In chapter 15, we reach the prelude to the final series of judgments, the bowl judgments. After these judgments are carried out, the pouring out of God's wrath on the earth will be complete. These are the final judgments on the earth before the return of Jesus.
1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2 And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the nations.[a]
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”[b]
5 After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
John is still writing from his vantage point in heaven. John first sees seven angels with the final plagues for the earth standing in God's throne room. John then sees the sea of glass that he had described seeing in God's throne room in Revelation chapter 4. The glowing fire is the final wrath of God against the earth. Standing on or besides the sea (depending on which translation you read) are those that are victorious over the Beast. These represent the church that had been raptured before the tribulation, and the dead in Christ that have risen at this point, also all those that had been martyred for believing in Christ during the tribulation period. They have been given harps, and sing the song of Moses and the lamb. Worshiping God and Jesus.
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD:
“I will sing to the LORD,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea. Exodus 15:1
This is a song of joyful deliverance. Moses sang this song when Israel was delivered from Pharoah's armies, and the saints will be singing it at this point because we are delivered from Satan and his Beast.
Now we return out of the interlude to the moment when the seven trumpet judgments have ended.
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm. Revelation 11:19
Now the final judgments are ready to be carried out on the earth. The seven angels that are in charge of the bowl judgments come out of the temple of God. They receive their bowls from one of the four living creatures that are around the throne of God. The final judgment of God is now ready to be poured out on the earth.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The Lamb and the 144,000
In chapter 14, John describes the end of the vision, and gives an explanation of why it is necessary. This vision has four parts.
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
In the first part of the vision John sees the end result of the conflict between God and Satan. Jesus is victorious, standing on Mount Zion. Zion was the name of the mountain on which David built the earthly Jerusalem centuries before. With Him are the 144,000. This includes the 144,000 Israelites from chapter 7:1-8 and the great multitude that no one could count from chapter 7:9-17. They are identified as those redeemed from the earth. There is a sound like harps and John hears the 144,000 singing a song that only they can sing. They are described as virgins, because they did not commit adultery by worshiping other gods. They are described as firstfruits of the harvest.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:18
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
In the second part of the vision, John sees three angels flying through the air. These angels are messengers of the arrival of judgment to the earth. The first angel proclaims that all should fear God and give Him glory because the hour of judgment has come. The peoples on earth had been worshiping the Beast up until this point. They had refused to acknowledge Christ as their redeemer, but now they would have to bow down to God, the creator of all things.
The second angel announces the final fall of Babylon, who is likened to a prostitute. We will discuss more about Babylon in chapter 17-18.
The third angel pronounces the punishment that awaits anyone that received the mark of the Beast on their hand or forehead. Anyone that received the mark has given their allegiance to the Beast. They will receive the punishment of God's anger and they will be punished with burning sulfur forever.
The third part of the vision is an appeal to all people to stay faithful to Jesus. All those who die from John's time until the end are blessed and will rest.
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.[c]
Now the final part of the vision plays out. This is a vision in two parts. In the first part John sees one like the son of man seated on a cloud with a crown on His head and a sickle in His hand. An angels comes out of the temple and announces that the time to reap has come. The angel swings His sickle and harvests the earth. This angel could be Jesus and this scene could be describing the rapture. Jesus is waiting for the time decided upon by God.
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. Matthew 24:36
This could also be an angel with a special mission. The 24 elders described earlier also wore gold crowns. This harvest could describe the final judgment of God on the earth. We are not told what the first harvest is.
In the second part of the vision another angel emerges from the temple with a sickle. An angel that is in charge of the fire tells him to harvest the grapes. This is the harvesting of the wicked, since we are told that the grapes were thrown into the wine press of God's wrath. We are told that they were trampled in the winepress outside the city, which correlates to the final battle on the plains of Armageddon, or Har Megiddo. Megiddo is located in the plain of Jezreel, a valley southwest of Nazareth. Here, it is thought by many, that the great final battle of Armageddon will be fought at the end of time. The final description is of the valley flowing with blood to the height of a horse's bridle for about 200 miles. This depicts the magnitude of the final battle.
