THE
LAST SEVEN PLAGUES
Lesson 22
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Review
The close of mercy will
be like the closing of Noahs door. When
the door of the ark was closed, those inside
couldnt go outside and those outside,
couldnt get inside. Every decision
was forever sealed with the closing of the door.
Jesus says of Himself, These are the words
of him who is holy and true, who holds the keys
of David. What he opens, no one can shut;
and what he shuts; no one can open. Revelation
3:7 As it was in the Noahs day
so shall it be.
All inhabitants of the
earth will receive the mark except those keeping
the commandments of God and having the faith of
Jesus. The mark will be necessary for
survival. No one will be able to buy or
sell except those having the mark. The
remnant will be cut off from any and all earthy
support. They can only live if they live by
faith. What a time to be upon the earth!
The emotional distress
during the time of wrath will be overwhelming for
those who have not made it a practice to place
their faith in Jesus. The coming
tribulation will be greater than anything ever
known upon the earth, but Jesus has promised to
provide the necessary grace we need to endure
this awful time. No wonder Zephaniah said,
Listen! The cry on the day of the
Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior
there. That day will be a day of wrath, a
day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and
ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of
clouds and blackness, a day of trumpets and the
battle cry against the fortified cities. Neither
their silver nor their gold will be able to save
them on the day of the Lords wrath. In
the fire of his jealously the whole world will be
consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all
who live in the earth. Zephaniah
1:14-18
Luke adds to
Zephaniahs description of the last
days saying, There will be signs in
the sun, moon and stars. On the earth,
nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the
roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will
faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming
on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be
shaken. Luke 21:25,26
Dont be
overwhelmed! Paul says, And God is
faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond
what you can bear. But when you are
tempted, he will also provide a way out so that
you can stand up under it. I
Corinthians 10:13
Joel, speaking of the
great testing time at the end of the world, said,
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of
decision! For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision. The sun and moon
will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.
The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from
Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a
stronghold for the people of Israel. Joel
3:14-16
Babylons reward
Just as we cannot
understand the depth of Gods mercy, we
cannot understand the severity of Gods
wrath contained in the 7 last plagues. To
understand why Jesus is so angry at Babylon and
those who receive the mark of the beast, we turn
to Revelation. Notice:
He (the
seven-headed, ten horned beast, Babylon) was
given power to make war against the saints and to
conquer them. And he was given authority
over every tribe, people, language and nation.
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the
beast all whose names have not been
written in the book of life belonging to the
Lamb. Revelation 13:7,8
He (Satan, the
lamb-like beast) ordered them (the people of
earth) to set up an image in the honor of the
beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
He was given power to give breath to the image of
the first beast, so that it could speak and cause
all who refused to worship the image to be
killed. Revelation 13:14,15
I saw that the
woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the
blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
Revelation 17:6
They (the leaders
of Babylon) will make war against the Lamb, but
the Lamb will overcome them because He is the
Lord of Lords and King of Kings and with him will
be his called, chosen and faithful
followers. Revelation 17:14
In her (the harlot,
the one-world congress) was found the blood of
prophets and of the saints, and of all who have
been killed on the earth.Revelation 18:24
These verses contain a
great deal more information than you would
casually notice. On the surface, these
verses describe a one-sided conflict between
people. The saints dont kill people!
However, the larger issues in these verses focus
on the cumulative effects of sin and rebellion
within the human race. These verses
describe an open, willful and explicit rebellion
against God, His gospel and His messengers.
Psychologists and social
scientists have written extensively on the
cumulative nature of behavior. For example,
the abused child often becomes a child abuser.
The child of an alcoholic often adopts the
attitudes of his parents and in adulthood either
becomes drug dependant or manifests a
co-dependant attitude about life. In simple
terms, the effect of sin upon succeeding
generations is degenerative.
The second commandment
addresses this very point! Jesus says,
You shall not make for yourself an idol in
the form of anything
for I, the Lord your
God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for
their sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love
to thousands who love me and keep my
commandments. Exodus 20:4-6
Two important points must
be made from the commandment:
1.
