Four Global
Announcements
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Remember, these four
announcements have two dimensions.
The first is the revelation of the
will of God. The second dimension is
the revelation of the rebellion of
man. The point here is that at the
time the first announcement goes
forth, men will scoff at God’s
commandment, “Remember, the
Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Thus, respect for the holiness of God
will be revealed.
However, the story
gets even more interesting. The call
to worship the Creator who made the
heavens, the earth, the sea and the
fountain of waters is not a
rhetorical phrase. Notice how the
elements are to be affected by the
first four trumpets:
Trumpet 1 Earth,
trees and grass burned up
Trumpet 2 Sea
creatures die, ships sink
Trumpet 3 Fountains of
waters contaminated
Trumpet 4 Heavens
turned dark
Now, the first
announcement says, “Worship the
Creator who made:”
- The
heavens
- The
earth
- The
sea
- The
fountains of water
Is there a direct
connection between the first trumpets
and the first message? Yes! Look and
compare the devastation of the four
trumpets with the first announcement.
However, people will scoff at the
first message because it begins
shortly before the sounding of the
first trumpet. However, when the
trumpets begin, something
revolutionary occurs. People will
suddenly get very religious. There is
a funny thing about fear.
Then, a second
announcement joins the first. (The
reader should understand that four
announcements join sequentially
together and swell the gospel call so
that in their unison they become
fully heard by everyone.)
The
second announcement begins
I believe the first
four trumpets happen in rather quick
succession. Perhaps the time period
is about one month. Regardless of the
time frame, the devastation of the
first trumpet is powerfully
convincing because millions of acres
on fire by flaming meteors. Then
ka-boom! A great asteroid hits the
sea and the tidal wave does horrific
damage to seaports all around the
ocean. Then, ka-boom! Another great
asteroid hits a continent and the
resulting ground waves sheer water
wells and septic systems. The result
is contaminated water and millions
die from the plague of typhus or
typhoid. Then, a deep rumble occurs
within the belly of the earth and
volcanoes belch tons of ejecta into
the atmosphere. Whole islands
disappear and darkness settles upon
portions of the world.
The people of earth
are stopped in their tracks. Truly,
this will be a time when the people
of earth stand still and behold
something about the wrath of Almighty
God. The first four trumpets are so
overwhelming, so extensive, so
horrific and so great that every knee
will tremble before the wrath of God.
Just as Mt. Sinai shook when Jesus
descended upon it to speak His Ten
Commandments, the whole world will
tremble the day when Jesus begins His
judgments of the living and
manifestations will continue until He
has opened every mind and ear to hear
what He has to say.
In response to the
first four trumpets, religious
leaders will do two things. First,
they will quickly conclude that these
judgments have come upon the world
because the people off earth 9not
just one nation) have offended God.
Christians will use texts like Daniel
9:13,14. Moslems, Jews, Eastern
Mystics and heathen will reach the
same conclusion by turning to their
spiritual authorities. Almost
spontaneously, religious leaders will
call for a global conference to
address the wrath of God. They will
say things like, “The global
union of mankind to appease a
universal God can be diverse. Let us
each do our part to put away sin so
that God will not destroy us.”
The end result of the conference will
be a new one-world organization. It
is identified as the dragon like
beast in Revelation 13:1-8
As a result of the
trumpet destructions, martial law and
contingency constitutions will be
implemented all over the world.
Rationing will become the common
means of controlling the supply and
distribution of the necessities for
life. Thus, the right to buy and sell
will be curtailed. (Later, it will be
even more restricted and controlled
by the devil’s forces.) In
short, the world will receive a
mortal blow and men will recoil for
survival.
Then a most
interesting response will occur.
While the 144,000 were proclaiming,
“Worship the Creator,” men
scoffed. Now every heart is filled
with fear. As religious leaders call
for laws compelling respect for God,
politicians will be powerless to stop
the surge of popular demand.
Moreover, given the circumstances,
who can argue with the movement?
Martial law will be installed in
heavily damaged areas. In addition, a
national movement will begin in
America to enforce Sunday laws.
