If the trumpets and vials move in tandem, and if the Islamic State (IS) represent the locusts of the fifth trumpet; then it corresponds with the fifth vial which is darkness and gnawing tongues (a symptom of dehydration; article) over the beast's kingdom (Sunni Islam; aka Babylon).  Thus the sixth trumpet and vial would commence after the five months of locusts end.

The last five years of drought in the Middle East have beaten records over 100 years old. article
 
"12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. 13And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 16And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. 17And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 18By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 19For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like to serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. 20And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 21Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:12-21)

"10And the fifth angel poured out his vial on the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 12And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Revelation 16:10-16)

The sixth trumpet and the sixth vial are the only two passages in the New Testament which mention the Euphrates River.  The news portrayed the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River as very poorly built and difficult to maintain.  What if there were FOUR key dams on the Euphrates River which God graciously sent angels to protect?  Will they soon be relieved of duty so that IS can completely restrict the flow of water in order to control the people, thus enabling an army of 200,000,000 to cross it?

The IS has threatened Turkey to give them control of a dam, and IS now has 49 Turks from Mosul to bargain with. article

"Since January 2014, the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq has succeeded in taking control of several dams. To date, the group controls the Haditha Dam (the second-largest in the country), the Samarra Barrage and the Nuaimiyah Dam. Between January and April, the IS also controlled the strategic Fallujah Dam.
The dams are an essential element of the group’s military strategy. The IS has already proved its determination to use the dams as a weapon by deliberately drowning government forces around the Nuaimiyah Dam. When in control of the Fallujah Dam, the group closed eight of the ten doors of the dam, reducing water levels in the south and flooding land upstream." article

"In April 2014, fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria captured the Nuaimiyah Dam in western Iraq, despite earlier efforts to defend the site. They then overflowed it to dislodge Iraqi soldiers dug in upstream of the site—and to deny drinking water to civilians downstream." article

"The [Haditha] dam, which regulates the waters of the River Euphrates, is located north of the city of Haditha, approximately 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Baghdad. It is a major source of hydroelectricity for Iraq’s national grid behind Mosul Dam, which was recaptured by Kurdish and Iraqi forces backed by US air power on Monday." article

It would be an interesting twist if the red, yellow and blue uniformed army gathered in the Jezreel Valley was actually invited by Israel to use that area as a base from which to launch a campaign against IS.  Then if Israel launched rockets against Iran's nuclear facilities, this coalition army turned and attacked Israel instead.  There are so many ways this could play out, and several have nothing to do with prophecy.
I'm just continuing to watch for my Lord's return.

Locusts and Martyrs

Greetings, Beloved Bride of Christ,

Truly, the LORD is sovereign, and King Jesus can return for His Bride whenever He so chooses. As a student of His Word, I do my best to understand the "signs of the times" (Matthew 16:3), because Christ chided the Jews for not recognizing them (Luke 19:44), and He commanded us to "watch" (I Thess. 5:1-6).

In 2009 I was convinced that Daniel 12:9-13 provided the year of 2012 for Christ's return, but He did not return. Another time Scripture states 1 day = 1,000 years. Using Usher's Tishri 1, 4004 BC date for Adam and Eve's creation and Christ's birth on Tishri 1, 3 BC, the "second Adam" was born exactly 4001 years from the first Adam's creation. For those using one day is "as a thousand years" (II Peter 3:8), and the beginning of Christ's millennial reign on the 7th day; that gives Tishri 1, 1997 AD as 2,000 years from Jesus' birth, and April 14 (Passover), 2033 AD from Jesus' death on April 3, 33 AD. This is the time window (1997-2033) in which I would expect to see the signs of Revelation fulfilled.

Also in 2009 I wrote that Muslims were anti-christs who "beheaded" (Rev. 20:4) people. The Wahhabi's of Saudi Arabia were the "whore" (Rev. 17), the Sunnis were the beast of the sea (Rev. 13:1-10; Daniel 7's 4th beast), and the Shia were the beast of the earth (Rev. 13:11-17). I wrote that God would remove the US from the middle east based on II Thess. 2:3-8. I wrote Mecca-Jeddah was "mystery Babylon" (John 17:5) and that Al-Qaeda were the "locusts" (Rev. 9:1-12). Now it appears the "locusts" are an off-shoot of Al-Qaeda known as ISIL, but when does/did their five months of terror begin?

