1 Thessalonians 5:1-4, Part 3

[Hidden In Him]

Worshippers Of The Beast Will Walk In Darkness, Part 3

     As covered, neither the wrath of God nor the rapture will be taking believers by surprise when the time comes because they will recognize the "times and seasons" have come during during which those events were prophesied to take place. When darkness covers the earth, the Lord will return for them. Yet as for the Thessalonians, they were not figuratively walking in darkness that that day should overtake them like a thief in the night:

     But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to be written to, for you yourselves know accurately that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, "Peace and security," then sudden destruction shall come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness that the Day should overtake you as a thief, for you are all sons of light and sons of the Day. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4)

     Paul was in all likelihood here simply repeating prophesies he had told them about in the Gospel of Matthew when he was with them:

      “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains… For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again...
     “Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:15-22, 29-31)

     Unfortunately for the wicked, they will be walking in spiritual darkness and not see this destruction coming until it is too late. But when the sun and moon will be turned to darkness and the stars will "roll up like a scroll," they will know that the time of His wrath has finally come.
 

When The Day Of God's Wrath Begins

     Once God's wrath begins in earnest, additional astronomical phenomenon will begin occurring: Hail mixed with fire that sets huge portions of the earth ablaze, astroids the size of mountains falling into the sea that contaminate the water and kill virtually everything in the oceans, and the sun continuing to give less and less light until eventually days become a third shorter:

     When he opened the seventh seal... there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound. The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water - the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. (Revelation 8:1-12)

     That fire will essentially cover the entire planet, as it were, is also prophesied in Zephaniah, who declared:

     "Wait therefore," declares the Lord, “for the Day I will rise up to plunder. For My determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour out My wrath upon them, all My fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy. (Zephaniah 3:8 )

                                       


When Smoke Arises From The Bottomless Pit

     Another reason that darkness will cover the earth is because of the opening of the bottomless pit, and the locusts that will pour forth from it. Revelations states that these "locusts" that will be released upon the earth to torment humanity:

     As I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a aloud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels which are yet to sound!" And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven to earth. And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and there arose a smoke out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke there came forth locusts upon the earth, and power was given to them as the scorpions on earth have power. And it was said to them that they will not injure the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God upon [their] foreheads. And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they will be tormented for five months, and that their torment is as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days shall men seek death, but shall not find it, and shall desire to die, yet death flees from them. (Revelation 9:1-6)

     These "locusts" could be actual living creatures released from the abyss to torment mankind. However, it should also be pointed out that John would have described what he saw in in terms of what he understood from his day. He had no knowledge of the man-made technologies from the 21st century. There therefore exists the possibility that the "locusts" he saw may have actually been modern attack helicopters. This seems especially possible in light of the strange description he gives them:

     And the shapes of the locusts were like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads [were] as it were crowns of gold. And their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as it were [like those] of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron. And the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots with many horses running to battle. (Revelation 9:7-9)

    "Crowns like gold" on their heads could have been John's way of describing what the propellers blades in motion looked like to him, and "the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots with many horses running to battle" is a near perfect description of what a squadron of helicopters would sound like to a first century ear. Likewise, "teeth as it were like those of lions" might be accounted for by shark tooth decals, just as having "hair as the hair of women" might have been what missiles launching from them would have appeared like. If this is the case, then it's an indication that the world is going to suffer these torments at the hands of the Antichrist and his armies, who will seek to annihilate anyone on earth who refuses to take the mark, and submit to his authority:

                                         

     Their torment is as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. And in those days shall men seek death, but shall not find it, and shall desire to die, yet death flees from them... They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails, and they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, "The Destroyer"). The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come. (Revelation 9:5-6, 10-12)

     That their torment will be "as the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man" is possibly most interesting. This may be a reference to attack helicopters spraying large areas with chemical weapons. One of the main effects of scorpion venom is that it creates a temporary paralysis in the human body (for more specifics on the effects of scorpion stings and their similarities with those of nerve agents like sarin gas, see 2 Thessalonians, Study 5). The use of chemical weapons would be only logical. The Antichrist will need a means to control large segments of the earth's population and keep them localized. Knowing he is waging a war of extermination on infidels, and with them having seen what he did to the Jews, non-Muslims everywhere would be fleeing for their lives. Nerve agents employed to immobilize them would make the job of killing them more feasible, since it could be done systematically at their convenience, as time and space permitted. That they would be paralyzed and helpless, and unable to flee. Some might say why not simply kill them all immediately, but genocide of this magnitude requires a systematic approach. Leaving hundreds of thousands of dead bodies to rot without burial or cremation creates immense health hazards.
     But where will all this smoke come from that further darkens the sky? While John stated that he saw these locusts arise from a bottomless pit, he also added that they don't actually come out of the pit but out of the smoke. In the Middle-East, helicopters kick up so much dust that there have been numerous occasions when crew members were seriously injured during landings and take-offs, such as took place during Operation Desert Storm. These are commonly referred to as "brownouts."