Sunday, religious leaders will say,
is the Lord’s Day and it should
be given due respect. It is a day for
family, and reverence for God has
been lost during this century. Commercial
businesses will be required to close
on Sunday for reasons consistent with
the times. The net effect is that
Sunday will, at first, be exalted in
America for business and family
reasons. Later, as circumstances
worsen, it will be declared as
God’s day of rest. (Friday will
be similarly exalted in Moslem
countries and Saturday will be
exalted in Israel.)
The reader must
understand this point. God approves
the laws of man that cooperate with
the laws of God. (Romans 13:1)
However, when the laws of man run
contrary to the laws of God, God is
not pleased, and eventually, He
destroys those laws and lawmakers.
(Daniel 4:25) The relationship that
will exist between religious leaders
and civil authorities will become
unholy the moment civil authorities
enact a law respecting the sacredness
of Sunday, for Sunday has never been
the Sabbath of God. In fact, the
fourth commandment clearly says that
the seventh-day is God’s holy
day. God’s law clearly mandates
worship on the seventh-day of the
week. However, the religious
coalition that shall be formed by
leaders all over the world will
pressure civil authorities to mandate
the worship of God on the prevailing
day of worship in that nation. What
makes this action so vile is this:
What body of men can tell God when He
is to be worshiped? Even more, what
body of men have the authority to
tell others when they must worship
the God of Heaven? Such an act is a
violation of the first human right
– the right to freedom of
conscience in the worship of God.
Therefore, in response
to the actions of men, God sends a
second announcement throughout the
earth. It says, “A second
angel followed and said,
‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the
Great, which made all the nations
drink the maddening wine of her
adulteries.’” (Revelation
14:8)
Babylon
is fallen
We often limit the
world fallen to mean a fall from
power or a fall from a high place.
However, the word fallen goes
farther. It also means to be found
corrupt or deceptive. For example, we
can say that PTL Club founder, Jim
Bakkar, is fallen. In reality, he
fell in several ways. He fell from
his post as president of an
enterprising ministry, he fell from
high visibility in TV, and he fell
from respect when it was found that
his actions were dishonest, intending
to deceive. To say that Jim Bakkar is
a fallen man is a truth now
self-evident.
What initiates the
second announcement of the 144,000
that Babylon is fallen? The answer is
found in this verse, “[it] made
all the nations drink.” In
short, when religious and political
leaders of the world cross the line
and knowingly enforce laws
compelling false worship, they fall
from God’s grace and are exposed
as false religion. Let me explain.
God has permitted the
establishment of seven global
religious systems. These seven are
identified as Atheism, Heathenism,
Judaism, Islam, Eastern Mysticism,
Catholicism and Protestantism. (These
are the seven heads of Babylon found
in Revelation 13.) During the Great
Tribulation, God is going to clearly
reveal to every person on earth that
these religious systems are false.
Even though they claim to speak for
Him, none do. Even though they claim
to have the truth about Him, none do.
In addition, even though they claim
to have the solution to appeasing God
and stopping His judgments, none do.
Remember, after the
global earthquake, the 144,000 will
begin to proclaim with great power
that the hour of God’s judgment
has begun. They also call everyone to
the true worship of Jesus the Creator
on His holy Sabbath, but few will
listen and give heed. Then the
trumpets sound and what do the
religious systems of the world do.
They influence politicians to make
laws requiring the worship of
God. The last resort of false
religions is the use of force. This
is what the Bible means when it says,
“[Babylon] made all nations
drink the maddening wine of her
adulteries.” The idea here is
that the people of all nations are
forcibly required to obey Babylon. As
a result, the religious systems that
constitute Babylon are now exposed
for what they really are: false.
The matter almost
becomes comical because universal
agreement on the appeasement of God
is not possible. The Catholics and
Protestants require the exaltation of
Sunday and Moslems and Jews want to
exalt Friday and Saturday,
respectively. Try to mentally
surround the dilemma. There is one
angry God. There is one devastated
world. There are seven religions
claiming to have the truth about one
God that needs to be appeased. There
can be no unanimity on the day of
worship. In fact, it is this very
dilemma from which the first beast of
Revelation 13 derives its name:
Babylon.
The real point here is
that God sends a second announcement
to the world at just the right
moment. As the world coalition of
religious powers rise to authority
for the purpose of appeasing God, God
says through His servants,
“Babylon is fallen, is
fallen.” They, the religious
systems of the world, will be exposed
as false. They do not know God’s
truth. In addition, God hopes, of
course, that people will choose to
see the truth.
