The Image & Name of the Beast

The Four Trumpet Judgments of Rev. 8 are Spiritual, not to be Taken Literally

Although God certainly has the power to literally achieve the judgments depicted in Rev. 8, our modern scientific knowledge of the complex interrelationships of earth’s ecosystem necessitates our gravitating toward a spiritual, yet realistic, understanding.

For example, Jesus uses ‘rivers of living water’ as a metaphor for the continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the life of the spiritually-thirsty believer.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified) (John 7:37-39).

Jesus uses the same metaphor with the Samaritan woman at the well:

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14).

This same spiritual ‘water of life’ is reiterated in Rev. 22:

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (v.1).

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely (v.17).

In Genesis 9:11 the Lord Promises not to Destroy the World by Literal Water Again as in the Days of Noah

I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.

But if we understand the judgments of Rev. 8 as literal, modern science tells us the earth’s ecosystem would be thrown into a catastrophic disaster from which we would never recover. All life on our planet would soon become extinct, due to the destruction of our ever so precariously balanced ecosystem which allows for life to exist.

For example, literal water is a necessary component to sustain literal life. According to the World Health Organization, “There are two billion people in the world drinking chiefly contaminated water, which is a staggering number. And as a result, there are almost one million deaths per year” (OAN, 8/22/19).

The French documentary, A Thirsty World, states that “water is desperately lacking for more than one billion people……. Contaminated water kills more than 4,000 children every day.” This contamination is due, in part, to a prodigious lack of toilets and water treatment facilities.

What can we surmise from these undisputed facts?

First and foremost, we can discount a literal interpretation of Rev. 8. Without clean water life as we know it would cease, thereby making the preaching of the Gospel a waste of time and energy.

Imagine preaching the love of God in Christ to townspeople dying of painful dysentery? “God loves you so much He turned the waters to blood and poisoned the rest.” How well do you think they will receive it?

Secondly, by literally poisoning the waters God negates His promise not to ever again destroy life by water.

Without detailing the resulting catastrophes of losing sunlight and heat if the sun were literally darkened, making the planet inhabitable; or the loss of the gravitational pull (caused by a falling sun) which keeps the solar system from destroying itself, it should be self-evident Rev. 8 is teaching spiritual judgments of God.

These judgments are directed at those professing false Christians who are teaching and practicing that which opposes the truths of the living God.

It is their perversions and lies which make the pure waters of life of God’s Word, bitter poison which kills.

In Chapter 9, these same judgments are detailed, ultimately identifying the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, the Destroyer, the King of the Locusts.

For centuries, his identity was known and preached, unlike today, where truth is darkened and men are drinking the poisonous teachings of the Jesuits and false prophets.

 

The Beast with 7-Heads Explained in Easy to Understand Terms

Proposition #1: Daniel 7:23 depicts the 4th Kingdom which comes to power after the Babylonian Kingdom as a cruel and vicious beast with ten horns who rises out of the sea. All of Christendom interprets this beast to be the Roman Kingdom.

Proposition #2: Revelation 13:1 depicts the same beast, the Roman Kingdom, rising out of the sea. In addition to the ten horns, 7-heads are described.

Proposition #3: Heads represent heads of state. Our country’s head of state is called ‘President.’ Though we have one head, it is not confined to one person throughout our history. Rather it consists of a succession of elected individuals who occupy the office of ‘President’ one person at a time. The same is true of the Roman State which has had 7 different kinds of government leadership, represented by the 7-heads.

Proposition #4: The first 5 historical forms of Roman heads of state were kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs and consular tribunes (Source: first sentence of first paragraph).

Proposition #5: The 7-head beast of Rev. 13:1 is identical with the 7-head beast of Rev. 17:3. The beast which John sees in Rev. 17 is under the 6th head, which is the current Roman government ruling the Roman Empire – that of pagan emperors (Rev. 17:10).

Proposition #6: The next form of Roman government is not yet come, and must continue a short space (Rev. 17:10).

Proposition #7: The 7th head which is yet to come is that of the Christian emperors, beginning with Constantine the Great, who decreed The Edict of Milan in A.D. 313, resulting in Christianity becoming the religion of the realm (Source).

