REVELATION 12-17 TRIBULATION BOWLS OF JUDGMENT2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Revelation 12-17 Tribulation Bowls Of Judgment

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014.

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And then we'll move on to some other things that God has in store for us. And I'll share a little bit more about that on Sunday. But I'm excited. It's a great, just really exciting, a great thing to complete this, you know, and have come through these three years. And the whole Bible from cover to cover has been a great blessing. Well, the book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John around 97 AD, really near the end of his life. He

He wrote it and sent it out to the churches of Asia. And he was writing to them the vision that he had while he was on the island of Patmos. And so he had this vision and Jesus appeared to him and gave him some insight about the things that are to come. And he gave us an outline of the book of Revelation in Revelation chapter 1 verse 19. When the Lord tells him to write the things which he had seen.

And so it divides the book of Revelation into three parts. The things that he had seen was the things in reference to the revelation of Jesus there on the island of Patmos. That vision that he had.

And then the things that are relate to the chapters 2 and 3, which is Jesus' letters to the seven churches. And that relates to the present time, even currently we are living in that time, the time of the church.

But then the third section is the things which will take place after this. And so after the church age, then there's going to be another series of events. And that's what the rest of the book of Revelation is about. Chapters 4 through 22, the things that take place after the present time, the time of the church. And so what are these things?

Well, here's the things that must shortly take place. The rapture of the church, that concludes the church age, and then chapters 6 through 19 record for us the seven years of tribulation that will be poured out upon the earth. Then in chapter 19, we have the return of Jesus Christ. He will return back to the earth and then rule and reign for 1,000 years here upon the earth.

At the end of that thousand years, Satan will rebel for one last time and he will be defeated. And then there will be the great white throne judgment and that will usher in the new Jerusalem and eternity. And so we're working our way through these future things as we go through our chapters this evening, really focused on the seven years of tribulation as we are in chapters 12 through 17.

And we began those years of tribulation last week as we talked about the seven seals. And I just want to kind of recap them because really to understand the devastation of the tribulation is to understand that all of these things take place within this seven year time frame. And so the first seal is opened and the Antichrist comes forth to conquer us.

And then the second seal is opened and peace is taken from the earth. And so war begins very early in the tribulation period. And then the third seal is broken and there's worldwide famine upon the whole earth. Then the fourth seal is opened and there's death that falls upon one quarter of the earth.

So a quarter of the people will die at that time. And the fifth seal is opened and the martyrs in heaven are comforted. The sixth seal is opened and there's some more catastrophic events, earthquakes and such. And then the seventh seal is opened and there's silence in heaven in preparation for the seven trumpets. And so now the seven trumpets come forward. And as each trumpet is blown, more judgment is poured out upon the earth.

And the first trumpet sounds and a third of the vegetation of the whole earth is burned. The second trumpet sounds and a third of the sea, that is the oceans, are turned to blood. And then the third trumpet sounds and a third of the fresh water is made bitter and undrinkable. And then the fourth trumpet sounds and a third of the stars are darkened.

Then the fifth trumpet sounds and there is five months of demonic torment. So bad was this torment that people would want to die, but they will be unable to. Then the sixth trumpet sounds and there will be four angels released who kill one third of mankind.

And then the seventh trumpet sounds and the temple in heaven is opened. And we'll see as we get into our chapters this evening, then from that comes the seven bowls of wrath. And these final seven bowls will be the fulfillment of all the wrath of God upon the earth for that tribulation period. But just to give another sense of, you know, how things will be during the tribulation.

The world population as of August of this year is a little over 7 billion people. And so just doing some rough math, you know, if we were to assume that all of the 32% of people who claim to be Christians actually are Christians, that would mean a little over 2 billion people would be raptured whenever that takes place. And so that would leave behind about 5 billion people to head into the tribulation period.

Now when the fourth seal is opened, a quarter of the earth is killed and that is 1.2 billion people if we're following these numbers. And so that would mean after the fourth seal there's a population of 3.6 billion people and then later on when the sixth trumpet sounds it's another one third of the earth that's killed.

And so it's another 1.2 billion people. And so after this sixth trumpet, the world population has been reduced now to about 2.4 billion people. And there's just devastation everywhere. There's death everywhere as a result of all of these judgments that are going on.

And so that gives us a little bit of a glimpse, you know, there's going to be a lot more going on that we can't get into. But the tribulation is going to be a time of death and destruction and much, much misery. Well, that brings us now to chapter 12 in our chapters this evening. So Revelation chapter 12, verse 12 is the key verse.

It says,

As we get into our chapters this evening, here beginning in chapter 12, we're kind of paused as far as the timeline is concerned. And as I kept sharing last week, you know, it's like when you pause a movie to explain some of the background things, you know, to someone else who's watching. And so that's kind of what's going on. We've been following the sequence, you know, each seal is opened in sequence, each seal

Each trumpet is blown in sequence, but now he's kind of like looking at the whole picture and giving us some behind-the-scenes information. And so he has this vision. It's a great sign of a woman who is with child and a dragon. And so he sees kind of this drama that unfolds before him in this vision.

