Posted by Elana Janson on June 12, 2019 at 11:32:11:
Locusts and great windstorms.
Because of the signs in the heavens in 2016 (the Venus-Jupiter conjunction on Saturday 27 August 2016) and 2017 (the star formation that seems to reflect in Rev 12:1 - 23 September 2017) and the great windstorms of 2019, the following should be taken into account.
Tornadoes in the USA
May 2019 saw unusually high tornado activity in the USA. At the end of May 2019 tornadoes tore through the USA for 12 straight days (17-28 May). This too was an unusual occurrence and particularly considering that it happened over a particularly wide geographic area.
Locust swarms in the Middle East
We cannot ignore the large swarms of locusts that have recently appeared in countries of the Middle East. These locusts are said to have arrived from North Africa and are the result of extreme rainfall in Eritrea and Sudan.
In the time of the sounding of the fifth trumpet
Because I believe Revelation reveals that we are in the time of the sounding of the fifth and sixth trumpets and the seventh trumpet is about to sound, we should take note of the images of the “locusts” Rev 9:3-5 and 7-11.
Revelation 9:3-5 New King James Version (NKJV)
3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.
The time of locusts
Revelation likely uses the image of the locusts because the time of the sounding of the fifth trumpet is the time of locusts. It is the time of extreme weather, extreme rain that brings about great swarms of locusts.
They have power
When Revelation says that they have “power’’ and to harm “only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” we can know that Revelation is liking the locusts to a devastating destructive force within the nations that aims at the soul and spirit of the peoples.
Revelation reveals in Rev 9:3 that the time of the locusts is the time that the nations will be poisoned by needles that make them weak, “like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man”. But in that time God will symbolically still protect the “grass of the earth” and “any green thing”, that is those who follow the teachings of Christ and Scripture and within whom the true spirit of Faith still thrives.
Rev 9:6
Revelation 9:6 New King James Version (NKJV)
6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
People who have lost their Faith or never sought to find it will struggle to cope with the forces of Evil and seek spiritual refuge in the use of drugs and narcotics. Seeking death is not in man’s nature, but when evil overtakes man he is spiritually tormented to the point that he could “seek death”, also implying things that he would not naturally do and then he turns to narcotics and things to dull the senses.
Rev 9:7-11
Revelation 9:7-11 New King James Version (NKJV)
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Abaddon and Apollyon mean “destroyer”. In the final season the influences of the “beast coming up out of the earth” and “the beast coming up out of the sea” have overtaken the nations, therefore the Return must happen.
The confluence of the streams of prediction
Broadly speaking the chapters of the Revelation of Jesus Christ progress to the point in time that the nations will realize that the Return is at hand. It seems that through the repetition of words the confluence of the various streams of prediction are brought together.
The word “prepared”
In the Bible and particularly in the book Jonah, the word “prepared” is used to indicate God’s actions. Jonah 1:17; 4:6; 4:7 and 4:8.
Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish
4:6 And the Lord God prepared a gourd (fleshy fruit)
4:7 God prepared a worm
4:8 God prepared a vehement east wind
It seems that the word “prepared” in Revelation indicates the coming together or confluence of the final signs before the Return of Jesus Christ. God is preparing the world for the Return.
Revelation 8:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The actions of the angels are under God’s command
The signs indicated in the sounding of the last three trumpets are happening in the “short season”.
Revelation 9:7 King James Version (KJV)
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.
We are seeing large swarms of locusts at the present time. The swarms of locusts were seen ravaging crops at the beginning of May 2019.
Revelation 9:15 King James Version (KJV)
15 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.
We are in the time that the nations are gathering to Armageddon. God has always known the time of the final conflict.
Revelation 12:6 King James Version (KJV)
6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
This verse covers centuries. It indicates how the Christian faith (the woman) was carried by those who fled from Europe to all the nations at the ends of the earth (the woman fled into the wilderness). There the Christian faith would grow in countries like Africa, the Americas and Australia and other countries and islands of the Far East, South and West.
Up to the time of the short season
The measure “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” is also used in Rev 11:3. This measure indicates up to the time of the short season and the final time only known to God.
In other words, the Christian faith would spread from Europe where Christians were persecuted (fled) to the countries in Africa, Americas, Australia, and other countries and Islands of the Far East, West and South of the globe. In those countries the
Until the time of the “short season” when Christians would again be persecuted.
Revelation 16:12 King James Version (KJV)
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
These words also relate to the “short season”. After 2003, the time of the war in Iraq, Christianity in the area of the Euphrates was attacked (“the water thereof was dried up”) the inhabitants of the nations of the Middle East started migrating West.
Revelation 21:2 King James Version (KJV)
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And then at some point after the short season, because Revelation has revealed what has happened in history, we can know that we shall see the miracle of the New Jerusalem.
Revelation symbolically refers to Christianity as the “woman” in chapter 12, therefore “bride” in Rev 21:2.