The Fifth Dimension

Theory
Post 202

More Than Four Dimensions:
In the act of the angel casting the censor to earth in Revelation 8:5, was Satan cast to earth as the hail and fire and blood, or as the mountain on fire, or not until the falling star? If the seven trumpets blow because Satan is cast to earth then how does he not actually come until the star?
This passage is a wonderful revelation showing the kingdom of God in a realm not constrained by time while still interacting with our earthly realm that is. This is the reason for the symbolism.
Each of the trumpets blow in their order as each event in the concept occurs on earth in our temporal timeline, but all seven trumpets are simply the concept of the seventh seal: Satan being cast to earth. I propose “Concept” is perhaps the fifth dimension *1.
Concept is not constrained in time. Thought can be at the foot of the Cross of Jesus Christ in 33AD one moment and at the same time be observing the falling star of Satan crash to earth breaking open the bottomless pit still in the future of our temporal timeline. From God’s perspective outside our timeline all this was accomplished as the angel cast the censor to the earth as revealed in Revelation 8:5 which is just the Seventh Seal of the book in the right hand of God described in Revelation 5:1. If the events of the past 2000 years is only one seal on the back of the book to be broken before the book can be opened, What must be in the book!?
* * *

Before the first trumpet:
While we have the ability to look back in history in a limited way, our perspective of reality as we know it today is hard to set aside in contemplating that things have not always been as we know them. Since we now know that Satan was cast to earth in the fire and hail and blood represented by the Roman GDE, then we should see in history a significant change in the world before and after the rise of Rome.
So what do we see?
Before the GDE of Rome, all the records show that from a human perspective, among the nations the Jews were treated no differently than any other nation; as is common to mankind one nation rose up and conquered other nations, some were led into captivity while others were incorporated into the latest empire through taxes and treaties. To the rest of the world the Jews were just another people group on the planet. Battles were just a necessary evil in the establishment of governments.

But something happened at the rise of Rome.
Suddenly for no apparent reason the Jews and Christians became the unexplainable target of murderous hatred. What is the actual reason that Nero burned a multitude of Christians on poles as streetlights? What makes an entire sophisticated society gather in mass in a football stadium type building to watch other humans being torn and consumed by lions? What horrible thing did the Christians do to bring on such incredible hatred with no cause?
What great evil did the entire people group of Jews do to Germany that would make Hitler design the specific camps for the purpose of tormenting and incinerating literally millions of them? It must have been a very evil thing indeed to warrant such treatment. What could possibly be the purpose for Gorillas of the world to storm villages of utter poverty just to decimate the helpless for no reason; hacking off limbs and worse but not mercifully wiping them out entirely? Since the rise of Rome there has been a new spirit of unexplainable, unjustifiable murder and torment that has consumed the world.
The scriptures tell us why:
“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… Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” Revelation 12:9,12.
Of course short is relative. From the realm beyond our time constraint, Satan's time is limited to the concept of one seal on the book to simply be broken open while to us, constrained by time and limited to very small allotments of it, we see this as a long time of 2000 years.

Jesus makes more clear to us exactly when this transition of ages took place;
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12
and he goes on to explain it even further;
”For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” Matthew 11:13

Did you ever wonder why God waited thousands of years after Adam to send his Son to save the world? This is the reason for the specific timing. From the fall of Adam to the cleansing flood of Noah and from the new start unto the arrival of Satan, the law was acceptably adequate to deal with the iniquity of man as he strove to worship God. But after Satan arrived there was a whole new strain of Evil that mankind could not deal with. The law was not enough.
This is found in the verses couched between those of the previous concept:
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death” Revelation 12:10-11. The word “for” after the colon tells us why Jesus came at that time.
It was no accident that Jesus came as a Sacrifice at the time of Rome; the beginning of the great and diverse beast of iron: the first young GDE kingdom of Satan on earth. And it is no accident that Rome was the tool used by the confused rebellious Jews to kill that sacrifice.

Why did Jesus come?
We quickly reply; "To save the world" and that is indeed right in part, but how? What reason did Jesus himself give for his coming in the flesh to this earth?
"...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, That I should bear witness unto the truth...." John 18:37

The arrival of Satan on this earth created an environment where truth was no longer knowable through the law. Jesus came to earth at that time for the purpose of bringing the witness unto the truth. Only through “seeing” his witness in his life will the world be able to know truth (Romans 10:14).
The kingdom of Satan is a progressive confusion that unless God shorten the days even the very elect could be deceived, if such a thing was possible (Matthew 24:24).
This is a new era, and we are now entering the third and final stage of the kingdom of confusion *2. Jesus came to tell us the truth in a world of deception. Go through the book of John looking for the number of times this concept appears!
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” John 12:48.
Jesus IS the truth (John 7:28+8:16=14:6) as the Word of God (John 1:1) which spoke everything into existence (John 1:3), Therefore if we reject what he spoke we reject reality itself. The word of truth is what judges because truth is that which relates to reality *3 (as the old dictionaries stated *4). This is made clear by the rejection of his word that He made all things and so we go about imagining how things came to be without him, ending up with the “fact” of evolution though “the Big Bang”. Our perspective of all reality follows this same trend as we reject his word of truth.
* * *

Who's world is it?
If the Seven Trumpets (Revelation 8:2-14:20) are the several elements of Satan falling to earth as the Seventh Seal (Revelation 8:1), And if the Seven Seals (Revelation 6:1-8:1) are the authority that lawfully binds what is contained in the book in the right hand of God (Revelation 5:1), And if as evidenced by Ancient Jewish custom; the book (scroll) is a title deed by the evidence of the writing on the back (open), with the seven seals (closed) as exampled in Jeremiah 32:11-12, Then the book must be that thing identified whose ownership is declared as the only one lawfully able to open the book by breaking the seals (Revelation 5:2-4). The book then is title of purchase as is the deeper representation of that of Jeremiah 32:14 “…that they (the documents of title) may continue many days (before being brought forth and applied)”.

