Hello and welcome to another edition of the Sabbath School Study Hour in the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church right here in Sacramento, California. We are just so glad that you have decided to join us. We are always thrilled to have all of our online members that are joining us, friends of the church that are streaming this particular program online, even right now. Now, of course, we're also happy for all those who are tuning in to the satellite television program that is also televising this particular program. We know that you're gonna be blessed.
I'm excited about today's subject. It's one that is more on the sober side, but it's also one that is very helpful for us to be able to understand in all of the different prophecies that we find in the Book of Revelation. Not only we are happy to have everybody that's here watching online and on television, but also everybody that's here, of course, locally as we come together as the local Seventh-day Adventist Church family. And so a special welcome, warm welcome to everybody that is joining us here as well. Well, we're looking at lesson number 11. And lesson number 11 is found in the quarterly... We've been going through, since the beginning of this particular year on the Book of Revelation. And so it's entitled simply "The Book of Revelation." Now, if you ever haven't had an opportunity to be able to get a copy of this, you can always go to amazingfacts.org and on that website you can find a link there that will allow you to be able to download a digital copy of this. And if you would like a physical copy, make sure you visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. And almost certainly, you'll find that they will have a spare copy for you. And they'd be happy to have that in your hand, so that you can study it from week to week.
We are in lesson number 11 here today. And again, the subject is the "Seven Last Plagues." The seven last plagues, we're kind of wrapping up and looking towards the last prophecies of Revelation and so please stay tuned as we continue to look at this very important subject.
But before we look at this particular subject, I want to invite you to take advantage of a free offer that we have here today, which is one of my favorites. It's a DVD presentation and it's entitled "The Final Events." Now that's free offer number 864. And so if you have a pen, if your memory doesn't work as well as you'd like such as mine, then make sure that you get a pen and write down 864, which is the free offer number for today and you can dial into 1-866-788-3966. That's 1-866-Study-More. Now, there's also an opportunity for you to be able to get that on your phone with a digital copy. And so today, we're just so blessed to be able to have that privilege and advantage to be able to get a digital copy. So you can text the code "SH121" to the number 40544. So again, that's text code S as in Sam H121, and you text that to the number 40544. And you'll be happy to get a copy of that particular video presentation. So please take advantage of that offer.
Before we get into our study, we always like to ask the Holy Spirit to teach us and so, I want to invite you to pray with me even right now. Father in heaven, we are thankful to be able to come together, to be able to study Your Bible, to be able to look at these important prophecies, God, You have given these to us to be able to understand the future. And Father in heaven, we want to pray that You will help us to understand it correctly as You work through Your messenger and through Pastor Doug here today. Want to pray, God, that You will bless each and every person that is studying with us here in our church, as well as those who are watching online or through television, Lord. Please teach us all, fulfill Your promise, give us the Holy Spirit as we ask, in Jesus' name we pray God. Amen. Well, we are privileged again to have Pastor Doug, our lead pastor here in the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church to teach our lesson. And Pastor Doug, God bless you as you teach.
Thank you, Pastor Shawn. And I think I kind of liked it that they've switched over from senior pastor to lead pastor. I was getting tired being called senior. I never could understand, when I first joined the church and I was like 22 years old and they started calling me... They said, "We're going to make you elder, Elder Batchelor." But anyway, welcome, friends. We're so glad that you're here to study with us. We've got a big lesson today, dealing with the subject of "The Seven Last Plagues." And we're gonna... We're not doing our regular program where, you know, we kind of pass out scriptures and that, this is a little more like an evangelistic series because Amazing Facts has a special interest in Revelation. We teach prophecy all the time. And so we'd like to do our best to take what we have here and go through these studies, dealing with this Book of Revelation.
We do have our memory verse. I invite you to say with me. And that's Revelation 15:4. You have it there on your screen, you ready? "Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifest." And then what happens with the seven last plagues, the judgments of God are definitely manifest.
