More Judgments Bring On More Blasphemy

Transcript

GR 2040
04/29/2018
More Judgments Bring On More Blasphemy
Revelation 16:8-14
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the Book of Revelation. Important for us to keep in mind as believers that we are in a conflict that has been going on since the beginning of creation really. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and even before the Garden of Eden, because it’s a conflict that started in heaven. Leave a marker in Revelation 16 and come back to the Book of Isaiah, the prophecy of Isaiah and the 14th chapter.

It’s a battle that is spiritual in nature, it is moved by spiritual forces. It is a war between the followers of the living God and the opponents of the living God and the initial conflict took place in heaven among the angels of God. In chapter 14, we’ll just break in for time. Verse 12, “How have you fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! Verse 13, “You said in your heart (and these five “I wills” of Satan) I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High and that is the initial issue, Satan’s desire and attempt to exalt himself above the living, creating God to make himself God and since that time it has been a conflict between those who follow Satan and those who follow God.

The angels were divided among those who chose to stand and stay faithful to God, and those who chose to follow Satan in his rebellion when he entered the picture in Genesis chapter 3 and brought the temptation to Eve and then to Adam, to join him in his rebellion against God. Sin entered the human race and from that time on the race would be divided between those who belong to the living God and those who are children of the devil.

Come over to the New Testament and the Book of John, the Gospel of John, chapter 8. Jesus is here addressing religious people of His day, people who according to appearance would look like good people. They belong to a nation that God had chosen for Himself, the nation of Israel, and Jesus is drawing attention to those who claim to be followers of His, and those who are opposed to Him. It’s an issue of truth, who belongs to the God of truth, and who is opposed to the God of truth. It said in verse 32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

They claim we are Abraham’s descendants, we’re nobody’s slaves but Jesus said in verse 34, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin,” and remember we all start out there, because the bible says, “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one,” so until God’s grace intervenes, this would be true of all of us; it’s a characteristic of sin that it enslaves. Verse 36, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” that’s how we come to freedom from bondage to sin, freedom from serving the devil, by coming to faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work.

They claim to be Abraham’s descendants, physical descendants they were, spiritual descendants they were not. Verse 40, “As it is, you are seeking to kill Me. A man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God.” Verse 41, “You are doing the deeds of your father.” Now Jesus is drawing it to a head. The problem is you’re following, in your father’s footsteps so to speak and they said, “We have one Father: God. Verse 42, Jesus said note “If God were your Father, you would love Me.” Verse 43, “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.”

Unbelievers are not only blind to spiritual truth they are deaf to spiritual truth. They are unable to take it in to comprehend it, or to understand it. Verse 44, “You are of your father the devil and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murder from the beginning, does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

They revealed with their very nature and conduct that they belong to the devil. They conducted themselves according to the devil and you’ll note in verse 44, “you are of your father the devil” but it’s not just that he makes you do those things, you want to do the desires of your father. They’re enslaved to sin and desire to serve their sin and do what would be pleasing to the devil himself. He’s a liar, the father of lies. We minimize some sins and magnify others. When we get to chapter 21 we find out, excluded from eternal glory in the presence of God will be among others, liars because lies come from the devil. They are opposed to the truth of God. Verse 47, “He who is of God hears (My words,) the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them because you are not of God” that’s the contrast and it’s the conflict.

Come over to chapter 15 of John. Look at verse 18, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” Now, important for us to understand this, understand it as believers. We sometimes are troubled. Why do people have such a negative view of us? Why do they criticize us so much? Maybe we’re not doing the right thing, maybe we’re—it’s very simple. The children of the devil do not love the children of God; that’s what Jesus says, “Because you are not of the world, I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you.” I have underlined in my bible, “I chose you because of this the world hates you.”

It doesn’t mean we are not to be careful of our conduct. We are to manifest the character of God, in this world. We are to be lights in the darkness. We want to conduct ourselves graciously, kindly, thoughtfully and so on but that won’t make the world love us because there’s a spiritual issue at stake. When we try to court and appeal to the world, the only thing we can do is compromise, become more like the world, because the world cannot compromise and conform to the truth. You understand, that’s the Law and Jesus said, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” The world is not divided between good people, bad people and neutral people…. they’re not as good as they could be, they’re not as bad as they could be, that’s how it may look just on the physical level. Jesus said it’s divided between this those who belong to the living God, and those who do not belong to the living God. If you belong to God, you are hated by the devil and his children. If you belong to God, you stand in opposition to the devil and his people.

