The Final Bowl of God’s Wrath

Transcript

GR 2041
05/06/2018
The Final Bowl of God’s Wrath
Revelation 16: 16-21
Gil Rugh

We’re in the Book of Revelation, chapter 16 in your bibles. We’re moving toward the closing section of the closing book of the bible. How amazing it is God waited until many years had passed until He brought his final word of Revelation to His people, to the churches and it is a book that pulls together and unfolds in the most clear fashion where all things are going and how He will move to bring all things to their appointed end. He is a sovereign all powerful God and we are privileged to know Him. Know Him through His word know Him through faith in His Son.

Let me put up the “Seventy Weeks” chart. It’s been a week or so—so I’m sure you have forgotten much. Just a reminder, the 70 weeks are 70 seven-year periods. The first 69 weeks, 483 years, brought us to the return or to the coming of Christ to earth. Then He had His earthly life, His crucifixion, His return to heaven. The Church is established in Acts, chapter 2. It did not exist prior to this time. God has not rejected His people, Israel, but they are under His judgment, and they are set aside.

We live in the time we know as “the fullness of the Gentiles” from the Book of Romans, chapter 11. This shaded area is the time in which God is focusing His work of salvation in the world on the Gentiles. It doesn’t mean Jews can’t be saved but they are a minority. Up until this time, the coming of Christ and His rejection by Israel, God’s work in the world focused on the nation Israel, and that nation alone. Now He works on the nations, plural, and we have the churches established and have for the last 2,000 years. We are one of those comprised of those who come to faith in Christ. This period-of-time will conclude with what we know as the Rapture of the church. We’ve studied that all believers in Christ will be removed from the earth bodily. The bodies of those who have died will be raised. We’ll talk more about the resurrections and judgments of Scripture later in our studies.

Now God resumes His final seven-year period with Israel, so it may seem 2,000 years later that Israel’s been forgotten, Israel’s been set aside, even some say Israel has been replaced by the church. God’s plans are sure and settled, so He has seven years. This is what the Book of Revelation is about, this seven-year period. After the Rapture of the church, moving toward the return of Christ to earth and we’ve come through, now we’re at the end of chapter 16, and here’s where we are. We’re right here, just on the brink of the return of Christ to earth. Now during this seven-year period God has had three purposes, three things are taking place. I want to put those up on the screen, for you, what’s going on in this seven-year period.

Number 1, God is displaying His power: He is showing His power in fuller and clearer worldwide ways, particularly in judgment than He has before.

Secondly, God is destroying His enemies, the enemies of His people Israel, because God’s enemies are Israel’s enemies, as they are our enemies. He’s destroying His enemies. We’ve already seen billions of people have died in the judgments on the world. These judgments are so severe, so intense, so vast that Jesus said, “If He didn’t cut off this period after seven years no one would survive.”

Then thirdly, God is delivering His people. And by His people, we mean the nation Israel. God is pouring out judgment on an unbelieving world, destroying His enemies, but you understand. His intention is for Israel’s good, because by the time we get to the end of this seven-year period, the nation Israel, as a nation, will turn in faith to Jesus as their Messiah. At that point, Christ will return to this earth to bring them deliverance. That’s what we’re talking about at the end chapter 16. We won’t get the return of Christ until chapter 19 but He tells us the events that are going to unfold, then we’ll get details, in chapters 17 and 18 that will prepare us for the return of Christ.

We looked through the first part of this chapter. We have seven angels pouring out bowls, a series of judgments, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls. The seven bowls are the last of the judgments. They bring us to the end of this seven-year period. Every time a bowl is turned over, so its picture, there is a judgment in that bowl. When one of the angels turns the bowl over and dumps it out on the earth, a judgment comes. We see the sixth angel with “the sixth bowl” in verse 12 “was poured out on the Euphrates.” The water was dried up we looked at the map of the Euphrates. We’ll talk more about the specifics associated with the return of Christ in chapter 19.

Then there was a dragon, the devil was called the dragon in chapter 12, among other names or titles for him, but “out of the mouth of the dragon,” this fierce beast “comes three demonic beings. They are in the appearance of frogs,” which were unclean to the Jews according to the Mosaic Law, the Book of Leviticus. We looked at that. They are told they’re demons because it says in verse 14; “these are the spirits of demons. They are 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.” They have a specific purpose they’re doing miraculous things, but the miracles here now, these miracles are to draw them to the final conflict of the ages, the battle of Armageddon as He mentions in verse 16.

