Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #23 of Revelation, chapter 9, and we are going to be reading Revelation 9:9:

And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

In our last study we were discussing the “breastplates of iron.”  We saw that the breastplate is a piece of armament that God uses, spiritually, in the Bible, to describe the Lord Jesus Christ, so it can indicate various things: it can be a breastplate of “righteousness,” a breastplate of “faith and love;” or it can be a breastplate of “iron,” if the main characteristic which God is trying to emphasize is judgment.  And that is exactly what He is emphasizing in Revelation, chapter 9.  It is Judgment Day and the Lord Jesus is ruling the nations with a “rod of iron,” and, therefore, the “breastplate” takes upon itself that idea.  They are referred to as “breastplates of iron” and these are what the locusts are said to be clothed with these pieces of armour.  Once again, the locusts are the true believers.  They are God’s elect that are judging the world with Him.

Let us continue on in the middle of Revelation 9:9:

… and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

The Greek word that is translated as “sound” is Strong’s #5456 and it is the same word that is often translated as “voice.”  For instance, it says in John 3:29:

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

This is the “voice” of Christ and another way to refer to the voice of Christ would be the Word of God.  The Word of God is the voice of God.  When men speak, they speak words.  When God speaks and you hear His voice, you are hearing the Word of God.  So the locusts are said to be wearing breastplates of iron and the sound (or “voice”) of their wings was as of the “voice” of chariots of many horses running to battle. 

Why is God speaking about the locust wings?  You know, if you look up “wings” in the Bible, and I would encourage anyone listening to these studies to follow along and as I am giving you Strong’s numbers, look up the words.  In this case, if you look up “wing” or wings”, the vast majority of times it is used in the Bible it is referring in some way to God.  For instance, it says in Exodus 37:9:

And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.

The cherubim are a picture of God; it is that which looked down upon the mercy seat, as God looks down upon the mercy seat.  The cherubim were a carving that God permitted inside the Holy of holies and they represented God.  Of course, He looks nothing like that, but there were a representation of God.  You find in Ezekiel 1 that God is picturing Himself there with “wings,” and in several other places you can read of the “wings of the cherubim.”  Or in Isaiah, chapter 6, we read of Isaiah the prophet being given a glimpse into the throne room of the Almighty.  It says in Isaiah 6:2:

Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

The seraphim are also a representation of God.  God likens Himself to cherubim and seraphim and even to an eagle, in some cases.  All of these creatures are said to have wings.  That is why we read in Ruth 2:12:

JEHOVAH recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of JEHOVAH God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

We can understand that phrase “under whose wings” to possibly refer to the mercy seat inside the Holy of holies or, perhaps, it is just referring to the illustration which God gives that He is like a great eagle.  There are many more references that show God in view in relationship to the word “wings” and I am not going to read them all.  It says in Psalm 17:8:

Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

We read in Psalm 91:2-4:

I will say of JEHOVAH, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

This is a similar statement to Ruth 2:12, where it said, “under whose wings thou art come to trust.”  Here it mentions “feathers” as though God were some type of bird and, again, He does picture Himself as an eagle, from time to time.  We read in Malachi 4:2:

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

The Sun of righteousness, who would be the Lord Jesus Christ, is said to have “healing in his wings,” and that would be a reference to the healing of a sinner that is granted salvation.

In the New Testament in Matthew, chapter 23, Jesus is looking out upon Israel (and we could also understand this to be referring to the New Testament churches and congregations), and He says in Matthew 23:37:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Here, God is placing Himself in the position of a hen seeking to gather her chickens, but these are rebellious chickens; they would not.  They do not want their mother.  They do not want the protection of being under the shadow of her wings. 

So, overwhelmingly, we find that “wings” in the Bible point to God.  It says in Revelation 4:7:

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

Again, this is another representation of God and notice that one of the faces is of a flying “eagle.”  Then it says in Revelation 4:8:

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

He is the same God, yesterday, today and forever.  The same picture God paints in the Old Testament, He is painting in the New Testament. 

What about the believers, however?  We understand the locusts to be believers, so do believers have any identification with “wings”?  Let us go to Isaiah 40:31:

But they that wait upon JEHOVAH shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Just as God likens himself to an eagle, the true believers (who would be the only ones that wait upon JEHOVAH) are said to “mount up with wings as eagles,” and just as God likens himself to the “hen,” He likens the believers to the “chickens.”   We have that identification. 

It says in Revelation 12:13:

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

The “man child” is the Lord Jesus, the woman is the body of believers and the dragon is Satan.  Then it goes on to say in Revelation 12:14:

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Here, the woman is a reference to the true believers and she is “given two wings of a great eagle.”  We can understand this as if God is that eagle; God is the one that is causing her to fly into the wilderness and He is protecting her.  Or, if we want to understand that the believers are likened to eagles, then we have Isaiah 40:31 to support that idea of being “baby eagles,” as God is the “great eagle” or the supreme flying eagle.  Either way, believers are also identified with wings, as God Himself is repeatedly said to possess wings and His people are also said to possess wings.

