Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #13 of Revelation, chapter 9, and we are continuing to look at Revelation 9:5:
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
In our last study we were looking at the phrase “five months,” and we saw that all of the language of Revelation 9 and even all the language of the Book of Revelation itself is parabolic; it is using “types and figures.” God speaks of beasts coming out of the sea and locusts with the faces of men and the hair of women and all sorts of pictures like the angels pouring out vials of the wrath of God or the Lord Jesus as a great star falling from heaven and opening the bottomless pit, and so forth. None of these statements are to be taken literally; they are teaching us spiritual truths.
Also, when we look at the time references in the Book of Revelation, we find that they, too, have spiritual meaning: “three and one half days,” “1,260 days,” “forty two months,” “one hour,” or “one thousand years.” Each of these references is not to be taken literally. There is no time reference in the Book of Revelation that is to be taken literally. When it speaks of the Day of Judgment, it is referring to a prolonged period of time. The “hour” is referring to a certain period of time.
So if the “five months” of Revelation 9:5 was to be understood as a literal time reference, then it would go contrary to how the entire Book of Revelation is to be understood and it would go contrary to the way every other time reference in the Book of Revelation is to be understood.
We can see that we were incorrect about a literal “five months.” We were wrong. We made a mistake in thinking that May 21, 2011, until October 21, 2011, which is five months in our Gregorian calendar, was in view in Revelation 9:5. We were correct about Judgment Day beginning on May 21, 2011, but then we fell into a “trap.” We were mistaken in thinking, “Well, this fits so well, does it not? After all, just look at your calendar. There is May 21, 2011, and then a neat, even five months later is October 21, 2011, and the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles; and that day, too, was is very appealing to us because it fit so many different Scriptures.”
Do you see what God has done? Remember He did want to bring Judgment Day as a “snare” upon the entire world. He tells us that in a few places and God also wanted to “try” His people during the period of Judgment Day, so it fit into God’s overall purpose to allow the people of God to be mistaken about the duration of Judgment Day. Why? It was because there were, perhaps, some that even after May 21, 2011, were waiting and looking toward that other day of October 21, 2011, so let us see what happens if that date also comes and goes. Do you see how it adds to the “trial?” It adds to the appearance that all was wrong – that we were incorrect about everything.
It is a fact that after October 21, 2011, some people that had given the appearance of faithfulness during that “five months” quickly went astray. They quickly went away from the sound teachings of the Bible – the teachings that God had so graciously opened up to us. Therefore, it was part of the “snare” and part of God’s testing program to allow this “appearance” of the “five months.”
What we learn when we look at the Book of Revelation and its time references is that all of the time references we have understanding about are a result of knowing where they fit in the Biblical timeline and then the Biblical timeline reveals the actual amount of time that is in view.
For example, it says in Revelation 11:9:
And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
What does that “three and one half days” mean? What actual time is in view? It is obviously a parabolic statement. It is not a literal “three and one half days.” That is not possible, but the “three and one half days” can be understood when we understand the rest of the passage. When we learn the context and realize that the “two witnesses” that are slain refer to the witness of the Word of God in the congregations; then when see that the “two witnesses” stand upon their feet at the end of “three and one half days,” then we are able to pinpoint the time to the first part of the Great Tribulation period: the time of 2,300 evening mornings. This is because we have learned from other “types” of the Great Tribulation, like the days of Joseph’s tribulation and the days of Judah’s tribulation when Babylon overcame them, that God has a “first part” that is more grievous than the “last part.” Through the Biblical calendar of history, we were able to pinpoint, precisely, the beginning of the Great Tribulation period on May 21, 1988, the day before Pentecost, and the conclusion of the 2,300-day period on September 7, 1994, when God, once again, began to evangelize the world utilizing the “two witnesses,” the Law and the prophets (the Word of God, the Bible), outside of the churches and congregations. So the understanding of the Biblical timeline provides the actual duration for the time reference given in the Book of Revelation.