                                                     


The Army That Will Arise From The Abyss

     Evidence that the references to "locusts" and "horses" in Revelations 9 are not actually living creatures but human machinery can be seen in light of what the rest of the Revelations says about them. The "horses" which the armies of the Antichrist ride upon are described as part of an army that consists of over two million men:

     And the four angels were loosed, having been prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year, that they might kill a third of mankind. 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 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 were a 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 snakes, and had heads, and with them they do harm. (Revelation 9:15-19)

     John stated clearly here that these horses wore "breastplates of fire and brimstone," and that out of their mouths came "fire and smoke and brimstone" as well, which will both harm and kill men. That their "tails were like snakes" inflicting injuries suggests the imagery of smoke trailing from missile launchers. 

                                                 
 
     Thus, just as Revelation states that the armies of the Antichrist will kill a third of the earth's population, so too does Isaiah record that his armies will attempt to annihilate all the world's infidels, not just the Christians and the Jews. Described here as "the Medes" (now Muslims), the forces of the Antichrist will become a means of judgment in God's hand against the wicked, who loved their sins more than God and would not repent of them before it was too late:

     The stars of Heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins... Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives ravished. See, I will stir up against them the Medes, who do not care for silver and have no delight in gold. Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants, nor will they look with compassion on children. (Isaiah 13:10, 15-18)

     This a fairly accurate description of the way militant Muslims treat infidels now. They take no sympathy upon children, beheading even their own children if they apostatize from Islam, and they don't conquer for money's sake. They view themselves as on a religious quest to rid the world of spiritual corruption. Yet despite being subjected to such evils and the continuing judgments of God, the world's populations will still not repent:

     The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood - idols that cannot see nor hear nor walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21) 


The Earth Will Speak Blasphemies Against God

     The extent to which the worshippers of the Beast will walk in spiritual darkness will be seen in how they give themselves over to openly blaspheming the God of Heaven and earth. Revelation Chapter 15 describes the last seven plagues that will come upon them in judgment as a result:

     I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels having the last seven plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God... Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. (Revelation 15:1, 16:1-4)

     Despite all these torments, the worshippers of the Beast will nevertheless refuse to repent, but blaspheme the name of the Living God even more:

     The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was granted it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with intense heat, and blasphemed the name of God who had authority over these plagues, and did not repent to give Him glory. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom descended into darkness. And they gnawed their tongues out of anguish, and blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their anguish and their sores, and they did not repent of their works. (Revelation 16:8-11)

     What on earth would cause people who were enduring such torments to still refuse to repent? The answer is that Satan will deceive them to the very end. They will follow the example the Antichrist has set for them, who will himself speak great and swelling blasphemies against the God who created Heaven and earth:

     The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander His Name and His dwelling place, and those who live in Heaven. (Revelation 13:5-6)

     Satan will also use demonic signs and wonders to convince them that he is the one true God, as is suggested by Revelations 16:12-16, where three powerful demonic spirits will be released to seduce the leaders of the nations through the powers of Satanic deception:

     The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the Great Day of God Almighty. “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments on, so that he may not walk naked, and they see his shame.” Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. (Revelation 16:12-16)


God's Voice Will Respond To Destroy Millions

     But in response to their blasphemies, the voice of the Lord will thunder forth. He will act decisively just as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah and the Flood, and there will be dead bodies from one end of the planet to the other, with not enough left to bury all the corpses:

     Therefore prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, "The Lord shall roar from on High, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He shall mightily roar upon His habitation; He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord...  And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." (Jeremiah 25:30–33)

    How will so many die at once? As the passage in Jeremiah above stated, the Lord will "roar from on high." He will "utter His voice." In other words, the sheer volume will be so loud as to kill people all across the planet. This is stated even more clearly in Joel. His voice will thunder so loudly that even the earth itself will tremble:

     Huge numbers of soldiers are gathered in the valley where the Lord will hand down his sentence. The Day of the Lord is near in that valley. The sun and moon will become dark. The stars will not give their light anymore. The Lord will roar like a lion from Jerusalem. His voice will sound like thunder from Zion. The earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will keep the people of Israel safe. He will be a place of safety for them. (Joel 3:14-16)