1 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
In the first part of the vision John sees the end result of the conflict between God and Satan. Jesus is victorious, standing on Mount Zion. Zion was the name of the mountain on which David built the earthly Jerusalem centuries before. With Him are the 144,000. This includes the 144,000 Israelites from chapter 7:1-8 and the great multitude that no one could count from chapter 7:9-17. They are identified as those redeemed from the earth. There is a sound like harps and John hears the 144,000 singing a song that only they can sing. They are described as virgins, because they did not commit adultery by worshiping other gods. They are described as firstfruits of the harvest.
18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. James 1:18
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’[a] which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
In the second part of the vision, John sees three angels flying through the air. These angels are messengers of the arrival of judgment to the earth. The first angel proclaims that all should fear God and give Him glory because the hour of judgment has come. The peoples on earth had been worshiping the Beast up until this point. They had refused to acknowledge Christ as their redeemer, but now they would have to bow down to God, the creator of all things.
The second angel announces the final fall of Babylon, who is likened to a prostitute. We will discuss more about Babylon in chapter 17-18.
The third angel pronounces the punishment that awaits anyone that received the mark of the Beast on their hand or forehead. Anyone that received the mark has given their allegiance to the Beast. They will receive the punishment of God's anger and they will be punished with burning sulfur forever.
The third part of the vision is an appeal to all people to stay faithful to Jesus. All those who die from John's time until the end are blessed and will rest.
Harvesting the Earth and Trampling the Winepress
14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 17 Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.[c]
Now the final part of the vision plays out. This is a vision in two parts. In the first part John sees one like the son of man seated on a cloud with a crown on His head and a sickle in His hand. An angels comes out of the temple and announces that the time to reap has come. The angel swings His sickle and harvests the earth. This angel could be Jesus and this scene could be describing the rapture. Jesus is waiting for the time decided upon by God.
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. Matthew 24:36
This could also be an angel with a special mission. The 24 elders described earlier also wore gold crowns. This harvest could describe the final judgment of God on the earth. We are not told what the first harvest is.
In the second part of the vision another angel emerges from the temple with a sickle. An angel that is in charge of the fire tells him to harvest the grapes. This is the harvesting of the wicked, since we are told that the grapes were thrown into the wine press of God's wrath. We are told that they were trampled in the winepress outside the city, which correlates to the final battle on the plains of Armageddon, or Har Megiddo. Megiddo is located in the plain of Jezreel, a valley southwest of Nazareth. Here, it is thought by many, that the great final battle of Armageddon will be fought at the end of time. The final description is of the valley flowing with blood to the height of a horse's bridle for about 200 miles. This depicts the magnitude of the final battle.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Beast
In chapter thirteen we are introduced to the Beast. The Beast is the Antichrist. This is the most widely known aspect of the end times and is featured in books and movies and music. Popular movies include the Omen series of movies and the Iron Maiden song, the Number of the Beast. The Antichrist has been made a horror story villain and most people relegate him to fiction along with Michael Myers and Freddie Krueger. Unfortunately, unlike these villains the Antichrist is real and will one day rise to power. Let's look at chapter thirteen and see how the Bible describes the Antichrist.
1 The dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.[b]
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
10 “If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword,
with the sword they will be killed.”[d]
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
Let's take a look at the first half of chapter thirteen. A Beast arises out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on each head. The sea described here represents the gentile nations of the world, and the fact that the Beast rises out of the sea means that he will come to power politically. The heads represent dominion and the ten horns are a world government, the blasphemous names mean that these governments deny the true God. We have seen these horns mentioned in Daniel.
7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Daniel 7:7-8
23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.[b] Daniel 7:23-25
Now the Beast is described as resembling a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. These represent the first three world powers that ruled before the fourth, which is the Beast. These powers were represented in Daniel.
4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.
5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’
6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. Daniel 7:4-6
We can take this to mean that the fourth kingdom will be represented by these three powers combined. These powers were Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece.
