Shabbat Shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to the 35th part of this Book of Revelation study in which we shall examine the Second Woe of the Sixth Plague of the seven Shofar or Trumpet Judgments.

We spent the last two weeks examining in considerable detail the First Woe that is the Fifth Plague. Last week we were at pains to dismantle the attempts, over the centuries, by those seeking to allegorise away the locust-like creatures. We clearly established that these are supernatural beings the likes of which we have never encountered before with the additional help of some keys which we found in the second chapter of the Book of Joel.

When I invited some comment last week, one of you well described the narrative of the First Woe in one word as 'intense'. For N.T.Wright it is 'nightmare' because, as he once remarked, "all your worst dreams [are] realised in an instant" [1]. What would your worst nightmare be? Now I know we are all terrified by different things. For some it might be a room full of spiders; for others, being left alone in the dark. But for the wicked who have survived the tribulation thus far and still haven't repented of their sins, who are stubbornly holding out to the end, their worst nightmare is to be confronted by these fearsome creatures released from a Pit so dark as to seem to have no bottom were one to fall into it, something truly monstrous and hellish, and all of this will take place in virtual darkness. Now, ordinarily this ultimate source of evil and terror is kept locked up in a place, like a black hole in astrophysics - a black hole of anti-creation, of anti-matter, of destruction and chaos.

There is another side to all of this that may hopefully bring this reality home to you. Whether or not these fallen, dark super-malakim (angels) are kept locked in a literal pit in the ground is besides the point. Personally I don't believe it is some sort of sinkhole in the ground of planet earth, and that one way of looking at this question is to view it psychologically. Yah'shua (Jesus) is speaking in such a way that all kinds of wickedness - sexual immorality, theft, murder, greed, treachery, debauchery, envy, slander, pride and stupidity - all of these suddenly come bubbling out of the depths of the human heart, to the surprise and horror of would-be pure persons who are doing their best to keep 'clean' by washing their hands. Do you remember the passage? Let's read it together - you'll find it in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 7, and the first 23 verses - I'm going to be using the New International Version (NIV) for readability:

"The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the Torah (Law) who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Yah'shua (Jesus) and saw some of His talmidim (disciples) eating food with hands that were 'unclean,' that is, unwashed, or in the Hebrew, n'tilat-yadayim. (The Pharisees and all the Judeans (Jews) do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers (jugs) and kettles.)

"So the Pharisees and Torah-teachers (teachers of the law) asked Yah'shua (Jesus), 'Why don't your talmidim (disciples) live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?' He replied, 'Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

"'These people honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men' (Is.29:13).

You have let go of the mitzvot (commandments) of Elohim (God) and are holding on to the traditions of men' .

"And He said to them: 'You have a fine way of setting aside the mitzvot (commandments) of Elohim (God) in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, 'Honour your father and your mother' (Ex.20:12; Dt.5:16)', and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death' (Ex.21:17; Lev.20:9). But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Korban' (that is, a gift devoted to Elohim/God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the Davar Elohim (Word of God) by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.'

"Again Yah'shua (Jesus) called the crowd to Him and said, 'Listen to Me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.''

"After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his talmidim (disciples) asked Him about this parable. 'Are you so dull?' He asked. 'Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean (impure)'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body [as faeces].' (In saying this, Yah'shua/Jesus declared all [kosher] foods ['ritually' - JNT/CJB] 'clean (pure)') [2].

"He went on: 'What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean (impure)'" (Mark 7:1-23, NIV).

In other words, the wicked who are subjected to these torments of the First Woe are simply experiencing, physically, what happens when a sinful, unclean, guilt-ridden person, who has buried his guilt and shame deep within his soul, has all this uncleansed filth arise to confront him in his denial of the emet (truth) about himself. That's one of the reasons we have a Penultimate Judgment now to give us the opportunity to deal with unresolved and unrepented sin issues before either it comes to a five month-long head-on confrontation with these locust-like creatures or, worse, an excruciatingly painful cleansing in the Lake of Fire that will appear to never end after we have crossed the veil.

One of the reasons the Remnant is today experiencing such suffering is precisely to force them - in an act of grace on Yahweh's part - to deal with unresolved sin issues which would otherwise disqualify them from the service they so much want to give at this the end-time. This is the 'black hole' that N.T.Wright speaks as being inside all of us, because it is from the flesh - the fallen, carnal, Adamic nature - that all these abominations arise to make our lives miserable if we choose to yield to them. It is for this reason we are commanded by Paul in Galatians to treat our former unsaved fleshy selves as 'dead' by telling us to metaphorically put to death or 'crucify' the flesh (Gal.2:20; 5:24; 6:14) - denying ourselves any access to this hellish nature by consciously forgetting self and having our eyes wholly on Christ instead - and thus becoming sacrificial cross-bearers like the Saviour Himself. He's inviting us to be rid of it once and for all.

