Title: World War III (The Tribulation Continued - Part 5)
Text: Rev 16:1-21
Pray!!!
Introduction:
- Next week we will have a review of all we talked about to this point.
- I know there are a lot of questions concerning the book of Revelation and I want to make sure that all understand what the last book of the Bible is talking about.
- So lets finish the last part of the judgements of God and talk about the battle of Armageddon and Babylon the Great.
- Again there have been news reports in the month of February that point to this day in history called Armageddon and the Great Harlot of Babylon.
- We are going to get into some news reports concerning these events to show just how close we are to the Second Coming of Jesus.
- Chapter 16 deals with the last of God’s judgements on mankind.
- Lets go through them quickly:
Bowl 1: Loathsome Sores - For all who have accepted the mark of the beast.
- Is this prophecy coming to pass?
- We are seeing the world shift from money to I.D cards which I believe will eventually lead to the mark of the beast.
The only grade school in this rural town is requiring students to wear radio frequency identification badges that can track their every move. Some parents are outraged, fearing it will take away their children’s privacy.
The badges introduced at Brittan Elementary School rely on the same radio frequency and scanner technology that companies use to track livestock and product inventory. Similar devices have recently been used to monitor youngsters in some parts of Japan.
Bowl 2: Poured Out Onto The Sea
- It becomes blood and every living creature in the sea dies.
Bowl 3: Poured Out Onto The Rivers And Springs
- It all turns to blood.
- Fresh water will be a thing of the past
- Because of the shedding of the prophets and saints, God gives them blood to drink.
Bowl 4: Poured Out Onto The Rivers And Springs
- Power was given to scorch men with fire.
- Instead of repenting and turning to God, people are cursing God.
- We are seeing this today, how?
- When people see disasters what the first thing they say? Where’s God.
- Or sometimes people don’t accept Christ because they say, well if God is an all loving God then why is He allowing bad things to happen, and they go away not accepting Christ.
- We are seeing this process starting in people.
- People from before rarely ever blamed God, but rather talked with God and lived for Him.
Bowl 5: Poured Out On The Throne Of The Beast
- This produces darkness on the empire of the Anti Christ.
- This could certainly be related to the shortening of the days and lengthening the night.
- Simply so that all of the human race was not destroyed.
- Darkness covered the land as a plague in Egypt, Ex 10:21-23
Bowl 6: Poured Out On The Great River Euphrates
- The water dries up in preparation for the armies of the east to come across in time.
- Out of the mouth of satan’s trinity come 3 frogs, but are identified as demon spirits.
- To gather the whole world to the battle of Armageddon.
- I will talk about Armageddon in just a few moments.
Bowl 7: Poured Out Into The Air.
- Which is Satan’s kingdom for he is the prince of the air (Eph 2:2)
- This destroys the last traces of Satan’s abiding place.
- As this occurs, a voice out of the temple of heaven victoriously shouts, It is done! The 21 judgements are completed.
- Because of this last judgement there were noises, and thunderings and lightings the Bible says.
- In the movie The Day After Tomorrow, it tries to depict a time when the world is trying to cleanse itself from all the pollution. It shows in the movie intense thunder and lighting and massive storms that kill people.
- That will be just a glimpse of what will happen. For the Bible goes on to say that Jerusalem will be split in 3 parts because of a massive earthquake.
- Mountains will be no more and islands will cease to exist.
- You may not believe it, but it’s coming.
- And then to finish it off, great hail stones fall from Heaven. It will be God Himself who will stone every blasphemer, for the Bible says, “And whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.”
- God Himself will send hail so destructive that it will destroy every blasphemer.
- How much is a talent? 75 pounds, it’s that big!
Transition:
- Now Christ not come back yet, although His coming is just around the corner.
- Because of this 7 bowl judgement, two things will be destroyed in chapter 17 and 18.
- They are the religious system, the Great Harlot of Babylon, and Political Babylon, which we will get into in just a few moments.
- But first lets talk about the battle of Armageddon.
- What is the battle of Armageddon and how close are we to seeing it happen?
- The scriptures verses that deal with this battle start in Rev 9:13-18, where 4 angels are loosed from the great river Euphrates.
- A total of 200 million appear in the middle east. This has to be the largest assemblage of military men in the history of mankind.
- China had a standing army in 1964 of 200 million men ready to do battle.
- So now in the text before us (16:12), we witness a miraculous drying up of this river in order that the Kings of the east might cross over unhindered.