Jesus is a jealous God. He is jealous for
our happiness and well-being. He is jealous
for our sakes and not His. Human jealously means
burning with selfish interest, but in Gods
case, as in any loving parents heart, He is
jealous for the benefit of His children. Just
as a loving parent deeply wants his or her child
to succeed and be happy, Jesus wants no less for
His children.
2.
Does Jesus punish the children of sinful parents
because their parents were evil? A surface
look at the second commandment would so indicate.
But look again at the commandment. Jesus
does not unjustly punish the descendants of
sinful parents. Rather, this commandment
affirms that the Creator grants the power of
choice. Because human beings have reasoning
powers, we can make choices that lead to
destruction and choices that lead to life. Jesus
allows the inheritance of sin to continue within
a family or society until it self-destructs.
However, when the world in a corporate sense
reaches this point, He steps in.
We see these two points
demonstrated before the flood. The
lord saw how great mans wickedness on the
earth had become, and that every inclination of
the thoughts of the heart was only evil all the
time. The Lord was grieved that he had made
man on the earth, and his heart was filled with
pain. So the Lord said, I will wipe
mankind, whom I have created, from the face of
the earth men and animals, and creatures,
for I am grieved that I have made them.
Genesis 6:5-7
Entertainment tonight?
Today, we shudder at the
thought of lions eating Christians in Roman
amphitheatres in the name of entertainment.
We call gladiators fighting to death before a
bloodthirsty crowd barbaric. But
are we any different than the ancient pagans when
it comes to entertainment each evening?
In the past forty years,
TV has played an enormous role in destroying our
social values. Generations of children have
grown up watching violence, murder, theft, rape,
lying, cheating, deception and illicit sex.
Is there any wonder that beholding these values
has corrupted us? Take sin out of
television programs and who would watch them?
What would be entertaining?
Ask most young people why
they are attending school and the usual answer
will tell of materialistic goals rather than
service to others. This generation is the
me generation and it is more
self-centered than the preceding one. Parents
cant blame their offspring for having these
values either. The older generation bears a
great responsibility for the present condition.
Today, most of Americas children are reared
in human farms we call day-care
centers while both parents work to possess
the materials things of life. The family
unit has disintegrated because we deem the things
of this life more than our children! The
most important things in life arent things!
Think about tomorrow. What will be the
cumulative effects of our sins?
The root problem is that
we have broken all Ten Commandments especially
the first four commands that tell us how we
should love our Creator. When we forget
God, we forget our neighbor. We become
self-centered. By neglecting the first
four commandments, we have made void the last six
commandments. The royal commandments have
been set aside. We now love ourselves as we
should love our neighbors!
Jesus, talking about the
last days, said, Because of the increase of
wickedness, the love of most will grow
cold. Matthew 24:12 Paul, talking
about the last days, said, But mark this:
There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of
money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to
their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love,
unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control,
brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash,
conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers
of God having a form of godliness but
denying its power. Have nothing to do with
them. II Timothy 3:1-5
Consolidation
The socio-political
changes happening around our world appear
positive at the moment. Reduction in
armament, increased trade among countries and
open dialogue seems in vogue. But a
dangerous process is taking place. World
control is being consolidated into the hands of
fewer and fewer people. For example, in
this country, 5% of our population owns more than
the remaining 95%! The rich are getting
richer and the poor are getting more numerous.
In just a matter of time, the wealthy and the
politically elite will form a global economic
body to control the world.
What does this have to do
with Revelation? Revelation indicates there
will be a global consolidation of wealth and
power. Notice that when Babylon collapses,
it is the merchants and the kings of the earth
that are crying! When the kings of
the earth who committed adultery with her and
shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning,
they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified
at her torment, they will stand far off and cry
Woe! Woe!, O great city, O Babylon, city of
power! In one hour your doom has
come! The merchants of the earth
will weep and mourn over her because no buys
their cargoes any more. Revelation
18:9-11
When the trumpets begin,
the current leadership of the world will be able
to respond quickly through the various
communication links established through trade.