So once again we are reminded that the purpose of the First Woe is redemptive, not punative, again showing that the wicked have a genuine choice and aren't being forced in the way the false Calvinist narrative would have us believe which says we are the victims of an uncontrollable and irresistable fate. Final judgment is still being deferred for a short while. The next stage, for the wicked who still refuse to repent in spite of this horrible torture, beings us to the Second Woe. And that's where we shall now turn our attention to.

Turn with me, if you will, back to the 9th chapter of Revelation beginning at the 13th verse:

"13 Then the sixth malak (angel) sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar (Rev.8:3-5; Ex.27:2; 1 Ki.1:50-51; 2:28; Amos 3:14 [3]) which is before Elohim (God), 14 saying to the sixth malak (angel) who had the shofar (trumpet), 'Release the four malakim (angels) who are bound at the great river Euphrates.' 15 So the four malakim (angels), who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen ('troops of cavalry' - NRSV) was two hundred million (200,000,000); I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulphur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone (sulphur). 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed -- by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone (sulphur) which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents (snakes), having heads; and with them they do harm. 20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries (witchcraft, satanism, occultic practices, enchantments) or their sexual immorality (Gk. porneia - harlotry, whoredom, adultery, fornication, incest, fig.idolatry) or their thefts (stealing) [4][5]" (Rev.9:13-21, NKJV).

Before we get into the details of this text, as we did with the section before it previously over the last two weeks, I want us to zoom in onto the 'elephant in the room', as it were, that I think most commentators tend to gloss over, because I think it's key to the literal aspect of this revelation: I speak now of the River Euphrates. Why is that particular river highlighted? A big clue, I think, lies in its name, which stems from the Hebrew root word p'rath meaning 'to break forth' which in turn comes from the Old Persian Ufratu. Considering what 'breaks forth' at this location in this prophecy the word association is significant. This is the longest and most important river of southwest Asia and has played a significant rôle historically in the way it has shaped key nations in the Bible epic. Don't miss the symbolism either when I remind you that the river is first mentioned in Genesis 2:14 as one of the four rivers once having had their source in Eden. It was also the eastern most boundary of the territory Yahweh covenanted to give Abraham's seed, the Promised Land, "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates" (Gen.15:18, NIV).

As we read today's prophetic text about the Second Woe we're supposed to make these historical connections. The Bible story started in Eden (which in the Hebrew means 'pleasure' or 'delight') and is to be brought to this dramatic climax in the Day of Judgment at the banks of a mighty river proceeding from Eden's Garden, a river whose name literally means 'to break forth', only what's 'breaking forth' on this occasion isn't a source of life-giving water but of judgement and terrible destruction that will result in the death of a third of humanity...the same fraction of malakim (angels), incidentally, who rebelled in the beginning. The Euphrates River, which begins in modern-day Turkey and passes through modern-day Syria and Iraq, has served as the boundary of many empires. It is where the Roman Empire ended in the east facing off against the legendary Parthian Empire which at its height stretched across modern Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and as far as the Indus River in modern-day Pakistan. Two Gulf wars have been fought around it in my own day and indeed my own Grandfather fought his way up alongside its shores in the First World War as a cavalryman of the British Army against the Turks for whom this region was also its northeastern boundary. Beyond lies Persia (modern Iran), and the hinterland of modern Asia.

Now although Israel was assigned the Euphrates as its northeastern-most boundary, in practice it never extended that far during the Conquest under Joshua because it failed to completelty carry out its mandate (Ex.23:31; Ps.72:8; etc.). Some scholars think that David and Solomon might have extended their empire briefly to the Euphrates but most do not think it extended beyond Aram or the Zobah region that included Damascus - that is also my opinion. Anyway, the Euphrates also formed a boundary of the British Empire with Persia for a while. Only the British, who are the modern-day representatives of the Tribe of Ephraim, ever extended Israel's boundaries so far, including as it did, you will remember, its Mandate in Palestine and Transjordan between the two world wars, that included Egyptian territory and territories beyond to what's now Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar (Burma). Part of Persia was for a time also in its zone of influence. But that's a wholly other interesting story! You could argue that Ephraim fulfilled the original biblical mandate, at least for a short while. (See, As Birds Flying: Jerusalem 1917).