They’re performing signs, understand vast miracles have been going on during this seven-year period and it gets difficult sometimes to sort out who is doing what, because the devil will be doing miracles, which are false miracles. Now that doesn’t mean they’re just tricks of magic, because as we talked about, the devil has mighty powers. He can control the weather when it is the will of God as he did in the Book of Job. Caused the winds to blow, with catastrophic consequences for the family of Job with all of his children being killed in the collapse of the building caused by the winds. He could take away the health of Job and cause great suffering, but those miracles do not demonstrate the power and character of God. They are to delude and deceive people who are in rebellion against God.

Come back to the Gospel of Mark, Mark chapter 13. We need to be clear, one of the subjects we’re going to deal with in our Sunday night series has to do with some of the emphasis on miracles today, what is done and what is not done. In Mark chapter 13, Jesus is talking about the period of time we are studying in the Book of Revelation, that tribulation, verse 19 to break in, this is what we call the Olivet Discourse as recorded by Mark because it was given on the Mount of Olives. It has to do with end times, verse 19. “For those days will be a time of tribulation.” Remember we called that seven-year period the time of tribulation. It’s the tribulation and the great tribulation. This will be a tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of creation which God created until now, and never will there be another time like it. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but God in His grace is bringing about the salvation of people, even in this time and particularly the nation Israel, so Christ’s intervention is for the preservation and deliverance of the elect, His people, so He warns them, “don’t be led astray.”

Verse 22, why—“for false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, even to lead astray, if possible, the elect. Take heed, behold, I have told you everything in advance.” You see we will be held accountable for knowing and living in light of the word of God; here’s one of those examples. Christ tells them, there’ll be “no excuse for anyone to be deceived, because I told you,” so ignorance of God’s word is not an excuse for not obeying God’s word and here you’re told, signs, wonders--believers, should never be deceived by false signs and wonders, no matter how impressive they are.

Come over to Second Thessalonians chapter 2 for further on this. Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and this is talking about, the same period-of-time. We’ve been to this chapter a number of times. Verse 8, “then that lawless one will be revealed after the Holy Spirit is removed, who is holding back the final outbreak of evil in the world, and the final judgment of God on that evil. The lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming.” We know this hasn’t happened, because Christ hasn’t appeared in glory in return to the earth, so this man hasn’t appeared yet. This is yet future prophecy. This is the one, whose coming--note this---is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power, and signs, and false wonders, with all the deception of wickedness. They are false wonders because they don’t lead you to the true and living God. They lead you away from the true and living God.

The miracles that God provided through His servants brought people to Him, confirmed what He was revealing. These false wonders lead you to the worship of the devil, so this will be going on. Satan will be active with power, signs, false wonders, with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth to be saved. The time of salvation passes and you can reject it for the last time. These people have had their time, their opportunity. It doesn’t mean there will be no one saved but these are going to be trying times and God’s grace will be restrained, limited, in a greater way than it is today. For this reason, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. It’s God’s intention, during this coming seven-year period, that people be deceived because they want to be deceived. They reject Him, they reject His truth, they reject His salvation. So you want to reject Me? I reject you. You want to be deceived? I give you deception. Remember what Romans 1 talks about? So you have these signs going on and it is a time when God is allowing men to be deceived.

Come back to 1 Kings Chapter 22. We’re in 1 Kings Chapter 22 and the setting is two kings as Israel has divided as a nation. They have a northern king and they have a southern king. The northern king is Ahab, married to the infamous Jezebel. He is meeting with the king of the southern kingdom, Jehoshaphat, who shouldn’t be joining an alliance with wicked Ahab but he is. So these two kings come together and they’re going to go to battle. Ahab brings these false prophets together to prophesy to the two kings and the false prophets tell them everything will be great.

Jehoshaphat, who knows better, says “I’d like to hear it from a prophet of the LORD,” so they call Micaiah, the LORD’S prophet. Micaiah says, “sure go ahead everything’s fine.” Well he does it in a sarcastic way and Jehoshaphat says, “I want you to tell me the truth,” so Micaiah says, “I’ll tell you the truth. Here it is” and—come down for time, verse 17, so he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep which have no shepherd,” because the shepherd is the king and Israel, the northern 10 tribes are about to be scattered, because their shepherd is going to be killed. And the Lord said, “These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.” Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat. Ahab is the king of Israel, the northern kingdom. “Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? You know people don’t want to hear the truth. Ahab doesn’t want to hear what he doesn’t want to hear. Micaiah just told him the truth. “You’re going to your death in this battle.” If Ahab had any sense he would have ran home and hid but he doesn’t want to do what God says and he doesn’t want to hear what God says. Micaiah further carries out and this is where--very interesting. Micaiah says, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the hosts of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.”

