Revelation 16:17-21 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
 
A familiar Bible story to many is in Genesis 4:1-9, telling of Cain killing his brother Abel. What we rarely read in Genies 4, though, is what happened next. When Cain refused to repent of his crime, God judged Cain to be a restless wanderer  of the earth. However, Cain again rejected God’s command. He, instead, built a city he named Enoch (after a son). Genesis 4 then records that out of this city came people of the early forms of technology and civilization in the world. This seems good. But in truth, God was missing from the city of Cain’s descendants. This city of the world did not worship the world’s Creator. We only read of Lamech’s pride in his own murderous crime (Genesis 4:24). Sin’s legacy is sin until we repent.
    But God has made a promise in Genesis 3 that a Savior will destroy sin one day. To that end, Genesis 5 records the birth of Seth to replace Abel. Out of Seth comes godly men who worship God from one generation upon another.  The world’s ways in Cain’s generations versus God’s ways in Seth’s generations marked a divine divide in mankind until Genesis 6. At this point we read in Genesis 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. In other words, Seth’s line intermarried with Cain’s line. Sin corrupted the righteous.
    In response to the sin, God judged the world in the Great Flood, leaving only Noah and his family – descendants of Seth. In many ways, the Flood is God’s early illustration of Revelation’s end-time war.
    My reason to look back is to help us look around us now and to set our eyes ahead. First, what is the spiritual state of the city today? Evidence is that human cities are historically and currently centers of immorality. The attacks on our church and on God originate in the world’s cities. God’s purpose for Jerusalem was to be different, to be God’s city, declaring God to the world. But Jerusalem, too, became a center of sin and idolatry. Three times God has destroyed the city and his temple.
    God prophesied judgment on the world’s cities. To the Jews, Babylon represented evil. John used “Babylon” as code for Rome, a city of great sins. Judgment is why God shakes the world’s cities to destroy them.
    How do we respond as Jesus’ church? Be alert. Obey God! Jesus commands us in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” The church is to be the godly line of people one earth today. WE must diligently be faithful to prepare the world for God’s justice. God’s true church is his holy city to declare his unshakeable kingdom come forever. In faith, we can joyfully anticipate our heavenly city.
 
Prayer: From Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, Lord, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship you, Lord, acceptably with reverence and awe, for you, God are a consuming fire. Amen.
 
 

Revelation 16:10-14 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. 12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 15 “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” 16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 
 
HAVE you noticed that there are people who deny God’s existence until they curse him? They will live and talk as if there is no God until they blame and accuse him for allowing difficult things into their lives. Perhaps God afflicted these unrepentant tongues because they could only speak anger against him. Conflict rules their lives. They have no peace with God or with one another. May your tongue be urgent to speak of Jesus’ salvation to an angry, bitter world. Pray, too, the Lord will grant faith to many tongues to turn their anger into joy in confessing Jesus.
    God used frogs in Egypt’s plagues and he uses them here as demons from the mouths of the unholy trinity – also described in Revelation 13. The dragon is the false father; the beast is the counterfeit son; and the prophet is an unholy spirit. The true God delivers his wrath to the unrepentant in the devil’s deceits.
    Then note the preparations for war. The Euphrates River  separated the Roman Empire from enemies to its East. A dry river, though, opens a highway for invasion and for kings from many countries to gather at Armageddon for a final battle between God and Satan. “Armageddon” is an undefined place, but the final battle is sure. At its end, the world will again be filled with God’s peace that surely comes in Christ. Colossians 3:15-16 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. What joy to express such praises!
    Then see God’s grace amid the warning of war: “Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” God’s message is clear: “Be ready!” He is coming suddenly to destroy evil and to save his church.
    God’s victory over sin is the Bible’s message. Thank God he is the victor. Praise God Christ is your peace.  
 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you for great love to battle for our souls on the cross. We pray we are as passionate to fight against evil, so our souls, families, churches and nations will be saved. In your name we pray, amen.   
   

Revelation 16:1-9 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” 2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. 4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6 for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” 7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” 8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
 