The
third announcement is given
Timing is everything.
Consequently, the third announcement
is directly connected to the sounding
of the fifth trumpet. (The fifth
trumpet is the physical appearing of
the devil.) One must understand that
nothing has ever happened on earth
(except Mt. Sinai) that can be
compared to the physical appearing of
the devil. Certainly, none among the
living today have ever seen such a
display of power, glory and beauty
that shall attend the devil and his
angels when they appear on earth.
Without going into
detail, the primary work of the
devil, once he is here in the flesh,
is to take the world captive through
deception. He will make a display all
sorts of miracles and perform
wonderful signs to convince people
that he is Almighty God. His stated
purpose will be the ushering in of a
new age, where he, as God, rules the
earth. Millions will receive him as
God. Many Moslems will believe that
he is Allah. Many Jews will believe
that he is the promised Messiah. Many
Catholics and Protestants will
believe he is the long-awaited Jesus
Christ. Atheists will have to admit
this is a superior being. Heathen
will acknowledge him as the Great
Spirit of the ages and many eastern
Mystics will receive this being as
the God of the New Age. In short, he
will be able to satisfy millions of
diverse people with his claims of
being God.
Revelation identifies
the physical appearing of the devil
as a beast that appears to be
“lamblike” or Christ-like,
yet he speaks like the
“dragon.” (Revelation
13:11) However, the speech of the
devil will reveal his true identity
because, after a pleasant season of
gathering believers unto himself, he
will begin to place very heavy
demands upon his followers. Notice
this concerning the devil: “He
also forced everyone, small and
great, rich and poor, free and slave,
to receive a mark on his right hand
or on his forehead.”
(Revelation 13:16)
The work of the devil
is divided into three phases. First,
the deceptive phase. Secondly, the
controlling phase and lastly, the
destructive phase. Therefore, the
first thing he does is gathering
billions of believers unto himself.
Then, he motivates them to take
control of the world for the sake of
establishing a new kingdom. (The war
to take control of the world is the
sixth trumpet.) Upon gaining
control over the world, the devil
will move followers to destroy the
people of God as thoroughly and
quickly as possible (especially, the
144,000). The Bible says, “He
[the devil] 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
13:15)
In this setting the
third message is given. It says, “A
third angel followed them and said in
a loud voice: ‘If anyone
worships the [lamblike] beast and his
image and receives the mark on his
forehead or on the hand, {10} he,
too, will drink of the wine of
God’s fury, which has been
poured full strength into the cup of
his wrath. He will be
tormented with burning sulfur in the
presence pf the holy angels and of
the Lamb.’” (Revelation
14:9-10)
The symbolism in both
the second and third announcements
out the drinking wine is important.
To drink wine that is maddening
(second announcement) or drink the
wine of God’s fury (third
announcement) refers to internalizing
some event or digesting some
experience. For example, Jesus said
to His disciples, ‘
‘You don’t know what you
are asking,’ Jesus said to them.
‘Can you drink the cup I am
going to drink?’ ‘We
can,’ they answered. {23} Jesus
said to them, ‘You will indeed
drink from my cup….’” (Matthew
20:22-23) So, the third announcement
is a direct warning against obeying
and worshiping the devil? This
announcement will really bring
controversy. Consider the problem:
Many will believe the devil is God.
The 144,000 will be claiming that he
is the devil. What will be the
feelings of those on the devil’s
side toward the 144,000 and their
followers?
The world will be
caught in a great decision: Worship
the devil and receive the promised
wrath of God, or worship the God and
receive the immediate wrath of the
devil. In this furnace of
persecution, only those who have
strong faith in God will be able to
stand firm for truth’s sake.
Yes, here is the process that proves
that salvation comes by faith. James
says, “But someone will say,
‘You have faith; I have
deeds.’ Show me your faith
without deeds, and I will show you my
faith by what I do. {24} You see that
a person is justified by what he does
and not by faith alone.”