Micaiah the prophet is given a vision of heaven. The throne room of God and all the angelic hosts gathered before God, similar to what you have in the Book of Job when it says, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came among them.” Evidently there are appointed times when all the angels, fallen angels as well as unfallen angels, come to stand before the Lord, and so you have all the angels there and the Lord said, “Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” and there are different responses from the angels. “Then a spirit came forward, an angelic being, and stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’ The Lord said, ‘How?’ He said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these prophets.’ The Lord said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’ ‘Now therefore behold the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all your prophets and the Lord has proclaimed disaster against you.’”

You know what the response is? One of the false prophets, “Zedekiah,” verse 24 “came near and hit Micaiah in the face.” “How did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to you?” Micaiah tells him, “you’ll see who has the Spirit of God when you go hiding in a room because of the disaster.”

What is interesting here—you see God doesn’t, He’s not a God who lies but His plan is for Ahab to experience God’s judgment. A demonic angel tells him, “I’ll go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of His prophet.” In that sense that prophet, was supernaturally inspired to speak but it was not from God. It was from a demon, so we want to be careful. You can get into the supernatural. This false prophet, this demonic spirit is going to prophesy truth. He’s going to lead Ahab to Ramoth-gilead but not for victory, so when Ahab--and the prophet tells him to go to Ramoth-gilead that’s where he’s going. That’s where God wants him but not to be victorious, to die, so you just get a little glimpse into the spirit world. It’s going to be God’s will and purpose to give demonic spirits permission to delude and deceive the unbelieving world with their miracles and wonders and God will send a strong delusion that they should believe their lies, so this is a day of God’s grace and salvation. You don’t want to miss it because what is ahead is going to be much more difficult.

Come back to the Book of Revelation. These are being gathered to the great day of God the Almighty and that great day of God, the Almighty, is said to be in verse 16, Har-Magedon where we left off our study, but I want you to note verse 15. “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes. He will not walk about naked men will not see his shame.” There is a word of comfort and promise here. Christ is coming like a thief, so He breaks in here because you understand and it’s hard for us to know all the details here because billions of people are dying in the world. We are at the very end of this seven-year period, on the brink of the return of Christ, with billions of people having died in the judgments on the world. There are still so many people that can be assembled and descend upon Israel, with a vast army, to attempt to bring about their destruction. You think well, I wouldn’t think people would have time for this.

I shared with you because it’s been on the news. I don’t know whether God has been moving them to put it on but “The Last Days of Hitler.” Some of you have watched that on the history channel or one of those channels and I’ve shared it with you more than once. Hitler is in his last days. Germany is destroyed and he’s giving orders for the trains not to transport troops to the battle, but to transport more Jews to the ovens. Even his military commanders said, “The madness of this. We’re losing the war, we’re on the brink of being destroyed and you want the Jews to go to gas chambers? We need those trains to transport military personnel.” There’s no rationale. You have to destroy the Jews, that’s because he was demonically moved.

When we get to the end of the Tribulation, the devil knows he’s near the end. You know what he must do? Annihilate Israel because if he could destroy the Jews, God loses, Satan wins, because God couldn’t keep His promise. With no Jews there could be no kingdom promised to the Jews. God loses. It’s amazing, you turn on the news you can see all of this. We’ll talk before we’re done with Revelation, all these nations; assembled together, basically, exactly as God has said they will be. I’m not saying we’re going to enter the Tribulation tomorrow but I’m ready not to go into the Tribulation but to get out of town. Lord, remember I’m still here. We can’t have the Tribulation yet, we believers are here and He’s--I’ll be in His plan but that’s where we get this promise. “Behold I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked, the men will not see his shame.”