That’s important because as we come over to the Book of Revelation again, this is where we’re moving. One old prophetic writer wrote a book entitled “The Conflict of the Ages.” That’s what we are involved in, the Book of Revelation was addressed to local churches and we are to keep alert and aware of the fact that we are in a conflict. The Book of Revelation is written so we would know it’s going to come to its ultimate climax with a climactic battle called Armageddon and that’s where we are in chapter 16 as we come to the concluding judgments of this seven-year period, called the 70th week of Daniel. The armies of the world are going to be gathered to Armageddon and will come to the full manifestation of the conflict that has been going on down through the ages of time going on today.

The danger is we live in a comfortable society in a blessed nation, have a good life and we sit back and take it easy. We don’t want to disturb our comfortable life and enjoying our good life and we lose sight of the fact we are in a conflict. We are in an eternal battle. The devil and his forces have identified you as a believer. They hate you, they hate the church of Jesus Christ. There is a battle going on and it will come to its conclusion, as the Book of Revelation will unfold. We’re talking about the final seven judgments that occur in the last 3½ years that will climax with the return of Christ to earth. That will happen in chapter 19.

We have seven bowl judgments that are going to be poured out on the earth. Every time a bowl is turned over, a judgment is dumped. We have seen a series of judgments. In verse 2 the first angel poured out his bowl, it became a malignant sore covering the body. We noted these judgments are prefigured in the plagues on Egypt. When God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, He delivered them, destroyed their enemies to bring them into the land He promised. Now we’re seeing the final work of God in bringing judgments on the enemy of His people, particularly Israel, bringing them deliverance so they can enter into the kingdom that He has promised, so malignant sores.

Then you have a bowl poured out on the sea. The sea becomes blood, another bowl is poured out, the third angel in verse 4, and the fresh waters become blood. I was reading a scientist who is also a biblical writer and he was noting you couldn’t drink salt water. You can drink blood because of the water content in it, but did you ever sit down and say, boy I am so thirsty I could just go for a nice glass of blood? That doesn’t cut it but that’s the judgments that are coming down on this world as God clearly manifests His hatred, His wrath against an unbelieving world and He’s righteous in this. People say, Oh I don’t like to think of God doing that I don’t like to think of God being like that, but “heaven announces” verse 5, “the angels, ‘Righteous are You who are, who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things.” At the end of verse 7, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” He is a holy God, He is the God of truth. He’s a God of righteousness, He must judge sin, so we’re seeing an open manifestation of His wrath toward sin and it is a warning of what is to come as He pours out judgment on the world.

We’re ready to pick up with verse 8. We continue the pouring out of these judgments, they pile up and we’ll see as we get into these verses that the first bowl that brought these malignant sores that would not heal covering the body of these people have not healed. Even when we get down into later judgments, so these are piling up on one another. Verse 8, the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun and it was given to scorch men with fire. That’s intense heat cranking up the heat of the sun.

Come back to Daniel chapter 3 the Book of Daniel. You have some things that happen in the Old Testament as we noted that, prefigure what is going to take place. The Book of Daniel is a prophetic book and forms a strong background for the Book of Revelation, but in chapter 3, we have an historical event where Nebuchadnezzar is king of Babylon, and he sends out a command, to His Empire that everyone must bow down and worship the image that he has made. You can see the similarity, if you were here for our study in chapter 13 of Revelation, where in this seven-year period in the last half of it, there is going to be made an image of the Antichrist, the political ruler. It’s going to be set up in the temple, and it’s going to be required for people to worship the image of the Antichrist and in doing that, worship him. In chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar sets up this striking image. It’s very tall and it would have been very striking. The king required it. He required when certain music was played that everybody bow down to worship.