Now, there's a lot of details in this chapter that we're not going to be able to get into for lack of time. But just to kind of summarize, this vision is not just, you know, something that he's watching, but there's meaning to it. And so the woman, as you dig into the details of this passage, is identified as the nation of Israel.

And you can tell that one of the ways by her being clothed with the sun, moon, and 11 stars. And that relates to Genesis chapter 37. And so you can kind of check that out later on. But so the woman represents the nation of Israel. The dragon, I think that one's not real difficult to interpret, right? Or to understand the dragon is Satan. And so this dragon, Satan, is fighting against Israel.

And here we see, you know, his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to earth. And so there's the reference here to those angels that fell with Satan when he rebelled against God. And so this angel stands before the woman who's ready to give birth to devour her child as soon as it was born. And so now we talk about this child, which we identify as Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus Christ.

was birthed out of Israel. Jesus was Jewish. He was an Israelite. And so the devil from the beginning has been trying to thwart God's plan to bring a savior through the nation of Israel. And we see that in a multitude of ways all throughout Israel's history. But remember when um

The wise men came to town and Herod heard about it and said, well, I can't have that. And so he put to death, you know, all the children who are under a certain age, according to the time that he learned from the wise men. That's, you know, another attempt from Satan to try to devour this savior that God was bringing forth. And so Satan has been fighting against God, fighting against God's people,

in order to defeat the plans of God and bring a Savior. Now, it makes reference to the child being caught up or ascended to heaven. And that's where we know that Jesus is. And so he was unable, he was unsuccessful at defeating the plan of salvation. But then it goes on as you go in in the picture.

In verse 6, it talks about the woman fleeing into the wilderness. And there's a big gap now between the child ascending into heaven, Jesus ascended, you know, 2,000 years ago now. But then later on, verse 6 is going to happen when Israel flees into the wilderness. And that's going to happen whenever there's the event known as the abomination of desolation.

You might remember in Matthew chapter 24 where Jesus says, when you see the abomination of desolation, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. And so there's this event that happens and he tells Israel, flee to the wilderness, flee to the mountains. And so that's going to happen during the tribulation period.

Now this abomination of desolation is an event where the Antichrist who comes on the scene will go into the temple that is in Jerusalem. It's not there now, but it will be. And he sets up an image of himself in the temple. He proclaims himself to be God and he demands that the world worship him.

And this happens right in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period. It's the dividing, you know, mark of the, there's the first three and a half years and the last three and a half years. And that middle divider is the abomination of desolation.

And at that time, Israel will flee into the wilderness. And God is going to protect Israel. And Satan, the dragon, will be pursuing Israel and trying to destroy Israel even at that time. But God's going to protect them in the vision that John has. It says, for 1260 days...

which is the same as 42 months, which is the same as three and a half years. And so God's going to protect the people of Israel as they flee to the wilderness for those final three and a half years of the tribulation period. Well then in verses 7 through 12, as he's watching this drama unfold, he sees war break out in heaven. So the abomination of desolation is a declaration of war.

That is, you know, Satan has been fighting against the Lord for a long time now. But this is kind of like the final battle. It's the beginning of that final stretch. And so all of the final things are now going to be taking place. And it's at this time that Satan is kicked out of heaven. Now he was kicked out of heaven in one sense a long time ago when he lifted himself on high in his pride. But

We see from the book of Job, he still goes to heaven. He still has conversations with God and says, have you considered my servant Harvey? And you know how faithful and righteous he is. He still has that kind of access to the heavens. But at this time, that's going to be closed. And he's cast down to the earth.

And he has a very short time. And so he's going to be very upset. He's going to be, it says in verses 13 through 17, persecuting the woman, persecuting Israel, but also those who believe. And so believers in Jesus at that time will be persecuted greatly by the enemy, by Satan.

Now, these are people who believe in Jesus after the rapture, during the tribulation period. There will be opportunity for people at that time to turn to God, but it's going to be in the midst of great difficulty and great tribulation. So that's the drama that unfolds here in Revelation chapter 12. And then as we go on into chapter 13, it continues.

And so there was three characters in chapter 12. The woman, the dragon, and the child. And now in chapter 13, we're introduced to two more characters in this drama or this vision that he watches. Verse 2 is the key verse. It says,

And so the first character that is mentioned or introduced here is this beast that comes up out of the sea. Now we identify this beast as the Antichrist.

And the Antichrist is called many different things in the Bible. Antichrist is the title that usually sticks and we all know who we're talking about. And Antichrist is pretty good because it describes both aspects of, well, this person, this beast. Anti can mean against and it can also mean instead of. And the Antichrist will be trying to do both of those. That is, he will be against Christ.

