The intensity of the judgments become worse
Hi good friends out there in internet land. I have reviewed the first eight chapters in the book of Revelation in a very detailed way giving the readers many cross references to each verse but due to time and the fact that I must move on to other writing projects in the Bible the remaining chapters (Revelation chapters 9-22) will be completely quoted with some comments at the end of the chapter. I really do desire to cross reference every verse in these chapters but this would take me way to long thus leaving out other vital biblical studies that are also needed and desired to people that are very hungry for the word of God. There will still be many interesting insights after the chapter is quoted so please enjoy the rest of the study in this fascinating last book of the Bible.
(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. (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. (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. (4) And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. (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. (6) For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood 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 thy judgments. (8) And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. (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. (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. (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 false prophet. (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 the great day of God Almighty. (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. (16) And he gathered them together unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (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 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. (20) And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (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." Revelation 16:1 - 21.
In Revelation chapter fifteen we saw the final decision of God to close the gates of heaven for pardon of sins. Remember God sees the future and knows if an individual will never turn to Him. Did you ever see one of those strange cases when God spares the life of a reprobate and they do turn to Jesus Christ? Sometimes they even do mighty works for the kingdom of God.
A great voice commends the seven angels in verse one to release the final seven bowl judgments. They are dressed in white robes and golden vests. Much of these judgments has to do with the martyred saints. According to verse two very painful sores come upon the inhabitants in this world and they will probably be more painful than cancer. According to verse three the second angel poured his bowl into the sea and it will turn to blood and every living thing in the sea died. In Revelation chapter eight only one third die in a similar judgment but when this second bowl judgment hits the earth everything dies. As man continues to harden his heart the wrath of God gets worse.
In verses four to seven the third angel pours out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water. This will make it very hard for people to drink and survive. It is probable that because the world required blood in martyrdom God will give them blood. In verses eight and nine the forth angel will pour out his bowl on the sun and people will be scorched with fire. The heat caused men to blasphemed God and as a result they did not repent to ultimately give God glory. If we choose to repent we can go to the next step in time and give God the glory. From a human point of view this could be a nuclear exchange.
The fifth angel will pour his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom will then be filled with darkness. The world is separated into ten different regions now and some prophecy experts believe this will be the earthly kingdom of the antichrist. While this may be true he will still reside in the Europe area and there will no doubt be an inner circle for the man of sin. This darkness falls on his kingdom and will be the same experience that happened in Egypt. Regardless of where anybody would be if they were in the middle of this darkness it would be oppressive. A person would be able to feel this nightmare. There may be a strategic reason God does this because the other armies around the world will probably jostle for position for battle purposes. Notice in the midst of their pain they did not repent. Their heart will only get harder.
The sixth bowl (the judgment I am talking about now) is a bigger extension of the sixth trumpet which is written about in Revelation chapter nine. In chapter nine the Eastern armies had a very limited strike into the Middle East. In this judgment the Euphrates River is completely dried up and at this point these armies have more leverage to work with because they will be able to walk straight through the river.
In verse eleven the unholy trinity is mentioned who will be Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet. Demon spirits proceed from them working miracles for the earthy purpose of the leaders of the world to be deceived because it seems like Europe will fight an army in the East. In Joel 3: 12 - 14 the Old Testament says the nations will be "Awakened" so the bottom line is the deceiving miracles will be a mute point because all armies from every direction of the world will be headed for the valley of decision or Armageddon. The end result is blood will stand to the horses' bridles for two hundred miles in the Jordan Valley.
At the same time of the battle of Armageddon a great earthquake and literally take place of the likes that the world has never seen or experienced. Everything around the world will be leveled. The islands will be done and the mountains will not be there in their original state. Stones weighing 100 pounds will fall from heaven (that has never happened) but true to form man will blaspheme God because of the hail. This is what happens when we build our house on sinking ground instead of the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ. When bad takes place evil comes out of our hearts and vial comes out of our months. This seventh angel will deliverer the most severe wrath better referred to as the seventh bowl judgment. The devastation will be so bad that cities will be destroyed, the land will be ripped apart, the continents around the world will be changed and all the mountains around the world will be shifted in elevation.
This is such a sad scenario because millions of soldiers will be slaughtering each other in and around Israel. The cities around the world will be reduced to nothing. At this point if it were up to man and his hardened heart people will destroy the whole world but in Revelation chapter nineteen Jesus Christ will stop man from destroying all life in this world and bring a new world eventually ruling from Jerusalem for one thousand years. "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Matthew 24:22. The seven year tribulation period will still be seven years but the Bible says Jesus Christ Himself will have to come in the second coming and literally stop man from destroying all life.
This is your classic scenario when the gates of atonement will be closed and people are stuck with their hardened hearts. Only fear and hate will be in their souls. No love, peace or joy because only turmoil inside and out will be present. I do not want this for my present or future. To have Godly purpose with love is way better than hate/fear in my heart with judgment around me and no hope. It would have to be overwhelmingly obvious that Jesus Christ is the answer and to live for Him with patience, obedience and faith is the narrow way to eternal life. This is way better than the wrath of God.
God bless you, Bob D.
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