In verse 2 we see that the dragon, which is Satan, gives the Beast dominion over the earth. When God created the earth, He gave dominion over the earth to Adam. When Adam sinned, dominion was given over to Satan. In his final bid to wage war against God, Satan gives dominion to the Antichrist. So now we know that the Antichrist will become the ruler of the world. In verse 3, the Beast is wounded in his head and is healed miraculously. The world is amazed that the Antichrist has risen from the dead, and worship him and through him they worship Satan. At this point, the tribulation period is half over, but the worst is still to come. The last three and a half years will be more difficult and is known as the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will now be waging full on war with the believers left on earth. Many will be slain by the Antichrist at this time, but the believers will be faithful until the end and their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The Beast out of the Earth
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.
In the second half of the chapter we are introduced to another Beast that will rise up out of the earth. Rising up out of the earth, this Beast may be an apostate Jew. He may initiate the peace treaty with the Antichrist at the beginning of the tribulation period. He is described as a lamb with two horns. Lambs don't have horns, so we can surmise that he is a false prophet.
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Matthew 7:15
Then we see that the lamb speaks like a dragon, this suggests that he will be speaking for Satan. The Antichrist will give him power to direct the world to worship him. The second beast, or false prophet will do miracles on behalf of the Antichrist and will cause the people of the world to worship the Beast as god. After the Antichrist rises from the dead, the False Prophet has an image of the Antichrist created. He gives the image the ability to speak, and all those that refuse to worship this image are killed. He will also institute the mark, which represents the name or number of the Beast, and everyone that wants to be able to buy or sell anything must have the mark. The number of the mark is 666. A custom in the ancient times was to mark a slave with a brand of ownership, so this is similar in that if you take this mark, you are being branded as being owned by Satan. Now the number 666 is always depicted as representing evil. We do not know how this number will relate to the Antichrist, some people think his name will have 6 letters for first, middle and last, others have different theories. No one really knows, but when the time comes, God will give believers discernment to understand what this means. It will be a horrible time for a believer to be alive during this part of the tribulation. They need only stand firm in their beliefs, for the Antichrist and Satan can only harm their bodies....their souls belong to God.
1 The dragon[a] stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 2 The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. 4 People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months.6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given power to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And it was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.[b]
9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
10 “If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity they will go.
If anyone is to be killed[c] with the sword,
with the sword they will be killed.”[d]
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
Let's take a look at the first half of chapter thirteen. A Beast arises out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on each head. The sea described here represents the gentile nations of the world, and the fact that the Beast rises out of the sea means that he will come to power politically. The heads represent dominion and the ten horns are a world government, the blasphemous names mean that these governments deny the true God. We have seen these horns mentioned in Daniel.
7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Daniel 7:7-8
23 “He gave me this explanation: ‘The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. 25He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.[b] Daniel 7:23-25
Now the Beast is described as resembling a leopard with feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion. These represent the first three world powers that ruled before the fourth, which is the Beast. These powers were represented in Daniel.
4 “The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and a human mind was given to it.
5 “And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, ‘Get up and eat your fill of flesh!’
6 “After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. Daniel 7:4-6
We can take this to mean that the fourth kingdom will be represented by these three powers combined. These powers were Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece.
In verse 2 we see that the dragon, which is Satan, gives the Beast dominion over the earth. When God created the earth, He gave dominion over the earth to Adam. When Adam sinned, dominion was given over to Satan. In his final bid to wage war against God, Satan gives dominion to the Antichrist. So now we know that the Antichrist will become the ruler of the world. In verse 3, the Beast is wounded in his head and is healed miraculously. The world is amazed that the Antichrist has risen from the dead, and worship him and through him they worship Satan. At this point, the tribulation period is half over, but the worst is still to come. The last three and a half years will be more difficult and is known as the Great Tribulation. The Antichrist will now be waging full on war with the believers left on earth. Many will be slain by the Antichrist at this time, but the believers will be faithful until the end and their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
The Beast out of the Earth
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. 14 Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[e] That number is 666.
