-47:
Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
The word “stripes” here is italicized because this is not in the text.
Then it goes to say in verse 48, Luke 12:48:
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes…
This is the word plege. It continues:
But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
Here God is speaking of someone who knew the Lord’s will and also of someone who did not quite know the Lord’s will or hardly knew it. He knew less than the other person. But the one who knew the Lord’s will is to be beaten with many stripes.
There is a Law in Deuteronomy that we will go to in a minute that tells us that there is a limit. Someone cannot just be beaten on and on and on.
If someone was beaten with many stripes, let us say that they received 39 or even 40 stripes. But if someone was beaten with few stripes, let us say that they maybe received only 20 or 30 stripes. In neither case did they exceed the limitation that God has put on judgment.
If we go back to Revelation 9, we can see how this works and how God is doing this right now, because the third part of men are killed by the fire, by the smoke, and by the brimstone. The judgment of God has come and it slew two billion people.
Where are these two billion people who have been slain? Are they all lying dead in the street? Spiritually, yes; but physically, no.
We had thought that these fives months were going to be an awful time of death. We thought that it would be so awful that bodies would not even be buried. We thought that these dead bodies would be exposed and shamed before God.
Well, there are two billion people who are not buried. They are not buried. They are walking around and they are physically alive; but from God’s perspective, He slew them. He slew the third part, and yet they are still moving around and unburied.
This is the one plague in particular that the rest of the men, the unsaved masses of the world, do not experience. This is why it says in Revelation 9:20:
And the rest…
Remember that this is the word loipoy and that this is also translated as “remnant.”
It continues:
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues…
This particular plague did not strike the rest of the men. This particular “stripe” did not come to them. They were not killed by that “stripe” because this was an additional “stripe” that was for the third part, for those in the churches who knew their Lord’s will. They knew because the trumpet was blown and the whole world was warned, and yet many in the churches just dismissed this by claiming that no man could know the day or hour.
They also did not want to hear about the end of the church age because they held fast to the verse that says that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” But this was a complete misunderstanding of what Christ meant. Christ was speaking of the eternal Church, the body of believers. This had nothing to do with the corporate church that we see on every corner.
And so they were slain by this particular plague that did not slay a Buddhist or a Muslim or an atheist or an agnostic or a secular person who just had nothing to do with the church. This did not slay all sorts of people, two-thirds of the people of the world, but it did slay one-third. And so this plague explains to us how some people receive more stripes and how some people receive less.
Let us go to Deuteronomy now. We read in Deuteronomy 25:1-3:
If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
Here God lays down a Law. Someone cannot be beaten beyond forty stripes. And notice that this has to do with judgment. The judge is determining the judgment of a man if he comes into judgment. Notice also that God is talking here about stripes, and we just read verses in the New Testament where the word for “stripes” was the same word for “plagues.”
Actually, where this says in Deuteronomy 25:3:
…if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes…
This word for “stripes” is also translated in a few instances in the Old Testament as “plagues.”
So we are talking about a parallel word. This means that we can look at the Old Testament word for “stripes” that is also translated as “plagues” and then we can look at the New Testament word for “stripes” that is also translated as “plagues” and we can know that God is looking at the very same thing and that this has to do with judgment.
Remember that God is under His own Law. He is bound and obligated to keep His Law. He is the great Judge of all, and so if He says that a man who comes into judgment can only be given 40 stripes and not exceed this, He is obligated by His own Law to obey this.
Also, keep in mind that this number 40 is finite. We can count to forty. It takes a period of time to give 40 lashes, but this is not like man’s doctrine of a place called “hell.”
What we can see here is the good God of the Bible. He is gracious and kind and merciful. Then here comes a doctrine that is vicious. It is vicious. It is really after the character of man who has no mercy, man who is just someone who would grab his brother by the throat and say, “Pay me that thou owest,” even though he had just been forgiven a far greater debt.
