Friday, October 14, 2022

THE SEVEN BOWLS OF ARMAGEDDON, REVELATION 16

 


 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”

In my Bible, I wrote a capital “V” above “voice” because, the preceding verse, (Revelation 15:8) tells us that the temple was filled with the glory and power of God, and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven bowls were complete. Thus, it appears, this Voice, coming from the temple, is none other than the mighty Voice of God.

It makes sense that He would be the One, to issue the command to begin the, Coup de Grâce, the most intense series of judgements upon the earth, to finally bring an end to the Great Tribulation. 

To put to death—death.  

 

FIRST BOWL: LOATHSOME SORES

So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.

Some other words used for foul and loathsome include: ugly, festering, horrible, malignant, harmful, painful, grievous.

The original text uses the words: kakós; meaning, inwardly foul, rotten; inner malice flowing out of a moral-rot.

And the word: ponéros; emphasizing the inevitable agonies (misery) that goes with evil.

These sores were no random act of punishment from God, but a consequence of selling their soul, and submitting their bodies, to the mark of the beast. They have sown to the flesh, and thus reap corruption.   

 

SECOND BOWL: THE SEA TURNS TO BLOOD

Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.

This second bowl sounds a little like the second trumpet, where a third of the sea turned to blood and a third of the sea creatures died (Revelation 8:8-9). However, here, there is no limit. All the sea turns to blood and every living creature in the sea, dies.

 

THIRD BOWL: THE WATERS TURN TO BLOOD

Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.

This time the third bowl, is somewhat similar to the third trumpet, where a third of the fresh water becomes poisonously bitter.  

 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:

“You are righteous, O Lord,
The One who is and who was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due.”

And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Here we hear, these judgements are righteous and true, it is their just due.

You can be sure; the bowls are not haphazard. God is intentional. Each bowl has a message.

Okay, that makes sense. But why… blood?

As you know, blood is an integral part of HIStory.

Shedding innocent blood, pollutes the land.

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Numbers 35:33.

Innocent blood cries out for justice.

God set the precedent, in the beginning, when Cain, the first murderer, killed his brother, Abel; “Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” Genesis 4:10.

Jesus condemned the, oh so religious, scribes and pharisees, telling them: “Upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” Matthew 23:35.

We hear it from the martyred tribulation saints, “How long oh Lord, until You avenge our blood.” Revelation 6:10.  

 

We’re taught, that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.  Hebrews 9:22.

We all know, we’ve all sinned. Every. Single. One. Romans 3:23.

The wages of sin, is death… Romans 6:23.

Oh boy. We’re in trouble.

Jesus, lifted His hands, and volunteered, to shed His own, innocent blood, in place of our guilty blood.

The offer was acceptable to the Divine Justice of God. A New Covenant was cut. The blood of Jesus, was shed…making the One and Only Way for the polluted land, of the heart of man, to be cleansed.

He who knew no sin, became sin, for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

God accepted the Sacrifice and raised Jesus from the dead. Hallelujah, Happy Easter, every day, forever and ever, amen.  

Life is in the blood, naturally, and Spiritually.

Doug, this is wonderful, but what in the world does it have to do with the bowls, and blood?

Okay, let’s tie it all together.

We’ve established that blood cries out for justice. Jesus answered the call to cleanse the polluted land, of the hearts of man.

But

Jesus didn’t die for the dirt.

The verse we quoted from, Numbers 35:33, tells us the blood of the guilty, must be shed to cleanse the land.

There’s a lot of innocent blood crying out.

Statistically, 125,000 babies are slaughtered per day, over 5,200 per hour, 87 a minute, the innocent blood of 3 precious babies is shed every 2 seconds.  

That’s a LOT of blood, crying out.

The whole earth is groaning, travailing, to be delivered from this polluted, corruption. Romans 8:21-22.  

In the end, it’s as if the whole earth regurgitates all the blood from righteous Abel, to the last aborted baby. No wonder, the sea and the water, turn to blood.

Those who were bloodthirsty for innocent life, those who rejected the Life blood, of Christ, now are given what they desired. Blood. Lots and lots of blood. But instead of giving Life, this blood brings death.   

 

FOURTH BOWL: MEN ARE SCORCHED

Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

Extreme heat, and extreme hate.

Here they are given a foreshadow of what is to come, fire and brimstone, unquenchable, never ending, fire.

Yet, they do not repent. That means, they could.

Even in this eleventh hour, God still offers redemption, yet, instead, they curse Him. The word used is, blasphēméō: a refusal to acknowledge good (worthy of respect); to slander; to speak profanely of the sacred.

Rather than repenting, instead of turning from their sin, they curse the One who could save them.

 

FIFTH BOWL: DARKNESS AND PAIN

10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

This is another warning of what is to come; outer darkness.

And yet, once again, they reject Him.