Now, you know, what I thought would be a good idea, is if you have your Bibles and I trust you did. If anyone brings their Bibles, it's usually a crowded Sabbath school, right? Turn to Revelation Chapter 15. I want to just read through Chapter 15, and then we'll go and start getting into the actual seven plagues in Chapter 16. It won't take long. It's a fairly short chapter. Revelation 15:1, "Then I saw another sign in heaven," and the different segments or great visions often begin this way, "great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God, the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image and over the mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass having harps of God. And they sing songs of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb…"
I want to pause before we read all this. It talks about seven plagues, number four, it dumps out the seven plagues. It takes us beyond the seven plagues, to the redeemed in glory. They've gotten the victory. They are in heaven. They are on the sea of glass that describes. And the reason I think he's been given this glimpse, it's basically to encourage him before the dreadful scenes of the plagues are given to him. He said, here's what the final picture is gonna be. It's like in the story in the life of Jesus, the gospels. Christ took the disciples up the Mount of Transfiguration, gave them a picture of Him in glory. Moses on the right, Elijah on the left, I don't know who was on which side, to encourage them because soon Jesus would be on the mountain with a thief on the right and the left, and so they're given a glorious picture to encourage them before the real ugly picture. And so now they're being transported beyond the plagues to the ultimate victory, and they all proclaim, "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints! Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifest." And so seeing the judgments of God or declare their manifest. "After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And out of the temple…"
You know, once it says it's open, you see the ark, this is different. Now it says, the temple is open, "And out of the temple came seven angels, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chest girded with golden bands. Then one of the four living creatures," that keep appearing from Chapter 4, "gave to the seven angels, seven golden bowls," that's because everything the gold is love, everything done that God does, even His wrath springs from love, "full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and His power and none," no man, no man or woman, it actually says there, "was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed." So here, it's giving us a picture of the time.
Now we'll review some of these in just a minute. But when the seven plagues are poured out, the temple in heaven is closed. Now, what's the temple represent? Isn't it where the daily sacrifice takes place, and the blood of the lamb is pled and salvation is experienced, people have their sins forgiven. It's telling us that when the plagues finally begin to fall or time will come where probation is closed on planet earth. No man can enter. Either we have entered already and our sins are forgiven or it's too late. Was there a time before the flood came in Moses' day, when probation closed? And for seven days life went on outside the ark, but the door of the ark was shut. The saved were saved, the lost were lost. Probation had closed for the people on the outside. Those in the inside were sealed and saved. We don't know exactly when that's gonna happen, so we want to be ready all the time. Someone asked the Jewish Rabbi, what's the best day of your life to repent? He said, "The last day." He said, "What if you don't know what the last day is?" He said, "Exactly." So you don't want to be ready. But when the plagues begin to fall, at that point probation has closed, okay? The Laundromat is not washing anymore. So, and it says that none was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were complete.
Now then it goes into Chapter 16. And I'll read through this as quickly as I can. And then we're gonna go to the screen and review it all. I think, we'll learn the most that way. "Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out the bowls or vials of the wrath of God on the earth.' So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome soar came upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and those who worship his image. And then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the water saying, 'You are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to be, because you have judged these things, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.' And I heard another from the altar, saying, 'Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.' Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given him," meaning the sun, "to scorch men with great fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl," and this is the longest one, "on the throne of the beast and his kingdom became full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.'"
Let me just pause here because I may not remember this later. Some people think that these seven plagues are things that have happened over the course of history. No, it's telling us that when you get to the fifth plague, they're still experiencing the boils from the first plague. And so this is something that's happening in short order. "'Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and the water was dried up, so the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth, and the whole world to gather them to the battle, that great day of God Almighty. 'Behold, I'm coming as a thief.'" If you got a red letter Bible, how many have a red letter Bible? You'll notice the only red letters that appear for several chapters is this verse, where Jesus speaks. And after the six plague, He's making an announcement, "'Behold, I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, less they walk naked, and see a shame.' And they gather them together to a place in the Hebrew, tongue called, Armageddon. And then the seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple in heaven from the throne saying, 'It is done.' And there were noises, and thunderings, and lightnings. And there was a great earthquake, such a mighty earthquake, and great as not had occurred since men were on the earth. Now, the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And a great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent." We had some hail here in Northern California this last week. "And men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since the plague was exceedingly great.'"
Okay, we've read our passages, we're going to consider today. I know that's heavy stuff. So let's go back now. We're gonna look at it piece by piece, okay? So, and I'm going to use the question-answer format, we often do in our evangelism teaching. What are the seven last plagues called in the Bible? It says, having the seven last plagues for in them, it's filled up the what? The wrath of God. Now, we don't like to think about the wrath of God. But the Bible tells us that it is something God is long suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but ultimately His wrath does happen. You can read for instance, when Jesus was on His way to the cross, He spoke to the woman along the way, and he said, "Woe, to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days!" Speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, "For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people."
You remember when Jesus was on the Mount of Olives, He wept over Jerusalem. And He pronounced the judgment. He said, "There would not be one stone left upon another. The day is coming when you'd be surrounded by armies." And he said that on this generation, and this is Matthew 23:35, "That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the righteous blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, who you murdered between the temple and the altar. Assuredly, I say, all these things will come on this generation."
Now, the reason I'm reading that, is because there's a teaching in the Bible, it's helpful for us to know that wrath like bank interest can be compounded. Because we have good days, doesn't mean the judgment isn't coming for the bad things we may be doing. God has a record, and there's a day of reckoning for that record. And like He told the Jews back in Jerusalem, He said, on this generation, all the blood that has been compounding for the prophets that were slain is going to be visited. And the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil, meaning, because every time you sin, you don't get electrocuted by God. We think, "Oh, I guess I got over. I got by with that one. Nothing's gonna happen." God said, "No, I made a note." And there, you're building up wrath. That's why we need mercy, right?