You know, it’s a reminder, a similar reminder given to churches as given now, primarily to the nation Israel. A sign of genuineness is faithfulness to the end. It looks to Jews in Israel. Here are all the armies of the world under the leadership of the Antichrist, a man who has been dominating the world, who is the center of world, worship bringing all the vast armies together to destroy the Jews. It doesn’t look like there’s much future and what the Jews will do is read Revelation 16:15, “Behold I’m coming like a thief.” Hang on and true believers persevere. That’s why we talk about the perseverance of the saints, and there is a sifting going on in the Tribulation, as well as the grace of salvation. This kind of promise, “behold I’m coming like a thief” and so on.

Come back to Revelation chapter 3. Similar words were addressed to two of the churches in Revelation chapter 3. The message to the church at Sardis and characteristic of these two churches is they looked like they belonged to Christ but they didn’t. You note the end of verse 1, “I know your deeds, you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead,” and that doesn’t mean there are no believers in it but it’s a church about to go under, so remember, verse 3. “What you have received and heard; and keep it and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up”—you see the similarity. “I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I come,” but you have a few people who have been faithful. They will be ready. That warning, He’s coming, it could be unexpected. You better be alert. That’s true for the church as we look to the Rapture of the church.

Come down in chapter 3 of Revelation to verse 18. You’re familiar with the church at Laodicea. They were the “lukewarm church that Christ said; I’ll just spit you out of my mouth.” Your condition as a professing but no reality—but look at verse 18. “I advise you to buy from Me, gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments that you may clothe yourself, that’s the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” Very similar in Revelation chapter 16 verse 15 that you keep your clothes so you don’t walk about naked. He’s talking about the genuineness of salvation, clothed with the robe of righteousness, but under pressure—pressure develops character pressure reveals character, and those who bail reveal they were not the genuine article. They will be spiritually naked. They are not clothed in the robe of the righteousness provided by Christ. That’s the connection in these passages.

Come back to the Book of Matthew chapter 24. Again this is the Sermon on the Mount of Olives, the Olivet Discourse, as it’s known. We read a portion of it as Mark recorded it. Here is Matthew, Matthew chapter 24. Christ has been talking about this seven-year period we’re studying in Revelation. In verse 42, “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. Be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” For this reason, you must be ready. The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think, and so there will be an accountability.

Come down into chapter 25. We’ll talk about the details of these judgments in chapter 25 when we get to the preparation for their entering the kingdom of chapter 20 of Revelation. The ten virgins, five are prepared for the coming of the Savior, five are not. The five that are prepared, get to go into the kingdom the five that are not are closed out. The same warning emphases. It’s why Paul told the church at Rome, “now is our redemption nearer than when you first believed.” There’s the tendency even for the church today to wind down. We’ll leave with that sense of imminency, expectation, anticipation, Christ is coming, it may be today! You know the song that we used to sing, “Glad day!” We just sort of mellow out, settle down, so for God’s people, whether it’s the Rapture impending, or in connection with the second coming here at the end of the Tribulation, for the redeemed and the nation Israel, be ready! Stay faithful to the end.

There are a number of other passages but we won’t take time to look at those. Come back to Revelation chapter 16 and how great and gracious God is. Here we come to the very concluding portion, and He’s calling men to salvation and by His grace, the nation Israel will respond. Let’s pick up with the seventh angel in verse 17 and the real content of his bowl will be in chapters 17 and 18 but here is the summary of what’s going to happen, as we get to the end of chapter 16. “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air.” Pouring out the bowl upon the air, this is a universal judgment now, this last one. We’ve seen the bowls turned over and one bowl dumped the judgment on the seas, another bowl poured out on the fresh water, but here this is poured out upon the air, and it encompasses the world. This is the finality of God’s judgment, which will bring the kingdom of Satan and his Antichrist, to a crashing conclusion with their destruction at Armageddon. “The seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air and a loud voice came out from the temple.” The temple is where God is residing, and His voice comes thundering out saying, “It is done.” It is done, all the judgments now have come to their fixed conclusion. This is the end. Perfect tense, something that happens in the past but it continues to the present and here we are. This is the last of the series. This will bring us to the return of Christ and to the kingdom.

Verse 18, “there were flashes of lightning, sounds and peals of thunder, and there was a great earthquake,” so you have these things going on you know this mighty storm with thunder and lightning, and you know how that can be with the thunder that shakes things. The lightning flashing all over. Judgment is coming and now not only through the heavens is the thunder roaring and the lightning flashing, the earth begins to shake, and not just in one or two places like we can turn on the news and see now and as believers we look at that. I hope you think of passages like this and think we’re getting little previews of what someday will overtake the whole world and we thank God for the deliverance promised to the church. There was a great earthquake, and notice how He emphasizes the magnitude. It’s a great earthquake. It’s an earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth. This is the greatest earthquake of history, so great an earthquake was it, so mighty. I mean you get the idea that you just keep piling up words and emphases. There’s been nothing like it, the whole world, the terrifying of it, you see on the news today when an earthquake happens, and the absolute terror of people.