And fighting against the plans of God. But he will also be presenting himself instead of Christ. And so calling people to worship him instead of Christ. Calling people to follow him and be devoted to him instead of Jesus.

And so this beast is the Antichrist. Now, we first are introduced to the Antichrist back in Revelation chapter 6 when the first seal is opened. And so again, this isn't trying to follow a timeline here, but this is, you know, looking at the whole picture and seeing the different characters or the different people involved in these tribulation periods.

And so the beast comes out of the sea and he's described as kind of being ugly, but you know, it's going to be a person and he's going to be smooth. He's going to be good looking. Everybody's going to love him and everybody's going to think that he is the savior.

Verse 3 is interesting. John says, I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world marveled and followed the beast. And so there is, you know, some type of wound that he receives. It's not exactly clear, and there's a lot of discussion about what exactly it means, but most come to the conclusion that there is an assassination attempt that

on the Antichrist's life, but he recovers from it. Another suggestion that is offered is because the beast is the one who puts to death the two witnesses. That's how we concluded last week in chapter 11. There was the two witnesses. They're powerful. They can work miracles. They bother the earth because they're calling people to repentance and they don't want to repent. And so the beast, the Antichrist, finally puts them to death.

Well, it's possible that in the midst of that, you know, maybe there is this great battle and I have this like epic Lord of the Rings scene, you know, unfold in my head as I picture this. And so in this battle, he's mortally wounded, but then he is able to recover. But whatever it is, the result will be that the world is captivated by this guy. They marvel at this man, at this guy who is

Mortally wounded but then healed. And then they begin to follow him. And so verse 4 it says they worship the dragon who gave authority to the beast. And they worship the beast saying who is like the beast who is able to make war with him. And so they begin now to worship Satan and the Antichrist. As a result of you know him coming on the scenes and all that he is able to do.

In verse 5, it tells us that he is given authority to continue for 42 months. So this wound and then this healing happens around the middle of the tribulation period. And then the last half of the tribulation period, it says he's given authority to continue.

Now remember, the middle of the tribulation period is also the event known as the abomination of desolation. So again, it's very possible that he kills the two witnesses there in Jerusalem. He goes in, he sets up the idol of himself and demands that the world worship him. And then he's given authority by the Lord to continue for the last three and a half years.

Notice it says that he's given authority. And I think it's an important thing for us to remember that God's in control this whole time. So God gives him authority to continue. God allows for this to happen. And not only that, but in verse 7, it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And so God gives him authority. God grants him authority.

the opportunity to make war with the saints. God's in control. He's measuring all of this out. As we saw last week with all the, you know, one third of this and one third of that, one third of that. God is precisely controlling and measuring out

the things that are taking place in the tribulation period. So it's not too much judgment than what is needed or deserved, but it's just enough to call people to repentance to give them last opportunity before the final judgment is unleashed. So God is in control this whole time, even in the midst of this Antichrist, this beast who rises up out of the sea. But then there's another beast in the latter part of chapter 13.

And this other character is introduced. It's a beast rising up out of the earth. And so we identify this beast as the false prophet. It's not just going to be an antichrist who comes on the scene, but he's going to have a sidekick.

This false prophet will be pointing the people to worship the beast. The false prophet will be alongside working signs and wonders and calling people to follow and to devote themselves to the beast.

Their final end is found in Revelation chapter 19 verse 20. But there you can see it was the beast who was captured with him, the false prophet who worked signs in his presence. And that's how he deceived the people to receive the mark of the beast and to worship him. And so that's his purpose, to deceive the earth, to trick people into worshiping the beast. And so this has been referred to many times as an unholy trinity.

In the Trinity, you have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Here you have the dragon, Satan, and these two beasts. So Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. And they're working together to destroy the world and destroy people's lives. Verse 13 tells us he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.

You remember that great scene when Elijah calls down fire from heaven on the altar as he defeats the prophets of Baal. This false prophet is going to be able to do something similar, to call down fire upon the earth. And so he claims to be a true prophet. He calls down fire from heaven to prove it. And he's going to deceive a lot of people.

The Bible also talks about a strong delusion that will come upon the earth for those who reject the truth. And so the time to receive the truth is now because greater deception is coming. The time for us to share the truth is now because great deception is coming.

Verse 15, notice it says, he was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast. And so this image of the beast that is set up, he gives breath to it. He causes it to speak and to put to death all who would not worship the beast. Now again, notice the word granted. God is in control. He's given this authority. This is allowed, you know, under God's supervision to take place.

And so this false prophet causes, in verse 16, all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads so that nobody could buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.