But if our sins are not under the blood, everything that we have done, Jesus said, even to the idle words that we speak, we will give an account thereof and there is a day of punishment. It's not just the penalty of death, there is punishment and death. And so the seven last plagues are the pent-up punishment on a rebellious planet. It's like, finally, the Bible talks about the whole creation, groans and travails. I'll get to that in a minute. Let me read you one more verse, and we'll get back to the slides. Romans 2:5, talking about wrath, isn't that exciting? Romans 2:5, "But in accordance with the hardness of your impenitent heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Paul is saying that people who live in continual known sin are treasuring up a day of judgment.
And so this principle can be seen… Yeah, you read in Psalm 78:49, "He casts on them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending His angels of destruction among them." Talking about what happened to Egypt during those ten plagues. So He sent His angels of destruction. So when you get to Revelation, it talks about these angels of wrath, I've been saying all along, everything in Revelation can be found somewhere in the Old Testament. Now, do we find a nation going through a series of plagues in the Old Testament? Where plague came after plague in quick succession? What nation was it?
Egypt.
Egypt. What happened at the end of those plagues? God's people were freed. What happens at the end of the seven plagues? Jesus comes and we are liberated. So the plagues come before it gets… Someone said, we're flying, takeoff is optional, landing is mandatory. In life, sinning is optional, judgment is mandatory. And there is a day, when the whole creation is gonna basically face what's happened with Egypt. Severe judgments came on Egypt. How many plagues on Egypt?
Ten.
Ten. How many plagues in the last days?
Seven.
Why is there a difference? Here's the good news. The children of Israel actually suffered with the Egyptians for the first three plagues. It wasn't until you got to the last seven plagues, they were protected. Are we protected during the last seven plagues? Yes. And so, I think that's one reason that you'll see there's a distinction being made here.
All right. Let me get back to the slides, we've a lot to cover. Wrath of God and, you know, there's just a lot of global problems that are coming soon. Revelation 11:18, "The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and you should destroy those who destroy the earth." There's several verses it seemed to say, that something is going to happen to the earth. Romans 8:22, "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with the birth pangs together until now." What's happening to our planet? Groaning and labor pangs. Isaiah 51, "For the heavens will vanish like smoke, and the earth will grow old like a garment."
Is our old world struggling under just the weight of sin, and all that's happening? What warning is included in this, in the last three angels' messages that are given to the world is found in Revelation 14:6-12? What two punishments are mentioned for the wicked? You remember, when we talked about the three angels' messages in a prior study, says to Babylon, come out of her my people that you receive not of her plagues. Actually, that's in Revelation 18. Revelation 14 also says, Babylon is fallen, come out, that you receive not of her plagues, because the plagues are gonna fall on Babylon, so that's mentioned through the book. It also says, "They will drink the wine of the wrath of God and they're tormented with fire and brimstone". So you've got some pretty serious warnings that are given in advance in the three angels' message. So what I'm saying is, who is supposed to give the three angels' message in the last days? God's people. The remnant. And what is part of that? A warning about the impending wrath of God, that there is a day of judgment. Matter of fact, first angel's message, the hour of His what?
His judgment.
His judgment has come. People need to know, there's a problem and then they'll really appreciate the answer. This problem is sin and His judgment for sin, the penalty for sin is death. And Jesus is offering us life that we may not perish, but have everlasting life. Amen? I conclude, of course, in Revelation 14. It contrasts those who struggle under the plagues. It says, "Here is the patience of the saints, here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Says, "Then I saw in heaven, another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues."
Now, did Jesus say there's going to be plagues between His first coming and the second coming? Are those the seven last plagues? He says, now nation will rise against nation. They'll be kingdom against kingdom. They'll be wars and pestilence in diverse places. Have we had past plagues? The bubonic plague in the 1918, flu, took they say, like 35 to 50 million people, is as many as World War II in one plague, a flu of all things. But these are the last plagues, meaning, it's something that happens in quick succession near the end of time. Then we read, "No one is able to enter the temple until the seven last plagues are completed."
Now I know, we've all been shaken by a statement that says, there will be a period of time near the end where we will stand in the sight of a Holy God without a mediator. Because the temple is close, Michael has stood up. What happens in Daniel Chapter 12 when Michael stands up? There'll be a time of trouble, such as there never has been ever since there was a nation, even under the same time, and people are thinking, "You mean, I'll actually have to live holy without a mediator? How is that possible? Nobody can do that." That's not true. What about Enoch? Did Enoch walked with God? And did God take him to heaven? So did he live a life that where God felt good? Take him to heaven, directly from earth without passing go. What about Elijah? Now you say, I can never make it. But the Bible says, Elijah was a man, subject to alike passions as you and I. Did Elijah get discouraged?