Why did John weep much just because a book could not be opened? What is the big deal? John’s much weeping perhaps represents the sorrow of the book in hopeless bondage of the seals that must be broken before the book can be lawfully possessed by him who frees it from the previous claimant. The breaking of the seals is positive proof of ownership by purchase.
But none was found that could break the seals…. until the Lamb came and was the owner able to break the seals by reason of his purchase; the purchase of his blood (Revelation 5:6-8).
The scriptures repeatedly refer to “the event” called “the end” (Matthew 24:3,6) as arriving after birthpags of a woman in labor (Matthew 24:8, Revelation 12:2). These labor pains are again the seven seals as they are broken open.
The earth is the book, the betrothal of redemption was at Christ’s sacrificial death after which the groom departed to make them a home (John 14:2-3), The marriage will take place in heaven during the first 3-1/2 years of tribulation by Satan on earth (I Thessalonians 4:14-17, Revelation 19:9), the breaking of the seals is the prenatal labor, the tribulation is the rushing to the hospital as the event of delivery is the Great Tribulation that follows, when the Lord returns at the end to claim possession of what is born.
What is born is a world unto Christ and his bride the saints (Revelation 5:10); the proven lawful owners of the book by verification of his ability to break open the seven seals (Revelation 5:5-10).
Without the seven seals, anybody that comes along can claim ownership of the book. But with the seals, as is the popular analogy of “the Sword in the Stone”; only the rightful king can break the seals and possess the book being no longer disputed as king.
* * * * * * *

*1 I propose that “Concept” is the fifth dimension.
Not just any concept of imagination but the concept of reality.
When your wife becomes pregnant you become a father; the thing that makes you a father is done. The fact that you don’t get to hold it or feed it or change its diaper or even the duration of its life does not change the fact that you have made a life and that makes you a father. The other things are simply events in the timeline of the child’s life including but not limited to the events of birth and marriage. If the child dies before it is married does that mean you were not a father? No. Neither does the death of the child before it is born. These are simply events in the maturing process constrained to an order in our time-domain.
We are only constrained because until the event actually occurs, our thoughts of the event are merely imagination. Only after the event is spoken into existence by the creator are we able to look back in reality.
God is not thus constrained. He can look back and forward with equal conception of reality that has been and will be because we are but a thought of God spoken into existence by his Word Jesus the Christ (Genesis 1:1,3, John 1:1-4,9-14).
In Revelation 5:1 God sits on his throne holding a book in his right hand. This is a moment in time only because John was given the vision to describe in our timeline of reality. The book of Revelation is a mysterious look into another dimension from our dimensionally constrained perspective describing the events not contained in the book in the hand of God but just leading up to opening the book! Our entire existence on this earth in this universe has not yet even gotten past the title on the outside! *1b.
Now please read Revelation 4 and the first eight verses of chapter 5 with this in mind.

Only when we understand this fifth dimensional perspective of what we are reading can we understand that the lamb that was slain and therefore worthy to break the seals and open the book here in chapter 5, but was not yet in our timeline slain until the 7th seal of chapter 8. This is verified in scripture by confirming that Jesus was slain from the foundations of the word (Revelation 13:8), which foundations we are now discussing. Therefore the book shown in God's hand is the history of the world, and the seals on the back are it’s foundations before the book is even opened!
Since we have identified our present existence in time as between the second and third trumpets of Revelation 8:8-9 we know that the history of the world is still in the pre-natal stage before it’s book is even opened to begin the real reading of its post natal life after the foundations are established.
Have you ever wondered what is to be born at the end of these “birthpangs” Jesus mentioned in John 16:21-22, Revelation 12:2, Matthew 24:8,21,32 and ending in 33; “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the door.”
What is IT? The birth of the world unto Christ: in otherwords the kingdom of Christ on earth (Daniel 2:34-35,45,7:26-27, and more later).
This concept is played out in Galatians 4:19 “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” (see also I Thessalonians 5:3)

*1b What is in the book?
Remember the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven? (Revelation 3:12, 21:2), and the new heaven and new earth? (Revelation 3:13,21:1). These are contained inside the book. But that is yet a long ways into the future according to our timeline (II Peter 3:8 + Revelation 20:2-9). There are many events yet to pass before the coming of the new heaven and new earth.

*2 The Truth Project:
If it has been a while since you viewed "The Truth Project" DVDs dig it out and take a look at the very first lesson. Del Tackett has done an unsurpassable job of systematically restructuring our mind built on the foundation of truth. Now with this concept of the kingdom of confusion what Mr. Tackett has to say in that very first lesson takes on yet a whole new level of comprehension! If you have not seen "The Truth Project" series, do whatever you can to get it!
Join a group The Truth Project or buy it

*3 The entire conflict on earth is the battle between The Truth and The Lie.
"This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall..." Are these the words of Jesus?
Note it is his words they refuse to hear, and the lie of their imagination which they follow. But no, this is not even the New Testament! This is Jeremiah 13:10.
Are they Jesus' words? You bet they are!

"And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?..." Jeremiah 16:10.
These poor hopeless people (The Jews of that narration and therefore Christians today) have no idea why God should be so frustrated with them! Is that not our people today? We simply have no idea what we might be doing that should make God mad enough to destroy us, so we reject the idea as preposterous!
This is also the mind of those to whom Jeremiah was sent:
"Then shalt thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;" Jeremiah 16:11
Well that doesn't seem right. Why should we be punished for what our fathers did?
The semi-colon tells us the thought is not finished but that the fathers choices are what create the environment that brings on the judgment:
"And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:" Jeremiah 16:12
Again we see them following after their imaginations that do not conform to the truth (what relates to reality). Their hearts are now evil and successfully "programed" by the choices of their fathers, not to head what God says. This is indeed the fault of their fathers choices but that does not remove the burden of responsibility from them for their choices, nor us from ours.
But how is what the children are doing, worse than what the fathers did?
It is all about the mindframe of evil imagination.
The fathers indeed did wrong by worshiping other gods, but they knew the difference. Therefore there was hope of correction by the rebukes of life. But the next generation no longer knew what was true. They grew up in this lie of following things other than God and so never knew God. They honestly believed there was nothing more worthy of consideration than their own evil imagination; "If it feel good, do it."
This is the generation of today's America. This is the generation now running our governments, teaching in our schools and are our scientists and media. This is the generation of evil imagination because our fathers have turned from their father's God and worshiped profit and pleasure and stuff. Sure it is their fault we have the mindframe we do, but we are the ones who pay the price for our own ignorant conduct (Jeremiah 32:18).
Now to step back a bit and see how your understanding has changed to this point, go back to post 077 Washington’s Slaves (July 2010) and see how much more you understand of the wise mindframe of our founders, of the principles of God, and how it applies in reality as we used to understand these things that blessed our nation but now do not and so pay the price.