Proposition #8: The seat of the Roman Empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople in A.D. 324. Thus, that Christian head of government was in Rome a very short time.

Proposition #9: The beast under the 8th head which is of the 7th head (Rev. 17:11) is that of the Pope of Rome who, like the Christian Roman emperors, is a professed Christian, the Pontifex Maximus, and supreme head of a worldwide Roman kingdom called the Roman Catholic Church.

Proposition #10: The Papacy strives to be like the Most High God who is, who was and who is to come (Rev. 1:8). But instead is deemed to be the beast who was and is not and goes into perdition (compare Rev. 17:11 and 2 Thess. 2:4).

Proposition #11: The Papacy is the beast that was and is not and ascends out of the bottomless pit (Rev. 17:8) --- who is called the Destroyer (Rev. 9:11).

Proposition #12: The Papacy is the beast who ascends out of the bottomless pit to kill the true Christians depicted in Rev. 11:7. History confirms his war against the saints which raged for centuries.

Proposition #13: The beast who is under the 8th head is also the man of sin (2 Thess. 2:3). Both go into perdition.

Proposition #14: Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus foreshadowed the Pope of Rome who betrays Jesus, for he is called the son of perdition, who goes into perdition (John 17:12).

Proposition #15: The Pope of Rome is the very Antichrist who we are to recognize, expose and battle using the sword of God’s Word with the power of the Spirit.

 

Implications of Earth Dwellers & Mystery Babylon Made Drunk

And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication……

And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration (Revelation 17:1-2; 6).

To be ‘drunk’ is to be ‘intoxicated.’ To be ‘intoxicated’ is to drink that which ‘intoxicates.’

Etymology of INTOXICATE: “to poison…..meaning ‘make drunk’ first recorded 1570s” (Source).

Revelation 8 describes several instances of water either becoming blood or wormwood, causing death to great numbers of sea creatures and men alike.

In other words, water, an essential element for life, has become poisoned. It is no longer a life sustaining element.

Metaphorically speaking, the Holy Spirit is predicting the poisoning and perverting of God’s truths which are essential to life eternal.

….the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63b).

The poisoning of the waters of life is caused by two factors:

1. A great mountain burning with fire;

2. A great star burning as a lamp.

In Rev. 17 the beast upon which the woman sits has 7 heads which are interpreted as 7 mountains (v.9). The great mountain depicted in Rev. 8:8 is the 8th head of the Roman beast, the Papal Roman Kingdom, which is future to the days of John. This 8th head is to rise to prominence after the capital of the Christian Roman Empire – Rome - is relocated to the East in what was once Byzantium (vs. 10-11).This 8th head, the Pope, as well as his headquarters in Rome, Vatican City, is destined for destruction (v.11).

The mountain prophesied in Rev. 8:8 is described as burning with fire, as is Mystery Babylon in Rev. 18:8. They are one and the same, destined to experience the same judgment of God.

Furthermore, they are both cast into the sea (Rev. 18:21), further proof they are one and the same: the Kingdom & Church of Roman Catholicism.

Stars are Prophets; Lamps are Churches

Stars = angels (Rev. 1: 20).

Angels = prophets (Rev. 19:10).

Lampstands = churches (Rev. 1:20).

In Rev. 8:10 we are told a great star from heaven, burning like a lamp, fell. The Holy Spirit is describing a great and renowned Church leader, who allegedly speaks in the name of God, yet has apostatized. This same event is described in 2 Thess. 2:3, the falling away of a once true and faithful Christian church which brings about the rise of the man of sin, the Antichrist.

That great prophet, the man of sin, the Antichrist, poisons the waters of eternal life with damnable and deadly doctrines which men drink until intoxicated, causing a religious delirium which prefers unrighteousness to truth, opening defying the clear and plain truths of God’s Word.

Wormwood an apt description of poisonous doctrine

Large amounts of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) can cause convulsions and death when administered to animals and humans (Source).

The bitter quality of wormwood is also exemplified in Acts 8:23, for when speaking of Simon the sorcerer, Peter declares, I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

GALL = bold and impudent behavior.