Yeah.
He prayed, he might die under a broom bush, out in the desert. And Elijah even practice a little bit of sarcasm, mocking the prophets of Baal. And you wonder, if he was supposed to do that. Elijah was a human, the Bible says that, that's what James tells us. But he walked with God. So he was sanctified and God took him to heaven in a fiery chariot. So can God have people that are prepared for translation? Yes, of course, and don't let folk say, it's impossible. We constantly must have a mediator. Christ is going to seal His people and with the Holy Spirit, and we will be living in a consistent state of faith. We need to be praying that God will help us practice that now. "I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath or the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.'"
So something is happened before the seven last plagues are poured out. So you've got the world-wide preaching of the gospel. All humanity makes a final eternal choice either for or against Christ. And the mark of the beast, that whole issue really forces things. People are gonna have to decide, "Am I going to worship God? Make that supreme in my life and have the seal of God, or am I going to compromise for convenience." You know, can't buy or sell if you don't have the mark of the beast, and then as a result of that, you get the mark of the beast. So something that's going to happen in the world that is going to shake things. And in that shaking, everybody is polarized into one or two groups. And so that's happening during the preaching.
The mark of the beast is enforced in a final conflict over worship. God's loyal people lovingly obey Him. The seven last plagues are poured out. And then Christ comes to deliver His people. So God's wrath is not His anger at sinners, it is His judgment upon sin. People think, "Oh, He really is mad at these people now. God just hates sin. Sin cannot abide His presence and His justice requires judgment. He never stops being a loving patient God." God does not flip out and lose His temper. He doesn't, you know, go postal at the end of time and just take it out on humanity. What God is doing is, He is finally dealing with sin because He wants to purify the planet. So the seven last plagues are the awesome result of a world separated from God and a planet in rebellion.
Now, who escapes the seven last plagues in the last days? "Them that have gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name." Now, we've studied what these things are in particular, but if you were to summarize it, friends, it's those who have gotten the victory over the devil. And they have surrendered to the will of God, are filled with the Spirit of God. Doesn't that sum it up? Everybody who has the Spirit of God has the seal of God. Now, do you have to worry? You read in Psalm 91, "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come nigh to you. Only with your eyes will you look, see and behold the reward, the judgment of the wicked." So the wicked may be falling all around us.
I like the story of Rahab where they shout and the walls of Jericho fall. You know, when Jesus comes, there'll be a shout? When Jesus comes, there'll be a triumph, says, the Lord will descend from heaven with a shout, with a triumph of the archangel, voice of the archangel. And the walls fell... And where did Rahab live, in the wall? And it fell all around her, but it must have stood where she was, because she and everybody in her house lived. It's what the context tells us. Joshua is coming. The trumpets going to blow, there's going to be a shout, the cities will be broken down at the fierceness of the Lord's anger, by the presence of the Lord. That's the last seventh plague. Remember, we read that? But we don't have to be afraid. Everything may be totally imploding around us, but He promises to protect us. That was a good cue for amen, right there.
Amen.
Whom do the saved praise for their deliverance? "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty." So when will the plagues begin to fall? Now, you want to get out your timer and mark this down, right? It tells us, "The temple is filled with smoke. And no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven last plagues were fulfilled." So again, you don't know when that is, but a time we're living right now and a time of what you would call the pre-Advent judgment, now follow my logic. It's a very simple biblical principle. The Bible says, "Judgment must begin at the house of God." Peter tells us that and he's quoting from Ezekiel 9, says, "Begin at my sanctuary." There is some evaluation that takes place before Jesus comes because the Bible's really clear, "Behold, he comes and my reward is with me." So when the Lord comes, does He need to then figure out who is saved and lost? Or is that determined before He comes? We're living in that determining time now. It's sometimes called the pre-Advent judgment, there's different words for it, the investigative judgment, but it's the last phase of church's history. It's the church history called Laodicea. The very phrase Laodicea, it means, a judging of the people.
And when that time of judgment is done and Michael stands out, that means, you ever been in court and when the judge stands up after hearing evidence, he pounds his gavel and then he stands up. You know what that means? I'm not listening anymore. I've spoken. And as it says in the Ten Commandments, so let it be written. So let it be done. It's like, it's over with now. No more judgment. What announcement will Jesus make that indicates the heavenly judgment has ceased? He, and this is Revelation 22:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, he who is filthy, let him be filthy still, he who is righteous, let him be righteous still, he who is holy, let him be holy still." There'll come a time where the saved are saved and the lost are lost. Right now, probation is open and people can change teams.
