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
2 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
3 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
4 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.
5 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.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and
prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due.”
7 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
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his
bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with
fire. 9 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment