Revelation 16
16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."
2So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.4The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel of water say, "Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast, O Holy One. 6For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!" 7And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!"
10The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish 11and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
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2So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea.4The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. 5And I heard the angel of water say, "Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast, O Holy One. 6For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!" 7And I heard the altar cry, "Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!"
The Seven Bowl Judgements begin, causing plagues on the earth that are reminiscent of the 10 Plagues with which God struck Egypt to free the Israelites (Exodus ch. 7-12). The angel and the martyrs (under the altar, see chapter 6) proclaim God's justice in His judgements and celebrate His triumph over evil.8The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; 9men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
10The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish 11and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
God's judgements continue, but note, through it all, God's mercy: though the people refuse to repent of their wickedness, John's mentioning that fact tells us that even now, they still have the chance to. Instead, unlike Job, who suffered similarly but refused to "curse God and die," but "in all this misfortune Job uttered no sinful word" (Job 2:9-10, NJB), rather, the people do in fact [curse] the name of God rather than give Him glory.12The sixth angel poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13And I saw, issuing from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three foul spirits like frogs; 14for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!") 16And they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon.
The sixth judgement is that the Euphrates dries up to make a highway for the world's armies to come together to fight against God. At first, this does not seem like a judgement or a plague, but realise that a) all things are in God's plan, and b) the nations who come together will not only surely lose (who can fight against God?) but in their act of war against Him will seal their fate and show God's justice to be altogether true.17The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; 21and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague.
Satan and the two beasts send forth evil spirits to rally the troops. Even in this, they are not achieving anything against God, but playing right into His hand. They meet at the place called Armageddon, which is a symbol for disaster since the good King Josiah was killed there in 2 Kings 23:29). Satan is no fool. He knows his fate (John recorded it in this very book!), and he will try to take as many souls down with him when he goes. This is why spreading the Gospel throughout the world is so incredibly important.
The seventh plague comes, and it is beyond anything we've ever seen. Such as had never been since men were on the earth: an allusion to Daniel 11:40-12:1:When the time comes for the End, the king of the south will try conclusions with him; but the king of the north will come storming down on him with chariots, calvary, and a large fleet. He will invade countries, overrun them and drive on. He will invade the Land of Splendour, and many will fall; but Edom, Moab, and what remains of the sons of Ammon will escape him.Daniel's prophecy refers to the persecution and downfall of Antiochus Epiphanes, one of Israel's greatest enemies, and a prefigurement of the AntiChrist. Hence, John's allusion to this passage sets up both the climactic battle, and the ultimate defeat, of the Dragon and his Beasts.
He will reach out to attack countries: Egypt will not escape him. The gold and silver treasures and all the valuables of Egypt will lie in his power. Libyans and Cushites will be at his feet: but reports coming from the East and the north will worry him, and in great fury he will set out to bring ruin and complete destruction to many. He will pitch the tents of his royal headquarters between the sea and the mountains of the Holy Splendour. Yet he will come to his end--there will be no help for him.
At that time Michael will arise--the great Prince, defender of your people. That will be a time of great distress, unparalleled since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, your own people will be spared--all those whose names are found written in the Book (NJB).
But first, John mentions that God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. The next two chapters relate the identity and punishment of Babylon.
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Labels: Bible Study, Revelation
posted by Gregory at 4:08 p.m.
8 Comments:
"("Lo, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!") "
Yuo have no idea how much I want an elaboration or explanation of that line, to confirm or alter my hypothesis.
~The Hidden One~
The "garments" are described in chapter 19 as the deeds of the saints. In the Gospel, Jesus tells wedding-related parables. One of 10 Virgins, half of whom are foolish and do not bring enough oil for their wait, and fall asleep so that they don't have time to get more, and another about a wedding feast where one who attended was not properly dressed, and so was kicked out.
Both of these parables are represented here. We must always be persevering in good works, in following Christ, so that when He comes, we will be in a state of Grace. We cannot have an attitude where we say, "I'll go to Confession later," because we don't know if we'll have a "later" in which to make things right with God. We don't know when Jesus is coming, just as we don't know when the thief will break into our home. We must always be prepared.
If we are in a state of mortal sin, having cut ourselves off from the Covenant, when Jesus returns, we will not find our place at His side.
2 comments:
1: The gist of your comment makes sense, and I agree with.
2: Accoridng to all you've been sayin recently, Protestants and those others of us who do not do Confession are in big doodoo, aren't we?
~The Hidden One~
On the one hand, God will save whom He will, Confession or no.
On the other hand, I'd rather not take the chance of uncertainty, since He's given us His way to be sure. Ironically, Protestants in theory say all sins are mortal, but in practice, treat them all as Venial. It's inconsistent. You can't have it both ways. But since Jesus didn't give the power to forgive to all people, it's something to seriously consider.
"It's inconsistent."
Well, not at this level, IMO. If the mortality of a mortal sin is removed by Salvation, then they are all Venial.
~Hidden One~
But that's just it, Hidden One. The mortality of a sin is not removed by salvation. A mortal sin, in effect, is an action which out and out rejects salvation. It is knowing that something is expressly against God's will, and choosing to do it regardless.
Yes, Christ's sacrifice pays the penalty for our sins, but again, there is the "appropriation" aspect to it all. In the Old Testament sacrificial system, the priest sacrificed the animal, but the penitent sinner had to participate in that action, in various ways depending on the sin. It was never just the priest doing the action on behalf of the sinner. The priest's role was needed, because through the person's sin, he had cut himself off from the covenant community. He needed the priest's mediation to return.
In the same way, through mortal sin, we reject the New Covenant in Christ. His sacrifice on the Cross is our "ticket back in" so to speak. We don't need to re-sacrifice, as in the Old Testament, but we do need to reclaim the effects of that sacrifice, and reapply it to ourselves through Penance.
Venial sin, on the other hand, isn't a complete rejection of the covenant, and so we still have a direct relationship with our Father, though it is wounded. We can still go directly to Him for forgiveness.
Those who believe in Once-Saved-Always-Saved understandably have no need for this concept of Reconciliation. Nothing they can do will endanger their covenant standing. The problem is, the Bible doesn't teach this.
I agree with you - note the 'if....'
I simply wished to put forth the argument I most commonly hear...the Calvinist one.
~Hidden One~
Fair enough. But I make it a point to answer every post on my blog, and to assume that others read it as well as those who comment. So the comment was a reply to the objection, rather than a reply specifically to your personal concern.
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