A massive earthquake, such as has never been seen. Rev 16:18 - 21

 In our last look at Revelation 16, we saw a demon horde gathering all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon. I pointed out how this term Armageddon is only found one time, in one place, and that is here in Revelation 16:16, it is however a common term when you look up the term Jezreel valley and Meggido. Virtually every biblical battle has been fought in this valley, including the one in which Goliath was killed by David.

The NASB entitles this next section THE SEVENTH BOWL.

The seventh wrath event, whether it be the seals, trumpets, or bowls, has been the transition into the next event. The difference here is that God's wrath being poured out ends with the bowls.

Revelation 16:17 NLT  Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!”

Immediately I noticed something different; the angel is pouring this final bowl into the air.

Why is that important?

Because humanity does not live in the air, that appears to the realm of the spirit, which has more reality to it than the earth does. While some might try to argue that we have our influence over the air because we have people living in space stations to prove the point. Fools, you are merely pointing out the extent of your pollution.

Just a side note to ponder.

Ephesians 6:12 NASB For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Pay attention to the terminology used in Ephesians 2:2.

Ephesians 2:1-2 NASB And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, (2) in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Who is the prince of the power of the air?

If you said Satan, you would be correct.

The earth, with all its resources and beauty, has been the fuel for the damage done to the earth, the very thing that God gave Adam dominion over. Since Adam saw fit to hand the dominion of the earth over to Satan, wouldn't it then be fitting to destroy this polluted earth and start over?

In Revelation 16:17, what does the angel mean when he says, “It is finished”?

The phrase refers to the end of wrath and that only happens when Christ returns as the warring Messiah, which is defined in Revelation 19 and conveyed over several verses.

Revelation 19:11 NASB And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war.

Revelation 19:14-15 NASB (14) And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. (15) From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

Revelation 19:19-21 NASB (19) And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (20) And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. (21) And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

It is done, and this is what happens next.

Revelation 16:18 CJB  There were flashes of lightning, voices, and peals of thunder; and there was a massive earthquake, such as has never occurred since mankind has been on earth, so violent was the earthquake.

Lightning, voices, and peals of thunder; what happened when God spoke words of affirmation over Jesus when He got baptized?

The people standing around there heard thunder, and we know that a couple of them became disciples of Jesus shortly after this event. Consider what the people heard as Moses spent time with God on Mount Ararat; they heard thunder.

Isaiah 30:30 NLT  And the LORD will make his majestic voice heard. He will display the strength of his mighty arm. It will descend with devouring flames, with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones.

What is my point?

God has been trying to speak to people since the garden, but most only hear indecipherable noise and thunder.

As a result of this earthquake.

Revelation 16:19 MKJV  And the great city came to be into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the anger of His wrath.

“The great city” is Jerusalem. Some would have you believe that this is Rome or (a rebuilt) Babylon. Let me show you something.

"And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a thousand, two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone will hurt them, so it is right for him to be killed. These have authority to shut up the heaven, that it may not rain in the days of their prophecy. And they have authority over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. And when they complete their testimony, the beast coming up out of the abyss will make war against them and will overcome them and kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And many of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three days and a half, and they will not allow their dead bodies to be put in tombs." (Revelation 11:3-9 MKJV)

These two witnesses are the two prophets that God sends back to earth. Revelation 11:3-9 defines not only where these two witnesses are standing, but backs it up with the bold statement, “where our Lord was crucified.”

As for these other references.

"Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood; And they strengthen the hands of evildoers So that no one has turned back from his wickedness. All of them have become to Me like Sodom And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. (Jeremiah 23:14 NASB)

In the next verse, He directly calls them Sodom and Gomorrah, communities that had long since been destroyed.

If the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had not spared a few of us, we would have been wiped out like Sodom, destroyed like Gomorrah. Listen to the LORD, you leaders of “Sodom.” Listen to the law of our God, people of “Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9-10 NLT)

Ezekiel has the strongest association of Israel to Egypt because it refers to Samaria and Jerusalem and these are central to modern Israel.

They became prostitutes in Egypt. Even as young girls, they allowed men to fondle their breasts. The older girl was named Oholah, and her sister was Oholibah. I married them, and they bore me sons and daughters. I am speaking of Samaria and Jerusalem, for Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 23:3-4 NLT)

Some would say, that was overkill, but I have experienced the arguments of those who reject wisdom merely because I left out one example or detail. So, in my mind, there is no doubt Revelation 16:19 is talking about Jerusalem.

Keep in mind the fact that this last bowl was poured out upon the air. It may not make any difference in the scheme of things but it does demonstrate that God can have anger and wrath. (Side note, He never pours out that wrath upon those who are His. This statement becomes clear when you understand that His nature is love, though it may not seem like it especially when there are laws attached to His actions.)

Consider, how we opened this look at Revelation 16, with a massive, violent earthquake, such as has never occurred since mankind has been on earth. Add to this the fact that thunderstorms, along with lightning, tend to bring about severe weather.

Revelation 16:20-21 NASB (20) And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. (21) And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail because its plague *was extremely severe.

• Every island fled away,

• the mountains were not found,

• huge hailstones - about one hundred pounds each, came down upon men;

And what did the humans do?

• They blasphemed God because of the hail and its severity.

I know I have mentioned this before, but an acquaintance of mine tried to tell me that this time is NOT God's wrath. Oh, I beg to differ as I am hard-pressed to call it anything else.

The prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. Revelation 8:1-9

 I want to say we are done with the seal judgments, and in a way, we are, but the truth is, we now have to open the seventh seal. As I have pointed out, with every one of God's judgments, the seventh is the lead-in to the next series to come. We now have two more judgments to be experienced by the people on the earth and Israel.

There is, however, one exception to this rule, the bowl judgments. Revelation 16:17 tells us that with the pouring out of the seventh bowl, a voice, from the temple where the throne of God is, said, it is done.

What is done?

It is not the judgments, as they continue for a short but undetermined amount of time, but it is undoubtedly the culmination of those judgments.

We will soon see the end of the world's systems as Jesus returns in chapter 19 as the conquering Messiah. The evil, bondage, and slavery of this world come to an end, and we migrate into the millennial kingdom. And Satan, the antichrist, and the false prophet get thrown into the lake of fire.

Every seal so far has come with tumult, and yet here it's suddenly silent for half-an-hour.

Revelation 8:1 NASB “When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”

If you have ever been in a dark cave and the park rangers turn out the lights, it is ominous and frightening.

Looking at these events as though we were on the outside looking in, most of us hope that the rapture will come quickly and we don't experience what God is about to pour out upon the earth because our Gentile minds can't seem to comprehend what is about to come.

Well, I have good news, all that happens, under the judgments associated with the seals, bowls, and trumpets, all come after the church is gone.

The silence is about to be broken.

Revelation 8:2 NASB “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.”

But the angels, without a word, are put on hold.

Revelation 8:3 NASB “Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much incense was given to him, so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne.”

The altar is a common theme throughout the Bible, but in the book of Hebrews we are told that Jesus offered the mandatory gifts upon the altar that served as the pattern for the one on earth. Those golden censers served a similar purpose, in that they sent up a sweet aroma to God. Here verse 3 the incense is mixed with the prayers of the saints.

This evokes another conversation as we often wonder if God hears our prayers; and, if He does, does He act on them. In a sense, Daniel had the opportunity to have a similar misgiving. In Daniel chapter ten, after a vision of war, which greatly disturbed his peace. Daniel saw into the future. Just think about what many of us have seen, rampant and brutal bloodshed in the streets.

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Beyond the time of his capture, we cannot say that Daniel saw, nor experienced this degree of violence. I am pointing this out because it is often much easier to understand the emotion of the moment if you put flesh and blood on the speaker, which in this is Daniel.

So Daniel longs for an explanation, an answer that was three weeks in coming. He had the opportunity to doubt and mistrust God as he waited. Finally, at the end of twenty-one days, an angel shows up to explain what Daniel saw. Had God failed or forsaken Daniel? Not at all, for His messenger, Gabriel, was in combat with a fallen angel, a demon called the Prince of Persia.

I tell you this because you need to have faith and hold on to God's promises.

Revelation 8:4-5 NASB “And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. (5) Then the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it to the earth; and there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”

The incense mixed with the prayers of the saints went up before God. What was the result of this incense mixed with prayers? The angel took the censer, filled it with fire, and threw it to earth; not because God wanted it out of His face, but because it became a judgment.

• “there followed peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.”

In the book of Amos chapter one we see God decreeing that He will send fire upon many who have hurt Israel.

The Seven Trumpets

Revelation 8:6 NASB “And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them.”

The first angel sounds.

Revelation 8:7 NASB “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

Did you catch what just happened?

• “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood,”

  Where have we seen this before?

  Exodus 9:23-24 NASB “Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt. (24) So there was hail, and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very severe, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.”

  The prophet Joel conveys the imagery of blood.

  Joel 2:30 NASB "I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke.”

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The impact of these events.

• “a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

  Everything, especially in the Revelation, is understandable, prophetically, to the Jews; this is no different.

  Zechariah 13:8-9 NASB "It will come about in all the land," Declares the LORD, "That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. (9) "And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"

  Several people I know have said, there will be NO Jews entering the millennial reign. Where do you suppose those 144,000, Jewish, male virgins, that we saw in Revelation six go to? They go into the millennial reign. Zechariah tells us that a third of Israel survives, and they too enter the millennial kingdom.

  Note how Zechariah says, “and they will say, the Lord is my God.” You can add these to the list of those who teach the Jewish ways during the 1000 years of peace, as the nations come and bow before God during the Feast of Booths/Succoth.

Before we move on to the next verse, I want to point something out. In my previous post I showed you Revelation 7:1, this is where the four angels stop the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth. I have an inquiring mind and therefore had to know what happens if the wind ceased to blow. The short answer, everything begins to die; that includes people. Imagine what the earth looks like at this point, it is brown and wilted. So, when God turns loose hail, mixed with fire and blood, everything that looked like a plant will burn.

If that wasn't enough.

Revelation 8:8-9 NASB “The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, (9) and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

This is the second angel, with a trumpet (a shofar.) When he sounds:

• “and what looked like an enormous blazing mountain was hurled into the sea” (CJB)

  From a logical point of view, this could only be an asteroid. Do you realize that they are telling us that asteroids are coming and there is nothing that can be done about it.

  What effect does this have?

  • a third of the sea became blood,

  • a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died,

  • and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Isn't that strange, the scripture has no commentary? Does it need one?

You don't want to be here when this stuff happens, accept Jesus into your life and bypass such grief.

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