So when John sees in his vision four malakim (angels) tied up by the great river Euphrates, ready to be released and to lead their massive armies into battle, everyone in the 1st century AD from Jerusalem to Rome and beyond knew what this meant: their worst political and military nightmares. As the Afghan border with India was Britain's nightmare, so the Euphrates was to be the nightmare of the Roman and other Empires of the region. And it still is. This is, literally, the 'front line'. And so it becomes again in the Book of Revelation. This is where it 'all happens' following the horrid sight of the massive, torturing locust-like creatures.

So back to today's text and to the sixth Shofar (Trumpet) or Second Woe. This section, together with the material that forms what I call the 'Second Interlude' (chapters 9:13 to 11:14) that separates out the Second Woe from the Third Woe that follows, is more detailed than any of the others, and that's saying a lot because the First Woe, which we spent two weeks examining, contains a lot of detail all on its own. There are 33 verses for us to consider in this new chunk of Scripture which I am going to break up into three parts so we can digest it all properly. And like the First Woe, the Second is introduced by a 'Voice'.

The last one, you'll remember, was the voice of an eagle flying in mid-heaven; this one, though, comes from the four horns of the golden altar which is before Yahweh in the Throne Room. And what it says seems to be the continuation of chapter 6, verse 7, which you'll remember read:

"And they (the martyrs) cried with a loud voice [from under the altar], saying, 'How long, O Master, qadosh (holy, set-apart) and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev.6:10, NKJV).

Coming from the 'four horns', the instruction goes forth to the four quarters of the earth. Let's, then, refresh our memories of verse 13. This time I'll be using N.T.Wright's Kingdom New Testament (KNT):

"Then the sixth malak (angel) blew his shofar (trumpet). I heard a lone voice from the four horns of the golden altar in front of Elohim (God)..." (Rev.9:13, KNT).

"Then another malak (angel), having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) upon the golden altar which was before the throne" (Rev.8:3, NKJV).

The sixth malak (angel) is not only to blow his shofar (trumpet) but is also to obey the fearsome command. This malak (angel) has quite a different task to the fifth one who unleashed the First Woe; for whereas the fifth shofar (trumpet) brought suffering, the sixth brings death. Reading on:

"Then the sixth malak (angel) blew his shofar (trumpet). I heard a lone voice from the four horns of the golden altar in front of Elohim (God), addressing the sixth malak (angel), who had the shofar (trumpet). 'Release the four malakim (angels),' said the voice, 'the ones who are tied up by the Great River, the Euphrates. So the four malakim (angels) were released. They had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year, so that they would kill a third of the human race" (Rev.9:13-15, KNT)

Notice that this altar, which as I've said we have encountered once before, is made of gold. Why gold? Because gold is the symbol of Yahweh's divine glory and deity. Why four horns? You're by now very familiar with the symbolic meaning of the number '4' which is the number of the earth, the creation, the world which proceeds from the Three (Father, Son and Ruach haQodesh/Holy Spirit) and is therefore dependent on them for existence [6]. The number '4' also therefore represents the four seasons, the four winds and the four metaphorical corners of the earth. In other words, what now proceeds is to literally take place on the earth, just like the First Woe before it. It isn't something abstract that merely happens within.

Now there is no way we can specifically identify these four malakim (angels) whose number already tells us that their mission is earth-bound. It seems likely, though, that they belong to that category of angelic prisoner described by Peter in his second epistle who are "delivered ... into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment" (2 Peter 2:4, NKJV). So these are four more malakim (angels), like the locust-like supernatural beings of the First Woe, who have been especially kept and prepared for this particular task. In other words, they have not been allowed to freely roam the earth either...until this moment. In Jude 6 we are again told of the malakim (angels) which have been "kept in darkness, bound with everlasting (æonian, age-lasting) chains for judgment on the great Day [of Yahweh]" (Jude 6, NIV). The object of the judgment is not specifified but in the case of these 4 it is both to be judged themselves (at the very end) and to be used to carry out a task against humans which their murderous, depraved natures will only be too willing to indulge, in this the Second Woe. They have literally been doing nothing for millennia so they are doubtless pretty angry. So it's rather ironic since they are both executors of Yahweh's judgment as well subject to Yahweh's judgment themselves, in the same way that wicked humans are used against Yahweh's people when they rebell and refuse to repent (like the Assyrians being sent to deport apostate Israel and the Babylonians to deport Judah).