This is exactly the kind of behavior one would expect from the ‘drunken.’

This is the behavior of that wicked servant who claims to be set over the Lord’s household (i.e. the universal Christian Church), yet he habitually drinks (read: ‘fellowships’) with the drunken (read: ‘haters of God’s truth’) [Matthew 24:48].

This is the behavior of the man of sin Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

This is the behavior of the Popes of Rome.

This is also the behavior of his favorers and supporters.

 

The Extent of Drunkenness Explained

In 1689 Baptist Benjamin Keach published a brilliant treatise entitled, Antichrist Stormed. In it he proves the Pope Antichrist, his church Mystery Babylon. Furthermore, he refutes Roman Catholic Preterism, as well as the Preterism and Futurism popular in his day among so-called ‘evangelicals.’ The following excerpt is his explanation of Rev. 17:2 -- the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

“First, is it not a strange intoxication that such a multitude of the Inhabitants of the Earth should believe that a wicked man should be appointed of God to be the Vicar of Christ, as if God had no more regard to the Honour of his own Name, and the good of his Church, and Dignity of his Son, than to substitute a Child of the Devil, as all wicked men are, to be Vice-regent to the most holy Jesus, in the highest transactions that relate to Heaven and the Souls of Men? Surely if God shut Judas out of his bishoprick for his wickedness, though an Apostle, it can’t stand consistent with his truth and holiness to set up or allow a wicked and imperious Pope, whose pride is of the highest pinnacle, and make him the Immediate Deputy and successor of Christ. It is to impose a Wolf as a Shepherd upon the universal Church.

“Second, is it not a strange intoxication that he who saith he is an infallible Judge to determine Articles of Faith and endued with power to impose them, upon great penalties, so that as a Lord he hath dominion over Men’s Faith, Consciences and Souls, which the Apostles disclaimed.

“Third, is it not a strange intoxication that such a multitude of poor people should believe that the Church cannot err, though God and thousands of good Men see and fully know there are not such abominable Errors in Principles, nor such villainous Enormities, cursed Actions, cruel and immoral Practices in the World? Nay, such that the Turks and Infidels do abhor. Yet this doctrine that the Church is infallible and cannot err, the poor deluded multitude believes, causing them to hate, nay kill, others that oppose it, and venture Body and Soul upon it.

“Fourth, is it not a strange intoxication that such a multitude of the inhabitants of the Earth should believe that the Pope, though never so wicked, nay a priest, though he be a treacherous villain, a contriver of Murder, and an abominable Adulterer, hath power to absolve his equals and fellow Sinners from all their Sins, though directly committed against God, if he come to confession? Though the pretended penitent keeps his old evil habit of wickedness still, contrary to what God and Jesus Christ in his blessed Word saith; where ‘tis recorded that ‘tis God that forgiveth Sins and blotteth our iniquities, and that a man must be born again; i.e. the evil habits must be changed and all wicked practices must be forsaken, or no forgiveness nor entering the Kingdom of heaven, John 3:3.

“Fifth, is it not a strange piece of Witchcraft and Intoxication that such a multitude of the inhabitants of the Earth should believe there is a Purgatory, which is no part of Heaven nor Hell, and that men man be redeemed out of it with Money? Though God saith, The redemption of the Soul is precious and ceaseth forever, Psalm 49; i.e. After the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all, and ‘tis only the Blood of Christ which purges and cleanses from all sin, 1 John 1:9. We are not redeemed with corruptible things, as Silver and Gold, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as Lamb without Blemish and without spot.

“Sixth, is it not a strange intoxication and a clear demonstration that the inhabitants of the Earth have drunk of the Wine of this Whore’s Fornication, that such a multitude of poor Souls should believe that a filthy and wicked Priest, by speaking a few Words cannot only make Bread and Wine sacred, but also turn and change Bread into the real Body and Blood of the Son of God, and make the whole Christ of a pitiful Wafer-cake, by a charm of five Latin words, Hoc est enim corpus meum. This transubstantiated Idol they fall down before and adore as their Maker, anathematizing and cursing all that shall deny this Idol of indignation. This Idol they adore with the highest degree of Divine Worship which is proper to God only.

