Whore
=woman = Satan’s rulers =Rome =city =religions
=great Babylon..To Ancient SDA's ............ To "What's New?"
Readings in the Book of
The Revelation
This week we can learn the details of the plagues that will fall after the close of human probation.
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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”.
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The Son of God will reluctantly give the command to withdraw all opposition to the self-destruction of mankind. Remember that we read about four angels holding back the four winds? “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree”. Revelation 7:1. In this verse He is telling those representative angels that they now have to let loose the winds of strife, and so the angels with the bowls of plagues will move in to illustrate this.
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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.
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The result will be that a particularly painful and evil-smelling sore will begin to appear upon some of those who had fully embraced the devil’s lie. Because of the prevalence of cancers and other like diseases at that time these sores will not attract more than usual attention, and no one will connect them with the last plagues, not even the Christians, but the end has come when they appear.
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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.
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While the sore is still breaking out in many parts of the world, great areas of the oceans will become like rotten blood (probably an outbreak of a marine disease) and this will cause the deaths of large quantities of ocean life, adding to the general food shortages. (There have already been instances of this sort of thing happening in the world in the last few years, so it too will go unnoticed as one of the final plagues. See http://isurus.mote.org/~mhenry/WREDTIDE.html )
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Revelation 16:
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
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This time it will be fresh water that feels the brunt of the latest scourge which is also to be added to the others. This, combined with the extensive droughts that will have been occurring (as in Australia right now), will cause great hardships to certain areas. None of these plagues will be worldwide, or all mankind would soon perish, but they will be devastating where they do occur and many will die from their effects, as they do today from Aids.
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Revelation 16:
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, “You are righteous, O LORD, which are, and were, and shall be, because You have judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood [blood-like substances] to drink; for they are worthy”.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, “Even so, LORD God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments”.
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Even though it may appear that the Son of God is organising these plagues as pay-backs, and it was spoken of as such in those days, the angels now know that they are the RESULT of sin and not a direct punishment from God. In their minds the judgments are pure justice along the lines of “as you sow, so shall you reap”, which even the martyrs feel is just.
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Revelation 16:
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which has power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory.
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Even though this fourth plague will still not be worldwide, its effects will be severe enough for the humans who suffer it to blame God, as “an act of God”, when it will be directly the result of mankind’s own actions. “As it was in the days of Noah” Jesus said, so something that men will have been doing just before the time of the last plagues will have an effect upon the solar system and the sunshine will begin to have greater heat at times. For example, even today, the cumulative effect of CFC gases is already deleting the ozone layer in particular parts of the world, and allowing dangerous radiation to enter our atmosphere above those areas. Like that, the importance of this plague will mostly go unappreciated. See
http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/revelation/fly_spray.html
Thus these four plagues will accumulate and continue for some period of time.
But then will come the fifth:
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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, 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds [no matter what happens no one will change their way].
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By this time Satan will be able to claim the whole world as his (there’ll only be a hidden remnant left of God’s people) and so the effect of this plague with its great darkness all over the world will bring the beginning of the end to the notice of the general population, for they will not be able to miss it! (The sun will be seen again, but by that time it will be too late.)
We have already seen in the word of God some portions of the last warning message He wants the people of the world to hear before the end comes, but let us now notice the reference to the plagues that is in it.
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Revelation 18:
4 And I heard another Voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her [GREAT Babylon], My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double to her double according to her works: in the cup which she has filled fill to her double. 7 How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow’.
8 “THEREFORE SHALL HER PLAGUES COME IN ONE DAY, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the LORD God who judges her.
9 “And the kings of the earth [the political leaders], who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is your judgment come’.”
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more: 12 the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls . . . and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves . . . 15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, “Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!”
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At the height of GREAT Babylon’s power, when she [Satan’s religious systems] claims the right to control the beast [the unsaved peoples of the world], her systems will fall apart from within. That which she has taught to her followers now comes back against her. Within one twenty-four period (yes, it’s real time again), the last three disasters will strike in quick succession against the religious leaders and their subordinates. The politicians and merchants who have become very rich by supporting her will not be able to understand why the people have suddenly turned on their former religious leaders with such fury, but just as God’s mercy has had to be withdrawn, so there is no mercy in any human heart (except in the few Christians still alive, of course). When the rejecters realise that they have been fooled into false religions their fury will not be held in. “We are lost” they’ll cry, “and you are the cause of our ruin!” That’s the sixth plague! And one of the RESULTS of sin is that it tends to bring double trouble upon those who practise it!
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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.
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. 14 For they are the spirits of devils [antichrists], 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.
[In the midst of all these warnings, the Son of God has a special message for us.]
15 “Behold, I come as a thief [unexpectedly]. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments [of righteousness], lest he walk naked [give up], and they see his shame”.
16 And he [Satan, the dragon] gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue “Armageddon” [“the mount of slaughter”].
