Friday, December 26, 2008
Revelation 16:16
Friday, December 26, 2008 |
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.
As we come to this 16th chapter of Revelation we read the prophecy of the last set of seven judgments, the “Vial Judgments”. There are three sets of major judgments in the book of Revelation, the Seals, the Trumpets and the Vials.
These judgments get progressively worse as events proceed through the seven years of Tribulation. The Seal Judgments take place in the first half of the Tribulation and the Trumpet and Vial Judgments in the last half. When the world comes to the Vial Judgments things will be moving very quickly.
If you have already read about the Trumpet Judgments in Revelation 8,9 and 11 you are aware of the “ecological judgments” that have taken place and now John reveals the final acts of judgment on the earth, to bring it under submission.
Bringing the “earth and earth-dwellers” under submission is one of the purposes for the Tribulation so that the God of Heaven can give Jesus Christ, His Son, “dominion”, make Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In our devotional reading, the extended portion, you will notice that we stop with verse 16 and leave out the “seventh vial”. I will deal with the last “vial” judgment in another devotional.
I’ll not take the space to explain the first five vial judgments, they pretty well explain themselves and display the “wrath” of God in His judgment on “unrepentant” man. I will share several thoughts about the sixth vial and the parenthetical portion of the 16th chapter of Revelation.
When the “angel”, the sixth angel, pours out his vial on the earth the focus is the Euphrates River so that this river is dried up to make way for the “Kings of the East” to make their way into the Middle East, in particular the Jewish State of Israel, actually the “City of Jerusalem”.
The sixth vial judgment and the prophecy of verses 13 to 16 go together in that they are talking about all the nations left on the earth, after almost seven years of intense judgment, gathering at Jerusalem for the “Campaign of Armageddon”.
The “Kings of the East” would be at least the nations of China and India, plus many other Far East nations. Remember, almost half of the earth’s population live in that region of the world.
The “River Euphrates” is the natural border that separates the Middle East and the Far East. These nations in the Far East will move towards Jerusalem for the beginning of the “mother of all battles”, the Battle of Armageddon, which I referred to as the “Campaign of Armageddon” because it begins at Jerusalem, not the Jezreel Valley.
The Devil, along with the Beast, Antichrist, and the False Prophet, verse 13, use “demonic deception” and perform “miracles”, verse 14, to gather the “kings of the earth and of the whole world”, to the Middle East, Jerusalem and then the Jezreel Valley for the “war to end all wars”.
This look at most of Revelation 16 should give each of us the evidence that we are quickly moving towards the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Today we have a proliferation of “miracles” around the world, along with “demonic deception” that is preparing for verses 13 to 16 to be fulfilled.
I hasten to remind you that before all of these prophecies are fulfilled the “shout” will come from heaven for the “body of Christ”, the Church, Christians to go to be with Jesus in the heavens. This “shout”, of course, is the Rapture and it can happen at any moment, so keep looking up, it could be today.
PRAYER THOT: Dear Lord, thank you for the “warning” of coming events, contained in Bible prophecy, so that we can recognize the times in which we are living. Help us to live in light of this knowledge and warn the lost of what they most do to prepare for the end times.
For further study - Revelation 16:1-16
As we come to this 16th chapter of Revelation we read the prophecy of the last set of seven judgments, the “Vial Judgments”. There are three sets of major judgments in the book of Revelation, the Seals, the Trumpets and the Vials.
These judgments get progressively worse as events proceed through the seven years of Tribulation. The Seal Judgments take place in the first half of the Tribulation and the Trumpet and Vial Judgments in the last half. When the world comes to the Vial Judgments things will be moving very quickly.
If you have already read about the Trumpet Judgments in Revelation 8,9 and 11 you are aware of the “ecological judgments” that have taken place and now John reveals the final acts of judgment on the earth, to bring it under submission.
Bringing the “earth and earth-dwellers” under submission is one of the purposes for the Tribulation so that the God of Heaven can give Jesus Christ, His Son, “dominion”, make Jesus the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In our devotional reading, the extended portion, you will notice that we stop with verse 16 and leave out the “seventh vial”. I will deal with the last “vial” judgment in another devotional.
I’ll not take the space to explain the first five vial judgments, they pretty well explain themselves and display the “wrath” of God in His judgment on “unrepentant” man. I will share several thoughts about the sixth vial and the parenthetical portion of the 16th chapter of Revelation.
When the “angel”, the sixth angel, pours out his vial on the earth the focus is the Euphrates River so that this river is dried up to make way for the “Kings of the East” to make their way into the Middle East, in particular the Jewish State of Israel, actually the “City of Jerusalem”.
The sixth vial judgment and the prophecy of verses 13 to 16 go together in that they are talking about all the nations left on the earth, after almost seven years of intense judgment, gathering at Jerusalem for the “Campaign of Armageddon”.
The “Kings of the East” would be at least the nations of China and India, plus many other Far East nations. Remember, almost half of the earth’s population live in that region of the world.
The “River Euphrates” is the natural border that separates the Middle East and the Far East. These nations in the Far East will move towards Jerusalem for the beginning of the “mother of all battles”, the Battle of Armageddon, which I referred to as the “Campaign of Armageddon” because it begins at Jerusalem, not the Jezreel Valley.
The Devil, along with the Beast, Antichrist, and the False Prophet, verse 13, use “demonic deception” and perform “miracles”, verse 14, to gather the “kings of the earth and of the whole world”, to the Middle East, Jerusalem and then the Jezreel Valley for the “war to end all wars”.
This look at most of Revelation 16 should give each of us the evidence that we are quickly moving towards the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Today we have a proliferation of “miracles” around the world, along with “demonic deception” that is preparing for verses 13 to 16 to be fulfilled.
I hasten to remind you that before all of these prophecies are fulfilled the “shout” will come from heaven for the “body of Christ”, the Church, Christians to go to be with Jesus in the heavens. This “shout”, of course, is the Rapture and it can happen at any moment, so keep looking up, it could be today.
PRAYER THOT: Dear Lord, thank you for the “warning” of coming events, contained in Bible prophecy, so that we can recognize the times in which we are living. Help us to live in light of this knowledge and warn the lost of what they most do to prepare for the end times.