Well a charge is brought against, Shadrack, Meshach and Abed-nego three Jewish captives now living in Babylon along with Daniel, so Nebuchadnezzar calls them in. He says I understand you don’t bow down when the music is played. He tells them in verse 15, the middle of the verse, “If you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands? “ These three young Jewish men answer, “we don’t need time to think about this because we’re not going to bow down. Now we believe our God could deliver us but even if He chooses not to deliver us, under no circumstances are we bowing down to worship you and your image.” Well that just gets Nebuchadnezzar worked up into a frenzy so he tells them, “heat the furnace and heat it up seven times.” Verse 19 at the end of the verse he answered giving orders to “heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.” It was so hot that the Babylonian soldiers who took Shadrack, Meshach and Abed-nego over to throw them in themselves died of the heat, but Shadrack, Meshach and Abed-nergo are preserved.

One writer that does some of the scientific stuff as well as the biblical stuff just talked about what would happen if the sun were heated up seven times, its heat. I mean you talk about global warming, all the ice caps, everything would melt. The oceans, if they all rise, would rise 200 feet and then he gives a list of all the cities in the world that would be inundated with water if the oceans rose. Then, if that happens, you’d have all the water being evaporated, with the intense heat and everything would be gone. How much of what goes on—I want you to note something here, Shadrack, Meshach and Abed-nego are preserved. All these judgments coming on the world are not to destroy the nation Israel. Remember the 70th week of Daniel is for the Jews and Jerusalem. Now there are going to be Gentiles saved. We’ll talk about that when we get to the judgments of Scripture in chapter 19 in connection with the kingdom in chapter 20, but God is preserving the Jews. Even Israel will still be functioning and He’s provided a place, a safe haven for them in an area in the future in what is partially now Jordan so these things going on. There is preservation for God’s people, particularly Israel, even some Gentiles will trust Christ and will be preserved through it.

This is similar to the judgments in Egypt, when God brought the plagues on the nation Egypt. It said they didn’t afflict the Jews living in the land of Goshen. He sent insects over the whole land but the insects didn’t affect the Jews in Goshen. He sent darkness on the land, the darkness didn’t hit Goshen. When the first-born dies throughout all the land of Egypt, animals as well as people, no one dies in Israel, the land of Goshen, so there is a preservation. Some of you have asked, what about God’s people here? Well, His goal is to judge Israel for their unbelief but not to destroy Israel. He’s bringing destroying judgments on the world. Remember the goal is to bring Israel to the point of recognizing that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah, so there is a national turning to Christ by the Jews by the time we get to the end of this seven-year period. Then Christ comes to deliver surviving Israel but they have to go through some terrible things and we’ll see more of that.

Come back to Revelation chapter 16. You have this intense heat, and we’re worried about global warming but this is not something that’s going to happen gradually. Sometimes people talk about, you know, what do you think about global warming? I think it’s going to get awful hot on this earth before it’s all done. I don’t think it’s particularly caused by global warming, it will be a direct act of God. Now could God bring devastating heat? Sure, however He chooses to do whatever but here it is a particular judgment poured out at a particular time. When this angel, the fourth angel, turns over his bowl, the sun’s heat explodes and now you see what happens; you have the earth being scorched with devastating heat and what do you want when it gets like that--a cold drink, but what’s happened to the water? Now you have the sores that won’t heal, and you see the world here is a miserable place to be, no nice cold water. Well you drink what you have. You see people that have been in places, the desert or somewhere, they will eat and drink whatever they can find.

The world’s being reduced to this, so how do men respond? Look at verse 9, men were “scorched with fierce heat,” remember we looked at that, this is the chapter, the great chapter. The word, “great” used more times in this chapter than any other chapter in the bible. The word “mega” we use it in English, something big, large. It’s translated, fierce heat. They are scorched with great heat, fierce heat. When God says He’s turned it up, like it’s never been experienced before, it’s hot! They blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. There’s something happening here, God’s intention is not to hide Himself but to reveal Himself, be clear for the world that this is His action bringing this destruction, and this misery upon them.