Likewise, when we read of the beast coming up out of the sea, in Revelation 13:5:
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Now here is another time reference. It matches Revelation 11:2:
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
So now we have two verses with references to “forty two months.” One verse tells us that it was given to the beast to continue “forty and two months.” The other verse tells us that it was given to the Gentiles to tread under foot the holy city for “forty and two months.” We can see the similarity between the two statements. We realize that the “beast” is the name assigned to Satan for the duration of his rule during the Great Tribulation period; and God loosed Satan for that purpose to reign as the man of sin, or as the beast, in the churches and in the world for the entire Great Tribulation period. That is also the time that the “Gentiles” will tread the holy city (a reference to the churches) under foot for the entire Great Tribulation period. The context of these verses shows us that the “forty two months” is a reference to the entire Great Tribulation period. Then we take that understanding and we apply it to the Biblical timeline of history and we see the Great Tribulation began on May 21, 1988, and twenty three years later it concluded on May 21, 2011. It was 23 exact years or exactly 8,400 days. The time reference in Revelation 11:2 and Revelation 13:5 of “forty two months” is an actual time a period of 23 years.
Now we can do this with other time references, too. For example, with the “one hour,” remember it said in Revelation 18:10: “Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.” We know that is referring to the entire period of Great Tribulation and, again, that “one hour” would represent 23 years of actual time.
The “thousand years” that Satan was bound in Revelation 20 is also figurative. How long a time period was that “thousand years?” It is not literal. Satan was bound in 33 A.D., so if it were a literal time reference, he would have been loosed in 1,033 A.D., about a thousand years ago, but he was not loosed then. It was a figurative statement, since the number “10,” the number “100,” the number “1,000” or the number “10,000,” all point to “completeness.” So this pointed to the completeness of Satan’s binding and the Bible reveals in many Scriptures that Satan was bound in 33 A.D. until 1988, the beginning of the Great Tribulation, and then he was loosed. So the actual time duration of the “thousand years” is actually 1,955 years, almost double the figurative number.
Now there is no way of determining the actual time of any of these time references without the understanding, firstly, of the context and how God is using it, and, secondly, without the Biblical timeline of history, where we can see the duration of periods like the church age, or the duration of the Great Tribulation, or the duration of the “first part” of the Great Tribulation (the half hour of silence or the 2,300 evening mornings), and so on. It is the understanding of the context which allows us to place the time reference and then the Biblical calendar provides the actual time that is in view. That is how we determine what the “five month” period refers to, in Revelation 9:5:
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months…
We have gone past the literal possibility. Just as God people in the year 1,033 A.D. would probably have been on “high alert,” keeping watch as they would have known from Revelation 20 that Satan was bound for a “thousand years,” and it certainly could have been a possibility that it was a literal time reference. But, then when 1,033 A.D. passed, they would have had to understand it was not literal and it must be a figurative understanding.
Likewise, when October 21, 2011 passed (and it was a possibility, until that time passed), but now we are well past it. So now we have to look for the figurative meaning of this verse, and we know the context of Revelation, chapter 9, is Judgment Day, which began on May 21, 2011. Therefore, the “five months” is a reference to the duration of Judgment Day. Then we turn to the Biblical calendar, we have the beginning point – we know Judgment Day began on May 21, 2011, and we have good evidence (a strong possibility) that the duration of Judgment Day may be 1,600 days in length and would conclude on October 7, 2015. If we are correct about the 1,600 days, the “five months” is a figurative period of time to typify “1,600 days.” Just like all the other time references, the timeline defines the actual amount of time in view. The Biblical calendar of history did not end on May 21, 2011, since the 1,600-day period is an extension to that.
With the Biblical calendar, when you have a date that begins at a certain point that the calendar recognizes (and May 21, 2011 is that point) and then a Scripture passage extends that date with a timeline of 1,600 days later, it falls on October 7, 2015, which happens to be the last day of the Feast Tabernacles! And is that not interesting? When we were looking at a literal “five months” from May 21 to October 21, we were “sold” on that date because it was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles and we knew this feast had not been spiritually fulfilled; the language regarding this feast pointed to the end of the world. So we bought into that and we thought that was it.
But, since a literal “five months” is no longer possible, now we find there is a possibility of 1,600 days of total judgment; and the last day of that 1,600 days would be the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the identical day as October 21, 2011 (the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles in that year). It is very interesting that this now works out this way. Therefore, all the language that we had expected to be fulfilled and come to pass in 2011 now applies, just as well and as scripturally, to the date on October 7, 2015.
