Daniel 11:40-45 Micah 5:2 Micah 2:12 Revelation 16:12-16 Zechariah 5:5-11 Zechariah 12:1-3 Zechariah 14:1-2 Jeremiah 49:13-14 Revelation 11:3-13 Hosea 5:15 Hosea 6:1-3 Isaiah 53:1-9 Romans 11:25-27 Zechariah 12:10- 13:1 Joel 2:28-32 Acts 1:9-11 Joel 3:12-13 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his book “The Footsteps of the Messiah” published in 1982 writes that God has…
1 John 4:1-6 Quick facts on 1 John: (Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary vol.14 Page 10). It was written around AD 90. It was written either in Ephesus or Patmos by John the apostle, son of Zebedee Why was it written? So that believers would have fellowship with the Father and the Son and…
We sometimes forget that there is nothing the rulers of this world, or the spiritual demonic entities, can do to catch God off guard. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knows the end from the very beginning.
“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” A.W. Tozer
When we talk about the spiritual showdown revealed to us in this 16th chapter of Revelation, we also talk about the spiritual warfare every Christian is involved. If we are not familiar with the entire Bible, which includes all prophetic passages (about 28 % of it is prophetic), we are ineffective when the enemy brings 100% of his plan to your doorstep. The whole world will find out the hard way.
The kingdom of God is the rule of God. God desires to rule over all He has created; the invisible spiritual realm and the visible earthly realm. He will have His way in both domains. How will He do it? Isaiah 14:12-27 God will bring the spiritual and the physical domain together for a final showdown to judge the spiritual and the physical rulers. The 6th bowl judgment is all about that final showdown which God promised in His word would come to pass. He will fulfill it in every detail.
Careful observation will reveal that this is the identical sequence which we find in the Garden of Eden story. It was there where God walked and talked with His creation. This spiritual showdown will set the final steps of God in motion to once again walk and talk with His creation on this earth.
There are 3 very specific demon spirits mentioned in this verse.
One comes from the Dragon’s mouth. The second one comes from the mouth of the beast. And the third one comes from the mouth of the false prophet. This trio is known as the TRINITY FROM HELL. The Dragon is Satan, the Beast is the Antichrist, the False Prophet is the religious leader.
This special place is in the plain of Megiddo. Megiddo is the Hebrew word corresponding to the Greek word Armageddon. This valley of Megiddo is 14 miles wide and 20 miles long. Certainly not large enough to be sufficient for the armies of the world. But the Bible does not tell us that that’s where they all will be at one time. The Greek word translated “battle” literally means “campaign”. Actually, the text in verse 14 literally means:
“ unto the campaign (or battle) of the day, the great one, the one of God, the Almighty One.” In other words, these words emphasize the fact that this period will fully demonstrate the omnipotence and sovereignty of God Almighty.
In other words, the whole world is assembled for this spiritual showdown. It will be the world, under the leadership of Satan, against God Almighty.
How God will do it, we will learn in the next few chapters. Remember, whatever God has written down in his Word, every prophecy, every promise, every single word, will come to pass just as He said. WE can certainly trust Him and His Word.
Last year we have studied the book of Revelation all the way up to the 16th chapter. So I will not repeat what I have shared with you then. However, to fully understand the 16th chapter before us, we need to read it in context of the previous chapter.
The question must be asked: WHY DOES GOD HIMSELF LET ALL THIS TROUBLE COME UPON THIS WORLD? What’s the purpose of all this? The Answer: Let My People Go. In other words, God’s judgment will always fall on those who tried to destroy everything God has created, especially His crown creation: THE HUMAN BEING made in God’s image.
He will come unexpectedly! The vast majority of people will still be eating and drinking, focusing on their everyday lives, unaware of the dangerous times they’re living in. Just as the people in Noah’s day, they will be ignoring the warning messages and rejecting God’s righteous ways Noah, the prophet of God, was very likely mocked and ridiculed for preaching “righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). The Bible reveals that in the end time, prior to Christ’s return, people will also ignore warnings to repent. As Peter notes, “Scoffers will come in the last days, … saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Noah preached for 120 years while he built the arch. Eventually only 8 people made it into the arch. THOSE WHO WERE IN THE ARCH WERE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD. This was not Noah’s idea. It was God’s master plan to destroy wickedness on this earth and to start over again. “I will destroy them with the earth”.
Egypt was the Empire that ruled the known world at this time. Egypt called the shots in this world. Without understanding what God did with Egypt, you will not understand the bowl judgments, the last 7 judgments that will come upon this whole earth, known as the wrath or judgments of God.
Like Egypt enslaved God’s covenant people, so has every world empire enslaved God’s people. The last Empire on God’s calendar was and is the Roman Empire. While today, this empire is fractured, it will COME BACK TO FULL POWER under ONE MIGHTY RULER, THE ANTICHRIST. By the time the bowl judgments will come upon this earth this REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE WILL BE IN FULL CONTROL OF ALL HUMANITY.