In the second half of the chapter we are introduced to another Beast that will rise up out of the earth. Rising up out of the earth, this Beast may be an apostate Jew. He may initiate the peace treaty with the Antichrist at the beginning of the tribulation period. He is described as a lamb with two horns. Lambs don't have horns, so we can surmise that he is a false prophet.
15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Matthew 7:15
Then we see that the lamb speaks like a dragon, this suggests that he will be speaking for Satan. The Antichrist will give him power to direct the world to worship him. The second beast, or false prophet will do miracles on behalf of the Antichrist and will cause the people of the world to worship the Beast as god. After the Antichrist rises from the dead, the False Prophet has an image of the Antichrist created. He gives the image the ability to speak, and all those that refuse to worship this image are killed. He will also institute the mark, which represents the name or number of the Beast, and everyone that wants to be able to buy or sell anything must have the mark. The number of the mark is 666. A custom in the ancient times was to mark a slave with a brand of ownership, so this is similar in that if you take this mark, you are being branded as being owned by Satan. Now the number 666 is always depicted as representing evil. We do not know how this number will relate to the Antichrist, some people think his name will have 6 letters for first, middle and last, others have different theories. No one really knows, but when the time comes, God will give believers discernment to understand what this means. It will be a horrible time for a believer to be alive during this part of the tribulation. They need only stand firm in their beliefs, for the Antichrist and Satan can only harm their bodies....their souls belong to God.
Monday, January 30, 2012
The Woman and the Dragon
At this point John's view is once more from the heavens. He will now see the background story to explain why these judgments will happen.
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
In the first verse, we see a woman clothed with the sun and moon with twelve stars on her head. This woman represents Israel, with the twelve stars representing the twelve tribes.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Genesis 37:9-11
Joseph had a dream where the sun and moon represented his Mother and Father and the eleven stars were his brothers.
The woman was pregnant and about to give birth, this would represent the birth of Jesus from the nation of Israel.
We are now introduced to the enemy, who is described as the red dragon. This dragon represents Satan who tried to stop God's plan for redemption by stopping the Messiah. The heads, horns and crowns represent his rule of the revived Roman Empire.
7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Daniel 7:7-8
When the dragon sweeps one-third of the stars from the sky represents the time when Satan rebelled against God, and one-third of the angels followed him.
The woman gave birth to a son, which represents Jesus being born through Israel. We know it is Jesus, because the verse says He “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” The child is snatched up to God and to His throne.
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11
The woman flees to the wilderness to a place where God will care for her for 1260 days. This is three and a half years, which is one half of the Tribulation period.
14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’[a]standing where it[b] does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Mark 13:14
Satan lost the war to take over Heaven, and is thrown down to the earth. He knows that he has only a short time to war with God's people. He enters the temple and declares himself to be god.
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.[k]”[l] Daniel 9:27
He then tries to destroy Israel, but she flees into the wilderness to Petra (many people think this is the place), where God will protect her for three and a half years. The water that spews from Satan's mouth represents Satan's fury directed at Israel, and God will supernaturally protect her against Satan's fury.
Since Satan can't harm those people, he continues to persecute and martyr those followers of God that are not supernaturally protected in the wilderness.
1 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”[a] And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short.”
13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.
In the first verse, we see a woman clothed with the sun and moon with twelve stars on her head. This woman represents Israel, with the twelve stars representing the twelve tribes.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind. Genesis 37:9-11
Joseph had a dream where the sun and moon represented his Mother and Father and the eleven stars were his brothers.
The woman was pregnant and about to give birth, this would represent the birth of Jesus from the nation of Israel.
We are now introduced to the enemy, who is described as the red dragon. This dragon represents Satan who tried to stop God's plan for redemption by stopping the Messiah. The heads, horns and crowns represent his rule of the revived Roman Empire.
7 “After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.
8 “While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a human being and a mouth that spoke boastfully. Daniel 7:7-8
When the dragon sweeps one-third of the stars from the sky represents the time when Satan rebelled against God, and one-third of the angels followed him.
