The Final Triumph

Verses 1-9: And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image. And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of waters and they became blood, and I heard the angel of the waters saying, 'Righteous art Thou, Who art and Who wast, O Holy One, because Thou didst judge these things, for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it.' And I heard the altar saying, 'Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.' And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues; and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. The judgment of the first four bowls of wrath is similar to that of the first four trumpets (chapter 8). It is quite likely that these bowls will be poured out at the same time as those trumpets are blown. Exactly like the first four trumpets, the first bowl was poured out on the earth, the second on the sea, the third on the springs of water and the fourth on the heavenly bodies. Compare that with chapter 14:7, where people are asked to worship Him Who made (1) the heaven, (2) the earth, (3) the sea and (4) the springs of waters!! Verse 2 speaks of the mark of the beast. We could say that as human beings grow up, they all begin to develop the mark of the beast (spiritually speaking), because they begin to behave exactly like beasts. Ecclesiastes 3:18 says, I said to myself concerning the sons of men, God has surely tested them (allowed them to go through various trials and testings) in order for men to see that they are really ONLY BEASTS". When trials come into our lives, and we see ourselves behaving like beasts, God is trying to tell us that we are no better than the animals. But very few have ears to hear what God is saying at that time. Blessed are those who hear Him and repent and say, O God, how blind I've been! You created me to be Your son. Instead I have descended to the level of a beast. Have mercy on me and change me. The opposite of the mark of the beast is the mark of the Lamb. The Lamb's mouth was shut when He went through the trials and testings of life. So we could say that in every trial, we get either a little more of the mark of the beast or a little more of the mark of the Lamb. He who has ears to hear let him hear. When people are given blood to drink in the third plague, we see God making people reap what they have sown. They shed the blood of the saints. So God turns their waters into blood!! That was perfectly righteous of God. God treats us exactly as we treat others. "With the merciful, God shows Himself merciful, and with the crooked He shows Himself astute" (Psalm 18:25). Those who forgive others are forgiven by Him. Those who are generous to others, find God being generous to them. Those who are stingy towards others find that God is stingy towards them. Those who are unmerciful and hard towards others find that God is hard and unmerciful towards them. Those who shed the blood of others through their tongues or in any other way will find that, God gives them blood to drink one day. We will find in the day of judgment that there is an exactness, in God's judgment. Exactly according to what we have done, will be our judgment. And our rewards too will be exactly according to what we have done, as the Lord says in Revelation 22:12. The angel of the waters says concerning God's exactness in meting out judgment, "They deserve to drink blood" or "They are worthy of that". Contrast this with what Jesus said about the overcomers in Sardis, "They are worthy to walk with me in white" (Revelation 3:4). What a contrast! The words "righteous" and "judgment" often come together in Revelation. We will see clearly in the final day that there is a righteousness in all the judgments of God. "THEY DID NOT REPENT" is a phrase that we saw in Revelation 9:20 & 21. We see it again here (verse 9). This shows how hard man's heart has become. Even such severe punishment does not bring repentance. Verses 10, 11: And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. This is somewhat similar to the plagues of Egypt. But instead of turning in repentance to God in their pain, they begin to blaspheme God even more. Repentance, is the best medicine for all pains and sores and sicknesses. But men don't want that medicine. Instead they question God and curse Him. Does that cure them? No. It sends them to hell even sooner. How blind and foolish can man be? "THEY DID NOT REPENT!" is the spirit that builds Babylon, the harlot church. All Christians who end up in Babylon do so because THEY DO NOT REPENT. The opposite of that is true for those who become a part of Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ: "THEY DO REPENT". That is why we find in the Lord's message to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, a repeated emphasis on repentance. That is the way to be an overcomer!! Our life must be a life of continuous repentance. We repent because we are not yet like Christ in our life or in our ministry. Jerusalem, the true church, is built only by people who have a continuous spirit of repentance within them, and who find something to judge within themselves every day. You are in a sorry state indeed, if it has become difficult for you to go and apologize to a brother and to say to him, "I am sorry for what I did (said)". Because, if so, you are on the road to Babylon. Perhaps you are already there! It says in verse 9, that when we repent "we give glory to God". How then do we glorify God continuously? By continuous repentance. Verse 12: And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east. In chapter 9, we saw