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Isaiah 59:19-20, King James Version
"When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And
the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord."
Malachi 3:1-5, King James Version
"Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, he shall
come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he
appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver;
and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an
offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the
days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness
against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress
the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and
fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts."
Luke 12:35-48, Helen Montgomery's translation
"Let your loins be girded about and your lamps burning; and be yourselves like men who are looking for their
lord, on his return from a wedding-banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they may at once open the door
for him. Happy are those slaves whom their master shall find watching when he comes. I tell you truly that he
will gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and come and serve them. And whether it be in the second
watch, or in the third, that he comes, and so finds them, happy are those slaves. However, you know this, that if
the master of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed
his house to be broken into. Do you also be ready, for in an hour that you think not the Son of man is coming."
"Master," said Peter, "are you speaking this parable to us or to all alike?" The Lord answered: "Who then is
that faithful steward, the wise man whom his lord will put in charge of his household to give out their rations in
due time? Blessed is that slave whom his master on his coming shall find so doing. Of a truth I tell you that he
will put him in charge of his possessions. But if that slave should say to himself, 'My master delays his coming,'
and should begin to beat the men and the maids, and to eat and drink and to get drunk, that slave's master will
arrive on a day when he is not expecting him, and at an hour when he knows not, and will surely scourge him,
and appoint him his portion with the unfaithful. The slave who knew his Lord's will, and made not ready, nor did
according to his will, will be beaten with many lashes, but he who did not know, but did things worthy of a
beating, will receive few lashes. To whom much has been given, from him much will be required, and to whom
much is entrusted, of him they will ask the more." (For two other translations of Luke 12:35-48, see nosp04.)
I would suggest that a Confrontation between Christ and those supposed to be doing His work on Earth will
mark the beginning of the first woe (Revelation 9:1-11), a period of divine judgments on the Lord's people.
interpreting Revelation 9:1-2
"Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven upon the earth; and to him was
given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and out of the pit there went up a
smoke like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air grew dark, because of the smoke out of the
pit" (Helen Montgomery's translation).
The King James Version of Revelation 9:1 states: "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from
heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit." Is the key given to the angel or
to the star? Joseph Smith Jr., in his revision of the King James Version, available from the Community of
Christ, has the key going to the angel: "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto
the earth; and to the angel was given the key of the bottomless pit." The New International Version has the
key going to the star: "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." I think the key goes to the angel, since in
Revelation 20:1, KJV, we read: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand."
Another problem in interpreting Revelation 9:1 can be confusion over whether the star that falls is like a
meteorite or is some spiritual being. Revelation 12:9, KJV, states: "And the great dragon was cast out, that
old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and
his angels were cast out with him". Luke 10:18, KJV, has Jesus saying: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from
heaven".
Joseph Smith Jr.'s revision of 1 Peter 3:18-20 states: "For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, that he might bring us to God. For which
cause also, he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; some of whom were disobedient in the days of
Noah, while the long-suffering of God waited, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls
were saved by water."
Then, in Community of Christ Doctrine and Covenants 76:6c, we read: "Behold, these are they who died
without law; and also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the
gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, who received not the testimony of
Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it."
Thus, the preaching of Christ to those in the bottomless pit would have caused a great division among those
spirits. Those obedient to Christ would want to help His cause on their release from the pit, while those still
opposed to Christ would want to reinforce the powers of evil under Satan's leadership. I would guess that
those obedient to Christ's ministry will be able to leave the pit before supporters of the beast ascend from it.
These are difficult matters to interpret. Revelation 13:1 says a beast will "rise up out of the sea". Revelation
11:7 mentions a beast "that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit". Since both verses seem to be referring to
the same beast, I think the ascension from the bottomless pit represents a later transformation of the beast
that rose up out of the sea. That would yield this chronology:
1. A beast rises up out of the sea (Revelation 13:1-4), the United Nations organized in 1945.
2. A beast comes up out of the earth (Revelation 13:11), the World Council of Churches organized in 1948.
3. The bottomless pit is opened (Revelation 9:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8), a spiritual event difficult to put a
date on.
4. The Antichrist is revealed (Revelation 13:5-10,16-18), who will transform the United Nations into world
government.
5. The false prophet is revealed (Revelation 13:12-15), who will transform the World Council of Churches
into a religion supporting the world government of the Antichrist.
6. The second coming of Christ will not begin with a resurrection of the dead in Him and a rapture of living
saints, but rather as a confrontation with those supposed to be doing his work on Earth (Isaiah 59:19-20;
Malachi 3:1-5; Luke 12:35-48; etc.). The resurrection (and the rapture that follows it) will not occur until Christ
is to descend to reign on Earth for a thousand years, when the Antichrist and the false prophet are cast into a
lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).
7. Repentant spirits from the pit become agents for God's judgments on His people (Revelation 9:2-11).
8. Evil spirits from the pit reinforce the powers of Satan (Revelation 9:13-15).
9. World War III destroys "the third part of men" (Revelation 9:15-21).
10. The destruction of the wicked by Christ (Revelation 19:11-21).
11. Satan will be bound in the pit for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).
"Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates" of Revelation 9:14 was revised by
Joseph Smith Jr. to read: "Loose the four angels which are bound in the bottomless pit". This confirms that
evil spirits are held back when the bottomless pit is first opened. Notice that the first woe (fifth trumpet) is not
intended to kill people (Revelation 9:5-6), whereas the second woe (sixth trumpet) will kill "the third part of
men" (Revelation 9:15). That contrast convinces me that the first woe serves the purposes of God, whereas
the second woe serves the purposes of Satan.
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