And so it's actually the false prophet who institutes and enforces the mark of the beast. Again, his plan or his objective is to cause people to devote themselves to the beast. And the ultimate, you know, sign of that devotion is to receive the mark of the beast. Now, this is, of course, one of those things that has created tons and tons and tons of speculation.

And I would just issue a little word of caution here. Sometimes as Christians we speak of the speculation as if it was absolute certainty. And we need to be careful about that. We're not told exactly what this mark is. For many years, you know, people would expect it to be a tattoo.

Well, and then barcodes came out. You know, I was too young. That happened before my time. But, you know, when barcodes came out, you know, it was like an uproar, you know, amongst the Christians. It was like, this is the mark of the beast. You know, this must be it. So, you know, only shop at stores that don't use barcodes because that's the mark of the beast. And, you know, things like that. And it's a lot of speculation. It's a lot of things that really aren't tied to this. Now, there really is going to be a mark of the beast. And maybe it could be a tattoo.

Maybe it could be more, you know, modern and current. The speculation is it has to be a microchip. It's probably going to be a microchip that is implanted under the skin, you know, and it'll work like kind of like your debit card, but it'll be a microchip. Maybe it's Apple Pay, you know, we don't know, but it's going to be, you know, this whatever. And so then, you know, there's been people who like, well, I don't like to use credit cards because that's the mark of the beast. And we kind of operate and we need to be careful about that because that's,

That's not the mark of the beast. Here's what the Bible makes clear. We don't know exactly what it's going to be. We don't know exactly how this is all going to play out. But what we do know for sure, what is absolutely clear, is that when you receive the mark of the beast, you are swearing allegiance to the beast.

And so it's not going to be something that happens accidentally. It's not going to be something that you do, you know, on accident like, oh, I didn't mean to sign up for that credit card. Now I got the mark of the beast, you know. It's not going to be something that just happens like that.

It will not be taken unknowingly. And so there's no need to fear those kinds of things or those kinds of technologies because, well, it's very clear even as you go into chapter 14, there's going to be an angel saying, don't take the mark of the beast to the whole earth. And so it's going to be very clear. If you take the mark, you are swearing allegiance to the Antichrist.

And that's going to be a clear decision to worship him instead of worshiping God. All right, chapter 14 now. Better keep moving. Don't want to get stuck too much. All right, chapter 14, verse 6. Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.

That's pretty cool. We'll get to that in a second. Verses 1 through 5 though, it says, Behold a lamb on Mount Zion with 144,000. These are the 144,000 that we saw back in Revelation chapter 7. Remember the winds of judgment were held back.

And the 144,000 had to be sealed before the judgment could be brought upon the earth. And we saw that it was 12,000 from each tribe of the nation of Israel. And they were sealed on their foreheads. They were going to be protected through the tribulation. And they were going to be witnesses to Jesus in the midst of it.

And so he sees this lamb standing on Mount Zion with this 144,000. And the picture here, again, it's continuing the drama of chapter 12. So you had the dragon, the woman, the child. Then chapter 13, you have the two beasts. And now you have the lamb with the 144,000 standing on Mount Zion. And this is a victorious picture.

That is, these 144,000 have gone through the seven years of tribulation. And it's cause for worship and celebration as they worship the Lamb, as they worship God's work in their life. And so he's kind of like, again, having this vision of the whole time of the tribulation period here in chapters 12, 13, and 14.

But then he also sees in verses 6-13, he says, I saw three angels preaching to those who dwell on the earth.

And so many have kind of speculated. Again, the book of Revelation is great for all kinds of weird theories and speculations. So this angels in the heavens must be satellite TV and those kinds of things. I don't think that's true at all. I think these are actual angels flying through heaven and announcing these things. And there's three messages, you know, one message from each angel that are being proclaimed to the whole earth. One is the everlasting gospel.

In verse 6 he says, I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.

And so this angel will be proclaiming to the earth the gospel and will be calling people to worship God and devote themselves to God.

There will also be another angel that's flying though. In verse 8, we see this angel is announcing that Babylon is fallen. The Babylon the Great, that great city, because she's made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, it says in verse 8. And so this city of Babylon, which will be a literal city, a political capital, is

commercial capital, a religious capital that is going to be centered in this place. And this angel is announcing that it is about to fall, that it is about to be destroyed. And so man will be rebelling against God until the very end.

politically, religiously, commercially. It's all going to be a rebellion against God. And this angel is saying, all of your plans, even though you're united together in this one world government, all of your plans are going to fail. Well, the third angel, as this angel flies through the earth, issues a warning against taking the mark. Verse 9 says, Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,

And so this angel is issuing the warning.