     What becomes of the armies of the Antichrist is similarly described in Revelations. They will die by the sword which proceeds out of the mouth of Christ:

    The armies which were in Heaven are following Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations… And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire burning with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the Rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Revelations 19:14-21)


The Winepress And Lake Of Fire Are Visible Today

    The amazing thing is, even today the sites of God's judgment upon them can be seen with the naked eye, though the wicked are blind to it. Scripture prophesies that the carcasses of humanity will all be cast together into a great "winepress," a large area where their corpses will drained of their blood in preparation for being burned in the Lake of Fire. They will be brought by the angels of God to an area located just south of the Dead Sea called Idumea: 

     The wrath of the Lord is upon all nations, and His anger upon the number of them, to destroy them and give them up to slaughter. And their slain shall be cast forth, and the stench of their corpses shall arise, and the mountains shall be made wet with their blood. And all the powers of the heavens shall melt, and the sky shall be rolled up like a scroll… My sword has been made drunk in heaven. Behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and with judgment upon a people doomed to destruction… for the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in Idumea… and the land shall be soaked with blood, and shall be filled with their fat (i.e. dead flesh). For it is the Day of the Lord's judgment, and the year of the recompense of Zion in judgment. (Isaiah 34:2-8 LXX)

     Idumea is the Greek name for Edom, and the Lord Himself is prophesied to stain His garments crimson there in the blood of the wicked. In a running conversation between the Lord and the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah starts by asking Him:

     "Who is this who comes from Edom, with garments dyed from Bozrah? He who is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength?"
     "I who speak in righteousness, Mighty to save."
     "Why are You red in Your apparel, and Your garments like he who treads in the wine vat?"
     "I have trodden the winepress alone… I will tread them in My anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. For the Day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come." (Isaiah 63:1–4)

     Where is Bozrah? It is specifically located in the mountains of Edom southeast of the Dead Sea overlooking the Northern Arabah, a massive valley that essentially forms a huge bowl surrounded by mountains on both the east and the west. This is the "vat" into which the angels of God will bring the carcasses of millions, who will then be "trampled down" by the Lord until their blood drains out.

                                             

     The amount of blood released in this "winepress" is described in the Book of Revelations. It will rise as high as 5 feet in some places, and flow "for a distance of 1,600 stadia," or roughly 180 miles:

     The angel swung his sickle on the earth, and gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. (Revelation 14:19-20)

                                                           

     Blood draining from millions of dead bodies all cast into this one location would naturally flow to the Red Sea to the south and into the Dead Sea to the north. And the distance from the tip of the Red Sea to the far north end of the Dead Sea is almost 180 miles. This valley into which all these bodies are cast by the angels will already be ablaze, for the fault line that runs through the Jordan Rift Valley is the deepest on earth, and a massive earthquake that occurs just before the Lord returns to destroy the Antichrist (see Revelations 16:18-21) will cause the Jordan rift to split wide open. As a result, the whole region of Edom will be turned into a land of burning pitch and sulphur, just as Isaiah prophesied:

     The Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in Idumea… and the land shall be soaked with blood, and shall be filled with their fat… And her valleys shall be turned into pitch, and her land into sulphur. And her land shall be as pitch burning night and day, and it shall never be quenched, but her smoke shall arise. It shall be made desolate throughout her generations. (Isaiah 34:6b, 8-10)

     This same earthquake will cause the Dead Sea, just to the north of this valley, to become the Lake of Fire burning with sulphur as prophesied in scripture (See 2 Thessalonians, Study #1). There the corpses of the wicked, now drained of blood, will be cast into this Lake to be burned (Revelation 14:9-11). This is where the Antichrist and False Prophet will be thrown alive, even before the armies of the Antichrist are slain en masse:

    And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire burning with sulfur. The rest were killed with the sword coming out of the mouth of the Rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. (Revelations 19:20-21)

     Thus, for those who worshipped the Beast and his image, to the very end they will walk in darkness, failing to see that their final end will be in the great winepress and the into the Lake of Fire, prepared for them of old. In the millennium, people will go out from Jerusalem to witness the Lake of Fire, where the dead bodies of the wicked will be a spectacle to all mankind of what became of the enemies of God:

     "[the Gentiles] will bring all your brothers from all the nations to My holy mountain in Jerusalem... and they shall go out, and see the carcases of the men who have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle unto all flesh." (Isaiah 66:10, 20)