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So, the element of
the first announcement, the
hour of His judgment has come,
clearly reveals that test-day has
arrived. The Great Tribulation
has begun. The last element
within the first announcement
logically follows the first two
elements. Notice how they fit
together:
- Fear God.
Have due respect for His
authority.
- Give Him
glory because the hour of
His judgment has come.
Understand that His
terrible judgments are
the only means left to
awaken the world to its
sinful course, and He
must take these drastic
actions so that every
person, regardless of
religious background,
might hear His truth and
understand that He is now
sealing each
person’s decision
for eternity.
- Worship
the Creator who made the
heavens, the earth, the
sea and fountains of
waters. This third
command is a call to
worship God. Strange as
it may sound to some, God
can only be worshiped on
His terms. Think about
this. If we can determine
the time and manner for
the worship of God, we
would have greater
authority than God would.
Therefore, the call to
worship God involves time
and manner. The time is
His holy Sabbath day,
Saturday, the seventh day
of the week. (Exodus
20:8-11) As shown in
Chapter 21, God’s
holy day is the
seventh-day of the week.
In addition, the Bible
reveals that God can only
be worshiped in spirit
and truth. (John 4:23)
The point is that God
will not make anyone
worship Him on His holy
day. However, those who
love Him, those who honor
Him will choose to obey
His commands. (John
14:15) In other words,
the 144,000 will call the
inhabitants of earth to
worship God on Saturday,
according to His fourth
commandment. They will
call the inhabitants of
earth to worship God in
spirit of humility and
the joy of truth on His
holy day.
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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