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Here we are introduced to one more of the three parts of great Babylon. The “false prophet” is a direct reference to those churches and their leaders which still proclaim themselves as Christian while operating as “very hungry wolves”. Matthew 7:15. Most of the world is today fooled by the “Protestant” religions which no longer “protest”, but welcome the Roman Catholic system of the “beast” as a “brother”. What is frightening is that so many of those who should know better, those who claim to read the Bible with understanding, also accept this situation! The “daughters of Babylon” are regarded as family members of Israel by many well-meaning, but Bible denying, followers of God.
Do you remember the diagram a few weeks ago regarding who sits on who?
Whore
=woman = Satan’s rulers =Rome =city =religions
=great Babylon
Waters
=beast =7 heads & 10 horns
=7 mountains =7kings+1 =nations =Euphrates
Now notice who supports great Babylon!
The literal Babylon of Daniel’s time sat on the literal river Euphrates which was its lifeline, both commercially and physically. Cyrus of Persia, the man of God, conquered the city by getting his engineers to divert its waters into a nearby swamp, drying up the riverbed enough for his soldiers to walk in through unguarded gates, because God had said, “Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers . . . Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut”. Isaiah 44:27; 45:1.
In the last days those “waters” (the peoples of the world) who had formerly supported the “woman” (the religions of the world) will turn against her as the Spirit convinces them that they are on the losing side. They will “dry up” their support to make way for THE King of the east (the Son of God) and His saints. The darkness of the fifth last plague will be felt (as was the darkness in the Egyptian plagues, Exodus 10:22-23) and this will cause many rejecters to enquire as to what is going on. That day they will get their answer – one effect of the sun going out will be that the water suspended in the atmosphere (clouds etc.) will freeze and begin to fall as enormous hailstones. God asked Job, “Have you seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?” Job 38:22-23.
It is as the people are killing their former religious leaders that the sign of the Son of man will appear in the sky, and Christ and His already resurrected saints (they went to heaven with Him after Calvary) will approach the earth from the east, and stand out there during the final moments of that generation of rebel humanity. (All objects and people from space approach from the east as the earth revolves.)
In that twenty-four hour period, the sun will go out, the hailstones will fall, and the earth will reel to and fro like a drunkard, and the words of the prophet be fulfilled:
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Isaiah 24:
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. 19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high [the religious leaders], and the kings of the earth [the politicians] upon the earth. 22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in THE prison [the grave], and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed [overwhelmed], when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously. [See Revelation 21:23.]
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Mark 13:
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away. 32 But of that day and that hour knows [makes known] no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father [only].
33 Take you heed, watch and pray: for you know not when the time is.
Hebrews 12:
25 See that you refuse not Him that speaks [and calls you right now]. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spoke on earth [as in the past at Mt. Sinai], much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaks [will speak] from heaven: 26 whose voice then shook the earth: but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven”.
27 And this word, “Yet once more” [ONLY once more], signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
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Here’s an alternative version of the last text:
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Heb 12:25-29 (MSG)
25 So don't turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn't get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? 26 His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he's told us this quite plainly—he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern." 27 The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered. 28 Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. 29 He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!
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That’s the point where the next words apply:
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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”.
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. 19 And the great city was divided into [its] three parts, and the cities of the nations fell [into ruins]: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found [as hills any more].
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven [this was the water which had frozen when the sun when out], every stone about the weight of a talent [approximately 56 pounds or 21 kilos]: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great [but they still would not change their way].
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The three parts of GREAT Babylon are: (1) the dragon; (2) the first beast; and (3) the false prophet; as we read in verse 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. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles . . .” Literally they are: (1) that which is called Spiritualism [the belief that the dead still exist], (2) the Roman Catholic system [that a man can be “god on earth”], and (3) the Protestant churches [those who claim to follow the Bible and the Bible only].
That great earthquake will turn the whole earth into a desolate wilderness, completing the work of destruction, with the bodies of the dead lying all over the place. When the prophet was shown its condition as it will be some time after the second coming, he exclaimed, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form [all broken up], and void [of life]; and the heavens [the sky], and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no [living] man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled [had also disappeared]. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by His fierce anger. For thus has the LORD said, ‘The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end’.” Jeremiah 4:23-27.
Of the time when the mountains were not found, the LORD has said, “And the heaven [the blue atmosphere] departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places”, and that’s why Jeremiah says there was no light in his vision. Revelation 6:14. But the LORD has also said, “Yet will I not make a FULL end” and so He will leave it as it is then, while He takes His newly resurrected and translated saints back to heaven to be with Him for 1,000 years. The absence of the atmosphere means that nothing will decay or change on the earth’s surface for that period, and therefore it will be a very miserable place for Satan and his angels to wait out their time before the second resurrection.
Bye for now,
RonP
Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own. Some of these readings are available at
http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html
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