Chastisement:

“The Great Tribulation”

Revelation 16

 

 

Next event on God’s Prophetic Calendar:

The Rapture of the church.

Soon after the church goes in the air, the world begins the process of going off the air:  The 7 year tribulation begins.

 

It will be hell on earth (we don’t serve a half-baked God…yes, He’s a God of love, but also of wrath—“it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”)

Revelation 6:17    For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

It is the time of chastisement upon the world of sin.  But if you are saved today, remember…

Isaiah 53:5    But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 

The Tribulation will be a horrific time: 

4 horsemen--widespread violence / war / famine / starvation / will make the holocaust look like a baby shower / you will be afraid to leave your home, if you have one / will take a day’s wages to buy a loaf of bread!

 

7 trumpet judgments [Seals]—1/3^rd of all earth’s vegetation destroyed / 1/3^rd of marine life killed / 1/3^rd of salt water turned to blood / 1/3^rd of ocean-going vessels destroyed / 1/3^rd of freshwater poisoned / 1/3^rd of all sunlight diminished…these things result in economic chaos and ecological disaster!

 

Angel then sounded 3 woes:

An invasion from hell—demons turned loose on earth so vile and wicked they have been incarcerated since they fell from heaven / will torture mankind / sting like scorpions / and 1/4^th of world’s population is now dead…The flower of wickedness will be in full bloom!

 

Then we meet up w/ the antichrist, and his sinister minister the false prophet, and it all goes downhill from there, beginning in ch. 16 as the 7 bowls of God’s wrath are poured out!

 

And here in ch. 16 we find the most intense / frightening / horrifying info. in the Bible, apart from the verses on hell and eternal damnation.

 

This is not fun info. to consider, but it’s God’s truth and He’s led us here to it this day…and it’s God’s will that good come out of this considering much bad which is coming to this sinful world.

 

Joke—little boy said, dad, “I think I may have flunked my math test” / dad said, “Do you have to be so negative?” / “OK, I’m positive I flunked my math test!”

 

Some things are positively negative…like Rev. 16!  Here is the climax of the great tribulation…and for the saved it’s nothing but good news for us and motivation to reach others and to know the signs of the times.

 

Here is the pouring out of the 7 bowls of wrath from the throne of God Himself!

        For 6,000 years + God has been offering grace, mercy, and salvation, but not in that day!

 

Here in ch. 16 are God’s 7 final judgments on those who rejected Him…

 

v. 1  The 7 bowls are poured out upon the earth 1 by 1.  Each angel has a specific target.

 

Bowl #1—

v. 2  Something like leprosy?  It’s poured out upon the worshippers of antichrist. (since they bear the mark of the beast, they’re easy to locate!) [microchip?]

 

By the way, if you didn’t know what the Bible says, you’d be all for this mark!  Think about it--no more kidnappings, bad checks…and most will go for it!

 

Now it’s not just the government that looks for them, but this first angel, and germ warfare happens in a way it’s never happened before.

 

Bowl #2—

v. 3  (“as blood”)

All the salt water is affected, and every single soul in them dies!

[earlier in the trib. 1/3^rd of waters were affected…but it was just a warning…this is much worse!]

Imagine w/ me:  picture the world’s shorelines lined and cluttered w/ decaying corpses of sea life / unbearable stench.

 

So, they’ve got these sores, and no relief, and constant nausea.

 

Since waters are contaminated, ocean-going vessels will come to a halt. 

The world today doesn’t realize how dependant we are upon God…do we?  The now-salty waters of the world are God’s cleansing agent for the filth of the world, but then no longer!

 

Bowl #3—

vv. 4-6     fresh water is the target of this plague…the only resource left, and now it’s being plagued! 

Jesus turned water into wine, but the Father now turns it to blood!

The angel says to the Lord:  there’s a poetic justice in what you’ve done!  The antichrist has shed much blood of those who refused the mark, and many thru the ages before them, and now they’re reaping what they have sown! 