So we now would say that the “five months” is obviously not literal, but it is a figurative period of time that is representing the duration of Judgment Day, which very likely appears to be 1,600 days in actual time. Then the period of “torment” would come to an end and the Day of Judgment would be completed.
Let us look at one more thing concerning the “five months.” Again, the “five months” covers the entire period of Judgment Day and the Biblical calendar points to a 1,600-day actual period of time. With that in view, let us go to 1st Samuel 6:1:
And the ark of JEHOVAH was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
It would be good for you to read the previous chapters and you would see that the ark was captured by the Philistines because God had given the people of Israel up. They were doing wickedly and God turned against His own people and He gave the ark up and that ark was a representation of God’s presence with Israel. The losing of the ark meant that God was no longer with His people. All the language we find in that historical time period fits the spiritual events that takes place at the end of the world, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation and throughout that period of time, when God is judging the churches and congregations of the world; He gives up the churches and hands them over into the hands of the enemy – Satan and his emissaries. The Philistines were definitely enemies of God and of the people of God and, yet, the Bible says, “And the ark of JEHOVAH was in the country of the Philistines seven months.” So that means the “seven month” period of time is being used by God to represent the entire Great Tribulation period.
God uses several figures of “time” to represent the Great Tribulation period: the “seven years” in the days of Joseph, the “seventy years” that Babylon was conquering Judah, the period of “forty two months” that the beast was given to continue in authority, and so forth. They are actual 23-year periods. From 609 B.C. to 587 B.C. (inclusive) is also a type and figure of the Great Tribulation and, so, also, “seven months” is a type and figure of the total amount of time of the Great Tribulation.
Why is this important? We could actually establish a chart with three columns and in one column we could put the heading “Judgment of God,” and on the next column we could put the heading “Figurative Time” and the final column we could put the heading “Actual Time.” Then under the heading, “Judgment of God,” we could list “Judgment on the Churches;” then, under the “Figurative Time,” we would put “seven months,” as 1st Samuel 6:1 indicates, and then under the “Actual Time,” we could put “23 years” or “8,400 days.”
In the next line, we could put “Judgment on this world,” and in the “Figurative” column we could put “five months,” and in the “Actual” column we could put “1,600 days.” So we would have these three columns with headings of “Judgments of God,” “Figurative” and “Actual.” Then when we look at the first judgment, “Judgment on the Churches,” we see a figurative time period of “seven months” and an actual time period of “8,400 days.” Then we look at “Judgment on the World,” and we see a figurative time period of “five months” and an actual time of “1,600 days.” Then we total these columns. Under the figurative column, we have the “seven months” of the Great Tribulation (because that is when judgment began, as God says, “judgment begins at the house of God” and that statement implies a continuance of it); then judgment transitions to the world and the figurative time is “five months,” so the total of that figurative column is 12 months or “one year.”
Then if you take the actual time of judgment on the churches, it is 8,400 days, plus 1,600 days of judgment on the world and you get a total of 10,000 days. So we see that the figure of “seven months” is completed by the figure of “five months,” totaling 12 months or one year. Also, the 8,400 days of judgment is completed by the 1,600 days, totaling 10,000 days, representing the number of “completeness.” This makes a very good illustration of God completing the judgment that He began on the churches with this reference to months and it now becomes a “year” of judgment, and the Bible speaks of a “year” of judgment in Isaiah 34. We probably would have no way of understanding this without realizing the typology that God is using, when it says in Isaiah 34:8:
For it is the day of JEHOVAH’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
The whole matter of judgment is about “Zion.” The judgment on the churches is “Zion” or for “Zion’s” sake. The judgment on Babylon (the world) is because they dared to put forth their hand against God’s anointed and bring judgment on the churches. It is “the year of recompences.” This day of vengeance, Judgment Day, is a prolonged period of time and, really, we could say it began on May 21, 1988 and 10,000 days later, the “year of vengeance,” or the “year of the wrath of God,” completes itself. So there are 10,000 days of wrath, of anger and of fury being poured out upon all the unsaved – first, upon those called by His name and then upon every unsaved individual in the world.