(James 2:18,24)
The
fourth announcement
The final announcement
given by the 144,000 is a plea from
the heart of God. At this time, the
importance of this plea is only
comprehended by God since no human
has ever seen anything comparable to
the last seven plagues. In some
respects, the seven trumpets are
samples. However, the fourth
announcement occurs just before the
seventh trumpet sounds. (The seventh
trumpet marks the end of God’s
mercy and the beginning of the final
woe, the seven last plagues.) John
says of the seven last plagues, “I
saw in heaven another great and
marvelous sign: seven angels with the
seven last plagues – last,
because with them God’s wrath is
completed.” (Revelation
15:1)
The fourth and final
announcement to the world is this: “After
this I saw another angel coming down
from heaven. He had great authority,
and the earth was illuminated by his
splendor. {2} With a mighty voice he
shouted: ‘Fallen! Fallen is
Babylon the Great! She has become a
home for demons and a haunt for every
evil spirit, a haunt for every
unclean and detestable bird. {3} For
all the nations have drunk the
maddening wine of her adulteries. The
kings of the earth committed adultery
with her, and the merchants of the
earth grew rich from her excessive
luxuries.’ {4} Then I heard
another voice from heaven say:
‘Come out of her, my people, so
that you will not receive any of her
plagues; {5} for her sins are piled
up to heaven and God has remembered
her crimes. {6} Give back to
her as she has given; pay her back
double for what she has done. Mix her
a double portion from her own cup.
{7} Give her as much torture and
grief as the glory and luxury she
gave herself. In her heart she
boasts, ‘I sit as queen; I am
not a widow, and I will never
mourn.’ {8} Therefore in one day
her plagues will overtake her: death,
mourning and famine. She will be
consumed by fire, for the mighty is
the Lord God who judges
her.’” (Revelation
18:1-8)
The message is
self-explanatory. However, there are
four uses of Old Testament language
in these verses that help make this
announcement more encompassing and
understandable. So, look up the
references given below from your
Bible and compare the fourth message
with these scriptures. You will find
this interesting. To help you get
started, I have included a few
remarks. Jeremiah 5:26,27 talks about
cages full of birds. Therefore, what
does Revelation 18:2 mean saying that
Babylon is “a home for demons
and a haunt for every evil spirit, a
haunt for every unclean and
detestable bird?” Jeremiah
explains how wicked men are like
those who set traps to snare birds.
The trap works well because birds do
not understand the trap nor their
fate. In a similar way, this
announcement is designed to unmask
the fact that religious and political
leaders of the world are leading
people into a great trap where they
shall receive the wrath of God
without mercy. The tragedy is that
millions refuse to admit the coming
consequences of their doing.
Jeremiah 25:15-17
speaks of God sending Jeremiah
through the land and making all
nations drink of God’s cup of
wrath. The point here is that God is
sovereign and He makes the nations
drink of His cup of wrath if they
drink the maddening wine of Babylon.
See also Psalm 60:3.
Jeremiah 50:8-41
speaks of a parallel to flee ancient
Babylon. Read the entire selection
and see why god calls His people to
come out of Babylon.
Lamentations 1:1-3
speaks of Israel’s former
greatness. How like a queen, she
ruled over the land, and then the
wrath of God came upon her, she
became helpless, like a widow.
Compare this scenario with
Babylon’s great power until the
time of the seven last plagues.
Summary
The purpose of the
four announcements is the gathering
of all saints into one fold.
Salvation will be freely offered to
any and all who will receive Jesus
and Savior as Lord – no matter
how bad or terrible the past life.
These four announcements not only
reveal the love of God to save to the
utmost, they also reveal the will of
our Creator. These four announcements
will fully expose the rebellion of
sin that contaminates the hearts of
men and women.
Timing is everything.
These messages will be borne by the
144,000, and every nation, kindred,
tongue and people within a short
time-period will hear them, perhaps
1,000 days in length. These four
announcements occur at specific
moments in the progression of
end-time events. The final result of
these four announcements will be a
great harvest of souls at the second
coming. John says, “After
this I looked and there before me was
a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, tribe,
people and language, standing before
the throne and in front of the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes and
were holding palm branches in their
hands. {13} Then one of the elders
asked me, ‘these in white robes
– who are they, and where did
they come from?’ {14} I
answered, ‘Sir, you know.’
And he said, ‘these are they who
have come out of the great
tribulation; they have washed their
robes and made them white in the
blood of the lamb.’” (Revelation
7:9,13,14)
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