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts on the earth: and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he strikes a man. (Revelation 9:1-5)

ISIS came out of the smoke of the Syrian War. Though most are aware ISIS and other terrorist groups get their funding from rich Muslims living in the Arabian Peninsula, transactions can't be traced to them [article]. It seems to me that we are in the midst of the 5th seal of the martyrs described in Revelation 6:9-11 and 7:9-17. Yes, ISIS has been killing and crucifying Christians, but the ones who are "sealed" that they are not to touch are the 144,000 Jews (Rev. 7:1-3) Under Nebuchadnezzar II, the Babylonian empire stretched from Elam (western Persia) to Egypt, including eastern Anatolia (Turkey) and Cyprus. Speaking of Babylon, "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues." (Rev. 18:4) The exodus of Christians from Babylonia has been ongoing since 2000.

START DATE OF 5 MONTHS OF LOCUSTS

Though this group formed in 2006, ISIS/ISIL became known to the world early in 2014. The description of the "locusts" includes what most agree is a description of helicopters with missiles. 

"When ISIS captured Mosul Airport on June 14, 2014, it seized a number of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and cargo planes that were stationed there." (wikipedia, based on article)

"On 29 June 2014, the establishment of a new caliphate was announced, with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi named as its caliph, and the group formally changed its name to the "Islamic State"." (wikipedia, based on article) 

Five months from the middle or end of June comes to the middle or end of November. This ignites the Battle of Armageddon which lasts one year, one month, and one day (Rev. 9:15); before Christ returns for His "day of vengeance/judgment". But for all we know, the five months will soon be over.

SAUDI ARABIA and ISRAEL to ATTACK IRAN BEFORE 2015?

Joel Rosenberg was correct in predicting America would rebuild Babylon (Baghdad), and it will soon "fall" into the control of ISIL.[article] When it does, Iran may decide its time to launch a nuclear bomb at Israel. Israel and Saudi Arabia may combine forces to destroy Iran's nuclear plants. [article]

The world does not like when Israel defends itself, and could easily bolster governments to portray a united front against Israel with two hundred million men in uniforms of red, blue, and yellow (Rev. 9:16-17). The only place in Israel to stage such a vast army is in the Jezreel Valley near Har Megiddo. 

I could be wrong again, but it seems the angelic announcements and three woes are occurring in quick succession. The first angelic announcement is the everlasting gospel with a loud voice to the world (Rev. 14:6-7). The gospel has been received by Muslims in the Middle East through visions and visitations. The first woe is the locusts (Rev. 9:10-12). The second angelic announcement is the fall of the great city Babylon (Rev. 18:1-2). The beginning of the Battle of Armegeddon is the second woe (Rev. 11:14). The third angelic announcement is if anyone worships the Beast or takes its mark, he will also experience God's wrath poured out on the Beast (Rev. 14:9-12). The third woe (Revelation 11:14-19) comes immediately upon the last day of the Armegeddon War. Then the Bride will come with Jesus to destroy the wicked with King Jesus in great power and majesty.

I agree with Payne, that the trumpets and vials are done in tandem (Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy by J. Barton Payne, p.598, 1973); and propose that seals 6 and 7 culminate together with the 7th trumpet and vial immediately preceding Christ's return. I believe King Jesus will return on Tishri 1, the day of His birth ,when trumpets are sounded to honor the king. The new moon will occur on Sunday, September 13th, 2015 with a partial solar eclipse at 1:55 pm observable from Antartica.  Sometime approaching midnight, or passed midnight on September 14th, I would hope to see King Jesus return to earth. This would be prior to the 4th blood moon of the tetrad late on the evening of September 27th. [NASA]   More likely, Christ's Bride will need to continue to "watch" for her Bridegroom's appearing.

God's mercy will triumph. If the harvest is not yet great enough, He will wait.