It says in our verse in Revelation 9:9, the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running to battle, so we can understand the “wings” as a reference to God who has equipped them, or that their “wings” were given to them by God to fly into the wilderness.  Likewise, here, in the Day of Judgment, He is giving them “wings” to fly into battle.  Either way, the voice of their wings would relate to God and, therefore, relate to the Word of God. 

It also says there is the “voice of chariots of many horses running to battle.”  There is a link here between the “voice of their wings” as the “voice of chariots of many horses running to battle,” and we have a commentary on this verse in the Book of Joel.  If we turn back to Joel 2, we will see it is a commentary on the whole passage in Revelation 9, which is describing the locusts.  It is the same army of God and it is happening at the very same time, on Judgment Day.  We read in Joel 2:3:

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

Remember what we read in Revelation 9:7:

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

So the appearance of them, it says in Joel 2:4, is “as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.”  We are finding in our passage more references to horses in Revelation 9:9:

“…as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.”

Then it says in Joel 2:5:

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap…

The Hebrew word translated as “noise” is Strong’s #6963, and this word is also often translated as “voice.”   For instance, it says in Genesis 3:8:

And they heard the voice of JEHOVAH…

So this is a parallel word in the Hebrew language that is being used in a very similar way to the Greek word “phone” (fo-nay) that we have in our verse in Revelation 9:9. Then it goes on to say in Joel 2:5:

Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise…

Again, this same Hebrew word “noise” is repeated, just like in our verse in Revelation 9:9, where the word “sound” or “voice” was repeated twice.

… like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

So we see much similarity between what we are reading here in Joel 2 with what God is saying in Revelation 9:9.  With this phrase, “the voice of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap,” we have a little difficulty understanding exactly what God means, except we certainly get an image that this is a mighty army and their chariots are running furiously.  It is probably similar to Jehu, who was an excellent chariot driver we read about in the Bible.  Here,  the army of God is going forth as a mighty army with great power; chariots were the “tanks” or the “heavy artillery” of that day and they were the way that battles and wars were won for centuries, especially if you had “chariots of iron.” 

And, here, God is bringing His army and they are coming like chariots leaping on tops of mountains and this is likened to “the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble.”  Now the “stubble” is very significant because what God has in mind Judgment Day, and what happens to “stubble” on Judgment Day?  Remember what we were told in 1 Corinthians 3:11-13:

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

If your work is “wood, hay stubble” and you put fire to it, what is going to happen?  It is going to be burned up.  Here, God is referring to the work of the Gospel, as “many are called, but few are chosen.”   Almost the entire world heard the declaration of May 21, 2011, Judgment Day, and now is the day when it will burn up the “stubble.”   According to the one-chapter Book of Obadiah, it says in Obadiah, verse 18:

And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for JEHOVAH hath spoken it.

Remember the Bible says, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”  It is the elect and the non-elect (the unsaved) that are in view.  God is making “Jacob” a fire and “Joseph” (who would also point to the elect) a flame, and Esau is the “stubble” and they (the elect) are going to burn the “stubble.”   That is what we have been pointing out because the Bible has been stressing that Judgment Day is a time when Christ comes with His saints – the judgment is brought by the “house of Jacob” against the “house of Esau,” and Esau is the stubble.  So Christ comes with His saints.  The Lord Jesus Christ opens the bottomless pit and out of the smoke comes forth locusts to bring destruction, or we could say that the great army of God, mentioned in Joel 2, are going to burn up the wicked: “like the noise (voice) of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble.” 

And this is why it is important to understand that it is the “voice,” because that relates back to the Word of God, the Bible.   It is the truth that God is revealing from His Word that is the “voice” in the day of battle and is operating as a “flame of fire” to devour the stubble.  Everyone who is not named in God’s Book of Life and everyone who is like Esau and were not “chosen” and loved by God, as God determined to love the one (brother) and not the other (brother).  This has finally been fulfilled, since God has now saved all the elect, leaving the others, just like Esau when Jacob received the blessing.  Then Esau discovered he had not received it and then he desired to attain it “with tears” and strong pleading, but it was too late.  Once God has given the blessing to all of the “Jacobs,” or to all of His elect, then the “Esaus” will knock at the door.  Then the “Esaus” will want a drop of water.  Then the “Esaus” will desire to die – they will seek death and not be able to find it.  Do you see how it is all tied together very perfectly by God, concerning this grievous time of judgment?

Let us just look at one more verse in Malachi 4.  We read verse 2 earlier, where it said, “the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings,” but now let us read Malachi 4:1:

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith JEHOVAH of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

The “root” is Christ.  He is the “root of Jesse.”  The “branch” is Christ in Zechariah 3:8:

Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

That is a Messianic reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the “BRANCH.”  The day cometh that “all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith JEHOVAH of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”

They will not have Christ at that time, because the Day of Judgment has arrived and God has ended His salvation program.