*4 Truth: "Conformity to fact or reality: exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be... 'We rely upon the truth of the scriptural prophecies.'" - Noah Webster Dictionary 1828

[Post 214 The Fall of Satan is the next post that follows this topic, but has been lost in the blog order, please use this link to find it: (http://when-did-reason-die.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-fall-of-satan.html)].
*

Pre Three woes - Part 2

Line By Line - Revelation 8:1-13
Post 201

We just examined the first trumpet from the temporal earthly perspective while allowing a spiritual understanding based on the pre-Three Woes, but before we move on to the next trumpet and the second woe we need to back up and understand the same events from a different angle; this time with a spiritual perspective allowing for the temporal one. To do that we need to re-configure our thoughts and comprehension of the genesis of the whole seven trumpets part of the story of Revelation.
Lets start again at the beginning of the seven trumpets to see this from God’s angel of eternal things:

Revelation 8:1 “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”
In the desire to stay on topic we cannot here go back further to the genesis of the seven seals, so lets just note that the seven trumpets is a whole segmented detail of the seventh seal. Viewed here at the beginning of the trumpets we see that the genesis of the trumpet portion of history is reason for a silence in heaven that lasts ½ hour. Knowing that heaven is eternal and so ½ hour is irrelevant to heaven, this period of time is a temporal noted delay in events. Heaven is noting “a moment of silence” as a memorial of temporal events before continuing with the “next phase”.
Why? I suggest because the next phase is a bad one and the silence is like taking a big breath before starting a great exertion. We will understand this better when we grasp the actual cause of the collection of seven trumpets.

Revelation 8:2 “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”
Not just seven angels standing around, THE seven angels standing before God. We have spent several past posts understanding the seven eyes/ seven flames/ seven Spirits of God and I propose these seven angels are directed by those same seven Spirits; The seven parts of the Holy Ghost himself. Why is this significant? Because like the four carpenter/wind/spirits that are sent to fray the spirit princes of the four diverse Gentile GDEs that rule the earth through history, these seven angels blowing their seven trumpets show that the events that occur are simply God’s opera playing out precisely on time as written. The trumpet is the voice of the conductor loosing the actors to play out their parts on cue. So how much independence does the dragon really have though what he does is of his own will? Remember post 090 Life is a Story? It is for the spiritual domain as well.
These angels are given their trumpets at this time because of something significant in the narrative that transpires; What is that?

Revelation 8:3 “And another angel came and stood at the alter, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints *1 upon the golden alter which was before the throne.”
Remember this part of the vision shows events that happen in heaven before the throne of God. Here we see another, a different angel load his censer with the prayers of all the saints and an appropriate amount of incense to mix with it. How much? Much!
Now as this mixture of sweet odor wafts up to the throne of God lets ask the question; “Why do saints pray prayers that burn with incense?” The answer is found in the events played out. Incense creates a desirable odor only when heated to burning, thus the purpose of a censer. And so we see that the prayers in the mix put into the censer result in a sweet odor to God only when heated to burning. Again the question; “What makes saints pray?” Answer: An environment of burning hot circumstances.
Now before you jump to wrong conclusions; do we value or cherish the heat that burns the incense which we enjoy? Of course not. We care nothing for the fire, we simply like the odor.
And so it is with God. The torment of the saints is not what pleases God, thus the incense mixed with them. God’s pleasure comes from the prayers to him by the saints. He loves his saints and he loves to receive their prayers. But as is the nature of incense, man seems to need great heat before we turn our voice to God in earnest…. So heat is provided. That’s it.
Once humanity learns how to pray to God in earnest without heat, the heat will be eliminated (Revelation 20:10).

Revelation 8:4 “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”
Again we are shown the control of the events. This is not a raging fire out of control, this is an apothecary angel carefully hand balancing all the elements to produce just the right flavor of odor for God *2.

Revelation 8:5 “And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the alter, and cast it unto the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.”
Here there is a change that takes place. Although the events are still sourced in heaven, the subject has changed. The same angel with the same censer is done sending incense to God, he now reaches into the coals of flame from the alter that caused the burning that released the prayers, and fills the censer with those coals. And he casts those flaming coals to the earth.
That’s what happens spiritually and from God’s angle of things that brings about the seven trumpets. The fire that once was sourced from the incense alter in heaven is now cast to the earth to now burn from there (Revelation 12:10,12). That is a substantial change in things!
I will show that this has already happened in history.

Revelation 8:6 “And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepare themselves to sound.”
Now we understand the significance. There are seven phases or events that result from this flaming sensor cast to earth… perhaps as a star like a lamp? (Revelation 8:10)
With this spiritual perspective as seen from heaven against the temporal perspective of the same story, we begin to comprehend that we are actually being told an eternal multi-dimensional story in our four dimensional world *3. Although the events do track simplistically and orderly in our temporal realm, the concepts God is showing are not as easy to constrain temporally. We are actually getting a glimpse into events of a multi-dimensional reality. This is why we see first hail and fire and blood, then a meteor, and finally Satan himself falling as a star; they are simply accelerating degrees of the same 3rd trimester birth pangs of the censor fallen to earth.

Revelation 8:7 “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”
This IS the coals of the censer of fire falling to the earth in a very real and yet also spiritual way.
While people may actually flee from the falling elements, with spiritual eyes we know this is the physical representation of the hot coals of bad circumstances that cause the saints to cry out to God in prayer. And so begins the temporal period of the seven trumpets of a particular fire.
I am intentionally ignoring the burning of the grass and trees because honestly I don’t know what they mean spiritually but to note this falls on the "earth" meaning the domain of mankind in general, and temporally it needs no further explanation.

