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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Revelation 16

Revelation 16:1:
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

We learned at the end of chapter 15 that the Temple of God, in Heaven, has been opened but no man can enter there because volumes of very intense some is pouring out. These seven angels have had seven bowls or vials of God´s wrath given to them by one of the four beasts (Arch Angels?) to be poured out on the remnant of the Earth. Now a Great Voice (God?) is sending them off to complete their charge!

Revelation 16:2:
And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Revelation 16:3:
And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Revelation 16:4:
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Revelation 16:5:
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Revelation 16:6:
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

How many lessons have we studied that verify and reinforce the teaching that as we live, so shall we die? These peoples have hatted, desired to and have killed the prophets God sent to them and then gloated for three days, as they lay dead in the street and the World celebrated their demise.

There is the Spiritual extension of this to cover all of time, here on the Earth and we must be careful not to center on just this, that we remember to study to learn to be obedient to our Master.

Revelation 16:7:
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Here I see, and some might argue with me, but I see one of the four Angels or possibly one of the foru and twenty speaking and being heard, form the outside.

Revelation 16:8:
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
Revelation 16:9:
And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

I am forever battered with the debate designed remark, ¨If God would do miracles, the way He did in Bible Times, I and many others would believe.¨ First off, we see that, even though Israel is, daily, in the presence of God, few believed, in the Wilderness. Then when God took on the form of Jesus, the man, and performed great miracles, few believed!

And today? God has not ceased to do His works! There are, litterbug, thousands of miracles happening, every day, and people respond... coincidence! And in these verses, God, who knows all, is teaching us that in the face of God´s wrath, men still refuse to believe the truth.

Revelation 16:10:
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Revelation 16:11:
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

I have heard this passage used more oft than can ever be justified to prove that Satan rules in Hell and this is a popular belief that is found, even, in the churches on Sunday morning. The beast is not Satan, in Rev. 13:2 we learned that that old dragon, Satan, gave the beast his power, making the beast a servant of Satan.

The beast will rule here on the earth for a very short spell. What we are taught here is that God´s wrath will be poured out on the earth, his seat, and as men refuse to repent of their sins they will so unsure of their lives that they will bite their tongues to feel the pain and know they have not died. You see, they know the truth, at least to a degree, and still, they refuse to repent.

Revelation 16:12:
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

There seem to be a good many different ways to look at this passage but knowing what I do about highways built by China, to the east, Bible prophesy and the size of the Chinese Army, what I see here is the Communist Army of China moving toward the valley of the Battle of Armageddon.

Revelation 16:13:
And 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.
Revelation 16:14:
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

An understanding of Biblical Imagery and Metaphor are essential to get any grasp or hold at all on the passages now. We must pay strict attention to the context here or others, not can but, will delude us. Frogs did not, and I say once more, did not, come out of their mouths! Verse 14 even stresses the point that hey are Spirits!

This is a very dangerous passage and must be dealt with prayerfully and with much thought and consideration... with prayerful meditation!

Revelation 16:15:
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

It is always important to pay attention! In this case, God is making a point that is easily over looked in the context of the passage. As I have repeatedly stated in past lessons, there will be people saved during the Tribulation Period and I see this verse as singled out and yet applicable to the man and woman of that period and of this! God is teaching us to pay attention!

Revelation 16:16:
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Revelation 16:17:
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
Revelation 16:18:
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

It is generally taught, and I agree, that this great city is just as is expressed, it is Babylon. I have not had the good fortune to see earth history from the perspective of Heaven, as John did, and I cannot stand still and teach anyone that this is the Babylon Saddam Hussein was busy rebuilding or if it is the spiritual interpretation so many are fond of today, it might be both! In any case, the people have learned to hate God so much and to depend completely on Satan and when the infra-structure he has established collapses it will leave such a void, or rather make them aware of the void that exists without God.

I have, from childhood been heard to remark, when it thunders, that God is speaking and in Houston, in the fifties, it was normal to see Ball Lightening and Lightening Displays that would last thirty minutes and on to what seemed an hour and my mom would scream for me to stand up and get into the house before God struck me dead. I was not fearful, I was impressed. My mother´s reaction is much closer to normal than mine and when God unleashes all His power the people will tremble.

And that much heralded and much loved city is split, by our God, into three pieces!

Revelation 16:19:
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Revelation 16:20:
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Revelation 16:21:
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This is a terrible end to the world the Lost Man has come to cherish in this short span of time, they will be reeling and looking for any Christ Believer to abuse in any manor their minds will conjure. The strange thing is, they will give the death they desire to the Christian they despise.

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