They Will Seek Death But Will Not Find It

Q. I have searched your writings about the Book of Revelation.  I cannot find any comment on chapter 9 about how they will seek death, but it will flee those who do not have the seal of god on their forehead.  What exactly does this mean?  They cannot die by bullets, beheading, or anything else?  This really freaks me out. They do not have the seal of God.  Is this the same as saying they do have the mark of the beast?

A. In Rev. 9 a plague of locust like creatures will be released on Earth. These are apparently demonic locusts who have a very painful sting, like scorpions.  Their sting is so powerful that people will want to die to escape the pain, but won’t be able to.  Taken literally, that means their attempts at suicide will be unsuccessful.   The pain from the sting will last for 5 months.

The seal of God is the same one mentioned in Rev. 7:3 that will protect the 144,000. There’s no indication as to who else might receive the seal, but my guess is that all believers will have it.  The Mark of the Beast does not come along until Rev. 13:16-17.