It’s like Christ’s first coming. There was a manifestation of God’s presence and the spirit world was more clearly evident, demonic activity was recognized. Christ did things that could not be denied as being His miracles. Well, in connection with His second coming we are going to have an outbreak and a clarity, and what is going on in the world between the forces of the devil and the people that belong to God. This is an all-out battle revealed and God is revealing Himself so they recognize God is doing this and they blaspheme Him. You know I sometimes say “sin makes you stupid.” You realize that God, Who is Almighty, is pouring out His wrath. You’d think, you’d cry for mercy but sin takes hold of a person and they will not bow to Him. They did not repent so as to give Him glory, they refused to repent. I will not acknowledge my sin, I will not acknowledge my guilt. I’ll go down fighting so to speak and they cursed God for bringing such misery.

It’s hard for us even as believers to appreciate with the seriousness we must, and remember the Book of Revelation is written for the churches. This isn’t just some interesting material for the future. It must shape our living. God is serious about sin, He’s serious about judgment. He’s serious about His people living for Him in a world that is fighting against Him. Jesus expected and forewarned His followers, “if they hate Me, they’ll hate you.” They’re of their father the devil; if they hate me, they hate My Father. Well I’d better say they’d better not love me and I’d better not love the world. Whose side am I on? Remember Paul had to remind Timothy; “no soldier entangles Himself in the affairs of this life.” We get so mixed up and tied in that we’re useless as soldiers. This is serious business. They did not repent.

Come back to Acts, chapter 17. We live in a special day, this day in which we live. We look ahead at these seven years and that is a special time but this is a special and unique time, a time of God’s mercy and kindness being displayed. A time God has given us, as His people, opportunity to represent Him and give out His gospel. In Acts chapter 17 verse 30, “God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent.” There’s our word, to recognize their sin, their guilt before a holy and a just God, and turn and place their faith in the Savior He’s provided. Why should they repent? “Because He has fixed a day in, which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Understand that now they don’t want to hear it, so they began to mock and sneer at Him, but Paul has to tell them the truth, judgment is coming, the proof of coming judgment’s been given.

How often have you told someone, “do you know we’re moving toward a day of judgment, when you will be judged by the living God who judges in righteousness, and if you have any doubt, He has given us proof when He raised Jesus Christ from the dead.” Sometimes you can use that with a religious person. “Do you believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?” Most Protestants and Catholics would say, “yes.” “Do you know what that means? That means that we are headed to judgment, and you must recognize the seriousness of your sin and the provision God made, and trust Him. God’s offered proof. How gracious is He. They crucified His Son He raised Him from the dead. You’d think He would have intervened and destroyed that godless world but He didn’t. Two thousand years later, we are here. We are here by God’s grace—what—because we heard that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and He was raised from the dead,” and those who believe in Him are forgiven and God’s grace, God’s patience God’s mercy goes on.

Come over to 2 Peter chapter 3. You know the world can mock and say, “well you Christians have been talking about Christ coming for centuries and millenniums, but you note things are going on,” people talking about how much better the world is going to get, how we’re going to solve the world’s problems and what we ought to do to fix it. Sometimes we as Christians pull back because you say, “well I don’t want to be an alarmist” but you’ll note verse 7. “By His word, the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” Now if we lose focus on that, how are we going to bring such a message of salvation to our world? Do we really believe this is true? Well, but I don’t want it to ruffle the world in which I have to live. Well I’ve, sort of settled in. I’m just waiting for Christ to come, I’m just hanging on.

No, we’re fighting in a war and the devil would like to neutralize us. If he can’t get us to turn and follow him, at least he can neutralize us so we are not effective in the war. Don’t let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, “one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” These are days of salvation but how shall they hear unless someone comes and tells them, and who can tell them but those who have been sent, and that’s what we have the privilege of doing, bringing a message of life.

If you knew Jesus Christ was coming tomorrow, do you have family members you’d want to tell? Friends you’d want to know? But you know we can meet with them week after week, month after month, year after year and not say anything. We say, “I don’t care if they go to hell, they probably don’t want to hear it anyway.” They don’t even know what they need to hear, they don’t even know they’re deaf, to spiritual truth. They don’t know they’re blind to spiritual truth. This is the day of God’s patience. He’s the God of eternal patience but his patience with the unredeemed wicked will run out. We saw that in chapter 14 of Revelation when He brings a devastating judgment of hell upon people, there’s no mercy. This is a day of mercy, God giving opportunity for people to hear and believe the message. There will come a time when that day will be past and then it will be judgment.