that some demons were bound at the River Euphrates. The River Euphrates flows past ancient Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar built. The "kings from the east" may possibly refer to the Chinese Army. Chapter 9 refers to 200 million people being in that army. The only country in the world that can raise such an army is China. Verses 13, 14: And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. Here again we see an emphasis on the mouth - three times. When people do not repent, unclean spirits take control of their mouths. Here the unclean spirits come out from the mouths of the Satanic trinity - the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. Unclean spirits are likened to frogs here. Every time we speak an evil or unkind word, we must think of it as a frog coming out of our mouths. How sad when believers go around spitting out frogs all over the place - like the plague of frogs in Egypt. There is a great need for all believers to repent in the area of their speech. These evil spirits perform miracles. Notice that deceptive miracles and signs are again mentioned as something that is going to be found in abundance in the last days. The nations of the world will be gathered to Jerusalem for the final battle of Armageddon - the war of the great day of Almighty God. Evil words (frogs) that come from man's mouth often lead to war finally - both in the world and in worldly Christendom. Here they lead to the final battle of Armageddon. Verse 15: (Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame). Right in the middle of the war, comes one more warning from the Lord that we should not be found on earth at this time. We won't be here, if we are faithful. So let us keep our garments pure and watch our hearts and our speech. Jesus will come like a thief and if we are ready we will be taken up. And if we are taken up, then we won't be on earth, when all that is described here is happening. That is why this verse is put in brackets here. Verse 16: And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Fifty miles north of Jerusalem is a great big field, called the field of Mageds (Armageddon), where this final battle will take place, when Jesus comes down with his saints and destroys the Antichrist and sets up His kingdom on the earth. During the battle of Armageddon, the spirits of demons will possess many of the rulers of the world - Prime Ministers and Presidents. And they will gather together in Armageddon to war against God. Verses 17, 18: And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, 'It is done.' And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there has not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. When Jesus sets His feet on the mount of Olives, there is going to be a mighty earthquake - the greatest the world has ever seen - when the mountain will be split into two. Verses 19, 20: And the great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. This is exactly what we saw when the sixth seal was opened: "every mountain and island were moved out of their places" (Revelation 6:14). Verse 21: And huge hailstones, almost one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe. Zechariah 14 gives us a description of this battle of Armageddon. There it says, "Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle" (verses 1, 2). 40 years after Jesus was crucified, the Romans came against Jerusalem and destroyed it. In the past 1900 years, many nations have come against Jerusalem - the Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries, and later the Turks and the British. But there has never been a time when all the nations of the world have come against it. That is still in the future. Under the leadership of the Antichrist, all nations will gather in that day against Jerusalem to battle. The city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half of the city exiled. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on the day of battle (verse 3). The Lord will come down and destroy the forces of the Antichrist and set up His kingdom on earth. And in that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives" (the same mount from which He ascended to heaven), and the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from the east to the west by a very long valley, so that half of the mountain will move towards the north and the other half towards the south....hen the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him (verse 4-6). And then living waters will flow out of Jerusalem ....the Lord will be King in all the earth ....all the land will be changed into a plain ....but Jerusalem will rise and remain (verses 8, 9). It goes on to describe what will happen to people in that final war. Some of it reads like the effects of a nuclear war: the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot on their sockets and their tongue will rot in their mouths (verses 12, 13). When the Lord establishes His kingdom on the earth, in that day there will be "no more merchant (businessman) in the house of the Lord" (Zechariah 14:21). Businessmen are those who make religion a business - those to whom godliness has become a means of material gain, like the money-changers in the temple in Jesus' days, whom Jesus threw out! In the final day all such business men will be driven out of God's house. The next chapter deals with Babylon which is built by those to whom Christianity has become a source of profit and gain. The Lord is coming a second time to drive out the money changers, this time not from the temple, but from the Christian church.