Revelation 16:1-21

(Revelation 16:1-21)

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.  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. 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. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 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. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.  And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 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. 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, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.  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 unto 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. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.  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.  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.  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.  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.  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.

 

On Patmos, a small island in the Mediterranean, John is receiving the last message of Jesus. He wrote about the three plagues in the book of Revelation, the seven seals and the seven trumpets, followed by the seven bowls. If the seven seals and seven trumpet plagues were partial and limited judgments, then the seven bowl plagues would have the scope of judgment on all mankind and the world, including the earth, the sea, the river and the source of water, the sun, the throne of the beast, the great river Euphrates, and the air. Affect Considering what happens every time God pours out the seven bowls of wrath, the first angel pours the bowls on the ground, resulting in evil and vicious boils on those who have received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped idols.

 

The second angel poured the bowl into the sea, and the sea became like blood, and all living creatures in the sea died. The third angel poured the bowl into the river and the water, and everything turned into blood. When the fourth angel poured the hospitality into the sun, the sun in power burned people with fire. The fifth angel pours out the bowl on the beast's throne, and the people are sick and bit their tongues. After the sixth angel poured the bowl on the great river Euphrates, the river dried up and the way for kings from the east was prepared. And finally, after the seventh angel pours the bowl into the air, a great earthquake strikes, and a great hail of one talent, a whopping 60 kg, falls.

 

After this, John wrote that there were no islands and mountains. Such a great and powerful plague covers the world, and there are three reactions of people before God, the omnipotent judge. First, 『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. Second,『 blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. Third,『 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. 』

Even in the face of the mighty judgment of God, people resist God without giving in. The seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls resemble the ten plagues of God in Egypt, a superpower. The Egyptian Pharaoh did not yield to God. The greater the intensity of the disaster, the more stubbornly Pharaoh stood up before God. When the firstborn plague covered all Egypt, he reluctantly sent God's people Israel, but soon he stood up against God with a war horse, and eventually he was buried in the Red Sea, showing the end of his stubborn life.

 

Man does not recognize God's existence through any miracles, miracles, or suffering. Despite the plagues of the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, people do not turn before God. Even in the face of the plagues of the seven bowls that no one can avoid, people do not hesitate to confront God with stubbornness. Although the desire to experience God through some overwhelming miracle is in one side of the heart of the saints, the Bible says that people are not changed by some overwhelming force, but through the Holy Spirit and the Word. Self-denial is change.

 

When is the time of judgment? The disciples asked the Lord directly. In Matthew 24:23, "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. ?』 Jesus told his disciples about the things that would happen at the end of the world (natural disasters, wars, calamities, numerous strife) and warned the Saints not to be deceived by false prophets and teachings, and false Christs. Jesus left two key messages. In Matthew 24:35-36, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 』

 

Judgment is the same as it was in the Exodus or Revelation. When God comes to pick up his people, he comes as Jehovah God. In Revelation 4:8, "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 』Revelation 1:8 also says 『I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. 』The Lord God is the Lord who will come to this earth as a judge.

 

But in Revelation 5:9, 『And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation』. The Bible says that Jesus Christ, the Lamb, lived with blood. This is redemption. If you are not redeemed, you will not be saved. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior who came to this earth and is the Lord. However, after Jesus Christ was resurrected, he died not as a son, but as God Himself.

 

We do not know when the time of the end will be, but as always awake ones, we need to know exactly the God of the Trinity and how the Lord will return. Jesus came to this earth as the Son of God. Many say that it was the Feast of Booths. And he died on the cross at the Passover, resurrected at the Feast of First Fruit, and ascended to heaven after 40 days, and the Holy Spirit came to this earth at Pentecost. In the future, it will take place at the Feast of Trumpets (the Second Coming in the air and the Rapture) and the Feast of Booths (the Second Coming on Earth). The saints will have to think about whether they will meet the Lord of the air in Christ, or will they be judged by God who returns to earth outside of Christ.