Come back to Revelation chapter 16, “they blaspheme God” in verse 9, “they didn’t repent so as to give Him glory” and when you’ve truly repented, that’s what you do, you give God the glory for bringing His gracious salvation to you, and cleansing you, and making you new. Remember back in chapter 14, verse 6, the “eternal gospel proclaimed around the world” and what is it? Verse 7, “fear God give Him glory, worship Him” and then “’Fallen, fallen is Babylon’ then judgment comes.” That’s where we are in Revelation. It’s real. If it’s not real to us who claim to believe the word of God, have our faith in Christ, how can we bring it as a message that’s real, live, true to a world that has no hope apart from Christ.

Come back to chapter 16, look at verse 10. “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened.” Now you not only have no good water to drink, you’re covered with malignant sores that won’t heal. The sun’s not only turned up multiple degrees so that the heat is unbearable, the air conditioners don’t work, there’s no cooling breeze, and now the lights go out, darkness encompasses the kingdom and this combination just increases the pain. You know that sometimes they’ll talk about it’s a darkness you could feel that happened when God brought judgment on the nation Egypt, in Exodus chapter 10 under the plague.

Exodus 10:21 says that “He brought darkness in the land of Egypt, a darkness that could be felt that heavy,” and here you are in such pain with these sores, these malignant sores, no fresh water to drink, the sun scorching and now darkness. Well, you can see the scorching sun is a preparation for what—the fires of hell that will ultimately be the destiny of the unregenerate and what will hell be like? You know what hell’s like. We say, “well I’m going to know a lot of people in hell” and we laugh. Sometimes we see the devil with his pitchfork sort of ruling over hell but everybody—you know what hell’s going to be, darkness, so here with the miserable condition they’re in, the pain they’re in and now everything is pitch black. We would say you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. When it says God makes it dark, He can make it dark and it’s a sense of isolation.

I was raised in the city. You know we didn’t really appreciate farmland until we came west, far west as missionaries to Nebraska, but we were invited to a farm of one of our families when our kids were little. They hadn’t had much exposure to the farm, so we had a great time there during the daytime doing things and then we went in for dinner. After dinner, our kids said we’re going outside. They opened the back door took one-step out and came running back in. It’s dark out there! They’re not used to it, there’s no lights. You know, I didn’t want to tell them but I’d be afraid to go out there too, there’s something about the night, the darkness. Now this is a miserable condition. You know what this presupposes; you know what hell’s going to be like, scorching, unbearable heat, in complete absolute blackness. I shared with you, I saw on TV once, years ago, a fireman in training said they put him in one of those suits and sent him into fire so he’d know what to expect. He says I thought it would be bright in there it was black in there.

Come back to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 8. God is graciously giving a preview of what is to come. Unbearable pain and suffering, consuming fire that doesn’t consume, complete darkness in isolation. Matthew chapter 8, verse 11. “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom, (we’ll talk about the kingdom in chapter 20) but the sons of the kingdom will be cast into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Come over to chapter 22 of Matthew, verse 13. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” and come to chapter 25. We’ll do the context of Matthew 24 and 25 particularly 25 with its judgments when we get to the kingdom. In chapter 25 you have judgment occurring, look at verse 30, “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

They’ll have no fellowship, no communion no communication in hell, it’s a place of complete isolation. It’s like some place where people would be and say, they’d go mad. You know, today you can’t take it. They put you in complete darkness, some of us were talking about some stuff we saw and they’re talking about how your body begins to deteriorate. How you begin to lose your sight and you know in a certain amount of time the body begins—but here they have an eternal body that won’t shut down, in the eternal isolation and weeping, gnashing of teeth.

Come back to chapter 16. Have you ever been eating something and you bite your tongue. You say oh, ah, you grimace it hurts. You know how great the pains are going to be that have been piling up on these people. At the end of verse 10, “they gnawed on their tongues because of pain.” Now you want to get an idea of what we’re talking about--don’t do it now but when you go home today sit down and bite on your tongue. What kind of pain would you be in that you’re biting on your tongue for relief? You know when God says His wrath is severe, He means business. This would be like something people who have never and this is just preparation for the worse yet to come. Even during this time, there is salvation offered and it will finally take this kind of action for Israel to realize that the God who brings judgment is the God who is our Savior. The One we rejected.