And again, the thing to pay attention to is that worship and the mark of the beast go hand in hand. That is, taking the mark is an act of worship.

for the Antichrist, for the beast. It's a clear choice... devoting yourself to the Antichrist... instead of Jesus Christ. And so it's not going to be done accidentally. It's going to be done on purpose. It's also not going to be done forcibly. But it's going to be done by choice... that people will choose... to worship the Antichrist. But here the warning is... if you take the mark of the beast... if you make that choice...

then the result will be eternal judgment. There's not going to be an option after that to turn back and change your mind. But if you take the mark of the beast, then you will receive the full strength of the wrath of God. All throughout the tribulation period, again, we've been seeing the measured wrath of God. One third of this, one third of that, you know, exactly precise. But the full strength of God's wrath will be

issued upon those who devote themselves to the Antichrist, who refuse to surrender to Jesus Christ. Notice verse 11. It says, And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.

This is in reference to eternal judgment. And we see very clearly from the scriptures that hell is a very real place.

Now there's a temporary place of torment called Hades and that is going to be in place just until there's the great white throne judgment. But the final judgment place will be the lake of fire. And that's what the angel is warning about here. And it's not going to be a state of you cease to exist in this place of judgment. But notice the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever.

And so this is going to be an eternal place of judgment for those who worship the beast and whoever receives the mark of his name. For those who reject Jesus Christ, this is the place of judgment. Now, up until then, it's never too late. No matter what a person has done, no matter what a person, you know, has been involved with or where they've come from or what they've committed, it's not too late.

no matter what they've done, they can still turn to God. And that's why God has measured out these judgments. You know, God could, if he wanted to, rapture the church and just wipe out the rest of the people without taking this seven-year time period. But why doesn't he do that? Well, because he's giving this opportunity for people to turn and repent and get right with him.

Now the majority of the people will not take him up on the offer. They will insist on their way and persist in the tribulation period. But God is gracious and he's merciful and he continues to give people opportunity to repent. But once they receive the mark, once they swear allegiance to the beast and make that choice, that will be their last chance. That will be their last opportunity to repent. Up until then, they can repent and receive God's mercy.

Well, then in verses 14 through 16, he sees one like the son of man on a cloud. It causes much discussion. Is this Jesus? Verse 14. Then I looked and behold a white cloud and on the cloud sat one like the son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle.

We don't really know because it says it's one like the Son of Man. So maybe it is Jesus or maybe it's just another angelic being that's like the Son of Man. But Jesus is the Lamb and we know him as the Lamb of God. Almost every chapter of the book of Revelation refers to Jesus as the Lamb.

But Jesus also is the one who brings great judgment. This is, you know, the wrath of the Lamb that is also being poured out upon the earth. And so Jesus is both. He's a Lamb, you know, not very intimidating, but he's also the one who brings judgment. And all judgment has been committed to him, Jesus said. And so you get to pick which relationship you have with Jesus. You can have a relationship with Jesus as the Lamb,

That is, you come to him and look to him for salvation in that he died upon the cross as a sacrificial lamb for your sin. And so you turn from your sin to follow him. Or you can have a relationship with Jesus as the one who delivers judgment. And that is, you reject the lamb. You don't turn from your sin to follow him. But instead, you relate to Jesus as he gives judgment for your sinfulness.

In verses 17 through 20, an angel thrusts his sickle into the earth. And here is going to be a great reaping of destruction. In verse 19, it says, the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city and blood came out of the winepress up to the horse's bridles for 1,600 furlongs.

And so this seems to be a reference to the battle of Armageddon, which we'll get to in Revelation chapter 19. So again, we're not following a sequence right now. He's paused the movie. He's explaining some of the background details of what was there behind and then some of the things that we're working towards. And that's this visual that we're looking at. And so now this final scene

battle happens, the wine press is trampled and there's a great multitude that is slain in the midst of it. During that time at the battle of Armageddon, the beast and the false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire. But as the armies are gathered together...

At the battle of Armageddon, Jesus returns and they are slain by Jesus as he returns. And so it's a great multitude as these armies gather for battle. And as they're killed all at once, there's going to be a great pouring out of blood. And so that's why it refers to up to the horse's bridles for 1,600 furlongs. Now,

Now, 1,600 furlongs is about the same as 184 miles.

And the battle of Armageddon, of course, takes place in the valley of Megiddo. And the valley of Megiddo is about, interestingly enough, 184 square miles. And so the valley will be filled with blood. As the armies are gathered there and Jesus wipes them out, then their blood will flow through the valley and it will be a whole lot of blood. And so that's Revelation chapter 14. Now moving on to chapter 15.

Verse 1 is the key verse. Verse 1 he says, Now up to this point we've seen a lot of judgment poured out during this tribulation period. But it's not over yet.

Now that's pretty amazing. But again, God didn't just like lose his temper and like start shouting and throwing things and is just like out of control. It's all been measured out. And in these final judgments, these final seven plagues, the wrath of God will be poured out to completion. And so these are calculated things that he's been doing. These are measured out and now the seven last plagues will be poured out.