This is the nature of man. Let us take the sinner, throw him into a place called “hell” and then beat him forever and ever and ever, which would be 40 stripes times how many billions? Keep whipping him and keep giving him stripes, because this is forever and ever and ever in a place called “hell.”
This is not God. This is not the God of the Bible. He says that, yes, there are wicked people. There are sinners and they do deserve judgment. But He is a just God and He is going to mete out the proper amount of punishment. Therefore, what may be given is 40 stripes, but not over this.
This is why Paul was beaten fives times “forty stripes save one.” This is because the Jews were very much aware that they were not to go over 40. What if they had miscounted? To be safe, they would whip him 39 times. And the Jews did all that they could do to Paul. Those Jews who stirred up trouble for Paul in just about everywhere that he went had no love for him. They would draw him out of the temple violently and stone him. They did all sorts of things to him, but they recognized the Law that they were not to go beyond 40 stripes.
So right here, this just wipes out the doctrine of an eternal damnation in hell where anyone, if it were to exist, would be thrown into and have unlimited suffering forevermore. No; God says that there is a limit to punishment. There comes a time when it must cease.
And now we have five months of stripes. This is not for the believer. This is not for the child of God. We are not counted as the third part. “The third part” is those in the churches. The believer has been saved out of the world, and so we are not “the rest of the men” either who are not repenting due to these plagues.
God is looking at the 200 million. He already took us out of the world. It is the 200 million who are slaying the third part. The 200 million are also the locusts who are bringing the torment. But God has separated His people. He made that final separation of the wheat and the tares. It is now only the unsaved people who are experiencing God’s wrath for these five months.
Going back to Revelation 9:20, this says again:
And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues…
Again, this word for “rest” is also translated as “remnant,” and so let us look at a couple of verses relating to the remnant.
We normally think of the remnant as true believers, but we find this same word in Matthew 22:6. I recommend reading the earlier verses, but we do not have time right now to do this. Matthew 22:6 says:
And the remnant [loipoy] took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
This is a picture of God sending His servants to announce the dinner. This is what those hearing this message did to the servants of God. This is definitely referring to unsaved people, even though they are called the “remnant.”
The best way of understanding this word is that this is pointing to those who are left. We think of a remnant as a little small piece or something that is a small number, but this is actually referring to those who are left. And this could be pointing to two-thirds of the world’s population, like we read in Revelation 9:20, or it could be a much smaller group; but this is referring to those who are left.
Look at Romans 11:7. This says:
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest [loipoy] were blinded
Again, this is definitely pointing to those who are not believers. This is not referring to believers. This is referring to those who are blinded, and God contrasts them here with the elect.
Turn to Ephesians 2:3. This says:
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others [loipoy].
This word “others” is the same word, and this again is pointing to unsaved people.
Let us now go to Revelation 11. Revelation 11 has been confusing some people, because of what they read in Revelation 11:7, which says:
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Some people are wrongly thinking that this applies to May 21, 2011. But, no. We have had the correct understanding of this. Mr. Camping has pointed this out numerous times.
So we go from Revelation 9, which was describing the first woe. Then God gives us an interlude in Revelation 10. Then in Revelation 11, He gives us the whole history of the church age in the first few verses. He talks about the two witnesses and that they are given authority to prophesy “a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” This time period is equal to three and a half years and it is pointing to the period of time that went throughout the whole New Testament church age. This is the same number of the woman who after giving birth fled to the wilderness for this period of time. This has to do with the 1,955 years of the church age.
Then these two witnesses, which identify with God’s people as they brought the Gospel during the church age, are brought to the point where their testimony is finished and then “the beast” ascends. He comes up. This does not say that he had ascended, as though he had already done this.
If “the beast” ascended on May 21, 2011, this would mean that we have 23 more years of great tribulation. But this says that he ascends out of the bottomless pit and was loosed for “a little season.” This is pointing to May 21, 1988. This is when the two witnesses were killed and this was the point at which he came up.