Revelation 8:8-9 “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; and the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
There has long been a desire by scholars to spiritualize everything to the point of eliminating the temporal events entirely. We have already seen that prophetically mountains represent significant ruling kingdoms and the sea represents the volume of the masses of humanity symbolized as waters, therefore we can easily understand this verse to mean that a great ruling kingdom falls on 1/3 of humanity in a sea like region and kills 1/3 of the peoples of the sea... but why does the verse seem to add an obvious statement? "That had life"? What creatures in a sea DON'T have life? When viewed spiritually it comes clear that Christians are those who have life, so this is speaking of salvation; Therefore meaning the kingdom kills 1/3 the Christian/Jews of the region, i.e."sea". I submit this sea represents the Middle East.
And since we know in the next verse that this lifeless burning meteor is but a prototype of the living burning star to follow, and since we know the star is the kingdom of Satan himself, then we can conclude that the meteor is a satanic like power that precedes the kingdom of Satan.
Remembering the three parts of the Iron kingdom Empire of Daniel 2:40-43 shown as legs of only iron and feet of iron and clay, we can understand then that the preceding hail and fire and blood represents Rome of iron while the meteor represents the Islamic Caliphate of man and the star represents the similar but more intense second Islamic Caliphate of Satan himself (Speckled of Zechariah 1:8). All three are of the burning fire that causes His saints to pray. This is the fourth diverse beast of Daniel 7:7-25.
But just to ensure that we DON’T spiritualize away the temporal real events, we are shown destroyed 1/3 of the ships in the sea. Spiritually I don't know what this might mean but to make sure we know this is a real event coming on the earth (Maybe Commerce?).
Don't miss the point that by this interpretation we can now identify ourselves in history as existing between the second and third trumpets. The first Woe is only six verses and one event into our future!

Revelation 8:10-11 “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”
At this point the spiritual and temporal events are now so mingled they cannot be easily categorized. The very spiritual entity called Satan actually comes to earth in a temporal way and establishes his spiritual/temporal kingdom on earth. But since we are spiritualizing things in this post we can understand that because of this demonic kingdom called bitterness, many men (not described as waters) are killed by the men who are, because those men identified as waters are made bitter by the star that fell. This describes Islam as the spiritual waters through the bitterness of being rejected from the Abrahamic promise, kill many men who are not of their persuasion.
I submit that this persuasion falls on only 1/3 of all mankind but compromises all the religions of earth here called springs. This is the confusion I suggest is now coming upon the Christians as well.

Revelation 8:12 “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”
In the last post while thinking temporally we saw how this is actually possible. But here we need to consider the very real spiritual implications as we realize that in proportion to Satan’s domination, reality is actually darkened.
It is still hard to grasp that the spiritual and the temporal are not compartmentalized, it is one in the same reality. Therefore there will actually be a thick inky smoke blanketing the skies over the middle east, the seat of Satan’s kingdom on earth, 1/3 of the earth will be covered by it as 1/3 of humanity will be made bitter by his persuasion.
But don’t miss the point that as the earth rotates and the cloud blocks the sun, that the entire earth will fall in the shadow for one third of the day or night depending on where you are geographically located. In this way we can understand that although sourced in the Middle East, this darkness will have a very real effect on the entire world. And likewise for 2/3 the day the rest of the world will have an affect on that region too as some sunlight slips under the cloud.
We see this conflict in the passage of Revelation 13:8 “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, (....) whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

Revelation 8:13 “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound!”
Until now the events that transpire at the sounding of the trumpets are all setting up the kingdom of Satan. The remaining trumpets sound events of woe upon humanity as a result of that establishment.
Woe indeed!
* * * * * * *

*1 The prayers:
It should be noted the specific wording; “…with the prayers of all saints…” Revelation 8:3
It does not read; “…with all the prayers of saints…” what’s the difference? We read in Revelation 5:8 that the prayers of saints are contained in at least 24 vials. Therefore I suggest this specific censor contains a specific kind of prayer from every saint. Since this seal is that of great suffering I believe these specific prayers to be those of suffering (II Timothy 3:12).

*2 Apothecary incense ordained: Exodus 30:25, 27:29. Incense was established as a memorial odor of love II Chronicles 16:14.

*3 Four Dimensions: Length, Width, Depth, and Time.
*

The First Woe

Post 200

(Please read this post with your bible open)

As promised by Revelation 17:7, the beast is proving to be a significant mystery that is very hard to crack though I am making good progress. In an attempt to identify the several mysterious elements in the beast, I find it necessary to complete my study of the third Woe. Therefore this might seem out of order but it lays important ground before we can move on.
* * *

Three Woes
are identified in Revelation 8:13; “And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.”
This tells us that whatever came in the first four trumpets are only “pre-Three Woes” (post 196), They are comparable with early labor pains only later identified as but mere cramps. At the event of their sudden coming they are significant, but they can hardly even be called labor pains by comparison of what is yet to come! Woe is a word used in scripture of very terrible things to come.

Woe 3759 ouai; a primary exclamation of grief.
* * *

The First Woe
begins in Revelation 9:1 by the blowing of the fifth trumpet.
The event of woe is identified as locust type creatures coming out of the bottomless pit (9:3) that torment all mankind with scorpion like stings. Only the saints of God who have his mark in their foreheads will be unmolested (9:3-5). Now we all know of the mark of the beast shown in Revelation 13:16-18, But here we are shown God’s preemptive action taking up that space with his own signature on his specially purposed faithful 144000 *1 (Revelation 7:4). Remember post 097 “Tattoo”?

At this point we can no longer view any life as independently undirected by the supernatural *2 as we have for so long. The corruption of Pantheism: god in everything; trees, rocks, animals, water, etc. is a perversion of the reality that the spirits of God do influence all things to His will. We began to see this in the Four Winds of post 175.
Here in Revelation our mind is seeing things spiritually and so we easily accept these as demons incongnito but neglect to see them as real. But in reality, as in all reality, these will just be bugs flying from a pit opened in the earth spewing black smoke as burning oil. It will be perfectly natural though unexplainable by science "until it is studied".
I imagine the scientists, so desperately looking for life in space, will immediately jump to the theory that these creatures came in on the burning meteor, but does it really matter to the events faced at the time?