The woman gave birth to a son, which represents Jesus being born through Israel. We know it is Jesus, because the verse says He “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” The child is snatched up to God and to His throne.
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11
The woman flees to the wilderness to a place where God will care for her for 1260 days. This is three and a half years, which is one half of the Tribulation period.
14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’[a]standing where it[b] does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Mark 13:14
Satan lost the war to take over Heaven, and is thrown down to the earth. He knows that he has only a short time to war with God's people. He enters the temple and declares himself to be god.
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.[k]”[l] Daniel 9:27
He then tries to destroy Israel, but she flees into the wilderness to Petra (many people think this is the place), where God will protect her for three and a half years. The water that spews from Satan's mouth represents Satan's fury directed at Israel, and God will supernaturally protect her against Satan's fury.
Since Satan can't harm those people, he continues to persecute and martyr those followers of God that are not supernaturally protected in the wilderness.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven continues the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpet blasts. This interlude begins with the two witnesses that prophesy at this time. They are likened to the prophets of the Old Testement.
1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”[a] 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Now the seventh trumpet is sounded. The final seven bowl judgments are contained within this final trumpet blast. These final judgments will culminate in God defeating Satan and his followers. At the blast of the trumpet, there was an announcement in heaven that the earth now belongs to God. Until this time God had given dominion to Adam, and then when Adam sinned he gave dominion to Satan. Now it had come full circle and dominion was now returned to God. The twenty-four elders who we had seen earlier in Revelation begin to worship God, and to praise God and to proclaim that the time of judgment is now. At this time God's temple in heaven is opened and we see the ark of His covenant. The termination of the seven trumpets is heralded by a storm in heaven much like the termination of the seal judgments. This encompasses the first half of the tribulation period for the earth. Next we will learn about the final judgments of the Great Tribulation period, the final three and a half years before Jesus returns to battle Satan.
1 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.”[a] 5If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days the breath[b] of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
The measuring of the temple represents the protection of the believers at this time. The inner court of the Temple represents the believers during this time. The outer courts represent the non-believers, who will oppose God. This is not saying that believers will not be martyred, but they will not die separated from God. This time will span forty-two months.
They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. Luke 21:24
Now God sends his two witnesses. Two represents strength and truth, if one person tells you something it may not be true, but a second person can attest to the truth of what the first person is telling you. The will prophesy for 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. The 1260 days corresponds to the time spoken of in Daniel.
He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time.[b] Daniel 7:21
The sackcloth represents mourning, which means the witnesses will be prophesying during a time of persecution. They are described as two lampstands and as two olive trees
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I said.
14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to[b] serve the Lord of all the earth.” Zechariah 4:11-14
The two witnesses were supernaturally protected during this time. They prophesied and were given the power to stop any rain from falling during their time of ministry. They could turn the waters to blood and strike the earth with plagues, but no one could harm them. Any one that would try to harm them during this time would be devoured by the flames that came from their mouths. At the end of the 1260 days, the beast (Satan) will kill them. They will lie on the street for the whole world to see for three and a half days. During this time in history is the first time that this could actually happen. Television will probably broadcast this event to the entire world. Everyone will celebrate the fact that these two are gone. After the three and a half days, they will rise from the dead and will ascend to heaven. The world that is watching will be in shock that this happened. After they ascend there will be a massive earthquake and a tenth of the city will collapse. This ends the second woe that the eagle had previously announced. Now we move on to the third woe...
The Seventh Trumpet
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has becomethe kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Now the seventh trumpet is sounded. The final seven bowl judgments are contained within this final trumpet blast. These final judgments will culminate in God defeating Satan and his followers. At the blast of the trumpet, there was an announcement in heaven that the earth now belongs to God. Until this time God had given dominion to Adam, and then when Adam sinned he gave dominion to Satan. Now it had come full circle and dominion was now returned to God. The twenty-four elders who we had seen earlier in Revelation begin to worship God, and to praise God and to proclaim that the time of judgment is now. At this time God's temple in heaven is opened and we see the ark of His covenant. The termination of the seven trumpets is heralded by a storm in heaven much like the termination of the seal judgments. This encompasses the first half of the tribulation period for the earth. Next we will learn about the final judgments of the Great Tribulation period, the final three and a half years before Jesus returns to battle Satan.