This, as you might imagine, is a huge area of theology that we can only quickly dip our finger into today. It's also an area that has caused great confusion because the link between malakim (angels) and humans is not separated by as great a distance as you might suppose in spite of the malakim (angels) being supernatural entities and humans being natural, mortal entities. (Malakim/angels aree currently a little 'higher' than us in authority but will be a little 'lower' in the resurrection). So there are all sorts of 'in-prison spirits' involved here including fallen malakim (angels) and the disembodied spirits of wicked humans who together constitute a very large number of entities indeed. Of course they're not all together in the same place just as we have different categories of prisoner and prison down here on earth - some are in the Prison part of Sheol and some in Tartarus. Take a look at our Hell website if you'd like to know more.

Satan is not, of course, bound as these four malakim (angels), and others, are at the present. We're told he will be bound later at the end of the æon (Rev.20:2-7), along with all the other free-roaming demonic entities on earth, and all will be cast down into the very deep Pit for a thousand years before being released one last time at the end of the Millennium. Yahweh has all of this under control. No demonic entitity isn't where it is supposed to be. He has a plan, an historical time-line, a schedule, call it what you will, and neither malak (angel) nor human can alter it. We have our individual free agency to act, which He incorporates based on His foreknowledge of what we will choose, but there are limitations on all of us on the macrocosmic level. He decides the fate of nations such that none exist that aren't supposed to and none have been removed that weren't supposed to be removed. And when He returns, some current nations will cease to exist, some former nations will be restored and some new ones will come into existance.

We have already talked about the importance of the Euphrates River. I am sure the earliest Christians/Messianics speculated as to whether the Book of Revelation had actual political application to their day. The Euphrates has always represented Babylon in the timespan the Bible covers and they had already begun to see Rome as a 'New Babylon'. It would have been perfectly understandable, given the Roman oppression, for some of them to have concluded that this vast army of fierce and destructive horsemen somehow represented the destruction caused by Rome, and in particular the devastation caused by the civil war that followed the death of Nero...understandable but as wrong as seeing them as Turks centuries later. Yet there is definitely some sort of historical connection because of the River. After all, it exists in real time and space.

In the Second Gulf War (2003-11), during the presidency of the younger George Bush, the occupying coalition forces in Iraq were engaged in some rather strange activities around ancient Babylon and the Euphrates, including the covert removal of historical artefacts by special forces, that was kept very hush-hush until whistleblowers leaked the story. The dark forces in humanity have long been interested in this part of the world for occult purposes. The Euphrates, as we've also seen, is clearly associated with judgment as we find in the Book of Jeremiah. If you want to know what parts of the earth will look like after these four malakim (angels) have released the Second Woe and done their worst, read Jeremiah 46:4-10, with verses 20 & 21 and also chapter 4, verses 13 & 29 which speak of the coming forth of an army of evil spirits.

Let's take a look again at what is released by these four malakim (angels):

"The number of the troops and horsemen was two hundred million (200,000,000). (I heard the number). As I looked, this is how the horses and their riders appeared. They had breastplates made of fire, sapphire and sulphur. Their heads were like lions' heads, and fire, smoke and brimstone came out of their mouths. One-third of the human race was killed by these three plagues, by the fire, smoke and sulphur that came from their mouths. The power of the horses, you see, is in their mouths and their tails, since their tails are like serpents (snakes) with heads. This is how they do their damage" (Rev.9:16-19, KNT).

Once more we are looking at a symbolic representation of supernatural beings. They are not human nor are they literal animals unless you happen to have seen horses in a zoo with lions' heads and snake tails, which I haven't! They come from below...again. And like those locust-like beings, we know absolutely nothing about them because humanity has never seen its kind before. Yet that has not prevented interpreters from inventing all sorts of silly explanations here either, even by 'learnèd' men. A little over 150 years ago, a Dr.Adam Clark was quite sure he knew what these creatures and their riders were. You'll never guess his conclusion. Thinking like a 19th century man, he said that these creatures were 'brass canon' ornamented with lions' heads cast at their mouth and at their breach ('tails'). He went on to say that nothing could better describe 'gunpowder' than 'the fiery sulphurous smoke which goeth forth out of their mouths'. He went on to claim that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Turks finally captured Constantinople on 29 May 1543. So we're back in the silly Turkish narrative because the Turks were the great threat to Western civilisation at that time. Of course, they conveniently forget that canon were used on both sides in that war.