In utter darkness, pain intensifies. Notice how the sores from the first bowl, and the pain from the fourth, can still be felt; indicating how swiftly the bowls are poured, without delay.

They loved moral, and spiritual, darkness; rather than His Love and Light. So, now their calloused hearts and corrupt minds, are covered in utter darkness, and they reap their just reward.

 

SIXTH BOWL: EUPHRATES DRIED UP

12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 

If I lived by the Euphrates…I’d move.

The Euphrates, is the most mentioned river in the Bible. It flows about 1,750 miles. Starts in Turkey, winds through Syria, into Iraq, snakes by Babylon, and empties into the Persian Gulf. It’s one of the four rivers that flowed from the river that came out of The Garden of Eden; Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, Euphrates, Genesis 2:10-14.

Not far from The Garden Eden, is Babylon; the infamous place of the tower of babel. Where they worshipped the sun and moon and stars. It’s the birthplace of the occult; devil worship and sorcery.

“Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit…” Revelation 18:2 

It seems to be the place, where evil abides. The sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl, speak of the Euphrates, and demons.   

The sixth trumpet releases four demons that are currently bound by the Euphrates. You may recall, (Hell Unleashed; Revelation 9:13- 21), two hundred million, demonic, fire-breathing, lion-headed, horses, unleased to kill one-third of mankind. It’s interesting, that in 1965, China boasted they could muster a two hundred-million-man army. 

Now here, with the sixth bowl, the Euphrates is mentioned again, so that the way of the kings from the east (like China) might be prepared.

Whoever said the Bible is outdated and boring—never read it.

13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 

Yuck!

If this were a movie, I couldn’t watch it.

Demons, like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the dragon (the devil), the beast (antichrist) and the false prophet. The unholy trinity, emits, demons.

 

14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Through deceptive wonders, the frog-like demons, entice world leaders, to gather near a little dot on the map, called Israel; against God Almighty.

 

15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

Isn’t it just like Jesus, to show up in the midst of the darkest, vilest, most horrendous, moment, and offer hope. Only He would dare utter the beautiful word, “Blessed” like a rose blossoming in the midst of a blood-filled battlefield.

If you watch, keep your eyes on Me, you are blessed, even in the midst of hell on earth, you will not be deceived like the couple in the garden, who let their eyes wander, and found themselves, naked.

16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.


Armageddon. In Hebrew it’s, Harmagedón: Har-Magedon. Har means, mount. Megiddo, was a city, north of Jerusalem about 50-60 miles.

The city has been destroyed and rebuilt twenty times. Today it’s just a tel, (a mound, or hill, evidencing an ancient civilization, that has been built over. This is what archaeologists look for to organize digs.)

Megiddo sits next to the Jezreel (Megiddo) Valley. It’s a beautiful, fertile valley of about 14x70 miles; the breadbasket for Israel, and others.

Although this is the only time it's mentioned in the Bible, the word, Armageddon, gets a lot of press. Almost everyone has heard the word. Lately it’s been in the headlines of every major news source.

One day, it’ll be churned to mud, and blood, as kings of the earth and of the whole world are drawn by demons, to gather for, the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

We call it, the battle of Armageddon.

SEVENTH BOWL: THE EARTH UTTERLY SHAKEN

17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

God’s gavel of justice is dropped. Case is closed.

 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 

Throughout Scripture we see this as a manifestation of the Presence, and Power, of Almighty God.

19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 

Here we’re given an overview, and a close up.

An overview.

Blood has saturated the earth; per the Divine Justice we spoke of earlier. Now, the topography, the landscape, of the entire planet is changed.

The Creator, is reshaping His creation, in preparation for the millennium, and eventually, His new heaven, and new earth.  

A close up.

A behind the scenes, sneak peek. Tucked in the middle of this passage, between the cities dividing and falling, and the islands fleeing and mountains hiding, it’s as if God leans over and whispers to us, “Oh by the way, after this, I’ll show you what’s going to happen to wicked Babylon.” Which is exactly what we see in the following chapters.

21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.

Many storm chasing insurance adjusters and contractors love hail, pray for hail, make a living off of hail. But not this kind of hail. These hail stones will be over a hundred pounds each. It will pummel to powder, any manmade structure it hits.

This is it. The Coup de Grâce, the final, finishing, blow.

Surely now, anyone left standing, will fall to their knees and cry out to God for mercy. Now they will turn to Him and repent, right?

Alas, no, they won’t.

Even as the clock is just one tic from striking twelve, God still offers redemption, yet, instead, they, blasphēméō, they curse Him.

They reject Him for the third time. The clock strikes twelve; and they strike out.

 

Hear the Heavenly Voice

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 29 For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12: 25-29.


Lord Jesus,

We pray that no one we know, no one who reads this, or hears this… experience this.

Amen.  

 

Remember, we love you.

More importantly,

Jesus loves you.

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