Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #18 of Revelation, chapter 9, and we are going to be reading Revelation 9:6-7:

And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

We are continuing to look at this passage where God is speaking of Judgment Day and the outpouring of His wrath in the form of locusts that come upon the earth, with an accompanying of “five months” of torment. 

We saw in our last study that the phrase “those days” links what is being said here to Mark 13:24: “immediately after the tribulation of those days.”  As we read that men shall “seek death, and shall not find it,” we spent some time carefully examining this statement, and we saw that it had to do with seeking salvation, but that mankind will be unable to find it.

Actually, we are gathering more and more verses in which the Bible teaches that one characteristic of Judgment Day is that it will be a time in which men seek for salvation and, yet, cannot find it – they cannot obtain it.  It is out of their reach.  We saw this in Luke 16, with the parable of the rich man in hell; he was in torment and he desired a drop of water, and that water represented the Gospel which could deliver him and bring salvation.  We saw this, in Luke 13,when the master of the house had risen up and had shut to the door; then many were attempting to enter in, crying, “Lord, Lord open to us.”  Yet, the door never opened.

We saw this in our verse in Revelation 9:6: men will seek death and not find it.  We also went to John, chapter 7, where the context was the Feast of Tabernacles and leading up to the last day of this feast, we found language that the Lord Jesus would be with them “for a little season,” which typified the Great Tribulation period, and then He would leave and, even though they would seek Him, they would not find Him.  This is becoming a more common theme of the Bible.  There is no doubt that the Bible teaches that Judgment Day will be a time when men desire salvation and desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven and are denied; they cannot obtain it; they cannot gain entry.  They are thrust out.  That is what it says in Revelation 22:14-15:

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

This is indicating that there are people “without” because people are the ones that commit these sins of sorcery and whoremongering and murder and idolatry and loving and making a lie.  People do these things.  People are the ones that are outside the gates of the “city.”  All that means is that God has saved all who were to be saved – the entire number of the elect whose names were recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  In salvation, they have gained entry into the kingdom of heaven and they are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, yet they could still be alive on earth; and, as matter of fact, they are still here, because God’s people are still here, living in the world in the Day of Judgment, but their citizenship is of that heavenly kingdom.

Yet, it says, “without are dogs,” or unsaved individuals.  They have not made it into the gates of the city and now they never will make it.   This is the time when the unsaved have been “thrust out” into outer darkness.  That phrase is used a few times in the New Testament and it is very appropriate language.  It is very apt.  It is a vivid illustration of the unsaved people that are living in a world in which God has darkened the sun and the moon and the stars, so that there is spiritual darkness over all the earth “outside” the kingdom of heaven.  That is where the unsaved find themselves – outside the city in outer darkness.  We read in Matthew 22 of the marriage feast and it says in Matthew 22:11-14:

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.

This is the condition of this world.  The world has become a place of “outer darkness.”  It is outside the kingdom of heaven and there is spiritual darkness over the entire earth.  Yet, men are living, physically, and there are still Bibles in the world and, of course, the churches are operating as if it was just ordinary circumstances and as if everything was normal.  The world itself is operating as though it would continue for thousands of years.

So men are seeking salvation as they always have in this world.  But “in those days” when they do seek to identify with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, they will not find it.  They may desire to identify with His death, but death will flee from them.  Salvation will escape them.  God is not working with them in any way.

Let us go on to Revelation 9:7:

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

At this point, God is attempting to describe the locusts and, of course, the locusts are not literal.  This is not a literal description, obviously.  All these things are meant to teach us something about the locusts and about the character of Judgment Day.  So let us just go through this verse, as we would any verse.  First of all it says, in the first part of the verse, in Revelation 9:7:

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle…

The word “shape” is Strong’s #3667 and it is translated as “similitude” in Romans 5:14:

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

The word “similitude” is the same Greek word translated as “shape” in Revelation 9:7.  This word is also found translated as “likeness,” in Romans 6:5:

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

This helps us to understand this word.   It is that which is “like” or a “likeness.”  So the “shapes” or the “likeness of the locusts” means what they “appeared” to be.  It goes on to say: “The likeness of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle.”  It is interesting how often we find “horses” in the picture when God is discussing Judgment Day.  When we read of the day of the wrath of the Lord, we often find that “horses” are in view.  For instance, Joel 2, which is a parallel passage to Revelation 9 (as far as the locusts going forth), we find that an army of God goes forth, destroying, in Joel 2:2-3:

A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

Now let us look, especially, at verse 4, where it says “the appearance of them,” and we could understand that to mean “the likeness of them,” which would match our verse in Revelation 9.  It says in Joel 2:4:

The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

You know, it is not a coincidence that a little later in our same chapter in Revelation, chapter 9, we read of two hundred million horsemen.  Let us go there and read Revelation 9:16-18:

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 of 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 was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.

