The Perfect Storm Is Coming – Part XI

THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And he gathered them together into a place called in Hebrew tongue Armageddon. –Revelation 16: 14, 16

Seven awful last plagues are to be the portion of the wicked. These seven plagues will begin shortly after God reveals the Ark of the Covenant in the sky and last for about 75 days. The seven bowls or plagues will be progressively destructive and end with Jesus appearing in the clouds of glory. Jesus will kill the wicked by a command that comes out of His mouth. Only the saints who remain will survive that awesome day. The seven last plagues will be a horrible paycheck for the wicked. The seven last plagues contain God’s wrath without mercy –God’s wrath full strength. God will repay the wicked at the same level of cruelty they demonstrated towards God’s people during the Great Tribulation. Compare the seven trumpets with the seven last plagues.

	Seven Trumpets (Comes first)	Seven Last Plagues or Bowls
	1. Fiery hail 2. Asteroid impact (Sea) 3. Asteroid impact (Continent) 4. Darkness (Volcano’s) 5. Devil appears 6. Devil conquers world 7. Close of mercy	1. Terrible sores 2. Sea turns to blood 3. Spring of waters turn to blood 4. Sun scorches people with fire 5. Satan’s kingdom plunged into darkness 6. Armageddon 7. Second coming –Great fiery hail stones

Remember, these seven plagues do not affect God’s 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.” (Psalm 91: 7,8)

Three points need to be made:

1. Some of the seven bowls are somewhat similar to the destruction caused by the seven trumpets. For example, a third of the seas turn to blood during the second trumpet, but all the seas turn to blood during the second bowl. Perhaps God designed the trumpets as harbingers of things to come. In other words, God uses the trumpets to warn the human race with physical evidence of what He intends to do during the seven bowls, a time when there is no mercy! Remember, God spares two-thirds of Earth during the time period of the seven trumpets, but He annihilates the entire world with burning sulfur at the end of the seven bowls.

2. Notice the events. The fifth trumpet marks the physical appearing of Satan claiming to be God and the fifth bowl marks the exposure of the devil for who he really is. When Jesus pours out the fifth plague upon the throne of the devil, the world will see that this creature, who claims to be God, is not really god – for God would not destroy His own throne! (See Revelation 16: 10,11.) The light of truth will shine brightly, and the deception of sin will be removed. The religious and political leaders of the world will realize they have been worshiping the ancient enemy of God. The realization starts a domino-like collapse of Babylon. “The beast [Babylon] and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute [the image or the one world church/state]. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:16)

3. In a final attempt to control a collapsing kingdom, Satan will rally the world one last time and send powerful demons to encourage the ten kings he chose to rule the Earth. These demons will lead the kings of Earth to do two things. First, they will agree that a universal death decree is needed to destroy the saints. Second, they will unite to wage war on Jesus when He appears in the clouds. Notice what John says of these demons, “They are the spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the 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)

 

Armageddon – the Final Battle

World War III occurs during the sixth trumpet. The battle of Armageddon occurs during the sixth bowl. (Remember, there are similarities between the trumpets and bowls.) A large amount of misinformation has been shared about Armageddon. The word, Armageddon, comes from two Greek words, “har megiddon” and they are transliterated in English as one word: Armageddon. The two words mean “the mountain of God,” or “exalted place of God.” There is no mountain in the Middle East called Megiddo; however, there is a small plain called Megiddo that is not far from Jerusalem. (Joshua 17: 11) Long ago, King Josiah’s foolish actions led to his death on the Plain of Megiddo. He engaged Pharaoh Neco in a battle that should not have been fought. (2 Chronicles 35) The plain of Megiddo is not very large, but many scholars are convinced this is where Earth’s last battle will be fought.

The battle of Armageddon parallels the contest between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. (1 Kings 18) S showdown is coming between the Lamb of God and the lamb-like beast, who is the devil. This great showdown will occur ‘on the mountain of God,” hence the two words, “har megiddon.” The world’s leaders will see, just as the leaders of Israel did in Elijah’s day, which God is Almighty God.

Here is the scenario: After God unmasks the devil in the fifth bowl; the devil’s empire will begin to disintegrate. The religious and political leaders of Babylon will recognize they have been duped into worshiping the devil. Then, the cloud will appear in the sky – the sign of Christ’s return. “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.” (Matthew 24:30, Italics mine) When the kings of Earth see the sign in the sky, they will tremble. The devil preys on their anxiety and will invite them to join in a two-pronged attack. He insists they can kill the remaining saints at an appointed hour and then attack Jesus as He draws near to Earth. (Once again, truth is stranger than fiction.) To convince the kings of Earth this is their last chance to save themselves from destruction, the devil sends three powerful demons to help persuade them. “They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” (Revelation 16:14) When the kings of Earth see the miracle working power of these three demons, the leaders will be compelled to trust their power and will agree to join forces with the devil. (What choice do they really have?) They will make plans to destroy the people Jesus is coming to save and ultimately to kill Jesus Himself. If you think that is far fetched that men would try to kill God, remember the cross. If you think it is far fetched that angels would war against an omnipotent God, consider Lucifer’s expulsion from Heaven. When sin is allowed to reach its vilest maturity, it will seek to destroy God. Sinners would attempt to kill God (if they could) if pushed to worship Him! This is why God has to completely eliminate sin from His universe. Sin is a cancer from which there is no recovery – except through the “born again” experience.

The battle of Armageddon occurs at the place of God’s choosing – the mountain of God. It will be the last battle of Earth’s final generation. The wicked will see this as their only chance to destroy God. John describes the scene this way: “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘It is done.’ Then there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plagues was so terrible.” (Revelation 16: 17-21)  

John also describes the behavior of the wicked: “they called … to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?’” (Revelation 6: 16,17) Paul says Jesus will destroy the physical body of the devil with a single command: “And when the lawless one [the man of sin] will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8, insertion mine) What a sight this will be – fire falling from Heaven and consuming the physical body of the devil and his angels! Zephaniah says, “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 of all who live in the Earth.” (Zephaniah 1:18) What a dramatic rescue! What an amazing God! What a Savior is Jesus our Lord! What a Friend the saints have in Jesus. Is it possible that some of Satan’s forces perish on the plain of Megiddo? Perhaps, since one of Satan’s thrones may be located in Jerusalem (Daniel 11:45), but remember, Satan will have ten kings fighting against Jesus. These kings represent all of the nations of the world. 

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