Monday, December 12, 2011
The Little Scroll
Before the seventh trumpet is sounded, there is an interlude. Chapter 10 describes what John sees in this interlude.
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’[a]” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
John sees an angel come down from heaven to stand on the earth. John has seen everything that has happened from his vantage point in heaven, now he is on the earth. John begins to describe this angel. The angel is robed in a cloud, which may mean robed in God's presence
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking
Ezekial 1:28
The angel has a rainbow around his head, which is similar to the rainbow that is around the heavenly throne.
3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne
Revelation 4:3
His face was like the sun, as John had described the face of Christ.
6 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Revelation 1:16
His legs were like fiery pillars. This may be compared to the fiery pillar that led the Israelites out of Egypt, or this may be another description of Christ that John had given when he first saw him.
21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Exodus 13:21
15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters
Revelation 1:15
The angel had his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. This not only indicates the size of the angel, but that he was in control of both the land and the sea.
In the angels hand is a little scroll.
Though the description of the angel is similar to John's description of Christ, we may think that this angel is Jesus. Since John does not bow down and worship the angel, we can infer that the angel is not Christ, but perhaps Gabriel.
7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
Daniel 12:7
The angel shouts like the roar of a lion, the seven thunders reply. Possibly they give a detailed description of the judgements to come. John is told not to write it down. It could be that what John heard was so horrific that if we knew about it, we would have no hope.
The angel raises his hands to heaven and swears by God that there will be no more delay in God's judgment. The seventh trumpet is about to be sounded, and God's judgment will come to fruition.
John is told to take the scroll from the angel. The angel tells John to eat it, but it will be sweet in his mouth, but turn his stomach sour. Possibly what was written on the scroll was something both pleasant and unpleasant. The scroll is God's word, which would be pleasant to John, but the judgment revealed for the peoples would turn his stomach.
John is told that he must once again prophesy to the peoples, nations, languages and kings.
1 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land,3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”
5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”
9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’[a]” 10 I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”
John sees an angel come down from heaven to stand on the earth. John has seen everything that has happened from his vantage point in heaven, now he is on the earth. John begins to describe this angel. The angel is robed in a cloud, which may mean robed in God's presence
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking
Ezekial 1:28
The angel has a rainbow around his head, which is similar to the rainbow that is around the heavenly throne.
3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne
Revelation 4:3
His face was like the sun, as John had described the face of Christ.
6 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Revelation 1:16
His legs were like fiery pillars. This may be compared to the fiery pillar that led the Israelites out of Egypt, or this may be another description of Christ that John had given when he first saw him.
21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Exodus 13:21
15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters
Revelation 1:15
The angel had his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. This not only indicates the size of the angel, but that he was in control of both the land and the sea.
In the angels hand is a little scroll.
Though the description of the angel is similar to John's description of Christ, we may think that this angel is Jesus. Since John does not bow down and worship the angel, we can infer that the angel is not Christ, but perhaps Gabriel.
7 The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, times and half a time.[b] When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.”
Daniel 12:7
The angel shouts like the roar of a lion, the seven thunders reply. Possibly they give a detailed description of the judgements to come. John is told not to write it down. It could be that what John heard was so horrific that if we knew about it, we would have no hope.
The angel raises his hands to heaven and swears by God that there will be no more delay in God's judgment. The seventh trumpet is about to be sounded, and God's judgment will come to fruition.
John is told to take the scroll from the angel. The angel tells John to eat it, but it will be sweet in his mouth, but turn his stomach sour. Possibly what was written on the scroll was something both pleasant and unpleasant. The scroll is God's word, which would be pleasant to John, but the judgment revealed for the peoples would turn his stomach.