The first four trumpets bring horrific
destruction and each government will quickly
implement contingency laws to deal with the state
of emergency. In this setting, freedoms all
around the world will be restricted in the name
of survival.
Since the trumpets will
be duly recognized as acts of God, religious
leaders will become very powerful because they
will have direct influence upon lawmakers. Lawmakers
will cooperate with the suggestions of clerics
because they know that in a state of emergency
people are spiritually inclined. Appease
God, the clerics cry. And lawmakers
respond with a flurry of laws requiring righteous
behavior. As nations all over the world
attempt to deal with the multitude of problems
associated with the trumpets, they quickly turn
to legislation for economic stability. The
laws will appear reasonable to the majority of
people and penalties for civil disobedience will
be severe.
In America
Laws establishing
reverence for Sunday will be enforced in America.
(Most states already have laws regarding the
sanctity of Sunday observance on their
legislative books. However, these laws are
not uniformly enforced at this time.) At
first, Sunday laws will be defended in the name
of economic necessity, but as time progresses,
the cry, we have forgotten God will
be loudly proclaimed as the reason for the
trumpets. The irony of this matter is that
mans solution to the trumpets will be the
opposite of the gospel invitation! At the
very time the gospel is proclaiming,
Worship the Creator on His holy day
men will be making laws respecting a day of
worship contrary to Gods law! Because
the majority of people in America think Sunday is
the Lords Day, laws will be respecting the
sacredness of Sunday. Thus reverence for
Sunday will appear to be a reasonable solution to
the problem. It is interesting to note,
that today, very few people actually feel Sunday
is all that sacred and thus keep the day holy.
The trumpets will change this attitude overnight!
The centerpiece of
Revelations story for America is that
Sunday is not, nor has it ever been, the
Lords day. There is no support for
the sacredness of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday or any
other day in the Bible except the seventh day.
Even more, there is no commandment explaining how
another day is to be kept if it is indeed a day
of worship.
When the laws are made
respecting Sunday as a day of worship, a number
of dissidents will arise. Some will argue
the loss of constitutional right and
others will intellectually argue for
freedom of worship. However,
neither of these groups will be able to hold back
the tide of religious zeal.
Another group will argue
that the trumpets have a specific purpose. That
purpose is to call attention to the worship of
the Creator of Earth on His holy Sabbath, the
seventh day of the week. The resulting
controversy that attends the issue of worship
will totally eclipse all the controversies in
America such as abortion, human rights and
environmental problems. (These current
controversies are nothing compared surrounding
the gospel!) As a result of the trumpets,
America will experience economic, religious and
civil anarchy. Under the guise of
patriotism, America will repudiate its Bill of
Rights!
As the controversy
matures, the issues become clearly stated. By
the time of the fourth trumpet occurs, survival
will be the all-consuming issue before every
mind. All over the world, the story of
Revelation will be told. Americans will
hear why the seven first plagues are falling and
why they should obey the Law of God. They
will hear the first angels message that
says, Worship the Creator according to His
holy law. All will be invited to
receive the everlasting gospel and live by faith.
The clarity of Revelations story and the
power of the Holy Spirit will attend these
presentations. The Bible and the Holy
Spirit will witness to every man, woman and
child. The gospel will reach 300 million
Americans in a very short period of time.
America chooses the
lamb-like beast
In spite of the
unmistakable evidence provided from scripture and
the power attending the first angels
message, America will continue her downward
course. She will make more laws regarding
the sanctity of Sunday and increase the penalties
for disobedience. Satan personally arrives
upon the earth during the fifth trumpet claiming
to be God. Most Americans (and the world) will
ultimately accept this villain of mankind as the
true God. The great American motto,
In God we Trust will be dedicated to
the lamb-like beast.
