According to the grammatical laws of the English language, an adjective’s primary purpose is to describe a noun or pronoun by using a certain trait of the word it is modifying. In other words, for a writer, an adjective is the paintbrush he uses to give life to the drawing being formulated in the mind of his reader. Because this is so, it is true that a sentence is just as comprehensible with or without an adjective since it is only implemented by the writer to stimulate the imagination of the reader. However, one must not dismiss the value or the importance of the adjective’s purpose in a sentence. The adjective’s ability to bring forth a specific trait associated with the noun or pronoun can many times aid the reader in the correct interpretation of a phrase. For example, we can all agree that to say “he is a teacher” can be generally understood to be someone who educates another. Yet, what class does this teacher teach cannot be determined by this sentence alone. Without that information, the student will not know if that professor is the one he needs for his field of study. For this reason, an adjective becomes very important since it will describe the specific subject that educator teaches and will help the student wisely determine if he needs that class or not. Indeed, with this small detail much confusion can be avoided and the appropriate decision can be made. Hence the reason the adjective used by John in Revelation 16:13 must be approached in the same way. Once we understand that his purpose is not solely to poetically describe his vision, but rather to identify a specific spiritual threat, then we will succeed in reaching the proper exegesis (interpretation) of the entire passage. Let us not forget that Armageddon is an emblem and not literal. It is representing the internal battle being fought in the minds of men between God’s truth and man’s error. On the night He was to be betrayed, Jesus encouraged the disciples who accompanied Him at Gethsemane to “watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38, emphasis added). Paul coincides with the Lord’s conclusion as he described his personal experience saying, “I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in in my members” (Romans 7:22-23, emphasis added). Paul, also, utilizes the image of a war between the spirit and flesh, but he further explains that it is ignited when the law of God found in his mind (the inward man) clashes against the law of sin found in his body. Hence the wisdom of Christ’s advice to Simon Peter at Gethsemane encouraging him to fortify his inner man through prayer so that he may hold firm against the seductions of temptation targeting his outer man. The Master’s council is a powerful confirmation that “mind over matter” is truly achievable. The Lord Jesus, Paul, and John all concur that this battle between mind and flesh is sparked when Satan’s fiery dart of temptation is launched at the outer man (the body). It is in John’s chosen adjective where we are told how to identify this threat! In our previous composition we explored the significance of the number three being correlated to the unclean spirits illustrated by the beloved apostle. This we learned was used by the scribe to demonstrate the devil’s mockery of the Godhead by forming his own demonic trinity. Thus, here we are presented with the two spiritual armies that confront one another at Armageddon. Since the armies portrayed by John in this Scripture are spiritual in nature, how can Armageddon be understood to be literal? Behold the master stroke of the Holy Spirit’s grammatical paintbrush! John writes that he “saw three unclean spirits…coming out of the mouth” of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (Revelation 16:13a, emphasis added). This description is fascinating and key to fully comprehend correctly the inspired apostle’s lesson. First, let us place under the microscope of the Greek lexicon the word spirit. Its Greek counterpart is pneuma and it is a very special, yet complex, word in Holy Scriptures due to its several varying meanings in English. As a result of this, it is logical to study the context in which the word is being applied. Although it is true that in our current translation it uses the word spirit, from where these spirits come forth greatly assists in this endeavor. Notice that Holy Writ states that they came “out of the mouth” of each demonic character. If spirit is being used to speak of the soul, then two important facts are taught here. One that the three beings are not spiritual in nature, but physical and two, this action would result in their death because “the body without the spirit is dead” (James 2:26a, emphasis added). This interpretation, thus, is eliminated due to the undeniable inconsistency with the rest of the context since the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are both spiritual and are still alive. Therefore, this means that pneuma is being used to speak of breath and not the soul. However, remember that he is using coded language. Christians living in the first century would immediately recognize that John is speaking about influences and not a literal breath. The apostle identifies this influence to our brethren by describing them as “unclean.” This adjective in a literal sense refers to something putrid or foul, hence the literal translation would be “I saw three foul breaths…coming out of the mouth.” His use of symbolic imagery is meant to denote the type of words proceeding from their lips. Let us recall that Satan imitates God in every aspect. Like the number three shows the devil’s mock imitation of God, thus the description of foul breath (unclean spirits) spilling out of his mouth also shows Satan “inspiring” his false doctrine. When Paul teaches, “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God” the literal translation of the final portion of this selection would say “breathed by God” (theopneustos, 2nd Timothy 3:16a, emphasis added). John informs that “the dragon gave him [the beast] his power, his throne, and great authority” and the result of this was that man “worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast” (Revelation 13:2, 4, addition mine). Further along the chapter it speaks of the false prophet gaining “power to give breath to the image of the beast, the the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:15, emphasis added). Here we confirm that John’s illustration of “unclean spirits” is indeed speaking of Satan’s spreading of false doctrine. This, too, coincides with the setting of the book; God’s righteous truth versus Satan’s deceitful error. Furthermore, the number three and the adjective of unclean spirit reveal the devilish mimicry. Thus, it is irrefutable that the frogs mentioned by John are in complete agreement with this lesson. To be continued…
