ULDAH MINISTRY

No,110　　DECEMBER . 2004

【 THE FIRST WOE; LOCUSTS' PESTILENCE 】

　　　As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in mid-air call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!" The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
　　　The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in 　　　Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek, Apollyon.
　　　The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　REVELATION 8:13~9:12.

　　　"Globalisation" is not only a phenomenon in the fields of politics, economy, culture and religion. In the fields of science and technology as well, we are living in a globalised world. Some columnist of a science magazine expressed such a trend as potentially beneficial and also potentially dangerous in this post-cold War world. While those whose thoughts are biblically oriented have been alerted to the influence of globalisation and its growing development, there are not a few who stress its goodness by pointing at its economical-, political- and cultural effects, as demonstrated by organisations such as the EU, the NAFTA (the North American Free-Trade Agreement), the UN, and Amnesty International. Having envisioned its optimistic side; richer, easier life and cheaper, faster, more convenient transportations and communications, they do not appear to take its negative side seriously. For example, globalisation may erode individual nation's national identity, cultural and religious heritage and it also may rob them of even the control of their own rights and lives.
　　　The end-time scenario in the book of Revelation predicts a global abandonment of truth and justice and the control of individual nations by a radically raised global government. Such a one-world government will supersede existing governments and the nations would be lulled into a false sense of security and a wholesale deceit under the "New World Order". Today's flourish of moral bankruptcy, secular humanism and philanthropy, relativism, liberalism, multi-faith religiosity indeed all seem to be signs of how rapidly we are proceeding towards the final climax. Among the globalist proponents, there is said to have already been a long-sought desire for a more comprehensive form of international governance than the existing UN, in order to shape a new world order in spiritual, political, economic and social dimensions. However, this inclination possibly lies in self-centred fallen man's foremost desire to dominate God's creation and His created world. Despite rising suspicion of the real nature of a world government, the tools which such a government would need to dominate the entire world appear to already be in hand, one of them being the electronic media via satellite, which would be the most convenient means of instant communication across the whole world.
　　　Returning to the field of science and technology, one of the presenting and increasing issues is the fact that the present governments of individual nations seem to become more and more unable to handle rising problems on their own. BSE (mad cow disease), vCJD (the human form of BSE), AIDS, Bird flu, Climate change (global warming), Human stem cell research, Cyber-crime, GM Foods and so on, to name a few, are all unresolved serious issues facing the world today. Scientists, believing that present-day people are a successful breed, with rapidly disclosed knowledge, boast that we are in the "anthropocentric epoch," in which man has become the globe's principal force. On the other hand, some take it seriously that man's pressure on the earth's ecosystems in turn threatens his future destiny as species. According to BBC's analysis, the following six areas are where most experts believe that a crisis is brewing: 1.Food 2.Water (An acute shortage for 2/3 of the world's popularion predicted by 2025) 3.Energy (Oil supplies have already started to decline) 4.Climate Change (More storms, floods, droughts and earthquakes) 5.Biodiversity (The earth entering its sixth great extinction phase) 6.Pollution (One in four people worldwide are estimated to have been exposed to air pollutants). The UN estimates the increase in world population to around 8.9 billion from the current 6 billion by 2050. Population growth will undoubtedly continually create problems of poverty and while the poor will struggle for survival, more people can be expected to live longer, helped by improved standards of life. With such difficult issues looming over them, how then, can people look to their future positively? It would be natural for them to start searching for ways to deal with such issues effectively, and thus they may come to find hope in the rise of super-national governing bodies, which are to be responsible for global affairs and to make decisions based on international law and public need.
　　　It is understood that a Global Health Authority which has arisen from the WHO (World Health Organisation) has shown its authority as an intergovernmental organisation to intervene in countries affected by health crises ever since its success in controlling SARS which spread across the world last year. This is one of the current successful examples of globalisation and henceforth, more voices requesting global action are rising in the fields of science and technology. It is public opinion today to stress the need for global governance in order to prevent terrorism as well. The trend in every field, not knowingly, thus appears to be moving towards control of the population and affairs by global authorities' restricting individual freedom. Why is there increasing number of problems, encouraging movements towards globalisation? The answer may lie in unseen realms behind the scenes of this age. If this could be equated to the a release of 'locusts' from the Abyss, in the passage quoted at the beginning, how can we interpret 'the first woe' which was caused by 'a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth,' when 'he (the star) opened the Abyss,' i.e., 'a gigantic furnace' in a comparison with what is happening now in the world and what is to come in future?
