Who Are The Plagues Against Revelation 16 1

Who Are The Plagues Against? • Revelation 16: 1 & 2 • And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. • 16: 2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and [upon] them which worshipped his image.

A VITAL POINT TO REMEMBER • REV. 14: 9, 10 • And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, • 14: 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, • The Beast has a mark of identification and an image is made unto it. • The wrath of God is against the Mark and Image

TWO VITAL POINTS • 1. The plagues are directed against those who have the MARK OF THE BEAST and it’s IMAGE • 2. Rev. 14: 12 “Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. – The saints are commandment keepers Sabbath keepers – Those who have the Mark of the Beast do not keep the commandments

Winston Churchill Former Prime Minister of England • Made this statement at the close of World War 2, after the atomic bomb had been dropped on Japan. • “Death stands at attention, obedient, expectant, ready to serve, ready to shear away the peoples in masses; ready, if called on, to pulverize, without hope of repair, what is left of civilization. He awaits only the command. ” • If this is what man can do – what will God do as He brings the conflict of good and evil to an end? You will see as we get to plague number 7.

PLAGUES UPON THE EARTH • NOT ON A NATION – THE ENTIRE EARTH • SOME PLAGUES ARE UNIVERSAL • EVERYONE WHO HAS THE MARK OF THE BEAST GETS THE GRIEVOUS SORE • SEAS BECOME BLOOD • FRESH WATER BECOMES BLOOD • PLAGUE OF HEAT • PLAGUE OF DARKNESS • PLAGUE ON THE SEAT OF THE BEAST

The Last Battle --The Battle of Armageddon - • Since 1944 or the close of W. W. ll there have been over 125 more wars. • Armageddon will be the last and different • At Armageddon God intervenes in behalf of his persecuted people • God delivers his people and punishes the wicked through the Battle of Armageddon. • Then Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven and brings the world to an end

The Plagues • Each plague gets more severe and continues as other plagues come upon the scene.

THIS PASSAGE INDICATES THE DEATH DECREE • REV. 13: 15 “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. ” • When the wicked make this law God gives them blood to drink. • When this law goes into effect, the death decree, the seventh plague starts.

AT THIS TIME • God protects and delivers his people

Euphrates dried up • Water = people = Babylon = Rome • Daniel 11: 44, 45 Tidings out of the east trouble him – • Verse 45 He shall come to his end • Rev. 16: 10 Seat of the Beast in darkness • Could these two events prepare the way for the kings of the east? • From these two prophecies it will be very evident who the Beast is but the image may be somewhat in doubt as Protestantism is the image maker.

SUMMATION OF THE 6 TH PLAGUE 1. Euphrates dried up 2. The way of the kings of the east might be prepared 3. Three unclean spirits from; the dragon, the beast, false prophet 4. Working miracles before the kings of the earth 5. To gather them for the great day

SUMMATION OF THE 6 TH PLAGUE • 7. Gathered them into a place • The Greek word is : “TOPOS” • A geographical location, a place in a book, figuratively, a condition or a situation • Three different meanings in translations; a place, • Luke 4: 17 • And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

SUMMATION OF THE 6 TH PLAGUE • The second place: Acts. 25: 16 • “To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence (topos place permission) to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him. ”

SUMMATION OF THE 6 TH PLAGUE • The third place. Hebrews 12: 17 • “For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. ” • He found no place in his thinking, in his mind

Gathered them together into a place • Rev. 16: 16 • “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. ” • This place is for the Battle of Armageddon, the battle of good and evil • All God’s saints are not in one place as they are all over the earth

“Therefore” • The nations are gathered together in a place, or in a place in their thinking, by the three unclean spirits, to set a date, to destroy all the saints. All nations come to an agreement for this action • He gathered them together in a place called Armageddon • There is no known geographical site called Armageddon

Therefore • The word “ARMAGEDDON” • DIFFERENT GREEK MANUSCRIPTS HAVE DIFFERENT SPELLING FOR THIS WORD • “Har-mo-edth” mountain where God has his throne • “Har-migdo” His fruitful mountain or Mount Zion, the place of God’s Church • When the wicked come up against God’s people, on that great day (v. 14) that place is called Armageddon for they are fighting against God’s people – His Church - in every nation, world wide. • That great day is the day when they have detrermined to destroy all God’s people. • This is not a battle of the nations but rather Satan trying to wipe God’s saints off the earth. • At that time, that is when God says, IT IS DONE! IT’S ALL OVER! The tide is turned

Armageddon • The seventh plague shows how God fights for and delivers his people from the death decree and brings the world to an end.