Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” (Rev 10:8-11 NKJ)

Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. “For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to the house of Israel, “not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they would have listened to you. “But the house of Israel will not listen to you because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted. (Eze 3:1-7 NKJ)

Most times the prophetic call comes early in the book, Jeremiah chapter 1, Ezekiel chapter 3, and Isaiah chapter 6.  For John, however, it arrives in the tenth chapter. The call to take the Word and, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” John firstly had to eat the book, and digest it. Fully understanding the Word caused his stomach to turn sour, but the words in his mouth were sweet as honey.

When a Christian speaks without understanding it is like indigestion, the mouth is full of bile, bitter and judgemental. Understanding of God love produces grace.

Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. (Rev 9:13-17 NKJ)

The fifth angel sounded the trumpet, and the angel that had fallen (Satan) was given the key to open the abyss. When that door was opened, all manner of things can happen and as far as the Roman Empire was concerned, did happen. If fact there were six reasons why the Roman Empire became weak.

1.      Invasion by the Barbarians

2.      Economic woes and an over-reliance on slave labor

3.      A divided empire

4.      Corruption

5.      Immorality

6.      Christianity

A weakening of an empire such as Rome, code name ‘Babylon’ by John was destined to fall. Sixth trumpet blows and the angels that had been bound were released. Powers and principalities that had been waiting in the east came marching in, and the downfall of Rome was inevitable.

When God is removed, and Satan is given authority, the domino effect, be it personal, national or international is disastrous.

And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (Rev 9:2-4 NKJ)

Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” To the others, He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.  (Eze 9:3-5 NKJ)

Satan, the angel that had fallen was given the key to open the abyss.  John describes smoke rising and all kinds of beasts, John describes them as locusts and scorpions.  They were given limited power.  They were not to touch creation, in general, grass and trees, nor were they to touch those that had a mark on their foreheads, the righteous, similar to Ezekiel 9:2-4. They could only touch those that didn’t have the mark.

 Our world is full of people that don’t bear the mark of God on their foreheads; they haven’t given their lives over to God, and they become fair game for any and every form of demonic activity that has been set loose by Satan.  All kinds of mental health issues, addictions, craving, fears, and phobias that control their lives.  Establishing what the Apostle Paul calls ‘Strongholds’ in 2 Cor 10:4-6, that only Christ can pull down. Beware of the doors that you open.

Black Hole in outer space.

Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (Rev 9:1-3 NKJ)

Today’s word is consequences—the dictionary defines this word as a result or effect of an action or condition. Today’s devotion is a great example of consequences, the resultant action of two people pictured in the garden of God that make wrong choices.

John doesn’t actually see the star fall, but this description identifies him for the reader. (Ezek 28; Isa 14) If the reader is in any doubt verse 11 describes his name as, “in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek, he has the name Apollyon.” Okay, so who gave him the key and the authority to open the bottomless pit? We did, or more specifically, Adam did. By receiving the lie, eating the fruit, and choosing to walk in godlessness, we gave Satan power and authority. Fear not because the slain Lamb has begun the redemptive process and God will one day restore all creation with a new heaven and earth.  But in the meantime, we’re bearing the consequences.    

Don’t open those doors if you don’t know what’s behind or you do know and want a peek—you might not be able to close it.

Just a Thought!

Perhaps the domain of Satan, the 2^nd heaven, is not around the earth but in space, a black hole. NASA describes a Black Hole as, “a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.

Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. They are invisible. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently than other stars.”

A place where even light cannot escape—sound like an ideal place for evil.

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” (NKJV Rev 8:13)

Natural disasters in John’s day would have been devastating, in fact, before we had early warning and tracking systems, Hurricane Matthew that is currently coming up through Florida, would have resulted in tremendous damage and loss of life.

I was watching the news this morning, and again Haiti seems to have been hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. Many of Haiti’s inhabitants still homeless following the earthquake of 2010. People often don’t realize that Haiti shares the Island with the Dominican Republic and yet the Dominican Republic seems to escape? Tradition has it that when the Haitian slaves were battling the French for their freedom, they “swore a pact to the devil. They said ‘we will serve you if you get us free from the French’… so the devil said ‘OK, it’s a deal,’ and they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got themselves free, but have they have been under a curse ever since? The Dominican Republic claims to be 97%, Christian.