REVELATION records there are two marks on the people of the earth. One is God’s mark of salvation. The Lord God has sealed his own in Jesus’ blood. The second mark is of the beast on those who worship Satan.
    These verses demonstrate God’s wrath poured out throughout the entire earth – land, sea, rivers – and the heavens. His wrath is just as he avenges the blood of his saints. Even the altar of the temple speaks to display God’s providence over his earth. Perhaps the altar’s voice is the voices of the martyrs as they called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” (Revelation 6:10) God avenges sin. He protects his church. His wrath condemns the unrepentant.
    The apostle Paul writes of this in Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.  
    The blood in the waters and the scorching sun are God’s signs of his sovereign authority over heaven and earth. The “nature plagues” repeat and reflect God’s plagues on Egypt. The unrepentant sinners mirror Egypt’s Pharaoh, who refused to relent and obey God. Pharaoh’s hard heart is expressed in his prideful wonderment to Moses, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go?” (Exodus 5:2)
John the Baptist warned the Jewish rulers of God’s wrath: Luke 3:7 “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” The message of God’s wrath to judge sin is clear.
    I think one reason people reject the understanding of Revelation is its clear view of sin’s death and eternal punishment. We in the church are very uncomfortable to teach such hard truth. The church is criticized and even ostracized from the culture when we warn of God’s wrath. Our only option, though, is to be true to the True God. This is his world. In his gift of faith, we are his children. Our task is to reveal the Father’s great love to a world he desires to save.
 
Prayer: I pray we as your church, Lord, hold fast to your truth. You have told us. We must tell all. Amen.
 

Revelation 15:1-8 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 mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God 3 and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. 4 Who will not fear you, O 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.” 5 After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, 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.
 
REVELATION is God’s message to John about the order of events before Jesus comes to establish the new heaven and earth. The Lord has revealed in chapter 12 such signs as the woman (Israel and the church) and the dragon (Satan). John has also seen the signs of the seven seals and seven trumpets releasing God’s plagues over one-fourth and one-third of the earth respectively. Sin must be judged and conquered before Jesus comes again.
    This new sign now points to the “last” plagues that will complete God’s just wrath. The result is salvation for those victorious over the beast.    See, too, the great and marvelous “signs” of worship. As in chapter 4, heaven’s throne room is as a sea of glass. Harps will accompany heaven’s song of Moses, reflecting the prophet’s praise in Exodus 15 of God’s deliverance from Egypt’s slavery. In heaven, the new song is of God’s deliverance from sin’s slavery. The angels are messengers of God’s sovereign authority. They will come from the temple to distribute God’s final wrath upon Satan. The Lord’s glory is the manifestation of his power and presence. His glory fills the temple as when Solomon completed the first temple in 1 Kings 8:11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. There is no room for any unholy, impure presence when God fully manifests himself to his own. Our Holy King will come to declare, “It is finished!” (John 19:30) Yes, “his righteous acts have been revealed.” Out of God’s wrath comes his holy salvation to fill our souls forevermore.
    Are you saved in Jesus’ blood? Then sing your new song to God. Sing of the joy in your deliverance. The holy God has made you holy in his sight through the Son’s sacrifice. His glory fills your soul. Death has no room in Jesus’ church. Let the world know of the cross. It is a great and wondrous sign.
 
Prayer: You are great and marvelous, O God. I sing and rejoice in the music of my deliverance! Hallelujah! Amen.  

Revelation 14:6-20 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, 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 his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: 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.” 14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” 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.
 
THE gospel reigns. In contrast to God’s judgment on those who follow the devil is God’s salvation for those faithful to Jesus. The Bible is the story of God’s glorious eternal love overcoming Satan’s tormenting evil.
    Here are urgent warnings against sin’s unimaginable penalty. They should give us, Jesus’ church, an urgency to declare the gospel.
    The gospel is God’s sharp two-edged truth to judge the sinner to eternal torment, to harvest the repentant sinner into heaven’s joy. The gospel is the winepress to separate the saved from the wicked. The King reigns, and his will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
    Yes, the gospel reigns.
 
Prayer: Your Word, Lord, is our salvation. I pray we confess it, teach it and live it. Amen.
   
 

 

Revelation 14:1-5 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 kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
 
OUR previous lesson revealed the church on earth would remain sealed against the mark of the beast who is the devil. Since the church began, those marked in Christ have known persecution. Countless people have died for their faith. But then comes the church’s reward.
    Who are the “blameless” 144,000? Could they be special people who never sinned? No, they are all who believe in Christ. This is a vision of Jesus’ entire church in heaven. The 144,000 here is a number of completeness. Remember that those of the church are saints. Jesus’ church are people the Holy Spirit has set apart from sin. He makes the saints holy – blameless – in the blood of Christ. Jesus has nailed all our sins on the cross. The sacrificial Lamb of God will one day welcome all into his presence for eternal worship.
    Note, too, the church is on Mt. Zion. This is an image of a new Jerusalem, a vision of the perfect city on the height and strength of God’s holy mountain. Through the Bible God often manifests his glory on a mountain. This is in contrast to the beast’s reign along the shore and in the ocean. The devil is of the world. God is of the heavens.
    Then see the worship. In response to their salvation, the church sings a new song. It is a triumphant chorus, one the living creatures and elders do not know because they have not experienced trial, suffering and death. The new song is a song of victory, joy, praise and salvation. Only those saved from the beast’s temptations into God’s perfection know such joy.
 