John is told that he must once again prophesy to the peoples, nations, languages and kings.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
The Continuation of the Trumpet Judgments
In Revelation chapter 9, we see the continuation of the trumpet blasts. In chapter 8 we saw the first four trumpets and their judgments, now we will see what will happen during the next two trumpet blasts.
1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, John sees a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. This is obviously an angel. He is given a key to open the abyss. When he opens the shaft, smoke pours out of it that darkens the sky and the sun, and in that smoke are demonic beings. They are described as similar to locusts, but with stingers similar to scorpions. They were allowed to sting everyone that did not have God's seal on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill anyone, but to torment them for five months. These stings will cause incredible pain, people will want to kill themselves because of it, but will not be able to. Then John describes what these demonic creatures look like. They looked like horses prepared for battle, they were well prepared for their mission. They wore crowns of gold, this symbolizes the fact that they will be victorious in their mission. Their faces resembled human faces, you can see the cunning and intelligence in their expressions. They had hair like womens hair, some ancient warriors wore their hair long as a symbol of fierceness. They had teeth like a lions' teeth, another symbol for fierceness. They had breastplates of iron, they were invincible. The sound of their wings is like the thundering of many horses, in ancient wars the participants made as much noise as possible to intimidate their foes. They had tails and stings like scorpions, they were supernatural beings. They are also led by an archdemon, Apollyon or Abaddon, the Hebrew word for destruction. John reminds the reader that the first of these three woes is past, but there are still two more coming.
The sixth angel sounds his trumpet. The altar before God commands the angel to release the four angels who are bound at the Euphrates river. These are evil angels that will lead a second demonic army. They were allowed to kill a third of mankind. They led an army of two hundred million. This demonic army is then described by John. They have breastplates of red, blue and yellow, this represents the red of fire, the blue of smoke and the yellow of sulfur. The breastplates symbolize their invincibility and the plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that they bring. The heads of the horses resembled lions heads, a lion is terrifying when it attacks. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur, a deadly attack. Their tails were like snakes, with biting heads. One third of mankind is killed by these demons. The other two thirds refuse to repent.
1 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.
17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18 A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21 Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, John sees a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. This is obviously an angel. He is given a key to open the abyss. When he opens the shaft, smoke pours out of it that darkens the sky and the sun, and in that smoke are demonic beings. They are described as similar to locusts, but with stingers similar to scorpions. They were allowed to sting everyone that did not have God's seal on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill anyone, but to torment them for five months. These stings will cause incredible pain, people will want to kill themselves because of it, but will not be able to. Then John describes what these demonic creatures look like. They looked like horses prepared for battle, they were well prepared for their mission. They wore crowns of gold, this symbolizes the fact that they will be victorious in their mission. Their faces resembled human faces, you can see the cunning and intelligence in their expressions. They had hair like womens hair, some ancient warriors wore their hair long as a symbol of fierceness. They had teeth like a lions' teeth, another symbol for fierceness. They had breastplates of iron, they were invincible. The sound of their wings is like the thundering of many horses, in ancient wars the participants made as much noise as possible to intimidate their foes. They had tails and stings like scorpions, they were supernatural beings. They are also led by an archdemon, Apollyon or Abaddon, the Hebrew word for destruction. John reminds the reader that the first of these three woes is past, but there are still two more coming.
The sixth angel sounds his trumpet. The altar before God commands the angel to release the four angels who are bound at the Euphrates river. These are evil angels that will lead a second demonic army. They were allowed to kill a third of mankind. They led an army of two hundred million. This demonic army is then described by John. They have breastplates of red, blue and yellow, this represents the red of fire, the blue of smoke and the yellow of sulfur. The breastplates symbolize their invincibility and the plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that they bring. The heads of the horses resembled lions heads, a lion is terrifying when it attacks. Out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur, a deadly attack. Their tails were like snakes, with biting heads. One third of mankind is killed by these demons. The other two thirds refuse to repent.
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