Seven seals, and three trumpets thus far, 1926 years have passed, and we still chose to turn our backs on God

Vulcan the Greek god of Volcano’s

Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Rev 8:8-9 NKJ)

In the same manner that God attempts to draw man’s attention back to himself by way of a fire destroying vegetation, fire form a main focal point of the second trumpet.  Again the sea turning to blood red would have drawn the reader’s attention to the plagues of the exodus.  Here, however, a mountain spews out fire causing the sea to turn blood red, and one-third of the creatures die and one-third of the ships. As we read this, we need to remember that the people didn’t know what we know today.  Mountain’s always symbolized the dwelling place of the gods. The Greeks would have thought that the mythological god Hephaestus (Vulcan) the son of Zeus and Hera was angry.

We know today that a volcanic eruption, when the lava runs into the water can turn the water red and kill the fish because it becomes very acidic.  This happens recently at a mountain called Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai is 40 miles north of Tonga’s capital.  As it erupted, the sea turned red.  We also know that volcanic eruptions and earthquakes can cause tidal waves that would have been deadly to first-century shipping.

As I said yesterday, perhaps God is trying to get man’s attention.

The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. (Rev 8:7 NKJ)

“Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now. “Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die.”‘” (Exo 9:18-19 NKJ)

`Thus says the LORD: “By this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. (Exo 7:17 NKJ)

The first trumpet blows and the angels are loosed on the earth. Judgement, yes, but also redemption. John’s readers would have recognized the two elements of hail and blood from the Exodus narrative. The devouring of pasture land by fire would have brought fear to the people as it does today, how can this be redemptive?  The fact that there was still two-thirds left.

Today we attribute natural disasters to climate or the environment, but perhaps God is trying to get people attention.

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Rev 8:1 NKJ)

But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” (Hab 2:20 NKJ)

Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD; For the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests. “And it shall be, In the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, That I will punish the princes and the king’s children, And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. (Zep 1:7-8 NKJ)

There is a time for silence and a time to speak. To John’s readers, they were aware of the fact that there were seven seals to open.  Six seals had revealed a crescendo of sights and sounds, a sensory overload. Now the seventh seal is opened, and there is silence.  John is so disturbed by this that he introduces temporal time into his description—it was half an hour! Perhaps it was God’s way of showing John that if you could not see or hear the audible voice of God would you still know him? Why do we feel the need to feel our worship services with noise, when Habakkuk and Zephaniah both speak about keeping silent? Solomon knew this; he had the wisdom to know that there is, “A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; (Ecc 3:7 NKJ)

Where have we gone wrong?  In God’s presence we can’t be still, yet in a world of injustice we don’t speak out.

After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed: … After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:1-10 NKJ)

How long did all this take?  If we try and put a human measurement of time, a month, day, hour, or minute, into God’s timeless eternity, then we are missing one of the wonders of God.  We do know that there is a sequence here, that was started, is happening and will eventually come to a final consummation of all things.

John asks the Lord, I and other have prayed for the Lord to come quickly, yet perhaps God doesn’t have enough people? If God had a Facebook page, how many friends would be sufficient? Peter said, “The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, as some think of slowness, but he is patient toward you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to change their hearts and lives.” (2Pe 3:9 CEB)

One thing for sure is that before the final seal was opened, there was a multitude of people in heaven and on the earth, that loved God and loved the neighbor.  If God is great, go and tell somebody—heaven still have room for more. (John 14:2)

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev 6:12-17 NKJ)

This is a problem text, not because of some deep theological treatise, but because John probably knew just  fraction of what we know today about the world, the universe, climate, environment, and seismology. John probably thought the earth was small, flat and that the Sun revolved around the earth. Cosmic events that a 5^th-grade student could have explained would have held terror for a person living in the ancient world. History shows that John would have experienced or at least heard of three major earthquakes, in fact, science believes that Pompeii had a category 5 earthquake in AD. 62.

So what does this text show us?  Remember, the slain Lamb opened the seal.  Man has removed God from creation; scientists want to desperately find some other way to explain how the earth and everything in it came into being.  No matter how hard they try, it comes back to God.  In the meantime, man has set about destroying what God created.  We’re frackin the earth to extract more oil and gas, causing earthquakes and pollution. We’ve polluted the air and the water so that only 3% of the world’s water is drinkable and that is diminishing. We’ve raised the temperature so that the ice caps are melting and arctic wildlife is suffering.  And now, having messed up the earth we want to visit Mars.

The seven seals were opened, and the Lamb of God released unto the earth the judgements of God. Hebrews 1:3 tells us how that the ‘Son of God is upholding all things.’ In a sense, Jesus is the glue.  Remove him and everything starts to unwind. Our present systems cannot be sustained; everything will come to an end.