So here we go again...and we're still doing it. The most popular 20th century explanation, advanced by Hal Lindsey and others, was that the 200 million were the Chinese Red Army since no other nation was capable of fielding such a huge force. So most evangelical Christians, including myself, bought into it. No, these 'horses' are most definitely spiritual, not fleshy. How could they be otherwise? Only in pagan mythology do we have weird half-man and half animal chimeras - for instance, the Greek Centaur (half man and half horse) and the Greek Minotaur (half man and half ox). And just because scientists are artificially creating some pretty diabolical cross-species genetic combinations doesn't mean these fiery horses are weird laboratory-made creatures. I'm sure you've heard that theory aired before, maybe even by me before I properly came to grips with the Book of Revelation. So you can ignore all my previous statements on the PLA (People's Liberation Army) of communist China. It's more likely that the pagans got hold of symbolic accounts of spiritual realities from authentic nevi'im (prophets) and in their simple-mindedness interpreted them as being physical...or they just invented things up or simply described false visions given them by demons. As we'll see now, horses, lions, snakes and scorpions are the stuff of Hebrew prophecy, describing literal creatures, which later came to be used as symbolic imagery in apocalyptic literature. As I mentioned at the beginning of this course, the Book of Revelation isn't the only example of the apocalyptic genre of literature.

Two passages of scripture make a good illustration. The first is from the navi (prophet) Isaiah's writings where Yahweh is at pains to make a differentiation between flesh and spirit:

"Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
And rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Qadosh (Holy, Set-Apart) One of Israel,
Nor seek Yahweh!
Yet He also is wise and will bring disaster,
And will not call back His words,
But will arise against the house of evildoers,
And against the help of those who work iniquity.
Now the Egyptians are men, and not Elohim (God);
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When Yahweh stretches out His hand,
Both he who helps will fall,
And he who is helped will fall down;
They all will perish together" (Is.31:1-3, NKJV).

"'The snorting of His horses was heard from Dan. The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of His strong ones; for they have come and devoured the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell in it. For behold, I will send serpents (snakes) among you, vipers which cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you,' says Yahweh" (Jer.8:16-17, NKJV).

We're not told how many locust-like creatures were released in the First Woe, but if their number is anything like these fiery horses with snake tails and lions' heads, then we're talking hundreds of millions. John refers to the 200,000,000 horses and their riders twice that spread out across the whole planet and kill a third of the population. A few years ago some of you may remember I preached a sermon called, The Great Destruction: Half of Mankind Will Soon Perish in which I did some calculations. Taking into account the two great destructions prophesied, first of the quarter of the earth to be followed by a third of the survivors from the first culling, of which this is the second, then based on current figures and projections a few years into the future, then we're talking somewhere in the region of two billion deaths, give or take a few hundred thousand. This means that these 200 million supernatural entities will kill about 10 humans each, on average...if this is a literal number, of course. The fact that it was spoken suggests to me that it is to be viewed as literal. Yet in Psalm 68:17 a less precise number of the heavenly host is in view, perhaps because the supernatural things of Yahweh cannot be measured:

"The chariots of Elohim (God) are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands" (NKJV).

Quite a few versions use this translation, but not all - some say "thousands of angels". As it stands, it admittedly doesn't make a lot of sense. The problem isn't helped by the fact we don't know who wrote this psalm so the author may simply have been trying to depict a very large number in his own way, much as we sometimes make up words like 'zillions' to do the same thing. 200 million is very precise. I am always wary of biblical numbers because more often than not they aren't used in the precise mathematical way we like to. As I've mentioned before, numbers are often rounded off too. I don't know how many chariots Yahweh has, and since this is figurative anyway, it probably doesn't matter. These fiery horses are literal, however, so I take the given number literally as I am unable presently to discern any symbolic meaning for '200 million'. Perhaps one of you will.

How much time they're given to kill so many humans we're not told but I'm guessing it will be quick, or else spread out over the rest of time that's available before Yah'shua (Jesus) returns. We're not given a duration as we were for the First Woe. The effect of these supernatural beings being released is three successive plagues caused by:

• 1. Fire;
• 2. Smoke; and
• 3. Brimstone (lumps of fiery sulphur, as were thrown at Sodom & Gomorrah).

Let's conclude, now, with the last two verses which I think are particularly important in our own day:

"All the other people, the ones who had not been killed in these plagues, did not repent of the things they had made ('the works of their hands' - NRSV). They did not stop worshipping demons - idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, which cannot see, hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, or their magic ('sorceries' - NKJV), or their fornication ('sexual immorality' - HRV, ESV; 'sexual sins' - AENT), or their stealing ('thefts' - HRV, NRSV)" (Rev.9:20-21, KNT)

I don't know about you but I have to ask this question: how can these people, after all they've experienced, still be insensible to what's going on and fail to repent? Are they aware that the demons they are worshipping are likely the same beings torturing them? Probably not. My question, then, is this: what has made them so blind? The answer: the demons themselves because demons are expert at blinding those they control, a power given to them by willfull sinning. Sometimes Yahweh blinds sinners (e.g. 2 Thes.2:11) or hardens their hearts (e.g. Ex.4:21; 7:3; 14:4) but more often than not it is the dark supernatural entities that inhabit their bodies who do it so as to continue remaining concealed.

