First Bowl Poured
In Revelation 16:2, the first angel receives his directions from the heavenly temple to pour out his bowl on the earth. When he does, malignant sores break out on those who have received the mark of the beast.Again, notice who is in charge! The order to inflict punishment comes from the temple in heaven. God was, is and forever will be sovereign. The punishment has directives with it. Only inflict pain on those who have decided to follow the enemy.
One possible cause of the sores comes from the fact that the sun, our closest star, has begun to novae. When it does,
The seven angels who will administer
the bowl judgments of Revelation come out of the temple (15:6), These angels
are clothed as the priests under the Levitical system of worship:
white linen
golden sashes
holy
pure
The priests of the earthly
tabernacle dressed the same. Although the angels were pure and holy, the
priests represented these characteristics to the people.
An important thing to remember, too,
is that the priests also acted as judges. The Angels from the heavenly temple
are bringing judgment on the earth and Satan's kingdom. They are the final
elements of judgment that will complete Jesus' last words on the cross,
"It is finished."
After the first angel comes out of
the heavenly temple, God's glory so fills the place that no one can enter the
temple until the bowl judgments are complete. Let's get right into these
powerful, enemy's power ending judgments.
Revelation Chapter 16
This chapter reveals the extent of misery which can be
experienced in this world.
Governments can’t survive or save its populace from
God’s judgment.
There is a penalty for sin.
This concluding book brings the
world to battle with justice and with Jesus.
Humanity’s works can’t
resist the power of the Lamb of God.
The Man, whom the world
considers to be Casper Milk Toast, defeats
all
the power from the largest military force in history, i.e. 200,000,000.
The campaign of Armageddon, starting
at Bozra (Isaiah 34:6; 63:1; Jeremiah 49:13;
Amos
1:12) and ending in Jerusalem, won’t be much of a contest.
It was settled at the
cross (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
Evil can’t possibly
sustain any measure of force against our Lord and Savior.
“Gee Mugsy, the cops
show up and the bad guys run off.”
This is an awesome and terrifying
chapter.
I’m glad that I’m not going to be
there to witness the events, at least not in my
Human
body.
First
Bowl Poured
In Revelation 16:2, the first angel
receives his directions from the heavenly temple to pour out his bowl on the
earth. When he does, malignant sores break out on those who have received the
mark of the beast.
Again, notice who is in charge! The
order to inflict punishment comes from the temple in heaven. God was, is and
forever will be sovereign. The punishment has directives with it. Only inflict
pain on those who have decided to follow the enemy.
One possible cause of the sores
comes from the fact that the sun, our closest star, has begun to novae. Although
scientists say it is impossible for the sun to novae, Isaiah 24:6 says, “The
sun shines with the brightness of 7 days. Jesus says, “the star will fall from
heaven and the sun and moon will not give their light,” (Matthew 24).
When it does, the gamma rays would
cause tremendous sores and skin cancers in a very short period of time.
Second Bowl Poured
The second bowl is poured into the
sea. Which sea? The Mediterranean? The Sea of Galilee? Or all the oceans?
Whatever “sea” the bowl is poured
on, life in it is destroyed. This would cause much devastation from the smell
and disease it would cause.
Third Bowl Poured
The second bowl was poured on the
salt waters. Now the third bowl has the distinction of being poured on the
fresh waters. The rivers and springs became blood. Once again, does this happen
to the fresh waters of the whole world or the world that John knows?
I believe it to be the waters of the
world. The reason is that God is about to reclaim his creation. The end is
insight. Jesus is about to return. The end is in sight. The world as we know it
will change tremendously. God is reclaiming his creation.
We find here as well that the rivers
have an angel over them. This angel extols God’s righteousness for this
destruction. The angel declares that his punishment of the nations is justified
because they “poured out the blood of the saint and prophets,” (16:6).
Fourth Bowl Poured
The fourth bowl is poured on the
sun. The sun scorched men with fire. Instead of recognizing that God is the one
to be praised and a shield in time of distress, the humans affected by the
fierce heat blasphemed the name of God.
They recognize his power, but they
deny his ability to save them. Does this passage say anything about those who
wait until they are about to die before they confess Jesus? Waiting may not
bring you the opportunity to repent. These individuals were suffering such intense
pain that asking God to save them was a total foreign thought.
Fifth Bowl Poured
The fifth bowl was poured on the
kingdom of the Anti-christ, the beast. Suddenly, the lights go out as Jesus
said they would in Matthew 24, “The sun and moon will not give their light, and
the stars will fall from heaven.” There was great pain from the cancerous
sores, the darkness so real you could feel it and no way to do work. The
kingdoms of the world are soon to become the kingdoms of our God.
Sixth Bowl Poured
The sixth bowl was poured on the
Euphrates River. The purpose of drying up this river allowed the vast army to
come against Jerusalem and the small remnant of Jews found there. These Jews
are the last on earth. Soon they will be annihilated by this vast army. That is
unless someone or something intervenes.
Do you find it odd that the very
area where life began, where the Tower of Babble was erected. The area where
the Garden of Eden existed has now become a highway by which the army gathered
by Satan will come to destroy all of the Jews.
However, God has a plan. A little
know scripture exists in Hosea 5:15, “I will go to my place, and they in their
desperation will earnestly seek me.” This small remnant will look into the face
of certain destruction and an eternity spent in hell. They will recognize their
plight and call out to God for salvation. At the very moment, “all of the Jews
will be saved,” (1 Corinthians 11: ).
The First Six Bowl Judgments
In the bowl judgments we have witnessed:Malignant sores
Sea becomes blood
Fresh waters turned to blood
Sun scorches humans
Heavenly lights turned out
Euprates River becomes a highway
The seventh and final bowl isn’t poured out until the battle of Armageddon takes place. We will look at that judgment in our next post.
I am here to help. If you have
questions or comments please list them in the comments section.
Blessings,
Howard
PS:
A complete study on Revelation and the judgments is available at B. C. Ministries,
Inc. Email us if you'd like a free copy.
PSS: Our first novel, The Red-Haired Master Shepherd, has been published. The novel is fiction about a little known Biblical character who meets Jesus. Check it out here. Or you can email us for your copy.
Who You Are Isn't Based on Performance with God. Who You Are Should Have A Direct Bearing on How You Perform.
No comments:
Post a Comment