Actually, this does not fit with May 21, 2011 at all. Instead, this fits the idea that the believers were beaten, that the believers were silenced, and that the believers were killed. If this happened on May 21, 2011 and if you believe this, you should start printing yourself some tracts. If you believe this, you should get out there again and start getting the Gospel out.
How could Satan stop the people of God from carrying forth the Gospel into the world? The people of God would not be stopped by the mockery of the world or by the media or by the opinion of the churches. We had all of this before May 21, 2011. At this time, this is not holding us back or stopping us at all. God would make sure of this and we would go out.
It is not that we were silenced or killed or any of this. It is that this is done. Salvation is finished and completed. There is no one left to be saved. And so God’s people are now observing that the fire and brimstone are falling throughout the world by not sowing seed, by not bringing the Gospel to bear fruit.
Deuteronomy 29 tells us that when fire and brimstone falls, seed is not sown. Therefore, what we are doing is in recognition of what God is doing. If anyone wants to sow seed, they are denying that there was judgment. They really have no idea where they are in time and they have no idea where they are in relation to God’s salvation plan. This is because they are mixing things up.
So here in Revelation 11, the two witnesses are killed, which happened on May 21, 1988. Then we read that their bodies are lying dead in the street, then they rise upon their feet, and then they are raptured.
In Revelation 11, God starts from the very beginning of the church age and gives us a very quick summary of the whole history of the church age right up until the second woe. He brought the Gospel via the two witnesses, these two witnesses were killed, they lay dead in the street throughout the great tribulation, they then rise and ascend. This would be a quick summary, all the way up to the last day.
Then we read in Revelation 11:13:
And the same hour…
This is referring to the hour of judgment. This is the same hour as the ascension, as the rapture, and the rapture will be on October 21. Yes, but that will be the last day of judgment, and so it is the same hour. It is not a different hour. It is the same hour as the rapture.
It continues:
And the same hour was there a great earthquake…
Was there a great earthquake? Yes; this was on May 21, 2011. This was the great earthquake that loosed the prison doors, spiritually, and set the captives free.
It continues:
…and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand…
This is another reference to the third part, even though seven thousand would normally identify with the true believers. But immediately when Judgment Day came, the third part was slain, and so this is another synonym. This is another way of saying the same thing. The seven thousand were killed when the great earthquake occurred.
This is actually another proof that there was a great earthquake on May 21, spiritually, because God is telling us that this earthquake slew the seven thousand. This is just like the 200 million who slay the third part. The third part are killed.
It goes on to say:
…and the remnant [loipoy]…
These are the rest of the men. It continues:
…and the remnant were affrighted…
Do not think that this is referring to the true believers. We just looked at several verses that showed that the remnant are the unsaved; but, actually, it does depend on the context. Here, the rest of the men, or the remnant, are affrighted. The Bible tells us that “Felix trembled” when he heard the Gospel, and “trembled” there is the same word as “affrighted” here. And so this word is used a couple of times to refer to unbelievers who can certainly experience fear.
Then it goes on to say that this remnant:
…gave glory to the God of heaven.
Do you remember what Joshua said to Achan while Achan was under the judgment of God? Achan had stolen a Babylonian garment, plus a wedge of gold and some silver, and then he hid those things. God then pointed out that Achan was guilty of this, and then Joshua said to Achan, “Give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him.” Well, this was an unsaved individual who gave God the glory while under His wrath and admitted his sin.
So here is a great earthquake that slays seven thousand and the rest of the men are affrighted and give God glory during this time. There is also another place where we find reference to the rest of the men in the book of Revelation and it fits this same pattern, but we will have to look at this next time.
Let us close with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do thank You for Your Word. We thank You for coming up alongside of us and for helping us to understand where we are and what is going on. We do thank You that You are continuing to lead us day by day to our expectation, to an expectation that will not be cut off. Father, we pray that You would help us today to look towards You and Your Word. We ask that You would open our eyes more and more and strengthen us by Your Word, that You would also comfort us and help us by Your Word. We ask for Your blessing for the rest of this day, and we pray these things in Christ’s Name. Amen.