Idolatry is nothing new. As early as Deuteronomy, we're told that idolatry will occur right into the latter days:

"For I (Moses) know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days (end times), because you will do evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands (things you have made)" (Dt.31:29, NKJV).

Neither the 'work of our hands' nor idolatry is limited, though, to hand-made statues and the like. The ungoldly attitude that leads to their making and subsequent worship is the core problem. It's too big a subject to go into today, but idolatry in the broadest sense may be regarded as anything that is prioritised by human beings over Yahweh, both that which of itself is lawful (like making money) and that which is forbidden (like kidnapping children and women for the sex slave trade). Let's focus on the latter because various forms of spiritualism and the occult seem to be in view today, since this wicked society of survivors is openly worshipping demons. It's certainly happening in the post-Christian West on a massive scale (it happened in the opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Britain) and continues elsewhere as it always has done. The chief sins of this final generation are:

• 1. Murder (including neo-natal killing, euthanasia and deadly injections);
• 2. Magic, Sorcery, Witchcraft, Angel worship, the Occult, etc.;
• 3. Sexual immorality (fornication, adultery, pediastry, etc.); and
• 4. Thievery

To be involved in any of these four acts of wickedness spells disaster. Look what's already happened in two of the three Woes! This, incidentally, applies both to individuals and to groups of people - governments, corporations and other organisations to name but two. Now one version of the Bible - the Jewish New Testament (JNT)/Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) translates the last verse like this:

"Nor did they turn from their murdering, their misuse of drugs in connection with the occult (or 'their involvement with the occult and with drugs' - CJB), their sexual immorality or their stealing" (Rev.9:21, JNT).

What, then, is the justification for this translation? The Greek word which we usually translate as 'sorcery', 'magic' or 'witchcraft' is pharmakeia, and really speaks for itself even without me giving you a translation because it is from this word that we derive our English words 'pharmaceuticals' and 'pharmacy'. As David Stern points out [7], since the 1980's there has been an explosion of drug abuse in the West and it would be strange indeed if an end-times book like the Book of Revelation did not address this now global pandemic somewhere. Prior to that time it is perfectly understandable why few, if any, would have even considered translating pharmakeia as anything more than 'sorceries'. This is a good illustration of how, to quote the hymn, Yahweh always has more light and truth to break forth from His Word.

There may be said to be four main uses of recreational (as opposed to medical, though there is some overlap) drugs:

• 1. Taking drugs in order to explore spiritual realms;
• 2. Taking drugs for the express purpose of engaging in 'sorcery, witchcraft and magic arts' while under their influence;
• 3. Giving drugs to other people to gain control of them, which is another form of 'sorcery, witchcraft and magic arts'; and
• 4. Taking drugs for pleasure.

The last reason moderns take drugs is a misuse because the drugs in question - besides whatever temporary enjoyment they provide, and apart from their adverse medical and psychological effects - open a person up to supernatural or spiritual experiences by lowering resistance, what we call in deliverance ministry, 'opening spiritual doors'. But these experiences are nearly always demonic and not from Elohim (God), since Yahweh reveals Himself through His Davar (Word) (Rom.1:16-17; 10:8-17) first and foremost, not through mind-altering drugs.

Though the use of these drugs has been a crime for a very long time now in most Western countries, not only are governments decriminalising the use of some of them (the Netherlands and Portugal come especially to mind) but in the majority of cases not bothering to prosecute those using them illegally. It's big business and big money with some economies, sadly, being given over to the production, for instance, of opium (as in Afghanistan). Worse, some governments are involved directly in making a profit from this diabolical trade. Fortunately, one hears stories of those who have been supernaturally delivered from the effects of drug use by the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) who thereafter became perfectly sober, so there is hope for the afflicted.

I have known many drug addicts including one or two who have been delivered. The person who sold me my white Volvo car was such a person who experienced an incredible deliverance and healing. Drugs kill. Drugs destroy. But there are also negative repercussions for ex-drug addicts who have been delivered and healed. In the same way that a virgin who has sexual intercourse can never be a virgin again, so a person having taken mind-altering drugs can never be the same again afterwards. Even though an ex-drug addict has a broadened range of experience, clearly not every experience is edifying. Nightmares are the stuff of addicts. As Paul reminds us:

"'Everything is permitted ('empowered' - HRV) to me [because of free agency][8]' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permitted ('empowered' - HRV) for me [because of free agency][8]' - but I will not be mastered by anything. 'Food for the stomach and the stomach for food' - but Elohim (God) will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality [or for drugs], but for the Master, and the Master for the body" (1 Cor.6:12-13, NIV & JNT).

