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Conversation #035
The sixth vial
Here I am again Truth Seeker,
Haven’t heard from you in a while but I guess you’re busy. You raised the question about the angel with the 6th vial or bowl - one of the seven last plagues. Let’s look at it.
Revelation 16:12-16
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.
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. For 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.
"Behold, I come as a thief [quietly and unexpectedly]. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked [without God’s protection], and they see his shame."
And he [the angel] gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The sixth angel is one of seven and his job is to tell us about a certain plague so we will not be unduly upset when we see it. Our God does not willingly allow these things to happen but He is limited by the free choice of men. When ALL reject Him then ALL are at the cruel mercy of Satan, for all must follow one God or the other. Satan is the destroyer, and the inevitable result of his teachings is that mankind will destroy themselves in these catastrophes, of which the sixth is the worst.
The first angel shows us that after the total worldwide rejection of God’s call to safety (come into My "ark"), some men and women will receive a vile-smelling and hurting sore. The next effect of the lack of protection will be that areas of the sea will become poisonous and the creatures in that vicinity will die. After that the pollution will spread to certain fresh water areas. Then, as a fourth event there will be great droughts caused by excessive heat from the sun.
All these plagues can, and will, be caused by human actions and it is our job to warn them of this. A forerunner of the fourth can be seen today in the weakening of the ozone layer and the dangerous ultra-violet rays which can now reach the earth. I’ll send you an article on how this is happening.
None of these plagues will be totally worldwide (even though the rejection is) otherwise there would not be any survivors after the third one on the drinking water. Because of this, and the fact that they are the LAST seven of many others, the only effect noted by God is that men and women just get worse in their blasphemy. Verse 9. They will not be aware that time has already run out and the door of the "ark" shut.
These scourges could last for weeks or even months, occurring in different parts of the earth at different times, but the rejecters will carry on "marrying and giving in marriage." (Matthew 24:37-39.) In other words, having a reasonable sort of a life. Except for the ones who are currently suffering under the latest outbreak of plague, of course!
But the fifth one will be worldwide because the sun goes out!
That can hardly be missed, so they (and we) will have a fair idea that the end is very near. The last three plagues fall on the "seat" of Babylon, which at that time is the whole world, and they come in "one day." Revelation 18:8.
(There is a good rule of thumb for deciphering time in prophecies. It is that when the Spirit of God is in control of the world, then the day for a year principle applies. But when Jesus has taken over then time becomes literal. Jesus is near the earth at the second advent when these things happen, so this time is literal, 24 hours.)
One of the side effects of this fifth plague on the sun will be that everything will get colder, and this is reflected in the great hail that arrives later that day in the seventh plague (verse 21). It has been suspended over the earth since the Flood as a remnant of the waters above the firmament (the clouds), but now there is nothing to hold it there, and the last result of the worldwide rejection of Noah’s time falls to the earth as enormous hailstones. Now it is "rolled together like a scroll." Isaiah 34:4-5.
Jesus mentioned this band of water to Job when He was talking with him.
Job 38:22-23
Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? Or have you seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Part of this last scourge is the great earthquake (the shaking of the whole planet) which precedes the second coming and which moves every mountain and island.
However, to get back to the sixth angel and his bowl. He pours it out upon the river Euphrates. Using the diagram of Revelation 17 we can see that this is a picture of the congregations of the religions, as opposed to the church leaders. Water = peoples etc. under the clergy.
The river Euphrates ran right through the old city of Babylon from one corner to another, and was its main means of support. When this water was dried up then Babylon fell. And that’s exactly how king Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon of old and reinstated the people of God in their kingdom. He came from the east, down a dry river bed which his army had diverted into a nearby swamp. Normally the gates from the river bank into the city would have been locked and guarded, but that night the guards were all drunk and they left them open. God said they would about two hundred years before the event.
Isaiah 44:24-28; 45:1-6
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer... that says to Jerusalem, "You shall be inhabited;" and to the cities of Judah, "You shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:" that says to the deep, "Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers:" that says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built;" and to the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid’."
Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus [as a type of Christ], whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings [Belshazzar, Daniel 5:6], to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut. "I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, which call you by your name, am the God of Israel."
"For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me: I girded you, though you have not known Me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am the LORD, and there is no one else."
That’s what is going to happen this time too. The people will turn from their duty towards their religions and "dry up" their support. This will happen because of the signs in the sun and moon, and the voice of God speaking the Ten Commandments. When they hear that they will know that they are on the wrong side (the side of force in religion). They have been busy persecuting the Christians and anticipating the death decree, but will turn from that and vent their fury against their leaders.
At that time the great King of kings will arrive with His support group, approaching the earth from the east.
"Behold, I come as a thief [Jesus says]. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."
The three "unclean spirits" come from the dragon (godlessness led directly by Satan), the beast (religious/civil government, and from the false prophet (apostate Protestantism), and are the spirits of devils or rebels. These three sections make up the city of "Great Babylon" (16:19).
The three "unclean [false] spirits" had gathered the people into one mind through their miracles (13:13-14), to give their power and strength to the whore on the beast, but now they are burning her with fire (17:13, 16). This is what is called in the Hebrew tongue "Armageddon."
It is a battle in which the church people destroy the church leaders. It takes place all over the earth and is called "the battle of that great day of God Almighty." He has no hand in it except that when He tried to get the people to change from being sinners into Christians, the rejection of His offer hardened their hearts and now that is being acted out.
This time of destruction will be so bad that Jesus has been willing to put up with 6,000 years of sin and misery on earth while He was trying desperately to save some from it. There has never been anything like it before, not even in the greatest of earthly battles. No quarter will be asked for or given from man, woman or child, for there is not one little bit of love for God or neighbour left in them. When there are no leaders left to kill, the people will turn on each other in their bloodlust.
The survivors from that madness will die under the hailstones or ask the mountains and rocks to fall on them, for "all they who hate Me love death." Proverbs 8:36.
Just when Satan’s false system sits as a queen and believes that she is not a widow but a married (settled) woman, it will all fall apart for that is its nature (18:7-8). It cannot survive a day without the grace of God!
In the middle of these terrible events the sign of the Son of man will be seen and the people of God rescued. (They have been protected by the "ark" through all the seven plagues). Isaiah 26:20-21.
Isaiah 41:25; 42:1-4
I have raised up One from the north, and He shall come: from the rising of the sun [the east] shall He call upon My name: and He shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treads clay....
Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; My elect, in whom My soul delights; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench: He shall bring forth judgment to truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for His law.
I’ll be back later,
Ron
To the reader,
If there is anything not clear to you as you read my answer, please feel free to mail me and ask about it. I promise not to send you anything but a direct answer to your question. I won't argue about it, just share with you what I have seen.
I won't ask you to join a new church or offshoot either!
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