 

Gal. 6:7   Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

 

Ex. 1—Pharoah declared male Jewish babies would be drowned…and that’s how he and his whole army died!

 

Esther—Haman decided to exterminate the Jews, and he wanted to start by hanging Mordecai…he sneakily concocted and started the plan into motion…and how did it end?  He was discovered and hung on the very gallows he prepared for Mordecai!

 

Bowl #4—

v. 8  greatest heat wave in history—real global warming!  So unbearable that bodies will be scorched…a foretaste of hell right here on earth…w/ little water to drink, mind you!

        Multitudes will die of thirst, heat exhaustion, skin cancer, etc.

 

[Ironic that the sun refused to shine 3 hrs. while Jesus was on the cross, but here it’s intensified!]

 

The OT prophets talked of this plague:

Deut. 32:24    They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction:

 

Is. 24:6    Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

 

Few?  Fact is, no one would be left if God did not supernaturally shorten the daylight hours!

Mt 24:22 - And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:

Some think that means the tribulation is shortened, but no, not true, Jesus said 7 years!

        The only interpretation is that some literal days will be shortened!  Perhaps this is thru the ash in the air blocking out the sun?

 

One more OT prophesy:

Mal. 4:1   For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts.

 

You’d think that would break men?

v. 9  They know there is a God…no doubt, He’s proven Himself, yet in their agony the last thing on their mind is repentance, but rather they curse Him, hate Him!

        [very revealing about the wicked heart of mankind!]

 

Don’t ever think that judgment brings men to repentance…it only rarely does!

        If God’s love doesn’t bring them, His wrath likely won’t!

        Those in hell aren’t begging to be saved, they curse, blaspheme God, gnash teeth [snarl in face of God!]

        Once you die lost, your character is forever fixed!

 

Rev. 22:11 [speaking of eternity…]

He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

 

The unsaved continues to sin in hell, rebel all he can, and his hatred toward his judge continues forever!

 

Bowl #5—

v. 10-11   A plague of supernatural darkness just like in Moses’ time in Egypt…so thick you could feel it / drive to insanity!

        This won’t be worldwide…will only settle over kingdom of antichrist…perhaps where headquarters are…Jerusalem or maybe Rome?

 

This plague is God’s way of saying to the world:  you could have followed the light, but you have chosen darkness

[instead of the Bright Morning Star / you chose the prince of darkness]

 

Bowl #6—

v. 12        Why target the River Euphrates w/ a plague?

The prominence of this river in the Bible is extraordinary:  mentioned in Genesis…and here in Revelation…and 25X’s in-between.

 

It’s the approximate location of the garden of Eden…and here the battle of Armageddon.  [the cradle and the grave!]

 

Plague #6—the waters of the Euphrates are dried up!

1,730 miles long / over ½ mile wide many places / 30 feet deep many places!  Dams are being built upstream, and it has been greatly diminished, and some days is virtually non-existent.

[It WILL literally happen, and is a sign of the times when it does.  Euphrates has been like an invisible line, a barrier like a force field]

 

Dried up for specific reason:  kings of the east!

 

Almost all Bible scholars agree this is a ref. to an Asian coalition, led by none other than red China!  This is a full-scale invasion of the west, coming from the east…unprecedented in history!

Think about this:  The Euphrates River is the far eastern border of the land God promised to Abraham.  God keeps His promises!  But here in the tribulation all bets are off!

 

Now an army of 200 million soldiers is mobilized…on the move!  And they bring w/ them the technology they have stolen from us and had “hand-delivered” BY us [traitors / spies /espionage] over the last several decades or so!

 

This is an Asian coalition, though…China may lead the way, but throw in some others:

Arab/African Confederacy—Dan. 11—“Kings of the south”!

Russians—Ezek. 38-39—Gog and Magog—in Daniel called “Kings of the North”!

United States of Europe—revived Roman Empire—10 toes of Daniel’s statue!

Israelis…definitely a part of the end times and the battle of Armageddon…and conservative estimates say there will be at the very least 300 million soldiers involved…probably more!