People in the church can say, "I'm tired of this, I'm going to go to the world." And people in the world can say, "I'm tired of this, I'm going to go to Christ." And you're going to see a shaking and some changing of signs along the way. But once probation closes, people are sealed in their eternal destinies at that point. Sometimes illness or disaster clarifies a person's thinking and causes him to repent. Sometimes trials bring us back to God. But in the case of the seven last plagues, nobody's going to be converted.
What purpose does God have in sending the plagues, if no one's going to be converted? You read, it says in Revelation 16:9, "They blasphemed the God of heaven and they repented not." So it says, they blasphemed God. You know what God is doing? He's demonstrating that when the plagues come, instead of them turning to God, and repent it like the people of Nineveh. They're showing there are no more redeemable qualities instead of being changed, there's nothing that would ever happen, that would change their hearts at this point. Can the devil ever repent? He's grieved away the Holy Spirit. He's reached that point of no return. When the seven plagues fall, the saved are saved, the lost are lost, they've reached the point of no return. There's no more redeemable qualities left in their natures. So how long will the plagues last? Now, this is a question that's much discussed. It says there in the prophecy, "Therefore her plagues will come in one day." What does the day equal in prophecy?
A year.
A year. But that doesn't mean, it's gonna be 365 or 360 as in a Jewish year days. It means within a year's time, it's all going to happen. So to understand, how long it's gonna be, just use some past biblical examples. The plagues that came on Job. How long did that take? They were extremely intense, very severe, and comparatively happened in a short time.
Now if you would ask Job, how's it feeling? Is it feels like an eternity? But when you read the context of how it happened, he lost everything in one blitzkrieg of attacks from the devil. And then it seems like a few weeks later, when he wouldn't curse God, he lost his health in another blitzkrieg. And then his friends sat with him for seven days. And the whole thing seems to happen within a couple of months. The ten plagues that fell on Egypt, how long did that take? Well, when you read the context, it seems like they're back to back. As soon as one plague's gone, the Pharaoh says, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Plague goes away. But he doesn't let the people go or took a few days to find out, he wasn't gonna do anything. God says, "Send another plague." And then he repents and another plague. And it seems like, it's happening in a matter of weeks or at the most months, right?
And I remember, reading the statement in the Spirit of Prophecy, where she says, "You know, the plagues cannot last very long, you look at the nature of them." Jesus said, "Except those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved." So it's all happening within a year's time, maybe a matter of months.
I did this one study, it's pretty weak, but I'll share it with you. In Revelation, you know, if a day is a year and hour is about 15 days. Three times in Revelation, talking about the fall of Babylon, the plagues, it says, in one hour falls economically, in one hour it falls socially, politically. It says, one hour, one hour, one hour, that's 45 days. It's about the time of Job suffering or Moses suffering. So it's just a matter of a few months. I think, less than a year. So what are God's acts of punishment and judgment called in Isaiah 28:21? He does not enjoy this. The Bible says, "It is His strange work, His strange act." God wants to give life. He wants to bless. So the plagues... He's not rejoicing when this is happening. It's breaking His heart. So some people think now, are we gonna be raptured before the plagues?
The plagues, by the way, the seven last plagues are the Great Tribulation. You hear about the Great Tribulation. There's a small time of trouble before prohibition closes. Then there's the great time of trouble, such as there never has been, that's a time when nobody's changing teams anymore. Many lovely evangelical Christians insist that that's when the secret rapture takes place and we're caught up. God loves the church too much to allow us to go through trials. And so the church is gone at this point. But, does the Bible say that? It says, "Only with your eyes will you see and behold the punishment of the wicked." You're there, 1000 may fall at your side, 10,000 at your right hand. Were the children of Israel in Egypt during the ten plagues?
Yes.
But they were protected during, especially, the last seven plagues. Did God save Noah from the storm in the flood or through it?
Through it.
Did he save Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the furnace or through the furnace?
Through the furnace.
Did He save Daniel from the lions' den or through it?
Through it.
Did He save Joseph from his trials or through his trials and Job? So the principle in the Bible is, God does not save us from tribulation, Paul says, "It is through much tribulation, we enter the kingdom of God, but He saves us through it." What's that spiritual saying, some through the water, some through the flood, some through the fire, all through the blood. We all gonna go through tribulation. All who live godly will suffer through tribulation. I sort of covered that slide. So what is the first plague? Here we get into the grieve stuff, okay? Revelation 16:2, talks about, "A noisome and grievous sore." Now, has that happened before? You can read in Job, I'm sorry, you can read that in Deuteronomy, "The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head." Did that happen to Job?
Yes.
Yeah and so when it says a sore, it doesn't mean everybody gets one. It means a plague of sores. It's really a singular plague, but the person may have several sores. And so they're struggling with the same kind of sores they had, that was one of the Egyptian plagues. It's a pain, a painful sore. I'll not show you the scar, but I got bit by a spider when I was living in the Florida Keys during a summer camp. And started small and it just swelled up my whole calf of my leg. It got a boil. I never had a boil before. And it got so bad and it got infected. And I was rolling back and forth in a fever and all I could say, my other cabin mates were teasing me, I wanted to kill them, as I kept saying, "The pain, the pain, the pain." I never felt pain like that before.