I mean when the ground you’re standing on is no longer stable. The buildings, you can’t get in, you’ve got to get out of the buildings because they’ll come crashing down. The magnitude of this earthquake prophesized in Haggai chapter 2 verse 6. We won’t go back there for time but come to Hebrews its closer. Hebrews chapter 12 and it’s in a word of warning. Those who rejected God’s law given through Moses, the Mosaic Law died without mercy, so here’s a warning. Verse 25 of Hebrews 12. “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.” This is God speaking. “For if, those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth,” and He spoke through Moses on earth, “much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven, and His voice shook the earth then.” Mount Zion remember shook. The people were terrified but now “He has promised, saying, ‘YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN,’” and that’s a quote from Haggai chapter 2 verse 6 in anticipation.

We’ll talk more about that in connection with the coming of Christ but you see these preparations, preparatory things of the earth being brought under judgment. What’s the world going to be? This is not just located in one part of one country. This is shaking heaven and earth alike. It’s the finality of God’s judgment and you can see if Christ didn’t intervene, bring all to an end, there’d be no survival. Judgment is coming, verse 19, “the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.” The great city is Jerusalem. Go back to chapter 11 verse 8, “and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified, and where was the Lord crucified.” Jerusalem, so the great city there is Jerusalem.

Back in chapter 16 verse 19, “the cities of the nations” distinguishes it from the great city Jerusalem because the great city Jerusalem is the city of the Jews, but the cities of the nations, plural are going to experience the devastating effects of this earthquake and all else that goes on with it. Volcanos get set off and the judgments. Babylon the great was remembered before God. There’s two great cities. Babylon the great was remembered before God. The devil’s city is Babylon. God’s city is Jerusalem. Those are the two major cities of the bible the two focal points of the conflict that’s going on. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath, so Babylon is going to come under the judgment of God. We have to pick up some Old Testament references.

Trying to limit these. We’ll get to more of this when we get to the return of Christ but come back to the Book of Zechariah. Zechariah is next to the last book of the Old Testament, so if you go to the beginning of your New Testament and turn back a few pages, you’ll be in Zechariah. Come to Zechariah 14. In connection with the return of the LORD, the city of Jerusalem will experience the impact of an earthquake. Chapter 14 of Zechariah opens up; “a day is coming for the LORD when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle.” That’s what’s happening when we see these demonic spirits gathering all the armies to Armageddon. We’ll talk about Armageddon is north from Jerusalem but this battle and the campaign is going to encompass the whole land from north to south, 200 miles, so that’s what’s happening. They’re gathered here because Satan now is gathering all his forces under his Antichrist for one final all-out war to show God is wrong. Armageddon won’t be my defeat is Satan’s view; it will be God’s defeat. What can I say? Sin makes you stupid! It blinds you. It makes you do irrational things. We see people do that all the time. The devil…read chapter 19, the subsequent chapters, he’s still going to battle, but God is gathering the nations against Jerusalem to battle.

The city will be captured, the houses blundered, the women ravished, half the city exiled. The rest of the people won’t be cut off from the city. Now remember why that promise in chapter 15 and chapter 16 to be watching, to be alert. Your Savior’s coming your Messiah is coming. True believers, this is where Israel will recognize their lost and as a nation they’re saved, and that’s when, verse 3 when “the LORD will go forth and fight.” You need that because these armies are coming. It looks like all is lost. There is no physical help for Israel. The armies of the world have come together with one commitment, to wipe out Israel. We’ve seen it. You’ve seen it on the map, that little nothing of a space and you have all the armies of the world descending now. That’s why you remember God promises His deliverance. In that day He comes. The LORD comes to fight the battle. There’s no human deliverance available. In that day, His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from east to west by a very large valley. Half the mountain moves to the north the other half toward the south. You’ll flee in the valley and Israel will be delivered in verse 9. “The LORD will be king over all the earth” but this is where we are. We’re at this final time and you have the earthquake. We mentioned Babylon, the great the conflict there.