So how does the pit get opened?
Revelation 9:1 tells us: “I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”

Again, because we are mentally ready to read this as supernatural from the book of Revelation, we mentally dislodge this thought from reality. But in reality we see that like the winds, like the horses, like the spirits that aid or resist kings; This “star” might easily be the burning comet we saw fall only a few verses earlier in the third trumpet of Revelation 8:10 whose striking so perfectly targeted in the oil fields might result in the bursting of the earths oil reserves there causing an enormous fire of burning oil creating such inky smoke as to fulfill the events of the fourth angel of verse 12.
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.”
This seems probable as the fulfillment of Matthew 24:22 to protect mankind from the increased intensity of the sun (Revelation 16:8 and hidden in Matthew 13:6) and not the more commonly thought shortening of the number of days of the event of the end which are clearly numbered exactly (Revelation 11:3, Daniel 12:11-12).

The 1/3 scientific problem:
Again I want to remind you this is only speculation. It is a possible explanation of the meaning of this passage, but it really makes sense. We see that the star strike is only significant enough to affect 1/3 the earth's atmosphere not the global “nuclear winter” effect Hollywood and science has us convinced would happen, but with global winds as we know them it would indeed be utterly impossible that such an event would not spread around the globe and affect the whole planet nearly equally regardless of the actual degree of affect.
But remember, only one chapter previous the angels stopped the winds from blowing; "...I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree" Revelation 7:1-3. By our study we know these four winds are the three circulation cells and the Jet stream. Now we understand the plausibility of such a strike only affecting 1/3 of the global skies with undissipated inky smoke. In this way we finally see the possibility scientifically that as the earth rotates with a "blob" of thick smoke over an isolated 1/3 the heavens obliterating the sunlight for 1/3 the day while the other 2/3 of the day remains all but unaffected once the cloud rotates out of obstruction each day. The same goes for 1/3 the stars and 1/3 the moonlight. Scientifically I believe this is the only answer and so my speculation becomes a very real hypothesis.

So is the falling star *3 a living being identified as a “him” and given a key? temporally I don’t think so. Physically the key simply refers to such a direct hit with the necessary power to burst the pit open. Out comes the smoke naturally as a great furnace, and with it a strange bug never before seen by science. This is no impossibility; science today is finding hundreds of new species of insects every year, and those are living in our own readily accessible realm of the earth's surface!
"But bugs living on oil in the depths of the earth?"
Why not? Science has only recently found many impossible creatures living in the impossible depths of the ocean, in the impossible heat of the earths undersea vents feeding on poison to all known living creatures!
We know by scripture that these locust like creatures come out of a cavern in the earth opened by a falling star. Perhaps they were feeding on oil and only driven out by the smoke of the fire created. This is not a stretch. I will eventually show the entire Middle East will become a perpetual burning. I believe this is how it begins.

But before we completely remove the supernatural element to the event, don’t misunderstand my point.
All of life's existence is not an either or; It is not nature OR God, it is nature OF God. If you really look at life with an honest eye, you have to conclude that EVERYTHING is a miracle! These creatures are no different even though they will sure have a demonic like nature to attack man with aggression like killer bees. These bugs are only called locusts because of their similar appearance and mode of travel. They sting with the affect of scorpions, they eat no vegetation, and are described with wonderful detail in v.7-10 showing a design with iron like plates suited for such an environment.
9:11 then tells us this cloud of creatures has a king over them, and that king is the angel of the bottomless pit. I don’t see this as any different than the chariot drivers of the horse winds that cover our globe (Zechariah 6). Unlike locusts who have no king, this king is a spirit that directs them to act as they do, but man will only see it as strange instinct from a strange bug and so it is.
It is this instinct that will allow them to travel independently covering greater distances with fewer numbers.

More spiritual than that:
In Revelation 8:10 this falling star is described as “burning as it were a lamp” . Why as a lamp? To describe it’s reddish color; a muted flame unlike a regular brilliant star.
What if by happen chance this star that falls to earth opening the bottomless pit, creating a smoke that blots out 1/3 the stars.... happens to be red?
Does that ring any bells?

“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon… and his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:…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 (spirits of the locusts) were cast out with him” Revelation 12:3-4, 12:9.
Like the swine of Matthew 8:30-32, these locust bugs might now be living peacefully in their cavern and only become violent-natured when the demons cast out of heaven find a new home in them. Instead of running into the sea to drown, these swarm to loathing violence.
These pieces are fitting rather well turning a hypothesis into a genuine theory!
* * *

What’s in a name?
This Revelation 8 star has a name: “And the name of the star is called Wormwood…” Revelation 8:12

Wormwood 894 apsinthos; of uncertain derivative; wormwood (as a type of bitterness, i.e. [figuratively] calamity).

The Revelation 9 angel of the bottomless pit also has a name in verse 11; two of them: “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.”

Abaddon 3 Abaddon; of Hebrew origin [11]; a destroying angel.
Note: [ ] (brackets), in the rendering from the KJV denotes the inclusion of an additional word in the Greek.
11 Abraam; of Hebrew origin [85]; Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch
85 ademoneo; from a derivative of adeo, (to be sated to loathing); to be in distress (of mind).
Sate: 1. To satisfy or gratify to the full, as a desire. 2. To gratify to the point of weariness or loathing; satiate.
Apollyon 623 Apolluon; active participle; a destroyer (i.e. Satan).

WOW! The angel of the bottomless pit that rules over the conduct of the locust type creatures is a destroying angel of the Abrahamic claim but with a distress of destroying to gluttony; Satan.
If that does not nail Allah perfectly, what does?

Revelation 9:5 and 10 tells us that this plague of creatures will only last 5 months, but in those five months the stings will drive men to wish to die! Can you imagine horse flies that sting like scorpions actually driven to their work by demons?! WOE!