From other New Testament passages where pharmakeia and its cognates appear, we learn that those who abuse their bodies with drugs "have no share in the Kingdom of Elohim (God)" (Gal.5:20, JNT) so that, according to the Book of Revelation, they remain outside the qadosh (holy, set-apart) city, the New Jerusalem. Instead, "their destiny is the lake burning with fire and sulphur, the second death" (Rev.21:8; 22:5). Only at Revelation 18:23 does pharamakeia have a different meaning along the conventionally-accepted lines. Speaking of Babylon:

"The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell (pharmakeia) (or 'spell-binding magic'; 'sorceries' - HRV) all the nations were led astray" (Rev.18:23, NIV).

I have known drug-users who refused to repent and trust Yah'shua (Jesus). Most of them died young and many of them are likely in hell. I was ministering to one such man only recently in Spain - he suddenly died aged 37. I have known them die much younger, including one in Oslo who was the son of a millionnaire who could have done so many things with his life. Drug-taking isn't some harmless recreational activity. It kills, spiritually and physically. It is closely linked to the occult. That's true of the so-called 'light drugs' like LSD as well as the heavy-duty ones. Drug-taking is idolatry. That's the bad news. The Good News is that when a pride-filled, weak-willed, uncaring, despairing drug-user decides to entrust his life into the hands of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), Yahweh can turn him into a person of emunah (faith) and righteousness. (We have a minister in Norway who specialises in helping drug-addicts and alcoholics). As for the drug sellers and distributors, I would not care to speculate on their fate which must surely be worse. Profiting off the misery of souls, be it from drugs or sex-trafficking, is a serious crime indeed in Yahweh's eyes.

I wanted to mention drugs as it isn't something I talk about very often. Alcohol, another drug that I have spoken about a great deal, is no different. The fact that it is mass-consumed and legal in most countries doesn't make it less dangerous or less idolatrous. It's addictive and it kills too. It robs the user of innocence, just like fornication. It may have been permitted in the preparatory Old Covenant in moderation as a concession to human weakness but it is strictly forbidden in the New who aspire to any sort of ministry though I realise there are those imbibers who strongly disagree with me. Even in the Old Testament it was forbidden to the cohenim (priests) serving in the Temple so that they might remain spiritually alert - obviously, since alcohol admits demons like other drugs. Indeed, the demon of alcohol is called Bacchus or Al-khul.

There's a reason it's known colloquially as the 'demon drink' - it's a marriage- and family-wrecker. It causes untold traffic accidents, many fatal. It's used by unscrupulous seducers to lower the moral guard of chaste men and women in order to fornicate with them. It is used to avoid dealing with problems and as a substitute by the unrepentant for Yahweh Himself. We are a New Covenant Melchizedek Priesthood who are permanently on duty in the Temple of Elohim (God) which is now our physical bodies. That means no alcohol or drugs for the body for anyone who claims to be a New Covenant priest! The flesh will protest this and make excuses as it does for every other kind of sinning, but it is the emet (truth) for the same reason it is for those who pursue 'recreational' sex. And if you're offended by this, especially if you are a believer, maybe it's time for you to reassess your understanding of Scripture and repent. Don't rely on your feelings but on the Davar (Word). Become a Rechabite who set the example in Old Testament times, whom Yahweh acknowledged and praised (Jer.35), who were a type of the New Covenant. Such are explictly not of the Kingdom. The Book of Revelation says so as do many other scriptures [9].

The same idolatry applies to tobacco which when smoked likewise contains an addictive drug and invokes demons, quite apart from being carcinogenic. It too comes under the umbrella of pharmakeia .