And that was one boil, so when it says they've got this noisome, and then the phrase are also. I know this is not pretty. It basically means something that doesn't smell good. So it says, "Then it took ashes from the furnace before Pharaoh, he scattered them towards the heaven and boils broke out in sores on man and beast. A foul and loathsome sore." It's called in Revelation Chapter 16.
What happens during the second plague? "Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead man." Notice this, as the blood of a dead man in that verse. "And every living creature in the sea died. And the sea became as the blood of a dead man." Now, I don't think this is a plague, but how many of you heard of Florida's red tide? It's an algae. And the water turns red. And they were having this in Florida and they showed a map, where they said, it completely surrounded Southern Florida, it was killing all the fishes. You can see here. Now the water is not red here because it's washed, the dead fish have washed into the bay. But just out in the water, you could see this red plankton. And this is not one of the plagues. You think, "Pastor Doug, do you think a plague has come?" No, this has happened through history on a small scale.
They've been plagues, people had boils at different times in history. The bubonic plague caused a boil. But I'm just showing you... But it just seems like some of these things are mounting. So what is the third plague? Now first is the rivers, I'm sorry the sea. Now it's the rivers and the fountains of water. First, it's a salt water. What do you think that will do to international shipping, when every living thing in the sea dies? Most of the cities of the world by far, probably, 90% of the cities of the world are located either at a seaport or a major river. And so this is especially striking the bulk of the population of the world. "The rivers and fountains became blood."
Now you notice before it says, as the blood of a dead man. You know, you can look at the red plankton and say it's as blood, it looks like blood, but now its fountains of water. "And the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water," and they have nothing to drink, "and they became blood." Now, this is a photograph of China's river. They had a special problem in 2012, and you can see the separation of the Yangtze River turn red blood, blood red. People are saying, is this it? But no, I don't think that's it. But these are some of the things you're gonna hear. But just to show you, it can happen on a global scale. "'And I heard an angel of the water saying, 'You are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things.' For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.'"
So what takes place then during the fourth plague? "And the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to scorch men with fire or with great heat. And they were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God." They don't repent because of their sins and they've still got their boils, they have nothing to drink and now there's the heat, seems like one plague almost leads to another. By the way, I do believe in global warming, it's coming. This is gonna be the ultimate global warming. This is gonna be the ultimate climate change is during the seven last plagues.
When the fifth angel pours out his plague upon the seat of the beast, what happens next? It says, "The throne of the beast and his kingdom became full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues because of pain. And they blasphemed God in heaven because of their pains and their sores…" And now it's telling us the sores haven't gone away yet. So this is something that is happening in quick succession. "And they did not repent of their deeds." They're not being called to repentance. "His kingdom was full of darkness." Was one of the plagues on Egypt, darkness? Egypt said, they were the spiritual leaders of the world. But God was showing that they were the blind leading the blind. So the darkness on the seat of the beast. The beast has been saying, "We have great light." He's showing, "No, they're blind. They're in darkness." The Bible says, "Darkness will cover the land and gross darkness the people." It's Christ that is the light of the world. When you reject the light of the world, when you reject the Word is a lamp to your feet, you reject the light, what's left? Darkness. Is probably be there in the seat of the beast and all of its ancillary headquarters around the world.
What happens under the sixth plague when the angel pours out his vial on the great river Euphrates? "And then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up. So the way for the kings of the east might be prepared." Now this plague, we believe is more spiritual in nature, where some of the others were very literal. The Euphrates River drying up is a reference to something that happened in Jewish history. God's people were captive in Babylon, Revelation saying, come out of Babylon. A king from the east named Cyrus, with Darius the Mede, the median king. They came, they diverted the water of the Euphrates where it ran under the walls of Babylon. The drying up of the waters allowed them to go under the walls of the city, you read about this in Daniel Chapter 5, where Babylon fell, handwriting on the wall, God's people were set free and it all happened in quick succession. So it's really saying, Christ is about to come. All the resources of Babylon have dried up. A river going into a kingdom is what gives its life. But having said that, "The waters dried up, he gathered them together into a place called Armageddon, called in Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.
I just thought you might be interested, can we play the audio for this?
What's happening now, Iraqis fleeing three towns on the banks of the Euphrates River. There are new concerns that the river's water level is so low that ISIS fighters can just walk across and launch attacks.
That's after ISIS militants, they shut off the gates of the Ramadi Dam. This new strategy presenting a major security and humanitarian threat.
There is this belief of, if you control the water, you can control your enemy, which in that part of the world is basically true.