Verse 11, “they gnaw their tongues for pain and they blaspheme the God of heaven.” Sin never makes any sense. They blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. You’ll note here, that first bowl that brought the sores, it hasn’t gone away. We’ve had the fourth bowl poured out. We’ve had the fifth bowl poured out but we still have the sores, so these things are just piling up. It’ll be a time when men will want to die but won’t be able to die. That’s how serious it is and it’s a preview of hell, but there’s no escaping the judgment. Death won’t even be an escape. Can you image being in that situation and realize, there’s no end to this, there’s no tonight that will bring a break. There’s no tomorrow that will be different, so God is graciously, in one sense, pouring out His wrath and it will finally have an effect on the nation Israel and some Gentile nations as well. You’re getting a preview of what is to come and it could not be any worse.

Verse 12, “the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates.” The great river Euphrates, five times in Scripture the Euphrates is called the great river. You know where we meet the Euphrates for the first time? When we’re in the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 2. One of the rivers mentioned there is the Euphrates along with the Tigris, two rivers that we can identify even today. The Euphrates is the eastern border. I have to stop and make sure I’m going the right direction for what God promised to the land of Israel. Come back to Genesis 15. In Genesis 15 God is cutting His covenant with the nation Israel and we put a map up. We’ll put that up on the screen for you so in case you’re unfamiliar with exactly where the Euphrates is.

See this line running down here, you see the yellow arrow, the Euphrates River and it runs down through Syria, crosses over into the green area, Iraq, on down into the Persian Gulf here. That’s the Euphrates River. That’s the eastern boundary of the extent of the Roman Empire, so the Roman Empire that was their eastern border. There’s Baghdad. The city of Babylon was on the Euphrates River and we picked that up in Genesis 10 but we won’t go back for that because we’ll be into Babylon in chapters 17 and 18. I believe we’re going to see Babylon rebuilt and issues here but what has happened as he pours out his bowl, so this is all Israel’s territory.

This is what Israel has right now over here. See, this is it brown or purple right in here and then you have the west bank and everybody fighting over should Israel get more, does this belong to--let’s just tell you what God says. All of this all the way over to here belongs to Israel. Going all the way down here into Egypt and part of Egypt, all the way up, this is all the way, this all belonged to Israel. Who says so? God. Now Israel’s under judgment. They’re battling just to keep this little swath of land and isn’t it amazing how concentrated the devil is on that. Got to get rid of that, got to get rid of that, because the kingdom depends on it. If I was going to do something, I would have maybe done it with something--you know this is Israel. I realize their importance and their location but really, you see here and we’ll talk about this later too. Here’s Iran, over here and the nations that are going to come, as a result of what happens to the Euphrates.

It pictures and provides the way for the eastern armies to come across, join with the western armies, and everyone is descending on Israel and this region for Armageddon. That word that has been carried over into the language and it’s used now for anything that comes to be a major climatic event. Oh, their facing Armageddon but there is a true literal Armageddon, so that’s where we are and this is the Euphrates River. Now we have a picture of the Euphrates just so you can see it. This is the Euphrates River so you get an idea, it is the water supply over there and has been since the days of the Garden of Eden and we carry over even after the flood. That will dry up, so you can look at it and picture it as just dry land, at a future event that He’s talking about here. You see, that’s the eastern ascent. When Nebuchadnezzar had his palace, it would have been on the Euphrates there, and you could have picked up Baghdad, so you’re in the region of Babylon there and Iraq but Babylon the old city was there at the Euphrates.

Come back to chapter 16. We’ll talk more about these events because the sixth bowl that’s poured out on the Euphrates River is preparation for the seventh bowl, so you see he poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings of the east, those coming from the east Iraq and beyond Asia; we’re having “the armies of the world. I saw coming out of the mouth,” verse 13, of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs,” and these are demons because the next verse says they are “spirits of demons.” You’ll note the satanic trinity, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, the mouth of the false prophet. We talked about the satanic trinity in chapter 13 where Satan tries to elevate himself like God the Father, the Antichrist the first beast, as the Antichrist the false Christ, and then the false prophet who directs the worship of the world to the Antichrist mimicking the Holy Spirit.