In verses 2 through 4, he says, I saw those who have victory over the beast. Verse 2 says, and I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name standing on the sea of glass having harps of God.

I think this passage is pretty interesting because here you get to see those who have victory over the beast. They have victory over the mark of the beast. But where are they? They're in heaven. Why are they in heaven? Because they've been killed. These are martyrs. These are those who refuse the mark and have been put to death. And yet it describes them as those who have victory over the beast. It's interesting. It's a good reminder for us.

Their death was victory. Victory was death for them. That is, they were faithful to the death. That was their victory and they are there with God in heaven. Those who have victory are those who are martyred. And so there can be death and victory together. Death is not defeat because we live not just in this life, but we live in eternity.

And there's much more outside of what we know of on this earth. There's, well, eternity that is laid out before us. And so faithfulness to God, no matter if it costs you your life, is victory. Because then you will be in the presence of God and you will be with God. And so even in death, you can have victory in faithfulness to Jesus.

Then in verses 5 through 8, he says, behold, the temple in heaven was opened. Verse 5 says, after these things I looked and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. The temple, the tabernacle of the testimony or the commandments was opened. This is another reminder for us. Remember back in Hebrews chapter 8,

We talked about the tabernacle that was on earth and then later the temple that Solomon built. It was, the author of Hebrews says, a copy and a shadow of the things that are in heaven. And so now we're getting a glimpse into the heavenly temple, the heavenly tabernacle. And now it's opened up. Now as it's opened up, seven angels come out of the temple with these last seven plagues.

Now, I see this as connected to Revelation chapter 11 verse 19. There in 1119 of Revelation, it says, The temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. There were lightnings, thunderings, an earthquake, and a great hail. Now, that happened in the seventh trumpet. And so, here's the way that I see it. In chapter 11, the seventh trumpet sounds. He hits pause. Pause.

12, 13, 14, up until this part of chapter 15, he's filling in some of the details, giving some background, giving some hints about what's to come. And now we're going to pick up the sequence again.

And now the rest of these judgments that come out of this seventh trumpet are going to be poured out upon the earth. And so these angels come from the temple as it's opened up, each one bringing a different judgment in these bowls that will be poured out upon the earth. And so we get to see these in chapter 16 now. Verse 1.

Now the wrath of God is probably not your favorite subject, but the reality is that God is just and holy. And he does have wrath. And it's right for him to have wrath. And whether you agree with that or not right now, there is a wrath of God that will be poured out upon the earth.

And even if you don't agree with it right now, even if you think that's not right, everybody will agree that it is right in eternity. Both the unrighteous and the righteous will agree the wrath of God is just and right. His wrath is fair because each one will receive the judgment that they deserve. Not more and not less. It will be fair and just and right. And so as

The earth has continued to rebel against God. As the people have continued to rebel against God, these final judgments are what is just and right and fair for their condition of rebellion against God. And so they're horrendous. They're, you know, very severe. But we're not talking about people who are ignorant. We're talking about people who know the truth and refuse to submit to God. In verse 1 and 2, we see the first bull.

Now this also has been a matter of much speculation because assuming that the mark of the beast is a microchip. So let's say it is. It's a microchip that gets placed under the skin. Well, it's possible that the battery of that microchip bursts.

If it's a lithium battery, it would burst and would cause a very severe sore. And so if there was some kind of malfunction or some kind of nuclear event or something that caused them to malfunction or burst or whatever, then this sore would break out upon them who received the mark of the beast. Because it's clear, it breaks out for those who had received the mark.

That's speculation. Again, we don't know that's how God's going to do it. God can do it any other way that he wants to, but that might be one way. The second bowl is now poured out upon the earth and the sea is turned to blood. Now back in Revelation chapter 8, when the second trumpet was blown, one third of the sea became blood. So it was just a portion and it was measured out, but now the judgment is total. And so all of the oceans...

all of the salt water around the world will be turned to blood. And so at that time, beachfront property will be much less appealing. Every dolphin, every whale, every shark, every fish will be dead. The stench will be terrible and the effects upon the earth would be impossible for us to imagine.

The third bowl is poured out and now fresh water becomes blood. So not just the salt water now, but the fresh water. Now again, in Revelation chapter 8, the third trumpet sounded and a third of the fresh water became bitter. But this time the judgment will be total. And all of the fresh water will be affected. Notice verse 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. Again, these things are not just God losing control. These are God's righteous, fair, and right wrath of God. And so this angel declares, that's right, God. Yes, that's appropriate.

They have put to death those who have believed in you and so you've given them blood to drink. That is absolutely fair. And so there's going to be much persecution and execution of believers. And this angel declares it's just and right for the water to be turned to blood. The fourth bowl is poured out in verse 8 and 9. And here the sun scorches men. And so the sun is going to become much hotter and it's going to burn people.