ISIS terrorists are doing the unthinkable. They're closing the gate to the Ramadi Dam.
Downstream the water level on the Euphrates has dropped, and this is allowing ISIS fighters to move more freely.
Iraqi officials are releasing some water from the Habbaniyah Lake downstream so that seven provinces will have some flow still coming through. But they said this is a temporary solution only, it will only last for a few days.
Clearly a bit by ISIS to say to those people caught up in the fighting there. Look, we have the one thing you need, the agriculture, the basic daily life this, water crisis unfolding around Ramadi...
They finally might find that interesting. Here, it's saying Euphrates River's drying up, it was in the news two years ago. You noticed, I grabbed clips from CNN and Fox, so I could be equal for everybody. They both reported, Euphrates River is drying up. Well, ISIS were shutting off the dam, which dried it up downstream. But so, if a person ever says, "Well, it could never happen literally." It already has happened literally a couple times in history.
Anyway, but something else to think about, what happens during the… Is it the fifth plague or fourth plague, when it says men's scorch with great heat? What happens to rivers when there's great heat? What happened in the days of Elijah during that famine? "Cyrus the king from the east, delivered God's people from the tyranny of ancient Babylon. Jesus, the King of the east, will deliver God's people from the end of time." And so when the walls of Babylon were breached, because Euphrates River dried up, its signaled deliverance for God's people. "Behold, Christ said, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments, lest he walked naked and they see his shame."
What sense would it make to say that Christ delivers His people before the tribulation, when the Bible says He's coming as a thief after the tribulation? So people who believe the secret rapture happens before the plagues, it doesn't match with the rest of the passage. He's coming to deliver them at the end of the seven plagues. But you know how to answer that. Well, the church, the Gentiles are raptured before the seven last plagues, the Jews are raptured after the seven last plagues. I don't see God dividing salvation that way, because Christ... Paul says that after Jesus, there is neither Jew nor Greek. We are all one in Christ. Everyone who believes is a child of Abraham. Amen? So they're making a separation that the Bible stops making.
The second coming of Jesus takes place under the seventh plague. What two devastating upheavals of nature take place at the time of the seventh plague? "The seventh angel pours out his bowl in the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple in heaven from the throne saying, 'It is done!'" It's over. "And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and a great earthquake has not occurred since men were on the earth," says, "every mountain and island is taken away." And it says, "There was great earthquake and there fell on man a great hail out of heavens."
You got a great earthquake and a great hail in the seventh plague. But what about God's people, are we protected? God is our refuge. Were the children of Israel in Egypt during the plague of hail? Yes, but it didn't hit them. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." There gonna be earthquakes all around us, we don't need to fear. Amen?
Amen.
Next thing that happens then, it is, of course, Christ comes, we are caught up to meet Him in the air, the devastation is left behind us as the final destruction of the earth. So quick review of the seven plagues. You've got the sores, the sea turning into blood and the freshwater, the rivers and the springs turning to blood, men being scorched with great heat is plague number four. Darkness on the headquarters of the beast, the battle of Armageddon, I didn't talk about that, the battle of Armageddon.
What does Armageddon mean? Armageddon is the hill of Megiddo. It was a key place in Israel, in the very center of Israel where a number of battles were fought, including a battle, where Gideon defeated the Amalekites and the Midianites and the people of the east, with a trumpet, and a light, and a sword, mentions those three things. They're not sure, the word Armageddon doesn't appear anywhere else in Greek literature. And it says in the Hebrew tongue, this is what it's called, Its Har-megiddon or Har-magideon, which works either way because the Battle of Gideon was in the Valley of Megiddo. And so it's basically pointing us back to a time, when it looked like things were hopeless for God's people. But at the crucial moment, the trumpet blew, the enemy self destructed, and God's people were delivered. There's a lot of stories, like that where God's people were delivered in the Valley of Megiddo. And so it's pointing us back to that victorious battle.
Now, the battle of Armageddon begins with Christ coming to fight for us. He's riding on a white horse. That's the beginning of the battle of Armageddon. The last phase is at the end of the 1000 years, when Satan launches his attack with Gog and Magog, lost against the city. Fire comes down out of God and devours them after they are judged, after the Great White Throne Judgment. So just like any war, you might have a few battles. The Battle of Armageddon begins with the first coming or with the second coming of Christ and ends with, what you would call, the third coming after the millennium.
All right, well, I think, we've covered it, during the sixth plague, what happens to Babylon's three-fold alliance? It tells us, "The great city was divided into three parts." In Moses' day God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians. How were God's people protected from the tenth plague? "They will take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts. And when I see the blood, I will pass over." So how are we protected during the plagues? Bible tells us we're going to be protected by, "They overcame by," what? "The blood of the lamb, and the word of our testimony." It's only the blood of Christ, and faith in Him that will save us. Do we need to be frightened about the last plagues?