- Satan’s purpose is to exterminate every Jew on the face of the earth.
- Because if satan destroys every Jew on Planet earth, there will be no reason for Christ to return.
- Thus Satan could continue as the world ruler.
- Here are some scriptures to consider about the great battle of Armageddon:
Zechariah 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zechariah 14:5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Revelation 19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
Daniel 11:40-45 40And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 42He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 44But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 45And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
- When you put all these verses together you can see how devastating this will be.
- It begins in the plains of Megiddo to the North, goes down through the valley of Jehoshaphat, includes the land of Edom to the south and east, and Jerusalem.
- In Rev 14:19 we read concerning Armageddon, “So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses bridles for one thousand six hundred furlongs.”
- Think of that for a few moments.
- 1600 furlongs is approx 200 hundred miles.
- If you look at a map, you will discover that Israel is approx 200 miles from top to bottom.
- From reading these scriptures we no that tidings from the south will come up first, I believe this is from Egypt along with a pan-Islamic military force marching toward Jerusalem for holy war.
- Then we see tiding from the north, which is Russia.
- Russia will seek to become a world power again by grasping at the rich oil reserves.
- The pan-Islamic forces will join Russia in an effort to drive the Jews into the Mediterranean Sea.
- After the Russian Arab alliance has ravished the city of Jerusalem, they will withdraw to the plain of Megiddo, which is Armageddon.
- It is there God will destroy them, because God will protect Israel the apple of His eye.
- With Russia and the Arab nations out of the picture, the anti christ will move into Israel to set up his world wide government, but news from the east shall trouble him. (Dan 11:44)
- The reason, this 200 million army is coming to do battle for world supremacy.
- Now the battle of Armageddon concludes with Jesus and the saints coming to set up His earthly Kingdom, of which there shall be no end. (Rev 19:11, 13-16)
- Jesus the true Messiah, will rule and reign forever from the city of Jerusalem, the city of God.
Conclusion:
- The question I want to ask you tonight is how close are we to the battle of Armageddon?
- Remember the church is gone and will not be here for this great and mighty battle.
- Are we seeing glimpses of it today?
- The places that I am watching with great interest is: Syria, Iraq, Iran, China, Russia and Israel. What are these countries up to and are they moving towards Armageddon?
- Here are some news reports that might interest you:
Diplomatic sources said the Syrian losses led President Bashar Assad to accelerate efforts to procure advanced anti-aircraft systems from Russia.
Syria has requested a range of anti-aircraft systems, including the SA-18, TOR-M1, S-300PMU2 and the S-400 systems.
The most likely Russian sale to Damascus is that of the SA-18, the sources said. They said Russia would supply the first SA-18 short-range systems – either directly or through a third country – within several months.
In January, Russia and Syria – overriding objections from Israel and the United States – agreed on the sale of the SA-18 to Damascus. Russian officials said the sale of the SA-18 would not violate any international arms agreement.
China has failed to heed U.S. warnings to stop missile exports to Iran.
U.S. officials said state-owned Chinese defense firms continue to send missile components and technology to Teheran. The officials said that despite repeated warnings the flow of Chinese components and technology has bolstered Iran’s medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missile programs.
Russia is ready, willing and able to complete the construction of Iran’s nuclear plant following an agreement between the countries to return spent fuel rods to Moscow.
Iran’s use of nuclear power is the focus of increasing concern worldwide because of the Islamist nation’s commitment to a uranium enrichment that could lead to the development of nuclear weaponry
North Korea publicly admitted Thursday for the first time that it has nuclear weapons, and said it wouldn’t return to six-nation talks aimed at getting it to abandon its nuclear ambitions
Diplomats have said that North Korea has acknowledged having nuclear arms in private talks, but this is the first time the communist government has said so directly to the public.
As Israel and the Palestinians agree to a cease-fire setting the stage for peace talks, official Palestinian Authority television continues to communicate the ultimate goal of eliminating the Jewish state.
In the official Friday sermon broadcast last week, senior Muslim figure Ibrahim Mudyris explained that the diplomatic process can only achieve a return to the borders Israel had before the 1967 war. The final stage, he said will be the destruction of Israel "the way Muhammad returned there as a conqueror."
- The world is slowing moving towards the battle of Armageddon, with all that’s happening in the world, Bible prophecy has never been more clearer.
- Jesus is coming and coming soon, are you ready!
Lets Pray!!!