You have that satanic trinity and out of their mouth come these three demonic spirits in the form of frogs. In Leviticus chapter 11 Israel was told the frog was an unclean animal, detestable, so that’s what pictured here, these demonic spirits, they’re like frogs and they’re unclean, they’re detestable. Coming out of the mouths of these three beings, joined together in leading the world, evidently the message that their proclaiming is going out, so you see, verse 14. They are “spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world,” so what they’re doing, they’re using their power and they will influence the people of the world. There’ll be miracles done like the world has never seen in deceiving and deluding people, drawing the armies of the world to Armageddon for the final battle, but 2 Thessalonians 2 says with all these miracles, God “sends a strong delusion that they should believe a lie.” They want to, they desire to do the will of their father the devil, just like the people so taken up with their sin don’t want to hear the truth, don’t want to be told they have to trust Christ for forgiveness, and they become offended. There are people here hearing what they want to hear, and it’s supported by miracles, but they are not miracles coming from God. Remember, the devil is a powerful being and what God wants to do—we won’t go back because of time but back in 1 Kings Chapter 22. You have a demonic spirit sent out, to be a lying spirit in the mouths of false prophets, to lure Ahab up to a battle that will result in his death. Ahab believes their lies, joins the battle in which he is killed and so you have glimpses of what is going to be going on.

Mighty miracles, they’re performing signs, and people will say you know well they get caught up and figure we have to figure this out, is this a genuine miracle or not? We believe the bible. Well maybe they’re real. Let’s believe what the bible says. We don’t sort out our theology before we do our evaluation. We’re just out there to be deluded and deceived and upon what basis will I make my decisions? If I know what the word of God says, everything that conflicts with it is false, but what if it was a genuine miracle? It came from the devil. I don’t have to sort it out, the devil can control the weather, he can make people sick. The Book of Job shows this kind of stuff. Job had a supernatural illness, it was caused by a supernatural spirit being, the devil. That was a miracle. You know we Christians we become gullible. We are to know the truth so we’re not carried about by “every wind of doctrine and by the trickery of men.” That will happen here on a great level because it’s God intention that men now get their desire. Bring your armies here; create the final conflict with My Son. You defeated Him in your eyes once, in crucifying Him, and the devil deludes them into thinking, “now we can have our final victory.” It’s not going to happen. They are being gathered together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty and you know how the battle’s going to end? Can anybody go to war with the God, capital G, who is the Almighty, Omnipotent all-powerful God and win?

Then there’s a warning and we have to drop off and we’ll pick up with this, a warning, that same warning given to two of the churches in chapter 3, and to the nation Israel, and a reminder that all God’s people are to be living in light of the coming Christ. That is one unifying thing and this is thrown in here as a warning to “be ready” and “Christ is coming” and verse 16 “they gather them to the place,” which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon, but we usually carry it over and pronounce it Armageddon but it means the mount or hill of Meggido. We’ll talk more about that, then we’ll have the seventh angel pour out his bowl and the content of the seventh bowl is the destruction of Babylon in chapters 17 and 18 and then we can have the return of Christ in chapter 19.

The only thing to be answered. Where are you? You sit here in a day of God’s mercy and patience offering you salvation. Maybe you grew up in this church. Maybe you’re just visiting. Maybe you were baptized here. None of that saves you. Have you ever recognized you are a guilty sinner, condemned before God, without hope in the world, but God brought you here today so you could hear of His mercy, to hear that His Son loved you and died for you? To know that if you’ll repent, turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ, He’ll forgive you, make you His own, and just that quick, your destiny has changed from an eternal hell to eternal glory. There is a Savior.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord, for the riches of Your word the completeness of Your word. Thank You that it is a word that is true. By Your grace, we have come to place our faith in Your Son, our Savior, Who is the true Savior, the only Savior and by Your grace, through the ministry of Your Spirit, we are privileged to know and understand truth, the truth You have given. Lord, I pray we might take it to heart, that we might live in light of it. We might live as those who have taken it to heart, who truly believe it, and are instruments you use in the accomplishing of Your work in these days. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.




.




2