　　　An actual physical phenomenon of a plague of swarms of locusts was reported this year to have begun at the western end of the Sahara in September, which was warned to be the most serious plague of locusts for the past fifteen years. To prevent their breeding and their further spreading to other countries in Africa, they needed pesticides to be applied by aerial spraying in the early stages. In the days when no such large scale prevention strategies were possible, the terror of the plague of locusts that completely devastated a land of all its vegetation is a classical example known as the eighth plague that was symbolically caused by divine judgment at the time of Exodus (Ex.10:1-20). By the same token, the apostle John heard an eagle call out "three woes" which also correspond to "the three final trumpet plagues" as God's judgment. "The locusts' plague" was 'the first woe' in John's vision, followed first by demonic war in Armageddon and then by victorious events of the proclamation of the divine kingdom. Among various interpretations, one of the possible ones is to take the plague as a rapid spread of global pestilence. A series of seven trumpet judgments in Revelation chs.8~11 was specific catastrophes that brought about destruction upon large parts of the earth. It affects the orders of nature and it seriously changes global climate. One third of all the earth, sea, waters, and the moon would be destroyed during this period. As one fourth of the world's population would have been killed by the end of the fourth seal judgment symbolised by 'a pale horse' (Re.6:8), so by the end of the sixth trumpet judgment more than half of the world's population will have been destroyed. The best thinkable device to bring about destruction of such great numbers with astonishing rapidity might be the spread of bacteria and viruses.
One of the current threatening problems is said to be the re-emergence of major infectious diseases in drug-resistant and hardier strain forms than ever, such as "Tuberculosis", "Bubonic Plague", also called the 'Black Death' in the 14th century which spread in Asia and Europe, "Pneumonia" and "Cholera". In addition, we are now seeing increasing incidence in diseases such as AIDS (caused by HIV), Ebola and vCJD. Overuse of antibiotics in incomplete ways is thought to be responsible for allowing the germs to survive in more virulent forms and to gain resistance to antibiotics. The latest information on the spread of Bird flu has reported a real case of human-to-human transmission of Asian Bird flu. All who had previously been caught by the H5N1 virus so far had appeared to be infected by birds only and three out of every four who had been infected were killed, but the new case of human-human transmission of the virus threatens to cause a huge outbreak in today's more crowded world. If the virus mutates rapidly, and hybridises with a human flu virus in man and becomes more infectious, there is a warning of an unprecedented human pandemic, but for effective production of large-scale supplies of a human vaccine against H5N1. An orthodox idea was that human-beings were supposed to be protected from animal diseases by a hypothesis called "species barrier" until Stanley Prusiner presented the world with a highly unorthodox and controversial proposition 22 years ago: "Prions" were supposedly able to transmit infectious brain disease such as BSE. But thanks to the research, the evidence has revealed that no species barrier exists, in other words, that prion diseases causing different types of brain damage can jump the species barrier to be passed to other species and also, that some strains of prion are so slow to act that we are unable to see them. It means that disease progression rates vary greatly between different species. Among researchers the worrying possibility is that one day we may face a new strain of chronic wasting disease. This is only an example of what has globally been growing in the invisible realm. Not knowingly if our bodies have been infected by such unknown prion diseases because of decades-long incubation in humans, it might be concluded that God's judgment upon each individual has already been going on within, just to await its climax because God can use unknown wasting diseases as His tools of judgment just as we see in the Hebrew Bible (Is.37:36, 2Sa.24:15, Ex.12:12). Among pessimistic reports, however, suffice to say that there is good news as well, that after decades of failure, an experimental vaccine against the worst ravages of "Malaria" has finally been produced.
　　　Another growing problem is the increase in antibiotic-resistant super-bugs MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). MRSA is understood to be a powerful bacteria causing wide-range of problems from skin boils to fatal pneumonia. However, the good news is that most MRSA strains are still not necessarily invincible. The advice given by a researcher is very biblical and worth noting: "No matter what we do, bacteria will find a way around it. But there are some things that always work. Resistant bacteria are not resistant to hand washing."(16Oct.'04 New Scientist, Lines added). Moses' Law persistently encouraged the people of Israel to wash whatever was thought to be defiled by fresh 'water', especially a 'spring,' that is, not stagnant water but living running water (Lev.11,14,15, 17). Throughout the Scriptures, 'the spring of living water' is a symbol of the Lord (Jer.2:13, Jn.4,7).