 

No wonder the Bible says the blood will flow for 200 miles as deep as a horse’s bridle!  It will take 7 months just to bury the dead!

 

v. 13-14   “working miracles”

        Have you noticed how miracle-hungry our world has become?  We are obsessed w/ the supernatural:  healings and tongues to new age mysticism and the occult / superheroes / ufo’s / Area 51…the people of our world are being set up / the pump is being primed / there’s a concerted effort in the spirit world to give people an insatiable appetite for miracles so this unholy trinity will be viewed as miracle-working gods!

 

Bowl #7—

5. 16-18a         The atmosphere is the target of this final plague…the air!  I like this because it destroys the very last trace of Satan’s abiding place! 

Eph. 2:2  “prince of the power of the air”

[this plague destroys every nook and cranny of Satan’s dwelling place!]

 

Air is the preferred method of war today.  This plague is tied to Armageddon, so it is reasonable to think this is a massive air exchange / full scale nuclear war perhaps…w/ most or all nations of the world emptying their biggest guns!  And the result is this huge earthquake in v. 18…This is tectonic / cataclysmic / seismic / volcanic…all rolled into one!

 

The book of Zechariah refers to men’s flesh melting off of them.  Sounds nuclear. 

Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

 

v. 19        Imagine the metropolitan areas leveled / judged in one fell swoop!

 

v. 20        Imagine Hawaii disappearing /Philippines / the Galapagos / thousands of Micronesia islands / Melanesian islands / Polynesian islands / perhaps Long Island? / Gilligan’s

 

All kidding aside…the mountains also disappearing, sinking into the heart of the earth:  Rockies / Swiss Alps / Himalayas/ Andes / Mt. Everest!

 

The climax includes the raining down of hailstones in weight over 100 lbs. each!

v. 21        Talent=approx. 114 lbs!

ill.—when they tested nuclear bombs at sea last century the fallout created hailstones of 20 lbs. each, some of which dented the armor of ships!

 

They blasphemed in spite of all of this!  As they will in eternity!

 

v. 17c      “It is done” - reminds us of what Jesus said on the cross:  “it is finished”…every sin was paid for / judged…and if you get in on that ‘it is finished’…you won’t have to face this judgment!

 

We wouldn’t wish these things on our worst enemy, much less those close to us, in our circles!

 

4 words to describe the judgment of God:

 

Unwilling—God never judges willingly!

II Pet. 3   The Lord is … not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

If you’re left behind after the rapture to suffer these horrible judgments, it will be against the will of God!

 

He has never quickly judged…He’s longsuffering, and has given us time to choose.

 

Noah—120 years he preached before judgment fell!

Sodom & Gomorrah—for years God’s people wondered why God allowed it to continue…then the sky fell!

America—it’s been a long time since God was kicked out of school / Roe v. Wade initiated the holocaust of the ages / gays out of closet and into Congress and the cabinet…

 

God loves them, doesn’t want to judge them, is waiting, longsuffering…

But He’s holy, righteous, just, and eventually you cross the line!

 

Unwilling…

2^nd word:

Unexpected—

Proverbs 6 is talking about the ‘naughty man’ who seems to be getting away w/ his sin…perhaps he’s in a season of prosperity…

 

Prov. 6
6:15 Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
Proverbs 29
29:1 He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

 

Lulled into a false sense of security!

Lk. 12—rich farmer said, I’ll eat, drink and be merry!

        God said, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee!

Ananias and Sapphira crossed that line and were suddenly slain!

 

3^rd word:

Unspeakable—

Mt. 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

“Eye hath not seen…!”

Words cannot describe it…it’s unspeakable!

 

4^th word:

[unwilling, unexpected, unspeakable…also…]

 

Unnecessary—

You don’t have to be there for these judgments…Jesus died in your place to save you!

 

Don’t die an unnecessary death by rejecting Christ…don’t proclaim His death to have been unnecessary!  You don’t want to be here when God’s Bowls of Wrath are poured out in the tribulation…and the great news is:  you don’t have to be!