Revelation 9:12; “One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.”
* * *

But if you think 5 months of stinging bugs is the first woe, given greater significance than all the global winds not blowing, or two great celestial object impacting the earth, or the resulting plume of smoke so great it literally blocks 1/3 the light of day.... then your missing the point of the woe!
What exactly makes this the first woe?

It is only because the attack of the locusts is the first direct attack of Satan himself on the people of the earth. Satan is now among us as he arises from the bottomless pit in the form of the 12th Imam; a twisted individual of the Abrahamic lineage bent on insatiable destruction! (Revelation 17:8)
* * * * * * *

*1 What about the other believers? It seems that as with all the other wrath of Satan on mankind at this time, the believers are not immune to this blight either. Only the special ministering Jews whom God selects to do a special work will be immune. Why? So they will be free to continue the ministry of spreading the Gospel, but also as a sign from God that their message is true. (Revelation 7:3-4 + 9:4-6)

*2 We are all directed: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Romans 6:16

*3 A Star:
In the recent post “pre-Three Woes” I failed to adequately investigate the difference between a burning mountain and a burning star. What is a star?
Star 792 aster; probably from the base of 4766; a star (as strown over the sky), literal or figurative.
Because the scriptures make a point of identifying both these burning objects differently, we can understand by stating “star” for the one, it means something more than a burning object.
Star: …any self-luminous celestial body, exclusive of comets, meteors, and nebulae;…

Isn’t that curious. Satan’s very original sin and primary issue is his self-luminous desire: "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness..." Ezekiel 28:17 (also: Genesis 3:5).
Since we now know that the dragon Satan falls to the earth as a burning object, the scriptural use of the word star could not possibly be more accurate.
So while the first celestial body that falls into the sea in Revelation 8:8 might be nothing more than a burning meteor, the second celestial body of Revelation 8:10 is Satan himself that falls to earth as a burning great *3b star.
Just because science has not yet discovered a star of such miniature proportions that it would not utterly destroy the earth upon impact, does not mean that it does not exist!
I am going to stand confidently on scripture to say it will be an actual miniature self-luminating star that falls to earth as an asteroid does, and go further to propose that because of its lantern red color and ability to penetrate the earth to such a degree, it will be a red dwarf star (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_star).

*3b Great 3173 megas; big (literal or figurative), in a very wide application).
A very small star can still be none the less a giant object the size of a mountain. any object that size falling to earth by all means can rightly be called great, giant, or mega! but I rather think this has a secondary application as Satan was "great" indeed as THE covering cherub before he fell (Ezekiel 28:14-15).
*

Pre-Three Woes

Post 196 (formerly un-numbered)

I apologize for this post being out of sequence in a systematic order, but it is where I am presently studying and felt it was time to post something. I will eventually move it to a more proper location but for now I trust you might enjoy a bit of speculation to keep your mental juices flowing. I confess there is much here I have yet to study out but my original goal was what comes after in the three woes!

Added 6/11/2011
I now see the need to leave this post in place and have assigned it a number in the order.
* * *

Revelation is a very confusing book that is extremely hard to place events in a chronological order. It is not designed to be confusing, there is just so much going on for different reasons and causes it can’t all be addressed at once. But there are three woes that help us identify “sections” of events or reasons that things are grouped as they are.

“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” Revelation 8:13

To us; Woe, woe, woe, simply means; “Oh boy are things going to get bad!” but God does not waste words or use them as filler just to dramatize things. In this post series we will begin to explore at least superficially the three specific woes identified here. We will learn that these woes are not “events” but “sections” of measured judgment as a result of the cries of God’s saints.
* * *

Pre-woe trumpets:
In the verse above we are told that these three woes are because of the sounding of the three trumpets yet to occur. Since Revelation 8:2-6 tells us there are a total of seven trumpets, and we have three remaining, we know there are four that have already sounded before the woes begin.
So lets take a moment and review the “pre-woe” trumpets:

Trumpet 1 - Hail and fire mingled with blood, which burn up 1/3 of trees and all green grass (Revelation 8:7). Ok, that sounds interesting…. What’s on channel 4?

Trumpet 2 - A great meteor the size of a mountain (on fire of course), falls into the sea turning 1/3 the sea to blood, which kills 1/3 of all living things in the sea, and sinks 1/3 of all the ships in the sea (Revelation 8:8). Wow that’s bad, Which Sea?
We are not told but it seems we have four seas to choose from; the Red, the Mediterranean, the Black, and the Caspian (click map below for a larger image). I propose for reasons I will show, it falls into the Caspian Sea. Regardless, to us not in that particular area it just makes for interesting news… and rising gas prices, but to them it is a catastrophe to rival or surpass the recent earthquake and tsunami of Japan! Imagine a mountain size meteor hitting the Caspian Sea! But while Hollywood will have us convinced it would be a global killer, the scriptures tell us it will not. In fact only 1/3 of the life in the Sea will die. Not bad.

Trumpet 3 - A great star *1 (burning as a lamp) falls on 1/3 of the rivers and springs resulting in 1/3 of fresh water becoming poisoned so that many people die from drinking it.
Now we naturally want to over dramatize things and so we just assume this means 1/3 of the entire planet, but this is not the topic. We see in verses 3-4 that these trumpets are at least in part due to the much prayers of the saints. What are they praying about? Circumstances that require God’s attention; Abuse.
Where does the scripture tell us the significant amount of abuse of the saints will be sourced? The Middle East; specifically Islam/Babylon. (Revelation 14:8,16:19,19:2 etc.) This trumpet is then a result of those requests and therefore we can understand the affect is speaking regionally. Since Islam/Babylon has been the source of trouble, we can expect this effect will be to that general area. What Seas affect that area? The Caspian and the Black for reasons I will show.

Since the source of both the Tigris and the Euphrates lies in the mountains just south of the Black Sea, we know this star will not fall there because only 1/3 of the rivers are turned poisonous.
Therefore it appears likely that the comet will land somewhere between Turkey and Iran between the Black and the Caspian Seas; the area that provides the lesser amount of water to the plains of Iraq.
What is in that specific region? The major source and pipelines of the none Muslim Middle East oil and gas bypassing both Russia and Iran going to Turkey and the United States *2, as well as the Russian Oil fields just North of those. Since the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia *3, Russia has had control of a significant diversion of oil that would have otherwise come west at lower prices. By reading current events and proposed development plans we begin to see a significant web of transfer pipes, rails, and ships all clustered between and across these two Seas, the Caspian being one significant source and thus probably the target of the mountain-like meteor. (see map in note *3)



Click to enlarge.