The message of the Second Woe is that a third of those who refused to repent after the First Woe have forfeited the right to continue living on earth. And when the remaining two-thirds also refuse to repent, a Third Woe is sent along too. This we shall tackle in two or three weeks' time after we have looked into the important events of theSecond Interlude (chapters 10 & 11). There we shall meet the malak (angel) with the little scroll and the two witnesses whom most people have heard of. So until then, may Yahweh go with you, open your eyes to all truth in this exciting Book and lead you to make the necessary life adjustments to get right with the Maker and so live victorious and spiritually prosperous lives. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011), p.86

[2] This passage is the source of much contention betweem antinomian (lawless) Christians and Torah-obedient Messianics and there are three possible explanations:

• 1. Some Greek editor has changed this original passage from the one found in the original Aramaic to realign the Saviour's words with the emerging lawless Roman 'gospel' by parenthetically adding, in the Greek translation, "(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean')", thus contradicting both the instruction given by the Jerusalem Council (NIV) requiring new gentile converts to commence their Torah walk with some Kashrut basics like not eating blood, or strangled animals, or food offered to idols (Rev.2:14,20) (Ac.15:20,29; 21:25) which would otherwise make the consumer unclean; or

• 2. The phrase, "(In saying this, Yah'shua (Jesus) declared all foods 'clean')", was added without malicious intent because it was clearly understood that 'food' always refers to kosher food, as is true in the Tanakh (Old Testament), so that the food Yah'shua (Jesus) speaks of here cannot be such things as pork or lobster. It is those who have subsequently translated the phrase who have done so to make 'food' out to be anything that humans consume, including non-kosher flesh. The issue of contention in the text is, in any case, about Talmudic Jewish concepts of 'ritual cleanliness', not whether a consumable is kosher or not. David Stern, translator of the Jewish New Testament (JNT) and Complete Jewish Bible (CJB), whose translation is based on the Greek texts, accordingly renders the parenthetical remark: "(Thus He declared all foods ritually clean)". James Trimm, on the other hand, who works from the earlier Aramaic original texts, omits this parenthetical statement altogether as it isn't present in the Aramaic, clear evidence that the addition to the Greek text is a later interpolation (insertion) by an editor. Gabriel Roth in his Aramaic English New Testament (AENT), does the same. Moshe Koniuchowsky in his Restoration Scriptures: True Name Edition (RSTNE), Phillip Goble in his The Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB), the author of the Messianic Renewed Covenant (MRC) and Janet Magiera in her Messianic Version of the Aramaic Peshitta New Testament Translation likewise do the same but with no explanatory footnotes. Either way the text gives no licence for eating unkosher 'food'! ... because 'unkosher food' isn't 'food' as defined by Yahweh Himself. The whole point of Yah'shua's (Jesus') explanation, therefore, is that proper, kosher food doesn't need special washing rituals before being fit for eating, for the reasons He gives.
  

[4] The Aramaic does, for some reason, not include 'thefts/stealing'

[5] "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim (God)? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes ('corrupt ones' - HRV) nor homosexual offenders ('sodomites' - NRSV; 'men that lie with a male' - HRV; 'men who practice homosexuality' - ESV; Lev.18:22; 20.13) nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of (Elohim) God" (1 Cor.6:9-11, NIV).

[6] Genesis 2:10; Leviticus 11:20-27; Mark 16:15; Jeremiah 49:36; Ezekiel 37:9; 1 Corinthians 15:39

[7] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992), pp.816-817

[8] This is badly translated in many versions to mean 'lawful' (NKJV) or 'permissible' (NIV) as though Paul is advocating antinomianism (lawlessness) - 'you can whatever you like and that's fine with God' is the impression one gets, 'provided you don't become addicted or controlled by your behaviour in any way' but this is not the meaning. We are enabled or permitted to choose to do what we want (because of free agency) but not every choice is the right one and isn't, in consequence, beneficial. Indeed, some choices can be harmful or even downright evil. The Aramaic 'empowered' conveys this sense. This is one of many mistranslated passages that are marshalled in defence of Yahweh having supposedly abandoned His Law when the opposite is the case. On the contrary, Yahweh still expects obedience to the commandments in the New Covenant: "Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil" (Rom.16:19, NIV).

[9] Alcohol may only be taken for legitimate medical reasons (e.g. 1 Timothy 5:23)

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[3] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)
[4] J.R.Dummelow (ed.), A Commentary on the Holy Bible (MacMillan, London: 1909)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

  ---

• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

  ---

  INTERLUDE I (Ch.7)
  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

  ---

• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake I

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

  ---

• 5. Insects and plague (for five months) (1st Woe)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army) (2nd Woe)

  ---

  INTERLUDE II (Ch.10-11)
  (The Malak with the Little Scroll)
  (The Two Witnesses)

  ---

• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake II (3rd Woe)

  ---

  INTERLUDE III (Ch.13-14)
  (The First & Second Beasts)
  (The Lamb & the 144,000)
  (The Messages of the Three Malakim)

  ---

• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

  ---

• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

  ---

• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake III, leading to international collapse