[N.B. The wisdom and discernment evidenced by Pastor Keach is all but lost in these last days, when many so-called discernment ministries either deem the Pope a great Man of God, his Church Christian, or they claim the identity of the Antichrist and Mystery Babylon is still an unknowable mystery.]

 

Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary are Yet Further Proof of the Satanic Nature of the Church of Antichrist

Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14).

Satan’s desire is to be like the Most High God (Isaiah 14:14).

Does not the Roman Catholic Blessed Virgin emulate many of the unique characteristics of the Most High God?

Does she not accept worship?

Does she not hear and answer the prayers of the multitudes, though they are prayed simultaneously?

Does she not work miracles?

Did she not rise from the dead?

Does she not appear to humans at will, worldwide, as did the Lord in the OT?

Does she not command men what to pray in her name and by her authority?

Did she not command men pray the Rosary daily, offer sacrifices, while giving full devotion to her Immaculate Heart?

Did not Pope Francis obey her command to consecrate the world to her Immaculate Heart?

CONSECRATE: “set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity.”



CONCLUSION: The Mary worshipped by the Roman and Greek Churches is not the humble and meek Mary of the Bible, but is one of the innumerable lying wonders produced by the archenemy, Satan, whose unswerving desire is to be worshipped and obeyed as God. And he will use whatever ways and means necessary to achieve that wicked goal.

 

Roman Catholic Saint Worship Foretold

1But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth (1 Timothy 4:1-3 NASB)

The KJV translation ‘devils’ is not a literal rendering of the Greek, which is best rendered ‘demons’ (See Strong’s 1140).

Also, ‘doctrines of demons’ is best understood as ‘doctrines concerning/regarding demons.’ This interpretation is seen in Hebrews 6:2, where we are admonished to progress to maturity, not regressing, whereby the ‘doctrine of baptisms’ must be re-taught. Thus, ‘doctrine of baptisms’ is interpreted as ‘doctrine concerning/regarding baptisms.’

What, then, is the doctrine concerning demons about which we are forewarned?

First, we must understand the original meaning of ‘demon.’

“The original Greek word daimon does not carry negative connotations.[1] The Ancient Greek word δαίμων daimōn denotes a spirit or divine power, much like the Latin genius or numen.[2] The Greek conception of a daimōn notably appears in the works of Plato, where it describes the divine inspiration of Socrates” (Source).

“Daemon is the Latin word for the Ancient Greek daimon (δαίμων: "god", "godlike", "power", "fate"), which originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daemons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy.

“The word is derived from Proto-Indo-European *daimon "provider, divider (of fortunes or destinies)", from the root *da- "to divide". Daimons were possibly seen as the souls of men of the golden age acting as tutelary deities, according to entry δαίμων at Liddell & Scott” (Source).

Augustine of Hippo described the belief in demons worshipped by the pagans of his day:

“In vain, therefore, have Apuleius, and they who think with him, conferred on the demons the honour of placing them in the air, between the ethereal heavens and the earth, that they may carry to the gods the prayers of men, to men the answers of the gods; for Plato held, they say, that no god has intercourse with man. They who believe these things have thought it unbecoming that men should have intercourse with the gods, and the gods with men, but a befitting thing that the demons should have intercourse with both gods and men, presenting to the gods the petitions of men, and conveying to men what the gods have granted; so that a chaste man, and one who is a stranger to the crimes of the magic arts, must use as patrons, through whom the gods may be induced to hear him,……..” (City of God, Book 8, Chapter 18).

Thus, demons were viewed as lesser gods, mediators between men and the great celestial Gods, whose habitat was the air between the heavens and earth.

Not surprisingly, Satan is given the title, Prince of the Power of the Air (Ephesians 2:2).

According to classical mythology as cited above, demons were considered ‘tutelary deities.'

“A tutelary is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety, and thus of guardianship.

“In late Greek and Roman religion, one type of tutelary deity, the genius, functions as the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the familiar spirit of European folklore” (Source).