The people upon the earth. Now again there's a lot of speculation about this. How does this happen? Many have speculated. Well it could happen. If there was a massive reduction of the ozone layer. Maybe there is some nuclear activity. That goes on. A nuclear war that affects the atmosphere. Or maybe there's this.

We've seen the mountains that were hitting the earth. It talks about earlier in the book of Revelation. And so maybe those things have affected that. And so the sun is able to pierce through in a much stronger way. The other speculation is that the sun could go into a supernova state. That is, before it's going to die, it starts to burn much brighter and more intense. Or a third idea is,

Again, speculation is that there could be a change in orbit. And so, you know, again, these comets and stuff hitting the earth could bring it closer to the sun. And so there would be this intensity of the heat. So God may use one of those ways or he might do something completely different that we could never think about. But the bottom line is that the sun will burn hotter and men will be scorched. But notice what it says.

It says that they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues and they did not repent and give him glory. And this is key. And this is not the first time we see this in the book of Revelation. But as these judgments are being poured out, people are responding not in repentance, but in blasphemy. They're not softening their hearts, but they're hardening their hearts. They know it's God, but they refuse to repent.

They refuse to submit and surrender to him. And the result of this judgment is not going to be great repentance, but further rebellion. They know who it is, but they refuse to surrender to him. These aren't people who are skeptical, like, I'm not sure if there's a God or not. They know there is a God, but they refuse. These aren't people who are kind of like hung up on some intellectual argument that

They're not like, well, I'm wondering maybe evolution is true and there isn't a God. These people know there is a God. They know there is a creator. God has made that very clear in this tribulation period. And so they know, but they refuse. And that's why the wrath of God is just and fair and right in this time. Well, the fifth bull is poured out upon the earth and then there's darkness on the beast's kingdom.

So this is darkness that is specifically located on the kingdom of the Antichrist. It's kind of like you might remember the plagues that were there in Egypt and there was a darkness in Exodus chapter 10. That was one of the plagues, but it was only in Egypt and not where the Israelites were in Goshen. And that's how it is. There's going to be this darkness. And the Egypt plague describes it as a darkness that could be felt.

And so it's not like an ordinary darkness, but this is going to be a supernatural darkness. And it's going to be painful, agonizing darkness. And notice again here it says in these verses, they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not repent of their deeds. And so once again, they blaspheme God and refuse to repent. And this should abolish the myth forever.

That it's going to be easier to repent tomorrow. Sometimes we think that. It'll be easier to repent tomorrow. But that is a myth. It's false. Because it's not more information that is needed. It's not that like we need more proof and then we'll repent. The problem really is the heart. And even when we know, even when these people know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there is a God. It's for our sinfulness that he's bringing this judgment. But I refuse to let it go.

I refuse to submit and surrender to him. Well, then the sixth bowl is poured out in verses 12 through 16. And here, kings are gathered to Armageddon. Verse 12, it says, 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.

Now we always think about the tribulation as being the one world government and like that from the Antichrist. And certainly there will be an attempt of that. But there's going to be times of battles because the Antichrist wants to rule the world

And many will follow him, but there will also be those who refuse to be ruled by him. Not because they believe in Jesus, but because, you know, they don't want to have someone else in power over them. And so that is going to be part of, you know, the background to this battle that takes place at Armageddon. And God is going to supernaturally draw all of these different kingdoms. They're going to be there to battle each other.

Until Jesus returns at that point. And then they'll turn their arms against him. But they're there to battle each other in this battle of Armageddon. And so they're going to be coming from the east. And so the Euphrates River, which is there, right around Babylon and in modern day Iraq, goes about 1,700 miles east.

All the way from Turkey down into the Persian Gulf. And so in order for the armies to get over to Megiddo or the battle or you know the valley of Megiddo, Armageddon. That river is going to be dried up in preparation. So they'll be able to cross with ease and then head on over into the territory of Israel. And they're going to be gathered together there here in the sixth bowl. And in preparation for this return of Jesus Christ.

and this final judgment. The seventh bowl is poured out in verses 17 through 21. There's a great earthquake and there's hail. There's a voice from the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it is done. So God speaks up and says, it's done. The final judgment as the armies are gathered there and now Jesus is going to return and we'll see that in Revelation chapter 19.

I think verse 15 is interesting. He kind of throws in there this verse. It's kind of like doesn't really fit with the verses around it. Verse 15 says, I kind of think that verse 15 is thrown in there for us. That, you know, he's talking about all these judgments that are to come and then he reminds us, hey, you don't have to be there.

He says, remember, I'm coming as a thief. I'm going to come and I'm going to be catching people by surprise in the rapture of the church. And so you need to be ready so that you're not caught in your shame, that you're not left behind and seen for your sinfulness. But repent and turn to the Lord right now so that you will be taken up with the church because he is coming back as a thief. You don't have to go into this time of tribulation.