Imagine God’s one-eyed squint with the tip of his tongue metaphorically poking out the corner of his pursed mouth as he carefully aims his two arrows to perfectly destroy this works, both on land and sea. What kind of ships do you suppose will sink by that meteor? Oil tankers among others?
Now we can see perhaps new meaning behind God’s promise “…Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog (arguably Russia)…and say…I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen…Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them…After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years (end times) thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste:(while they were dispersed) but it is brought forth out of the nations, and shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.“ Ezekiel 38:3-9

Just what in the world could possibly cause these specific nations (Libya as far away as the other side of the Mediterranean Sea on northwest Africa, Ethiopia in southern Africa, Persia is Iran to the far eastern end of the Middle East and Russia to the far North) to come together against Israel by irresistible force? These specific nations are about as far to the four corners of the Middle East as you can get!
I contend it is never just one thing, but a combination of factors that force a hard decision. I submit that there are at least two simultaneous factors among others that will play a part:

My Hypothesis:
First - These falling space objects will destroy the oil and gas industry of extraction and transportation in Georgia and the Caspian Sea. This will create a sudden need that must be met elsewhere.
Second - I submit that by this time Israel will have discovered and learned how to economically extract the oil that is trapped inside their shale rocks. This catastrophe will be the force; the hook in the jaw of Russia, that will demand an organized conquest of Israel’s extremely wealthy oil fields.
How do I figure?
“…He made Jacob (Israel) to suck oil out of the flinty *4 rock.” Deuteronomy 32:13 (condensed). "And of Zebulun he said...for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand." Deuteronomy 33:19, also: "And to Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land...for the deep that coucheth beneath." Deuteronomy 33:13 "And to Asher he said...let him dip his foot in oil" Deuteronomy 33:24.
When will they succeed at this? According to the chronological order of the pre-Three Woes trumpets, this will happen before things even start to get real bad, but after Israel finds itself at peace. “…in that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts…and thou shalt come up against my people of Israel…” Ezekiel 38:14-16
Now I openly confess this is simply my studied interpretation of scripture as I see it. Only time will show the events as God intended.

Trumpet 4 - At this time the world has gotten familiar with stuff falling from the sky and the great fear of global extinction is quelled by experience. Now there is a new problem: 1/3 the sun is “smitten” and 1/3 the moon and 1/3 the stars; “so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” Revelation 8:12
As we read this and wonder; “How in the world?....” I imagine those in that day actually witnessing it from their front yard with one hand on their mouth and the other trying to comfort a loved one asking a more earnest; “How in the world?...”. This is not an event that suddenly occurs in an otherwise blissful summer of happy times, this comes on the heels of a period of great consternation of political, economical, geological and now cosmic upheaval. “What in the world is going on?!”

I have spent some time exploring the scientific possible explanations of this event and find even a simple inquiry breeds a tremendous amount of factors that need consideration: Obviously the source location whether atmospheric or cosmic, the rotation of the earth, the results of 1/3 less light; is the sun diminished by 1/3 or the length of the day shortened by 1/3? etc. etc. With the moon on its own rotation around the earth how is it too affected by only 1/3? how is only 1/3 the stars affected?
What a fun study while I sit by my window enjoying a beautiful normal summer day.
Not such a fun study on the day it occurs!
But as huge as hail and fire mixed with blood, as unfathomable as two giant celestial strikes in the Middle East, as bewildering as 1/3 of all the lights in heaven going dark, These are just the warm up.
“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” Revelation 8:13
* * *


So When in the timeline?
Is this pre-woe period before or after the rise of Islam and Babylon? That is hard to say because the woes are specifically identifying judgments on wickedness for causing the Saints to cry out so they don’t include other facts that lead up to the climaxing trumpets of woes. Maybe the rise of Babylon has already begun by now, maybe not till later, but we know she is destroyed in the last woe of the last trumpet (Revelation 12:12, 10:7) which begins the end events I believe to be the last 3-1/2 years of Great Tribulation.
As we investigate the remaining trumpets in the Three Woes, we will find the Saints patently enduring the horrible events of the wrath of the Beast as well as God’s wrath on the world, because the saints know vengeance is finally come. It is curious to note that the Devil is cast to the earth at this time (Revelation 12:9) and while the saints overcome him with their testimony (Revelation 12:11) the Godless world is fully under the final woe of God!
* * * * * * *

*1 Asteroid vs. Comet:
Science tells us that an asteroid is a dead rock that drifts in space outside a regulated gravitational system. When these enter our atmosphere the friction of speed causes them to burn making a streak in the sky as they fall to earth or burn up before reaching it. This is why I confidently identify the "as it were a great mountain burning with fire" of Revelation 8:8 to be a meteor.

A comet is a chemical composite usually of ice and other elements that as they travel in space they leave a tail of debris melted away by the sun. These too, though far less common, can fall into the earth’s atmosphere and burn up, or fall to earth.

Since the scripture makes a distinction between “as it were” a mountain on fire falling to earth, and "a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp" falling to earth, we understand scripture to be distinguishing one from the other in composition. Thus the theory: A meteor and a comet.

*2 Georgia’s Oil and Natural Gas Hub:
“August 09, 2008|By Anne Gearan, Associated Press:
There is more than meets the eye to the frantic U.S. efforts Friday to talk Russia and American ally Georgia out of war over an obscure mountain tract most Americans have never heard of. A look at the map and your gas credit card bill shows why.
The breakaway province of South Ossetia is claimed by Georgia, a former Soviet republic that cast its lot with the United States and the West to the eternal irritation of Moscow. But South Ossetia has resisted Georgia's rule and has been under Russia's sway for years.
Georgia sits in a tough neighborhood, shoulder to shoulder with huge Russia, not far from Iran, and astride one of the most important crossroads for the emerging wealth of the rich Caspian Sea region. A U.S.-backed oil pipeline runs through Georgia, allowing the West to reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern oil while bypassing Russia and Iran.” - Georgia's territorial integrity (http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-08-09/news/17122765_1_georgia-s-territorial-integrity-south-ossetia-russia-and-iran)

“Development of Caspian oil and gas resources and export routes has been slowed by regional conflict, political instability, and lack of regional cooperation. Many of the proposed export routes pass through areas where conflicts remain unresolved. Most of these are in the Transcaucasus part of the Caspian region, where conflicts in Georgia, the Chechnya portion of Russia, and between Armenia and Azerbaijan, hinder the development of export routes westward from the Caspian.
The future of the Caucasus region could be determined by the pipelines running through it. Each country in the region and several outside it have their own views on how oil and gas should reach the rest of the world. The western route for early oil from Azerbaijan goes from Baku to the Georgian port of Supsa on the Black Sea, and several other proposed pipeline routes also pass through Georgia. Pipeline construction on the western route was suspended briefly in October 1998 because of the fighting between government forces and those led by Akaki Eliava. The 1999 natural gas discovery of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field appears to have boosted the region's natural gas export prospects. The Shah Deniz field, thought to be the largest natural gas discovery worldwide since 1978, already was being developed for export to Turkey, and the infrastructure that will be built to deliver this natural gas helped to renew international interest in the region's natural gas. Prior to 1997, the only option for exporting Caspian region natural gas was via the Russian natural gas pipeline system…As oil production from the Caspian Sea region increased, the Caucasus region became an integral export route for oil and natural gas. Previously, the only way for Caspian energy to reach European consumers was via the Russian pipeline system. The United States has supported the principle of multiple export options for Caspian exporters, and three of the largest projects to these ends cross through Georgia (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Supsa, a.k.a the “Western Early Oil Route”)--none of these passed through Armenia. Small oil resources exist in the region, and the new infrastructure will allow these smaller projects (i.e. refineries and smaller oil fields) to tie in to the pipeline and become economically viable.
Roughly 150 miles of the pipeline corridor extending from Baku, Azerbaijan to Turkey will pass through Georgia. This corridor includes the $3.9 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which began linefill in May 2005 and opened 13 July 2006, and the $1 billion South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) natural gas pipeline, completed in late 2006. Regional governments and international investors expect these pipelines to become two of the primary conduits for Caspian Sea region oil and natural gas exports over the next decade. Georgia is paid transit tariffs by the pipeline’s operators, and will be allotted a small percentage of fuel passing through the Republic…The success of these projects would end an almost century-old Russian stranglehold on the oil and gas resources of the Caspian.An international campaign was waged questioning the benefits of BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in an effort to avoid a "zone of sacrifice" there. The new pipelines are clearly is meant to weaken the influence of Russia in the region and therefore are regarded as hostile by the Russian Government. Moscow might choose to cause more trouble in the Caucasus. It has fomented rebellions in the past and can do so again. Georgia, through which the new pipeline would pass, is particularly vulnerable. It blamed Moscow for backing the secession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” - Global security org (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/georgia/oil-politics.htm)
This entire article is worth the reading.

*3 Russia/Georgia War:
“August 10, 2008: News reports indicate that Russia may have tried to bomb the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs through Georgia. If so, the bombs missed, and flow of oil through the pipeline was not interrupted. The BTC pipeline runs from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey; note Russia to the north and Iran to the south: The BTC pipeline runs through Georgia, well south of South Ossetia: The pipeline, in which British Petroleum is the lead partner, can carry up to one million barrels of oil per day. It is of considerable strategic significance, as it is the only means by which countries in the region like Azerbaijan can get their oil into the international market without relying on Russia.” - powerlineblog com (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/08/021212.php)



Note: this image only shows one specific trans continent pipeline of the related article.

“August 5, 2009: A year after the five-day military conflict between Georgia and Russia that left Russian forces occupying the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, tensions in the region are rising again. Georgian officials continue to place their hopes on the ability of the international community to resolve the situation. "The international community and international law are on Georgia's side," lawmaker David Darchiashvili, who chairs the Georgian parliament's Committee for European Integration, told journalists recently. "And we have nothing to be desperate about regardless of the recent provocations from the Russian occupying side," he added. "The international community, with all its capabilities, is always going to be able to overcome the actions of one, single, irrational, aggressive state, no matter how big that state might be."But the jury remains out on how the major international players -- Russia, the European Union, and NATO -- fared during the crisis and how the war changed the balance of power among them. EU and NATO sanctions imposed against Russia after the war were both toothless and short-lived.” - rferl org (http://www.rferl.org/content/A_Year_After_RussiaGeorgia_War__A_New_Reality_But_Old_Relations/1793048.html)

*4 Flint: 2496 challamiysh; probably from 2492 (in the sense of hardness); flint.
Today we call a particular rock by the name Flint. But his is not to confuse the original text with that material. The point of the passage is that oil will be sucked from flinty rocks.
Is this possible? Yes.
“Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact. Deposits of oil shale occur around the world, including major deposits in the United States of America. Estimates of global deposits range from 2.8 trillion to 3.3 trillion barrels (450×109 to 520×109 m3) of recoverable oil.
Heating oil shale to a sufficiently high temperature causes the chemical process of pyrolysis to yield a vapor. Upon cooling the vapor, the liquid shale oil—an unconventional oil—is separated from combustible oil-shale gas (the term shale gas can also refer to gas occurring naturally in shales). Oil shale can also be burnt directly in furnaces as a low-grade fuel for power generation and district heating or used as a raw material in chemical and construction-materials processing.
Oil shale gains attention as a potential abundant domestic source of oil whenever the price of crude oil rises. At the same time, oil-shale mining and processing raise a number of environmental concerns, such as land use, waste disposal, water use, waste-water management, greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution. Estonia and China have well-established oil shale industries, and Brazil, Germany, Israel and Russia also utilize oil shale.” - wikipedia on shale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale)

Therefore there are two factors that must come into play: The cost effective extraction, and the need. God will provide the need, we have yet to see Israel discover the means.
This is of course only a speculative theory at this time.
*