Come back to Zechariah 5 and Zechariah has a vision so we’ll have to pick up that in verse 5. “Then the angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, “Lift up your eyes and see what this is going forth.” I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah going forth.” Now you have in your margin, an ephah was about a bushel, so this vessel is about a bushel. Don’t depend on my hands as I shape a bushel because you who have backgrounds in these things, a bushel, a bushel but an ephah is about the size of a bushel, so he sees this vessel starting to take off, at the end of verse 6. Then he said, “This is their appearance in all the land (and behold a lead cover was lifted up),” so this bushel sized vessel has a lead cover on it, indicating that it is containing securely what’s in it,) and this is a woman. (So they lift up the lid so Zechariah can see what’s in the bushel “and this is a woman) sitting in the ephah.”

“And the angel said, ‘This is Wickedness!’ And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and put the lid back down,” so it’s like when he lifts the lid to show Zechariah, the woman starts to come out. “The angel said, ‘This is wickedness,’ pushes her back down and puts the lead cover back on it. Then I lifted up my eyes,” verse 9, “and looked. There were two women coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. I said to the angel who was speaking with me, ‘Where are they taking the ephah?’ He says to me, ‘I will build a temple for her in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.’”

What is going on? We’re in the Tribulation. The land of Shinar is Babylon, the land of Babylon where Babylon the city is. Come back to Genesis 10, and we’ll talk more about this with Babylon but I couldn’t leave it out. This is after the flood, the family of Noah and their descendants. Come down to verse 6 “the sons of Ham,” and then you come down from Ham’s descendants to Cush and verse 8, “Cush became the father of Nimrod: he became a mighty one on the earth, a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter.’” Verse 10, “the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, which is Babylon, in the land of Shinar” at the end of verse 10. That’s important, so here we have the beginning of Babylon the great.

Come over to chapter 11. “Now the whole earth”—the chapter opens up, used the same language, the same words. “It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of, Shinar and settled there. They said let’s make a worship center.” Verse 4, “Come let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach unto heaven,” and that didn’t mean they thought they could build that high, but this is one of those triangular sized constructions you see with archeology and the top’s flat. In other words, they elevate it high and then the top is where they worship because they want to be as close to heaven to offer their worship as they can, so they’re going to build a city around a worship temple tower, and make for ourselves a name. “Otherwise, we’ll be scattered over the face of the whole earth” and so, the languages are divided and it becomes known as Babel.

Babylon, this is the beginning of Babylon the city. What is it? It’s a city focused on worship with all the people of the world supposedly gathered here around one worship center--what’s that? It’s the opposition to what God intends. Where will we go when we have God’s kingdom and the holy city Jerusalem, with the temple of God there and all the people worshiping Him, so Babylon becomes the center of the satanic program in opposition to God’s program, which centers in Jerusalem? We’ll see the religious characteristic of Babylon and then see the political and commercial when we get to chapters 17 and 18. Babylon—two chapters of Isaiah are devoted just to Babylon, chapters 13 and 14. Two chapters of Jeremiah’s prophecy, chapters 50 and 51, long chapters devoted to Babylon, and two chapters in the Book of Revelation, chapters 17 and 18. Babylon but Jerusalem wins as we get to chapters 20, 21 and 22.

Come back, we have to wrap this up. Revelation chapter 16, now thunder, lightning, we have an earthquake, one like the world has never experienced. Every island fled away the mountains were not found--why? God is remembering Babylon, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. The final destruction of the satanic system. What else could you have? What about hailstones, huge hailstones? I mean, we’re talking about big ones about one hundred pounds each. They’re the weight of a talent, a talent was a little more than a hundred pounds but we’ll round it off, a hundred pounds. We were in Colorado a couple of years ago. It was a nice day but it started hailing and we just fortunately were close enough to a gas station. We pulled up under it you know under the cover. I tell you it was not long until traffic was piled up everywhere and I could have sold my spot for much but there was no way to get out anyway.

What is done, you know you have hail, it looked like you had a heavy snow and you drive around that part of Colorado—it’s the dimple capitol of the world. All the cars just are pock marked from that hail. I understand it’s the second most hailed place in the country. We may quit visiting there. Marilyn doesn’t like the idea of being out with an umbrella over the car while hanging out the window. These are hailstones a hundred pounds. Where do you go to get away from hundred pound hailstones? Everything gets pulverized. You see God pouring out His wrath, but He restrains it even here, and you know men have to be coming to the end of themselves.