Not surprisingly, the Old Testament frequently warns against communicating with familiar spirits:

Leviticus 20:6 - And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Who are the hypocritical liars who encourage intercourse with demons?

Scripture gives two clues which answer this question.

1. They forbid marriage to prove their purity.

2. They proclaim mandatory days of fasting to prove their ascetic religiosity.

Without controversy it is evident these are both observed by the Roman Catholic Church with their immoral, unchaste priesthood and religious orders.

But how is it the Roman Catholic Church encourages intercourse with demons?

By simply substituting the name ‘patron saint’ for ‘demon’ the Roman Church has endorsed and approved that which the Lord God condemns, promising eternal damnation.

Mirriam-Webster defines patron saint as “a saint to whose protection and intercession a person, a society, a church, or a place is dedicated.”

This exactly describes the role of demons in ancient mythology as believed by the godless.

Praying to the approved ‘saint’ or ‘angel’ for one’s needs is a necessary component of Roman Catholic worship.

The first stage to 'sainthood' is beatification, whereby the deceased is called ‘blessed.’ Only one miracle is required to have been worked due to the intersession of the deceased to attain this ‘blessed’ status. Public ‘veneration’ [read: ‘worship’] of the ‘blessed’ is limited to the diocese in which the deceased lived.

The second and final stage to sainthood is canonization, whereby the Pope declares the deceased holy and in Heaven with God. However, a second miracle must have been worked by the deceased after his or her beatification. There is no limit to where or when Roman Catholics may worship and pray to a formally recognized and approved demon, whom they unabashedly call ‘saint’ (Source).

Recently, Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa. She is now the patron saint of Calcutta, sharing the honors with the torturer, ‘Saint’ Francis Xavier.

How many board members know the identity of the patron saint of the United States?

Clue: Her conception was immaculate.

 

Roman Catholic Patron Saints Who Specialize in Healing Headaches

No need to take an aspirin to remedy that annoying headache. For Roman Catholics it is simply a matter of invoking one of several patron saints whose specialty it is to vanquish head pain.

These patron saints are intermediate gods who have divine gifts and supernatural skills which can benefit those who call upon them with fervent faith. Historically, such intermediate gods have been called ‘demons,’ as demonstrated in my previous post.

The following are those patron saints/demons who have been acknowledged by the Papacy as verified, certified and bonified headache healers:

Agathius

Aspren [The forefather of the modern Aspirin?]

Crescentinus

Denise

Gerard of Lunel

Ubald

William Firmatus

My question to our Roman Catholic friends is this: How does one decide which saint to invoke, since there are several possibilities?

Perhaps the wisest course of action would be to begin with the letter A and continue to W until prayers are answered and a cure is obtained.

For those parents whose teens are perpetually oversleeping, St. Vitus will cure those slackers. Guaranteed.

St. Maria Goretti, however, is experiencing some severe setbacks. She has been placed in charge of fighting against the sin of pedophilia. Invoking her name has no effect whatsoever on the Roman Catholic priesthood and religious orders. Not to mention the Boy Scouts.

Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary

No doubt this patron saint/demon is the busiest of all. Her protectorate spans the entire globe. It even includes specific cities within countries under her protection.

For example, in the United States, which has been assigned her protectorate by either YHWH or Satan, depending on your pov, she is the patroness of such desperately needy cities as Austin, Baltimore, Dodge City, Fargo, Miami, Nashville, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Savanah and Wichita, to name but a handful.

For some strange reason, her name has been omitted from that of Las Vegas.

St. Bernadino of Siena is invoked against gambling addictions.

St. Cajetan is invoked against illegal gambling.

So why can the Blessed Virgin not be invoked for good luck when in Las Vegas?

 

REVELATION 7:1-3 Explained in Light of History

Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he (John 13:19).

….and He [the Holy Spirit] will show you things to come (John 16:13).

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads (Rev. 7:1-3).

