Stinging Locust Something to Avoid

Revelation 9: 9-11 "They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers like scorpions, which had the power to injure people for five months. 11 They were ruled by a king, the angel of the Abyss. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek it is Apollyon.…"

This almost seems the worst of all that goes on in the tribulation. I am convinced the Christians will not even see the devils because the devils are spiritual beings and torment is going on in the minds of the unbelievers like a bad LSD trip. A person on a bad trip can see spiders all over them and even feel the bites of the spiders but it is all going on in their own minds, no one else can see it.

I am convinced that believers will see people going crazy in pain and fear but not what is causing it.

Revelation 6:15-17 "…15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”…"

The locusts were permitted to hurt "only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads" (Revelation 9:4). I wonder if the "seal of God on their forehead is referring to the minds of the believers because they have the seal of the Holy Spirit and the devils cannot touch them.

The "seal of God" is the Holy Spirit and He lives invisibly in the minds of all born-again believers. No one can see Him because He is Spiritual, but people can sense Him and the devils cannot harm the believer.

It is not possible for a human being to grasp how incredibly terrible this time will be, our minds do not have the ability to imagine what we have never seen or experienced.

This wrath is the wrath of God coming upon a wicked world so they will be able to see how helpless they are without God. Only a small number of people compared to the population of the world will trust Christ, the rest will die and go to hell. This tells you just how stubborn the heart of unbelievers are, they don't even turn to God in repentance, they just continue to shake their fists at God and demand safety from Him but He will not give it.

It isn't that the people do not believe in God during this time, they know He exists, it's that they refuse to acknowledge Him as an authority in their life and that without Him they have no defense, they still want their own way.

Sadly, many Christians now are warning the world about this time of the Tribulation, but they will not listen.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

We keep warning, we keep speaking and we keep obeying God in this, but we do not look for the results because we are living in times when few will listen, the results are up to God, our only job is to do what He told us to do.

Preppers Lacking Faith

For all those preppers, who are walking in fear and continually talking about it, I have good news for you.

It is important to remember that Christ knows what is coming before it comes and will tell us what to do before we even know we need it. Living in fear of what MIGHT be coming and acting on that is against what God told us to do.

Isaiah 41:10

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Joshua 1:9

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Luke 12:16-21

"And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

"Storing Up" is a sign of reliance on self, not God. I am not talking about preparing for winter or natural disasters in a reasonable way. I am talking about those who spend a lot of time and money storing goods and food for many years of protection.

I heard one person who said this in a church gathering of preppers one Sunday; "be sure to store up and hide your food, and be sure to share only with Christians." The implication was that we were to use our firearms to chase off anyone who was starving and not a Christian.

I was not only appalled but had to wonder if the person who said this was even born again. If we have the fruit of the Spirit; "love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness and self-control," we could never deny anyone who was starving, even if we would have to share until it was all gone and then die together.

Since our life is nothing compared to eternity, we would share what we have with the neighbors as needed and figure out solutions together. However, if God wants us to live He would provide more as it is needed, or He would take us home, through starvation if that was His will.

Born-again believers should be thinking more with the mind of Christ far more than they think according to their natural bent, which is most often self-preservation.

Psalm 34:10

"The young lions do lack and suffer hunger;

But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing."

If we have need of food God will provide it unless He wants us home with Him then He will provide the emotional and spiritual strength to starve if it is His will to take us home.

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