And Pharaoh said, “WHO IS THE LORD, THAT I SHOULD OBEY HIS VOICE TO LET ISRAEL GO? I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD, NOR WILL I LET ISRAEL GO.” Wrong thing to say to God Almighty who made the heavens and the earth and who is the owner of His own creation. But the rulers of this world have not learned anything yet. The final ruler of this world, before Jesus Christ will set up His kingdom here, will act exactly the same way. Look at the plagues God brought upon this nation Egypt. Four of the seven judgments of Revelation are copies of the plagues Egypt had to endure. They were literal plagues in Egypt and they will be literal judgments when God will pour his wrath upon this world.
LET MY PEOPLE GO. The final judgment upon this earth is carried out by God to set His people free, to set his entire creation free.
The first time he did use WATER.
The next time he will use FIRE.
WHY DOES GOD ALMIGHTY, THE ONE WHO WANTS THAT NO HUMAN BEING PERISHES BUT THAT ALL COME TO REPENTANCE, pour His wrath upon this earth.
While this question is not the most important one we can ask, it is none the less a crucial one. Isn’t God loving, caring, forgiving, merciful and gracious? Yes, He certainly is; but he also is pure, holy, righteous, and just.
This most important question: WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM? Will put every human being on the spot. Now and especially during the tribulation period when the world ruler together with the world religious leader will demand that we proclaim that they are the savior of the world, those who say that they are FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST must deny to worship anyone else and PROCLAIM WITHOUT HESITATION LIKE THE APOSTLE PETER DID:
YOU ARE THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.
This chapter is a the chain-link that connects the events of the middle of the tribulation, the details we found in Revelation 10-13, and the events of the second half of the tribulation period, the details we will find in chapter 15-16.
The main theme was the COUNTERFEIT TRINITY that is coming unto the world stage with the purpose to usurp God’s authority and to persecute and kill those who refuse to bow down to this NEW WORLD RELIGION. It will be the born-again believers, the true followers of Jesus Christ that will refuse to worship the image of the beast and the antichrist.
Revelation 14:9-12 deals with the people who take the mark of the beast. None of those who do so have a second chance to receive salvation from the Lord. God already gave them the chances they needed. They had the 144,000 Jewish evangelist preaching the gospel during the first half of the Tribulation period and then the angel proclaimed it the everlasting Gospel one more time. This was the last chance.
IN OTHER WORDS, THE OPPORTUNITY OF SALVATION WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ALL AS LONG AS THEY ARE WITHOUT THE MARK OF THE BEAST. Once the mark is taken, signifying the acceptance of the Antichrist AS THE ONE TRUE GOD, they reached the point of no return.
Remember, this book of Revelation is revealing to us primarily Jesus Christ, the one who said to JOHN in Revelation 1:8: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.
Today, we will put our spiritual spotlight on the first beast. This best is a masterpiece, the greatest counterfeit the world has ever seen. This Beast WAS GIVEN MANY TITLES IN THE BIBLE. There are at least 20 different titles given to this beast, the master piece of counterfeiting. The Apostle Paul reminds the believers from this church that when he was with them, he was teaching all the details regarding this truth to them.
It is amazing how the Bible clearly states the contrasts between Jesus Christ and the Antichrist. And yet, he will be able to deceive the whole world with his great counterfeit. How is that possible?
The Antichrist will have the power of the occult behind him. This power is not his own, but his father’s power, which is Satan. He will seek to destroy the holy people of Israel with this supernatural power. This beast, the Antichrist, will be the most powerful man on earth. Eventually he will declare himself to be deity and he will stand up against “the prince of princes, Jesus Christ, and so truly be the ANTI-CHRIST. THIS MAN WILL BE Satan-controlled and Satan-energized. What an incredible counterfeit.
It is important that we understand the spiritual battle in the heavenly places that is going on here and how Satan will fight to the bitter end. Yet, as foretold by the prophets of old, God the Father will give everything to His Son Jesus Christ, and He will reign forever and ever. There is no alternative. The great day is at hand.
In other words, signs and wonders do not make the gospel believable. When Jesus walked on this earth, He performed many incredible miracles and gave them many signs, yet these same people who saw those miracles and heard him preach God’s wisdom rejected Him and killed Him.
When these two witnesses preach and perform signs and wonders, the people will listen but also reject their message. Instead of embracing the truth, they will kill those two witnesses and rejoice over their death.
If we want to understand what God is about to do on this earth, then we must be willing to read and study what He says, not what people say.
• There are seven seals, the 7th seal contains 7 trumpet judgments.
• There are seven trumpets, the 7th trumpet contains 7 bowl judgment.
The rider has a bow, but no arrow. In other words, his conquering will involve bloodless victories. He will not conquer by military force, but instead he will conquer the people with a peace agreement. His conquest will be a cold war victory. The key word here is through deception.
The Spirit of Antichrist is working in those who once professed to be followers of Jesus Christ, professing Christians, but they have never been saved. The antichrist, the man who will deceive the whole world, will come out of the professing Christian world. He will be a Gentile, and he will be of Roman Origin.