Well, here's a quick look at the seven bowls. Again, the fowl and loathsome soar, the sea becoming blood, fresh water becoming blood, the sun scorching men, darkness on the beast kingdoms, the kings gathered to Armageddon, and then a great earthquake and hail as Jesus returns. Now, he's going to hit pause again.

We're not going to continue to follow the sequence. Now chapter 17 and 18, he's going to be talking about Babylon and things like that. And so chapter 17 is our final chapter of the evening. And then in chapter 19, he'll continue on the events with the return of Jesus. And we'll get to see that unfold.

Verse 1 says, Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bulls came and talked with me, saying, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. As we look at chapter 17, we're looking at

judgment on a religious system, the Babylonian religious system. It's referred to as a harlot or spiritual adultery. And this is something that is going to be established, this one world religion, but is going to be destroyed in the middle of the tribulation. Because in the middle of the tribulation, the Antichrist says, forget all that, you worship me. And he's going to proclaim himself God and demand to be worshiped.

And so he says in verses 1 through 6, I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The harlot is a reference to spiritual adultery.

It's a common way to refer to false religion and idolatry in the Bible. Now, this specific harlot, this is a future Babylonian religious system. It'll be a worldwide system. And it's pretty common. If you listen to different teachings on the book of Revelation, you will probably hear this passage taught in connection with the Catholic Church.

And, you know, there's often many times the suggestion that this is the Catholic Church. I think, however, it's kind of misleading to say that this woman is the Catholic Church because it's not the Catholic Church in its present condition. This is a religious system in the future that has its roots in ancient Babylonian religion, which much of the...

Ritual sides of the Catholic religion also has its roots in the Babylonian religion. And so there's similarities. But this is after the rapture. All true believers are gone. There are believers within the Catholic Church. They're going to be gone.

And so this is going to be something kind of new. It might be, you know, something that kind of morphed into something else. But this isn't, you know, I don't think it's really quite fair to say, you know, it's the Catholic Church that's the harlot of Revelation 17. I think that's a little bit too simple. But the ancient Babylonian religion...

had some similar similarities. They worshiped a mother and a son, the queen of heaven and Tammuz. The birth of the son was on December 25th. You might be familiar with that date. The resurrection of Tammuz happened in the spring. And so there's similarities, you know, there. They had a priestly order. And so this is, you know, the worship system

that was in Babylon and spread throughout Canaan and different parts of the world and is going to kind of be revived in these final days. Now again, there's some parts that are similar, but I don't like to equate them or say that it's, you know, it is the Catholic Church. I think that is misleading. Well, verses 7 through 18, it says, "...the angel said, I will tell you the mystery."

And so he says in verse 9, Now there's two main ideas for understanding this. Number one, the seven mountains might be referring to Rome because throughout history, Rome has been known as the city on seven hills.

So, right, you understand like the U.S. is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. You know, in a similar way, the city on Seven Hills has been referred to as Rome. And so the future religious system in that understanding would be based in Rome.

But then also, secondly, it could be understood as the seven mountains refer to seven world governments. Because in verse 10 it says, there are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

And so if that's what it's talking about, then that would mean that the future religious system is established in the one world government of the Antichrist. And that would be consistent with the visions of Daniel, the vision of Nebuchadnezzar and such, that there is this united one world government and that this religion is established in that.

He talks about ten horns, which are ten kings in verse 12. So he's explaining the different elements and there will be ten kings or ten nations that will be part of the Antichrist's government. Verse 16, the ten horns which you saw in the beast, these will hate the harlot and make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. And so there will be this religious system, the harlot, but it won't last long. Again, the first half of the tribulation period. In the middle,

The abomination of desolation, the beast will proclaim himself to be God and demand that the world worship him. So he says in verse 18, And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. And so again, it seems to be this religious system that will be rooted in Babylonian religion closely associated with the capital city of the government that the Antichrist establishes.

And that's Revelation chapter 17. Tomorrow we'll get to start now the final stretch as we go chapters 18 through 22 and we'll finish up the book of Revelation next Wednesday evening. The final thought, you know, as we look at these things again is just to remember we don't have to be here for these things.

That we get to look forward to the rapture of the church. But the call to us. Consistently throughout the scriptures. Is to watch. To be alert. To be ready. And so let me just remind you. Now is not the time.

To be playing around with sin. Now is not the time to be compromising. Now is not the time to be casual in your relationship with God. But now is the time to be passionate. To make him priority number one. And to seek him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. That you will be watching and ready for his return. Let's pray.

Lord, I do pray that you would help us to be on guard, to be looking for your return. Lord, to not be messing around with things that are not of you, but Lord, to be faithful to you. I pray that you would stir up within us a fire and a passion for you. Lord, that we would love you, that we would be devoted to you, that we would walk with you every day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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