Satan knows all about
Revelations story. His greatest
thrill will be to deceive people at a time when
the truth was never so clear. His goal is
simple. He wants to destroy the world
before Jesus returns. Over a hundred years
ago, a great author summed up the devils
great plan saying, the first day will
be extolled, and the Protestant world will
receive this spurious Sabbath as genuine. Through
the nonobservance of the Sabbath that God
instituted, I will bring His law into contempt.
Thus the world will become mine. I will be
the ruler of the earth, the prince of the world.
I will so control the minds under my power that
Gods Sabbath shall be a special object of
contempt. A sign? I will make the
observance of the seventh day a sign of
disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human
laws will be made so stringent that men and women
will not dare to observe the seventh day Sabbath.
For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will
join with the world in transgressing Gods
law. The earth will be under my
dominion. Ellen G. White, Prophets
and Kings, page 184.
The wrath of God
full strength
By the time probation
closes, every person on earth will have heard the
arguments of the everlasting gospel and made a
decision. The people of earth will stand in
two camps: those obeying Jesus and those obeying
Satan. Those obeying Satan have put their
faith in him, and they will join with Satan in
warring upon those that refuse to go along.
Those receiving the mark of the beast rejected
the clearest presentations of Bible truth. These
will turn their backs upon Gods mercy.
Even worse, these people will passionately work
to destroy the saints and covet the commendation
of the devil!
Even though Satan and
Babylon conquer the world (Revelation 13:7), John
saw the victory of the saints over Satan and his
followers. And I saw what looked like
a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing
beside the sea, those who had been victorious
over the beast and the image and over the number
of his name. They held harps given them by God
and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and
the song of the Lamb. Revelation
15:2,3 In losing, they win! Jesus said,
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for my sake will find
it. Matthew 10:39
The seven last plagues
The seven last plagues
fall upon all who receive the mark of the beast.
The seven last plagues will be a horrible reward
for the wicked. They will be rewarded for
their cruelty to Gods people. The
seven last plagues contain the wrath of God
full strength. In brief, the plagues
are:
- Terrible
sores all over the body
- The
entire sea turns to blood
- Springs
of water all over the world turn to blood
- Sun
scorches people with fire
- Satans
kingdom plunged into darkness
- Armageddon
universal death decree for the
destruction of the saints
- Second
Coming / Great hail stones
These plagues do not
affect Gods people. A thousand
may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right
hand, but it will not come near you. You
will only observe with your eyes the punishment
of the wicked. Psalms 91:7,8 These plagues
are beyond the comprehension of man for the world
has never seen the full wrath of God full
strength!
In fact, Daniel says it
will be a time of trouble as never before! Daniel
12:1
Interesting points
Three points need to be
made:
1.
Many of the seven last plagues parallel the
destruction caused by the seven trumpets. As
the first trumpets affected one-third of the
earth, the seven last plagues affect the entire
world!
2.
Notice the parallel. The fifth trumpet
marks the arrival of Satan and the fifth plague
marks the unmasking of Satan! Satan,
prior to the fifth plague, blames the trumpets
and the first four last-plagues upon the saints
and their rebellious behavior. When
Jesus pours out the fifth plague, the world will
see that this creature claiming to be God
isnt God for God would not destroy
his own throne! See Revelation 16:10,11.
The light of truth shines. The religious
and political leaders of the world recognize they
have been following a demon. This starts a
domino-like collapse of Babylon. John says,
The beast (Babylon) and the ten horns you
saw will hate the prostitute (World Congress).
They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked;
they will eat her flesh and burn her with
fire. Revelation 17:16
3.
To maintain control of what is left, Satan
rallies the world one last time by sending his
evil angels throughout the earth in a great
deceptive ploy to destroy the saints, who
allegedly, put the curse upon the
throne. Satan entices the kings of
the earth to unite in a universal death decree.
John says of Satans representatives,
They are spirits of demons performing
miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of
the whole world, to gather them for battle on the
great day of God Almighty. Then they
gathered the kings together to the place that in
Hebrew is called Armageddon Revelation
16:14,16
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