This could be nothing else but the hand of God. But what do they do? Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail because its plague was extremely severe. I mean, what do you say? They blasphemed God. Does sin make any sense? Can you win? And we say, “Why doesn’t the devil give up?” Why don’t you give up? Why don’t I give up? What is it about sin? Why are there a couple hundred people on our doorstep that continue to reject the salvation that is in Christ? Even when they’re told about it. It makes no sense. Why do you want to go to hell? You can go to heaven. The tickets already been paid for here. No thank you, I don’t believe that anyway. I have my own religion. Let’s go to the points. I summarized some of this.

Number 1. We must always live in light of the coming of the Lord.
That’s true for us. You know we’re enlightened believers with the completion of God’s word. We won’t have to live through the Tribulation, but why in the world, if the Lord would come this afternoon, what excuse would we have to say, well I wasn’t expecting You. What do you mean you weren’t expecting Me? You’ve trusted Me, You have My Spirit you have My word. How many years did you need to study it to live on the edge of expectation? What in the world will the church—we’ll have no excuse.

Come to 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14. “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” You see what God does. Every time you talk about Jesus Christ, God is pleased. That’s what He is saying. We are a fragrance of Christ to God; you’re giving off the knowledge of God. To God that is a fragrance that pleases Him. “Among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” It’s not the result that is pleasing to God, it’s the fact that you’re giving off the fragrance of Christ. You want to be pleasing to God, go out and tell somebody about Jesus Christ.

Think of how often we go without talking to anybody about Christ. I thought we wanted to please Him. Well people don’t believe it when I tell them so I don’t think it’s my gift. Look at verse 16. “To the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.” The response doesn’t matter. My job is to tell and when I tell God is pleased. Sometimes I am telling people about Jesus Christ, they reject and they’re just further confirmed in their lost condition. I’ve been an aroma from death to death but God’s pleased with the aroma of Christ. Sometimes, by God’s grace, it’s an aroma from life to life and someone’s saved, but God’s pleased with the aroma to life. I forget I want to be about what’s pleasing to God. I don’t know how many hundreds of people we have sitting here today. If everybody went out this week and told, two people about Jesus Christ think of how many people would hear about Christ this week. If we diligently pray for God in mercy to use the word we say, we might be able to fill in a few empty seats, and they would get to hear about the Savior and grow in Him but to the very end people will be stubborn and say no. Come back to Revelation 16.

Second point, God’s plan will be finished. The end of verse 17 it says, “It is done!” God doesn’t leave anything undone. Everything He planned, everything He promised, everything He prophesized, it will be done.

Thirdly, this is the time for Israel’s salvation and the nation’s destruction. Most of you are Gentiles sitting here. I would counsel you, exhort you, don’t pass up today. This may be the day God says I want to bring to you salvation. You say no, I’ll do it tomorrow. He doesn’t say tomorrow, today is the day of salvation. You don’t control the future, God does. He brought you here today. There comes a time for Israel’s salvation, God has determined the nation will be saved. What terrible suffering they’ve gone through, for the millenniums of time, because of their rebellion against God, and the worst is yet to come but God’s plan for redemption will be accomplished.

Sadly, point 4 is men, even on the brink of eternity, blaspheme.
What can you say that happens today, men blaspheme? How many people have you shared the gospel with that said no? That doesn’t mean they’ll never have an opportunity. How gracious God is that He doesn’t just give us one opportunity. Most of us were saved after hearing it repeatedly, some for years. God is gracious, but it is very dangerous to say no today, because you never know there will be a tomorrow to say yes. God offers salvation free; you can believe in Him today. If you say no, what assurance have you that God says you’ll be able to do it tomorrow. Maybe there will spirits of demonic beings. They will have drawn you away and hardened your heart in connection with your own hardened—and the day of opportunity will be past. For those of us who are saved, we know the truth. This world is not our home, we’re just passing through. We need to redeem the time for the days are evil and to be used in every possible way, to honor the Lord.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for the riches of Your word. Lord, we won’t be living in the times or reading about-- but yet You gave them to us as Your church, Your churches to shape our behavior, to guide us in living. We live in light of what lies before we live claiming Your promises. We live looking for the blessed hope for the church. We live with a sense of imminency, a sense of urgency. Pray that our testimony for you will be strong and faithful until the end. We pray in Christ’s name.

2