As documented in my numerous previous posts, the so-called ‘heretics’ opposed the Roman Catholic Church for nothing less than biblical grounds. Their history spanned centuries. Among them were professing Christians called Waldenses, Albigenses, Cathars, Wickliffites, Lollards, Protestant Reformers, etc., etc. All came to the same judgment. The Roman was the fulfillment of Mystery Babylon, the Papacy Antichrist, his body those who persecuted and killed the so-called ‘heretics.’

Paramount of the many decrees which condemned the ‘heretics’ to imprisonment, proscribing buying and selling with Catholics, denying them burial on consecrated church lands, confiscation of their goods, banishment and even death, were those which forbade the reading of the Bible, as well as the preaching of the Gospel. This I have also fully documented.

Without this basic historical knowledge, Christians attempting to decipher the mysteries of the Revelation are grasping at straws.

Like the Apostles who were at a loss to understand Christ’s explanation as to His death and resurrection (Mark 9:31-32) until after the fact, we, too, cannot rightly understand prophecies which have yet to be fulfilled (John 12:16).

But enough Church history had been fulfilled for the so-called ‘heretics’ to rightly understand much of the Revelation.

Interpretation of Rev. 7:1-3

Armed with the facts of history one can now give a credible interpretation of the passages in question.

1. The winds are not literal. Although they may, according to context, be interpreted as evil doctrine (Ephesians 4:14; Hebrews 13:9), in this context the winds are righteous and virtuous. They are symbolic of the Gospel preached with the power of the Holy Spirit:

For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost (1 Thess. 1:5).

The Holy Spirit is frequently symbolized by the wind (John 3:8; Acts 2:1-4; Ezekiel 37:9).

2. To ‘hold back’ is to hinder, restrain, impede, and stop. The forbidding/prohibiting of Bible reading and Gospel preaching is tantamount to the same thing.

3. This was fulfilled by the Roman Catholic Church and her members.

4. Thus, the 4 angels are symbolic of the Catholic leadership, speaking in the name and service of God, forbidding that which is commanded by Christ:

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).

Furthermore, the lack of true Gospel preaching and Bible reading by so-called ‘Christian’ priests and friars was a most serious sin against which Wickliffe, Lollards and Reformers were constantly railing.

5. The angel having the seal of the living God must be Christ, the sun of righteousness, in His members who preach the light of the Gospel to those who live in darkness:

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13).

The 4 winds are of the same Spirit, no matter where the true Gospel is preached (Ephesians 4:4).

NEXT: The sea, earth and trees interpreted.

 

Revelation 7: Interpretation of Earth, Sea and Trees

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1 Cor. 2:13).

Once again, the discerning reader will dispel any thoughts of a literal interpretation of earth, sea and trees because the object of the command “Do not hurt” is that of men yet to be sealed. Men are exemplified in Scripture by these analogies.

Men as trees: Matthew 3:10, 7:17-19, 12:33; Jude 12; Psalm 1:3; Rev. 9:4.

A nation of men as a tree: Luke 23:31.

Professing Christians as a tree: Matthew 13:32.

Men as the sea: Jude 13; James 1:6.

Men as earthly: John 3:31, 8:23, Philippians 3:19.

To be earthly minded is to be carnally minded, of the flesh, devoid of the Spirit: Romans 8:5; 1 Cor. 2:14.

Scripture always speaks of earth dwellers/inhabitants in a negative connotation: Rev. 11:10, 12:12, 17:2 and 8.

Foundational to rightly understanding this analogy is the doctrine of original sin. All men are born in a state of sin, separated from Holy God, condemned to eternal death……unless God mercifully intervenes with saving grace. The seal of the living God symbolizes this saving grace which preserves the Elect from eternal death. It is this ‘hurt’ (also called the ‘second death’) which will not harm those who have been sealed.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death (Rev. 2:11).

And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads (Rev. 9:4).

By withholding the Gospel - the Word of Life - from mankind, all would remain in a state of unbelief, which is spiritual death. The end result leads to the second death of both body and soul.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matthew 10:28).

But try as the enemy may to prohibit its preaching and dissemination, God’s Elect will hear and believe the Gospel, though the faithful may experience great tribulation through imprisonment and even death (Rev. 2:10).

NEXT: The seal of the living God.