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for showing to us this holy worship for your church. We rejoice yours is the kingdom, power and glory forever. Amen.
   
 
 

Revelation 13:16-18 The beast also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, 17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.
 
THE Father and Son warn us to have wisdom to discern the true Christ from antichrists, those oppose Jesus. The references to the mark of the beast and 666 may be two of the best-known references to Revelation. It seems that many who have minimal knowledge of the Bible know about these two images. Perhaps this verse is seen as a crucial warning to prepare all in the world for desperate times.
    But remember. Revelation is God’s vision for both the near and distant future of his church. I believe the best interpretation of this Scripture is that it describes the circumstances of John’s day and of our day until Jesus returns.
    First, as many of Revelation’s images are first in the Old Testament, the mark of the beast is a mark of sin rooted in Genesis. When Cain killed his brother Abel and did not repent, God sent him out East of Eden with a mark of judgment: Genesis 4:15b Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain’s mark is likely not a physical mark, but a spiritual “mark” that kept Cain’s brothers from killing him in response to Abel’s murder. God made it plain Cain was under God’s judgment, not man’s. God would deal with Cain as he determined.
    The same is true for the mark of the beast. The mark on the head or hand can illustrate sin in the thoughts and actions of all who do not repent of their sins. Sin’s mark is clear as we disobey God, isn’t it? Further, as the mark is needed for buying, selling, etc., this illustrates how ungodly governments rule the world.
    We must remember that Christ’s blood is the true mark of all Christians. We do not need a beast’s mark to live. Christ is our Bread of Life and Living Water. He is all in all. The beast’s mark is sure death. Jesus’ mark is eternal life.
    The number 666 is a number formula of the Hebrew word for the name Nero, the Roman emperor who persecuted Christians without mercy. He was an antichrist, a beast against Jesus’ church. Identifying Nero as 666 points to all world leaders who are antichrists until Jesus returns to rule.
    Much time is spent wondering and debating, “Who is 666? What mark will people wear?” A good answer is found in 2 John 7-8 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.  
    The Bible records Satan opposes God. The Bible teaches us that all Is under God’s sovereign permission and providence. His judgment will come on the antichrists, banishing them from the new Eden. His salvation will be for those the Spirit of God has marked as Jesus’ own. His church will eternally live even though many will die for opposing the devil.  
 
Prayer: Father, open our eyes to see your magnificent care for our souls. Help us to be alert to the antichrists around us. Teach us to be confident of our salvation in your sovereign authority. Amen.
 

 

Revelation 13:11-15 Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. 12 He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. 13 And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. 14 Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
 
IN chapters 12 & 13, we have seen Satan as a dragon given permission by God to rule on earth. As the Father raised up a Son, Satan has raised up a “son” opposing Christ - an antichrist. Now he forms a third force of this unholy trinity. This new beast acts as a false prophet. Some say this is as an unholy spirit, causing the world to worship the antichrist.
    This third beast is false in appearance and words. He had two horns like a lamb is a disguise as the Lamb of God. But evil spewed from his mouth as he spoke like a dragon.
    As the Spirit now represents Jesus on the earth, the third beast exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf. His purpose was to cause the earth and its inhabitants to worship the first beast. This unholy demon mirrored the Holy Spirit’s power as he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.
    In essence, the devil is copying God’s work. Recall the work of the two witnesses in Revelation 9. These godly witnesses represent God’s word and true prophets as Elijah and Moses. Here the false spirit does similar miracles to confuse the world. The result is he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. Remember, all is done under the sovereign Lord’s permission and purpose. We can see a number of Bible passages that tell us God permits evil as a means of judgment on a world eager to worship the devil.
    Then came the abomination of false worship. The Bible also has many accounts of idols. It is evident in our world today. Countless statues, some even within churches, are worshiped as if they are alive. People believe manmade stone and wooden statues can hear, speak and influence their lives! This is of the devil. This is idolatry. This is a direct violation of the commandments: Exodus 20:1-4 And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before me. 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”
    Then comes the great persecution of Christ’s church: and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. Beginning with the first century Jewish rulers, countless leaders under Satan’s power have attempted to literally kill the church. But faithful witnesses have put their lives into Jesus’ firm salvation. Martyrdom is faith’s ultimate cost. Martyrdom is a gift of faith. Satanic rulers can kill the body, but they cannot touch the saved, sealed soul. Thank God the holy Trinity protects you from the devil’s unholy threesome.
 
Prayer: Lord God, we do not fully understand this great persecution over your church and the world. We yield our minds and hearts to you, thanking you for your eternal life against this false trinity of evil. Amen.