DECEMBER 29
Wrath of God Against Evil
The Old Testament is filled with
accounts of God's dealings with the nation of
FIRST TRUMPET Rev. 8:7
The first angel sounded his
trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down
upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were
burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
SECOND TRUMPET Rev. 8:8,9 .
The second angel sounded his
trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the
sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in
the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
THIRD TRUMPET. Rev. 8:10,11
The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a
great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers
and on the springs of water—the name of the star is Wormwood.'' A third of the
waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become
bitter.
FOURTH
TRUMPET. Rev. 8:12
The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a
third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so
that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and
also a third of the night.
NEXT THREE
TRUMPETS. Rev. 8:13
As I watched, I heard an eagle that was (lying
in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of
the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three
angels!"
FIFTH TRUMPET. Rev.9:1-6
The fifth angel sounded his
trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star
was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke
rose from it like
the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened
by the smoke from the Abyss. And
out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like
that of scorpions of the earth. They
were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only
those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not
given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the
agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a
man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will
long to die, but death will elude them.
DESCRIPTION OF
LOCUSTS. Rev. 9:7-12
The locusts looked like horses
prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold,
and their faces resembled human faces- Their hair was like women's hair, and their
teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron,
and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and
chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in
their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king
over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon,
and in Greek, Apollyon. The first
woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
SIXTH TRUMPET. Rev.. 9:13-16
The sixth angel sounded his
trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is
before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the
four angels who are bound at the great river
DESCRIPTION OF
TROOPS. Rev. 9:17-19
The horses and riders I saw in my vision
looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as
sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their
mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three
plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of
the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like
snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
SURVIVORS
UNREPENTANT. Rev.9:20,2l
The rest of mankind that were
not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands;
they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone
and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their
murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
ANGEL WITH
LITTLE SCROLL. Rev. 10:1- 4
Then I saw another mighty angel
coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his
head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was
holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot
on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the
roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And
when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from
heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it
down."
SEVENTH
TRUMPET TO REVEAL. Rev. 10:5-7
Then the angel I had seen
standing. on the sea and on the land raised his right
hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created
the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There
will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound
his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to
his servants the prophets."
JOHN EATS BITTERSWEET SCROLL.
Rev. 10:8-11
Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
So I went to the angel and asked
him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It
will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as
honey." I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but
when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, "You must
prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."
GENTILES TRAMPLE ON
I was given a reed like a measuring
rod and was told, "Go and measure (he
GOD'S TWO WITNESSES TESTIFY. Rev. 11:3-6
And I will give power to my two
witnesses, and they wilt prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."
These are the two olive frees and the two lampstands
that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire
comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants
to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will
not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the
waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as
they want.
WITNESSES KILLED. Rev. 11:7-10
Now when they have finished
their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and
overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city,
which is figuratively called
WITNESSES RESURRECTED. Rev. 11:11-14
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
At that very hour there was a
severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven
thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified
and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed; the third woe
is coming soon.
Righteousness of God Seen in
Coming of Christ
With the blowing of the seventh
trumpet comes the announcement of the
SEVENTH TRUMPET Rev. 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
"The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will
reign for ever and ever. "
ELDERS PRAISE
GOD. Rev. 11:16-18
And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:
"We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign. The nations were angry;
and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets , and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth."
SIGNS HERALDING KINGDOM. Rev. 11:19
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Opposition to Christ's Church
John now sees God's people as a star-crowned woman whose son, Christ, rules all nations. Rising in opposition to the woman is Satan himself, who wages war against God's people in two ways, Satan is first seen as a dragon, which seems to represent political oppression, and then as a beast coming out of the sea to make war against God's people, which may represent religious persecution.
WOMAN BEARS
CHILD. Rev. 12:1-6
A great and wondrous sign
appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet
and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain
as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven; an
enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his
heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the
earth. The dragon stood in from1 of the woman who was about to give
birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth
to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And
her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the
desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for
1,260 days.
SATAN DEFEATED BY MICHAEL. Rev.
12:7-9
And there was war in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels
fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or
Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his
angels with him.
TRIUMPH OF
CHRIST OVER SATAN. Rev. 12:10-12
Then I heard a .loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down. They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their
lives so much
as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
DRAGON PURSUES WOMAN. Rev.
12:13-13:1a
When the dragon saw that he had
been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male
child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might
fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care
of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his
mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep
her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth
and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the
dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of
her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of
Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.
DRAGON GIVES
POWER TO BEAST. Rev. 13:1b-4
And I saw a beast coming out of
the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on
each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet
like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast
his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast
seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The
whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon
because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast
and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?"
BEAST PERSECUTES SAINTS. Rev.
13:5-10
The beast was given a mouth to utter
proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months.
He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling
place and those who live in heaven. He 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 that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let
him hear.
If anyone is to go into
captivity, into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed.
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
SECOND BEAST COMES FROM EARTH. Rev.13:11-17
Then I saw another beast, coming
out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He
exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the
earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been
healed. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come
down from heaven to earth in hill view of men. Because of the signs he was
given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of
the earth. He ordered them 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. 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, so that no one could buy or sell unless he
had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
CAUTION
REGARDING INTERPRETATION. Rev.13:18
This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666.