The Seven Last Plagues
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Review a few things
The close of mercy
will be like the closing of
Noah’s door. When the door of
the ark was closed, those inside
could not go outside and those
outside could not 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 key of David. What he
opens, no one can shut; and what he
shuts, no one can open.”
(Revelation 3:7) As it was in
Noah’s day-“so shall it
be.”
All inhabitants of the
earth will receive the mark of the
beast 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
with 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 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 trumpet and
battle cry against the fortified
cities… Neither their silver nor
their gold will be able to save them
on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
In the fire of his jealousy the whole
world will be consumed, for he will
make a sudden end to all who live in
the earth.” (Zephaniah
1:14-18)
Luke adds to
Zephaniah’s 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)
Do not 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.” (1
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)
Babylon’s reward
Just as we cannot
understand the depth of God’s
mercy, we cannot understand the
severity of God’s wrath
contained in the seven last plagues.
To understand why Jesus is so angry
with 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 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 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 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 that you
would casually notice. On the
surface, these verses describe a
one-sided conflict between people.
The saints do not 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 the sins of the fathers
to the third and fourth generation of
those that 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 jealousy means burning with
selfish interest, but in God’s
case, as in any loving parent’s
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
their sinful parents because their
parents were evil? A surface look at
the second commandment would so
indicate. However, look again at the
commandment. Jesus does not unjustly
punish the descendants of sinful
parents. Rather, this commandment
affirms that our Creator grants the
power of choice. Because human beings
have reasoning powers, we can make
decisions 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
man’s wickedness on the earth
had become, and that every
inclination of the thoughts of his
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 ancient Roman
amphitheaters in the name of
entertainment. We call gladiators
fighting to death before a
bloodthirsty crowd
“barbaric.” However, are we
any different from 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
we have become corrupted by beholding
these values? 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 cannot blame
their offspring for having these
values either. The older generation
bears a great responsibility for the
present condition. Today, most of
America’s children are reared in
human farms we call “day-care
centers” while both parents work
to possess the material things of
life. The family unit has
disintegrated because we deem the
things of life more important than
our children do! The most important
things in life are not 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
the 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.” (2 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. However, 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
95%! The richer 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 one 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. In addition, lawmakers respond
with a flurry of laws requiring
righteous behavior. As nations of the
world attempt to deal with the
multitude of problems associated with
the trumpets, they quickly turn to
legislation for economic stability.
The laws appear reasonable to the
majority of people and penalties for
civil disobedience will be severe.