Here, God is continuing to describe Judgment Day.  Later on in this chapter, He uses the figure of two million horsemen and their horses that breathe fire, smoke and brimstone.  And in Joel 2, it says: “The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.”  It is describing the same thing.  It is describing God coming with all His saints and that just means He has saved them all, and that fact is what allows God to now bring judgment upon the wicked of the world.  He is coming as a man of war to do battle, so the saints are likened to a great army. 

Notice, here, in Joel 2, it says in Joel 2:7-11:

They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And JEHOVAH shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of JEHOVAH is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

So we see how this great army is marching in a destructive way against this world.  Notice how it leads up to the language of the sun, moon and stars being darkened.  There is no more light of the Gospel.  That is the primary means of God’s judgment on the world.  He has removed salvation from this world.  He has “left” the world and abandoned them, just as He did the churches before them.

Let us also go Revelation 19, which also describes Judgment Day.  You know, the Bible has a lot to say about Judgment Day.  Yes – the Bible also has a lot to say about the love of God, the goodness of God, the mercy of God, the grace of God and God showed forth those particular attributes during the day of salvation.  He demonstrated all of these wonderful characteristics of His Person and, yet, the Bible also speaks of God and His justice, His judgment and His wrath.  These, also, are part of the Being of God.  They are also part of His characteristics and attributes that will find expression and demonstration in the Day of Judgment, so we have all kind of Scriptures that speak of the wrath and judgment of God. 

For people that do not like hearing this and would just rather hear of God’s love, I am sorry, but you would have to avoid a tremendous amount of Scriptures in order to avoid these things, and in Revelation 19 God is speaking of these things, once again.  It says in Revelation 19:13-14:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Notice how the armies are following Christ.  A little earlier, Christ was seen seated upon a white horse and now the armies in heaven follow Him, just like the armies of God in Joel, chapter 2, or the locusts, which really are the army of God, or like the 200 million horsemen in Revelation 9.  It is God’s great army that is accomplishing His bidding and following His orders, bringing destruction to the world.  And, again, spiritually, it is the fact that they have all been saved and that truth is the truth that “smites” and “cuts” like a sword and slays everyone that is unsaved in the world, because there is no more room and no more names to be found and no more elect to seek.  God has saved all of His people.  He has found all the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Let us go back to Revelation 9:7:

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle…

As we have been discussing, God pictures Judgment Day as a time of battle.  Look at Revelation16:13-14:

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

In many ways, it could be understood that the loosing of Satan or the rising up of the beast out of the sea (as Satan was given rule in the churches and rule in the world in an unprecedented way over the course of the Great Tribulation period and the world was given over to sin; the churches became his as God abandoned them and left them to the man of sin) was preparation for the final battle of Judgment Day.  Satan was gathering his forces and God was gathering His army, by saving His elect.  Once the army of God was completed, then the final battle was under way and the victory was won by the Lord Jesus Christ on that great day of God Almighty.  It is the same teaching in Revelation 20:7:

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Satan was loosed at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period and he was given authority to reign for “forty and two months” and, spiritually, that means for the entire duration of the Great Tribulation period and he was gathering his forces, like Gog and Magog.  Then we read in Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39, that there is a final battle between Gog and Magog and the Lord God.   Let us just read Ezekiel 38:19-22:

For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith JEHOVAH GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

This is referring to Gog and Magog and notice, again, the fire and brimstone.  Then it says in Ezekiel: 38:23:

Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am JEHOVAH.

Then it goes to say in Ezekiel 39:1-7:

Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith JEHOVAH GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord JEHOVAH.  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am JEHOVAH. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am JEHOVAH, the Holy One in Israel.

It goes on, but, again, the language is of Gog and Magog falling upon the mountains and then being given to the ravenous birds; that matches Revelation 19, where we have the “fowls of the air” that come to feed upon the enemies of God that are defeated in the battle of Judgment Day, the battle that God won.  Yet, in a sense, we could say it will continue until the end of this world and until this prolonged period of judgment is complete.  But the great victory has already been won by Christ because He saved all His elect; He ransacked the kingdom of Satan and delivered all of the captives.  That is why we have this language in Revelation 9:7:

And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

This is another important statement concerning the locusts that helps us confirm and reaffirm that they are representative of the true believers.  If we go back to Revelation, chapter 4, it says in Revelation 4:4:

And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Now these twenty four elders represent 12 elders for the tribes of Israel and 12 elders for the apostles of the Lamb and that would be pointing, spiritually, to all of God’s elect that were saved in the Old Testament and all of God’s elect that were saved in the New Testament.  They are typified by all the elders wearing “crowns of gold,” and the crowns point to salvation. 

We do not have much time left in this study, but let us just turn quickly to Proverbs 4:5:

Get wisdom, get understanding…

The Lord Jesus Christ is “Wisdom.”

Then it says in Proverbs 4:8-9:

Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

Christ, who personifies wisdom, will “give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory.”  That is what the “crown of gold” typifies – salvation.  Individuals that are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ have “crowns,” and the locusts have on their heads, as it were, “crowns like gold.”