No.
I'm jumping ahead here. He said, "Neither shall evil, any evil befall you or any plague come nigh your dwelling. For He'll give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways." We don't need to fear the plagues, friends. A good news is that, it's gonna get really good, but before it gets really good, it's gonna get really bad. That's the message of the plagues. But after the plagues, it's gonna be really good. He's gonna make a new heaven and a new earth. But before it gets better than it ever has been, it's going to be worse than it ever has been. Isn't that exciting? So you want to make sure that you're under the blood. Amen?
We want to remind our friends that maybe missed the announcement at the beginning. We do have a free gift. It talks about this scenario of the seven last plagues. It's called "The Final Events of Bible Prophecy." We will send it to you simply for asking. Ask for offer number 864, when you do. And just call 866-788-3966. You can even download this for watching, if you want. You can text this, watch it on your phone or your computer, "SH121" to 40544. And we hope that you are blessed by that. God bless you, until we study His Word together again next week.
Amazing Facts changed lives.
I was born into a family of criminals. When I got older and I started breaking the rules, no one ever taught me about, Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not commit adultery, anything like that. When I became a runaway at 14, I was just a wild and lost child. I had somebody tell me, "Hey, you wanna earn some money cleaning this guy's kitchen." So I went to this house on a different side of town than I was used to. Someone kept giving me alcoholic drinks and being 115 pounds and 14 years old, it really didn't take much time before I was so inebriated that I had no control over, what was going on around me. He took me to another location, another town. And I was put in isolation. I would come out to be abused between three and eight times a day. I was degraded. I was humiliated, that had no value as a human being. And I learned very quickly that what I felt and what I thought, and how this made me feel did not matter to him at all. If I even thought about not doing what he wanted me to do, I would have a gun to my head and knife to my throat.
There was one time in particular where he had been tormenting me psychologically. And one day he said, "Oh, you'll never kill yourself. You'll never do it." And almost defiantly, I was like, "Yes, I will." And he handed me a handful of pills and I took them. While I was overdosing, and I had been overdosing all night, I cried out to a God that I didn't even believe in. And at that very moment in the most powerful way, God shown His light on me. And He gave me peace of mind, like I never had. And He let me know right then and there while I was on that bathroom floor, that He was real and then He was love. And that I did not know how at that time, but He was going to help me.
A little less than a year later, I became pregnant at 15. I loved my son with my whole heart. He also became something that my abuser could use against me in order to pump more fear and coercion. I had finally got away from my abuser. And I'd finally built up a support system to help me stay on the move and stay on the run. And I was at my grandmother's house and on my son's third birthday, he took my son and when I called the police and said, "My son's just been kidnapped." They said, "He's the father. We can't do anything about it."
After my son was gone, I lost my mind. I started doing drugs. And within a month and a half, I robbed a convenience store. So I was sentenced to 70 months, 5 years, 10 months in prison. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I started attending the church services in prison, seven days a week, it blew my mind. I was hooked. And then we went through, it was Millennium of Prophecy and NET '99 that just solidified my faith in such a powerful way. And I knew God, that God was leading me. Even the guards there commented on how much I had changed since I started doing the studies on Amazing Facts. I was so excited about what I was learning that I was coming back from there and trying to convert my heart into criminal friends with the Storacles of Prophecy. Every question I ever had, every worry, everything that I ever wondered about, the Bible answered everything, and it was so clear and so easy to understand.
It's been 11 years, since I've been out of prison. I am married to an amazing wonderful man, my first non-abusive relationship in my whole entire life. Before we got married, we watched the Millennium of Prophecy series together. And it was just such a blessing to be able to see him learn and see him grow. And I felt like my life now is just a gift that every single thing that happened to me bad in the past is nothing compared to the joy, and the happiness, and the stability that I have now. My name is Christine VanOrder, and my life has been changed by Jesus Christ and Amazing Facts.
Friends, we're out here in the Pacific Ocean, not too far from the Island of Fiji. And we're getting ready to look at some wonders in the deep. The Bible says, "God made the heaven, the earth, and the sea." And there are things under the sea that are beautiful that many people have never seen. Some folks might just skim along snorkel on the surface. But if you want to see the real majesty of the ocean, you got to go deeper. Because people don't have gills like fish, we have to do something extraordinary to be able to breathe below the surface. And because you have to breathe all the time, we need this special equipment. In the same way the Bible says, "A Christian needs to pray without ceasing. We need to always be breathing the atmosphere of heaven if we're going to live a Christian life in this world below. Wow. What a wonderful world.
Did you know Amazing Facts has a free Bible school that you can do from the comfort of your own home? It includes 27 beautifully illustrated study lessons to aid in your study of God's Word. Sign up today for this free Bible Study course by calling 1-844-215-7000. That's 1-844-215-7000.