　　　As examined above, the recent developments concerning global pestilence are very ominous and really threatening. On top of that, there is still another piece of threatening information about biological weapons and biological terrorism. BBC News in Oct. has informed of a real threat of biological weapons with warning since it first published a report over them five years ago: their use is no longer theoretical but approaching reality and now it could target specific ethnic groups. Medical experts say that it has never been easier to develop biological weapons now that anyone can freely get access to the internet. The huge dilemma that we face lies in the fact that the same technology being used to develop new vaccines and also cures for diseases could be used to develop imitation viruses and genetically engineered anthrax and other viruses.
　　　There is an interesting description about 'locusts' in Proverbs 30:27, in that locusts are counted as one of the four small but wise creatures; 'locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;' (Line added). Despite natural locusts having 'no king,' the swarms of locusts in Re.9 are seen to have a king, and by their king's name being 'Abaddon' or 'Apollyon' and also by his identity as 'the angel of the Abyss', it is apparent that the locusts are actually figuratively symbolised demons. They are to come forth in ranks as Satanic militant agents in order to significantly target specific groups of people. The present science and technology have almost made it possible to direct deliberated diseases to targeted ethnic groups or individuals. Those demonic creatures' aim is to harm specified people alone, who do not have 'the seal of God on their foreheads.' Significantly enough, this illustrates that demonic power is not totally invincible and that belonging to the Lord as symbolised by His seal upon the individual would be the only protection from demonic affliction.
The shapes of the locusts are like horses prepared for battle. This is true even of the appearance of natural locusts. However, in the Bible, there is a rather detailed description about their appearance, stressing their unique characteristics. 'Something like crowns of gold' on their heads represents authority, not of God's but of Satan's kingdom, which would bring forth apostasy, unbelief, bitterness and agony into the unbelieving wicked world. 'Their human-like faces' imply intelligence that enables them to appeal to human reasons. Their hairs resembling 'women's hair' might imply their attractive and sensual characteristics, by which many would be tempted, seduced and trapped. As king Solomon expressed: 'Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses.' (SS 7:5), the natural beauty of women's hair could be misused for unholy ends. Contrary to their outward attractiveness and intelligence, the locusts' inward nature is very ferocious, tearing captives into pieces with their teeth 'like lions' teeth.' They torment 'the inhabitants of the earth' with 'tails and stings like scorpions' for five months. The number 'five' is symbolically interpreted in Scriptures as God's grace and hence, if it were not for God's grace, no-one would survive or in Jesus' terms: 'If those days had not been cut short, no-one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.' (Matt.24:22). Five months might be the longest time for man's resistance against such deadly pestilences. It is interesting to note that it was after the same duration of time, 'at the end of the hundred and fifty days (five months)' that the water of judgment over the wicked world in Noah's days started receding steadily from the earth, leading to the restoration of the earth. It was indeed only by God's grace that the flooded earth could recover. In the same way, because of the Lord's mercy and grace, the manifestation of demonic power will be limited. For five months the unbelieving world would have to experience such great dilemma and tremendous stress that they will be unable to achieve what they seek to do, i.e., mental agony along with physical agony. However, if the unbelieving world could spiritually be awakened to accepting the Lord as her Saviour through this torment, there will be great rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over her repentance.
　　　Some interpret this passage as spiritual and mental torment rather than physical torture. They take locusts' plague as a symbolic description of Satanic delusion by false teaching according to the Lord's Word: 'For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect- if that were possible.' (Matt.24:24). As the result of such Satanic attacks even the elect would fall into apostasy during that time of delusion. However, whatever the interpretation, one thing certain is that those who belong to God and have His, probably invisible seal, won't be harmed at all by whatever furious demonic forces. At the same time, the other important truth is that for the witnesses of Christ in the end times, whether or not they are able to remain alive in the physical body on earth is not so important as to whether or not they will still remain in the Lord to the end, even to the point of losing their lives. It would be at that time that the believers in the Lord would fully be able to understand Paul's joy in Christ as his ultimate concern beyond this world; 'to live is Christ and to die is gain.' If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? …I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body (Phi.1:21-24).

NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS-NEWS

　 This month a money gift has been sent to MARY JANE in the Philippines to support her investment for the Lord to build a Christian library for the children in poverty on her mother's property, around fifty of whom she has been teaching not only the Bible but also other subjects and also caring for. Pray for the Lord's guidance and protection upon her, her co-workers and her flock.