I will be alternating between Revelation and Romans. We are in Revelation 16:1-14, "festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast."

 We ended Revelation 15 with this,

Revelation 15:1 NASB Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last because in them the wrath of God is finished.

I saw another sign in heaven?

When we started analyzing the seven years of God's wrath, we were confronted with a string of riders with evil intent. One of those is found in Revelation 6:8 and he brings pestilence, which also means plagues.

Revelation 6:8 NASB I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.

Revelation 15:6 tells us that seven angels who had the seven plagues, present themselves and they are prepared to pour out these bowls upon the earth.

With that let's jump into Revelation 16.

Revelation 16:1 NASB Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God."

The wrath of God?

I had an acquaintance that got visibly angry that I referred to the seven years as a time of wrath.

The word wrath is the Greek word thumos and means a strong passion or emotion of the mind; anger, wrath, fierceness, indignation.

The word indignation means anger or extreme anger, mingled with contempt, disgust or abhorrence.

How interesting that the sixth outpouring of God's wrath upon Egypt was a plague.

Exodus 9:8-9 NASB “Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. (9) "It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.”

Note how the plague of Revelation 16:2 is almost word for word the description of the plague on Egypt.

Revelation 16:2 NIV  The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

Watch and you begin to see a pattern. Remember, there is nothing new under the sun.

Revelation 16:3-4 NIV  The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.  (4)  The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.

What did God do to Egypt?

Exodus 7:17-18 NIV  This is what the LORD says: By this, you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.  (18)  The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.'"

It does not require much thought to see that WE have polluted God's creation, and we did it in the name of greed. So, God does not need to explain himself, but He does.

Revelation 16:5-7 NASB “And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it." (7) And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Take a moment and see if you can answer this.

Who is He talking about when He says “they” poured out the blood and saints and prophets?

I could go several ways on this answer. First, there are the scribes and pharisees who did not seem to have a problem with killing those who went against the Jewish law, and I can include Saul the pharisee in that list. Note that I did not say God's law. Secondly, it was the Gentiles who physically killed Jesus, but Jesus does not seem to be the focus, does it? So, who else is killing the saints and the prophets? Islam and a few others. That leaves one last possibility for blame, and that would be the corporate world. If that does not make sense to you, then consider how corporate Babylon is shoving a “vaccine” into you, to “control” what? The Covid virus that is NOT a pandemic.

Moving on. When world leaders meet, as they are this November 1, 2021, they are discussing another created scenario based on their hope of controlling the populace; climate change.

Revelation 16:8-9 NASB The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. (9) Men were scorched with fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

I despise all this talk about climate change. It is especially grievous when I consider that it was corporate America that polluted this nation and changed our environment. 

Do I believe that there is a climate change coming?

Absolutely, because my Bible tells me about things like Revelation 16:8-9. Previously, in Revelation 8:12, and 9:2, we see the sun darkened. It is easy to make the assumption that the sun itself decreases in its intensity. In Revelation 8:12 we are not given an explanation as to how that comes to be, but in 9:2 we see smoke emerging from the bottomless pit – like a great furnace. This description makes me think of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island La Palma, which has for weeks pumped out smoke and ash, like a great furnace. With these associations it is easier to see how that an ice age might come; and yet, here in Revelation 16, we see humans getting burned by the Sun.

And then the fifth bowl gets poured out.

Revelation 16:10-11 NASB (10) Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, (11) and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

It is clear that the fifth bowl brings darkness that people can feel. As children, our family visited the Carlsbad caverns in New Mexico. At one point on the tour, the guide warned us to maintain our positions as he turned out the lights, when that happened you could not see your hand in front of your face. I do not remember how long the lights stayed out, but it was long enough to get uncomfortable, even to the point that you began to doubt your footing and safety.

I have told you many times that prophecy for the Jew is a pattern, not some shotgun blast, or a one-time thing. So the pattern, once again, comes from Moses and Pharaoh.

Exodus 10:21-23 NASB Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt." (22) So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. (23) They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.

All these signs, much like here in the time of wrath, is meant to turn hearts toward God. (I get it, as many of you whine and say, punish me like this and then you foolishly expect me to love you, you are crazy.) You see, I have come to understand God's character and nature, and it is love, meant to guide you in love. For three days no one rose from their homes as the darkness permeated every inch of their homes, with the exception of the sons of Israel, for they had light in their dwellings. Interesting!

Notice something, the only place that this permeating darkness exists, is on the kingdom of the beast.

How do you define this statement?

This is especially difficult because we have so many religious voices trying to identify who the beast/antichrist will be. Many say the Pope and therefore the Roman Catholic church. So, if that was the case then we could all stare at the Italians and assume that the empire is nothing less than the Vatican. If God followed our foolish leads, then the Vatican would be in literal and complete darkness.

If you were to say, this beast is Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, then where would his empire be? All of France? If that was the case then all of France would be put in to complete and total darkness.

I happen to think that the beast/antichrist will be a Muslim that also has the trust and cooperation of something like the G20 nations. It is still hard to determine where this man's throne and the kingdom will be; however, that will all become clear moments after the church leaves the earth. Spending what seems like a futile amount of time looking at this has a purpose in that it is designed to make you think and possibly see that we are so much closer to Jesus catching his bride away.

How do the people on earth react to all these events of the Revelation?

Revelation 16:11 NASB “and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

A friend of mine asked, how does anyone survive through all that God dishes out, in order to fight?

Honestly, I do not know. From Revelation six forward we see humans killing humans, God killing humans, a demonic Calvary killing humans, and the elements, such as the sun, the seas, and the wind turning against us.

Now we come to the sixth bowl.

Revelation 16:12 NASB “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.”

The terminology, “the great river” is all over the Old Testament. This tells me that every Jew should recognize the phrase and know where it is at. Iraq's former President, Saddam Hussein built one of his palaces along the Euphrates.

The east?

We are told that the river was dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. Depending on how ancient the map is, you will get varying names, such as the Median empire, which is one of the empires that conquered the Babylonian empire. That entire region, on one map, was labeled as the Assyrians. The east now holds a portion of Turkey, Iran, some of the southern Russian states, Iraq, India, and, if you want to push it, China.

There would be only one reason to gather all these kings, and that would be for battle. This battle will be the one where they gather, in an effort to kill off Jesus who is coming back after the seven years of wrath has come to a close, right before the millennial kingdom is set up.

Revelation 16:13-14 NASB (13) And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; (14) for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

“ And I saw coming out of:”

• “ the mouth of the dragon”

  Satan

• “ out of the mouth of the beast”

  Antichrist

• “ and out of the mouth of the false prophet”

  The man that has shown his true colors at the three-and-one-half year point into the reign of the antichrist.

Note that the antichrist performs signs; the false prophet performs signs, all of which are meant to cause people to follow mindlessly into the worship of the beast, worship of the image, and the taking of the mark. In this verse, the signs are meant to draw all these kings together to fight against God.

All across YouTube, people who call themselves Watchmen, have been trying to educate us about God's seasons. I am one as well, just not as vocal. The scriptures, if you are looking for them, spell out rather clearly about the season of the Lord's return for His church. One of the most dominant signs is the parable of the fig tree; Israel is that fig tree, and we are told that the generation which sees Israel becomes a nation would not pass away before Jesus returns for His church. 80 years is the maximum allotted time and Israel is currently 73. Add the seven years of wrath and Israel will be 80.

We are there, get ready.