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Psalms 106:1-16 Praise the
LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He
is good! For His mercy endures
forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? Who can declare all His
praise? Blessed are those who
keep justice, And he who does
righteousness at all times! Remember me, O LORD, with the favor You have toward Your people. Oh,
visit me with Your salvation, That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your
inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers, We have committed iniquity, We
have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They
did not remember the multitude of Your mercies, But rebelled by the sea—the Red
Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, That He might make His
mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; So He led
them through the depths, As through the wilderness. He saved them from the hand
of him who hated them, And
redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left. Then they believed His words; They sang His
praise. They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But
lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave
them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. When they envied Moses
in the camp, And Aaron the
saint of the LORD,
Father God I
ask that you be with us and our loved ones each day and guide us in all that we
do and say. Help us to be humble, compassionate, and loving toward each other
in our daily activities. Give us scripture wisdom to walk in your likeness. In
Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Revelation 9:13-21 NKJV
Last
week was the fifth Trumpet Judgment (first woe) and this week we will study the
events of the sixth Trumpet Judgment (second woe). This week also involves
creatures from the spiritual world but unlike those of the first woe. These
creatures will be invisible when they are poured out upon mankind, why, I don’t
know for sure, maybe because of how they are introduced and the destruction
they will cause as you will see.
The
phrase, “And the sixth Angel sounded,”
represents a horrendous judgment that’s about to come upon the world, and more
particularly the Middle East. It is probably the greatest of judgments thus
far. The agents employed, demonic, angelic, and human, are the most varied in
their nature and function ever brought together under a single judgment. The
issues and conclusions of the activities here described are among the most
remarkable recorded. (Smith)
13 Then the
sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden
altar which is before God,
Then
the sixth angel sounded;
the sixth angel sounded meaning he blew his trumpet for the events of this woe
to commence.
And I heard a voice
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God; This altar
has been referred to in two previous lessons covering; Revelation 6:9-10 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the
testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying,
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on
those who dwell on the earth?";
also in Revelation 8:3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came
and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints
upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
This
altar sits directly in front of God; His throne; the tabernacle; the Mercy
Seat; where His Saints will receive their rewards for being true and faithful.
This altar is a place where prayers and incense are offered to God on a
continual basis and an angel tends to this altar constantly with the offering
of incense. Every Child of God that cries for vengeance, every cry for the
Kingdom of God to come (Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven.), all intercessions, is placed on this altar. The reason the angel
speaks from this Altar is because these prayers are about to be answered with
Jesus coming to earth to rule and reign.
We
find a description of this altar and it’s placement in; Exodus 30:1-6 "You shall make an altar to burn incense
on; you shall make it of acacia wood. 2 A cubit shall
be its length and a cubit its width—it shall be square—and two cubits shall be its height. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3 And you
shall overlay its top, its sides all around, and its horns with pure gold; and
you shall make for it a molding of gold all around. 4 Two gold
rings you shall make for it, under the molding on both its sides. You shall
place them on its two sides,
and they will be holders for the poles with which to bear it. 5 You shall
make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6 And you
shall put it before the veil that is
before the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will
meet with you.
14 saying to
the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are
bound at the great river Euphrates."
Release
the four angels who are bound; These four angels
are fallen angels or demons. These four unidentified angels will be exceedingly
evil and destructive. But do note, they have no power to release themselves,
they are controlled by God. They are being held back from doing their evil work
on earth until God says it is time. Then and only then will they be allowed to
do their evil deeds of destruction.
At
the great river Euphrates;
What is the significance of the river of Euphrates? I’m glad you asked that
question because it holds great significance! This river is mentioned in the
Book of Genesis, the center of where everything started and it is the center of
where evilness will come to an end. Early scholars claim ancient Babylon was
built over the site of where the Garden of Eden was. This makes sense because
Satan is always trying to erase or cover up God’s goodness here on earth. As
mentioned previously, the events of Revelation will be concentrated in the Old
Roman Empire area. Will the rest of the world be affected by these events? Yes,
but to what extend we really don’t know, but we do know one thing for sure, and
that being with Jesus coming back to earth, the earth will be cleansed of evil
and destruction caused by Satan and his band of evil doers; earth will also be
cleansed of those that have not accepted Jesus as their Saviour. Genesis 2:10-15 Now a river went out of Eden to water the
garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name
of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole
land of Havilah, where there is
gold. 12
And the gold of that land is
good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are
there. 13
The name of the second river is
Gihon; it is the one which goes
around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east
of Assyria. The fourth river is
the Euphrates. 15
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and
keep it. The Euphrates
starts in Turkey, runs through Syria into Iraq, and through Iraq to the Persian
Gulf. See Map on last page. I free handed the river in with red so it is not
exact, but close.
15 So the
four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year,
were released to kill a third of mankind.
So
the four angels; These
four angels are not to be confused with the four angels in Revelation 7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at
the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the
wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. These four angels to be release are
evil angels designated to execute God’s wrath on mankind. These angels have
been contained and not allowed to roam the earth like some of Satan’s other
angels. Why is this? Are they more evil than Satan? What have they done to be
contained by God? We don’t know why this is, except that it is all part of
God’s plan and He is in control. They are contained just like the locust.
Who
had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year; These angels are prepared to be
release and perform their wickedness. Since no one but God knows the day or
hour this will take place they are all prepare and ready right now. They are
prepared like firemen. A firemen’s coat, pants, & boots are always ready by
the door waiting the alarm. Firemen are prepared to leap into action on a
moment’s notice, and that is the way it is with these angels of destruction. Mark 13:32 "But of that day
and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the
Father.
Were
released to kill a third of mankind;
Here one-third of the people are killed and in Revelation_6:7-8,
(fourth seal; pale horse and the name of he who sat on it was death) one-fourth
of the people were killed. Thus, over one-half of the people will have been
killed by God's great judgments. Even more would have been killed if God had
not set limits on the destruction. Mankind refers to men, women, and children. It
refers to the old Roman Empire territory, which took in most of Europe, the
Middle East, and North Africa. Presently that area contains around a billion
people, so this means that approximately 300+ million will die as a result of
this judgment in approximately six months. This is hard to believe, but God
hates sin, and one day God will pour out his wrath.
16 Now the
number of the army of the horsemen was
two hundred million; I heard the number of them.
John sees this vast army
of horsemen that have been contained. He didn’t count or say about two hundred
million; he states that he heard the number. Again a number that is
mind-boggling.
17 And thus
I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery
red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out
of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.
Verses 17, 18, & 19
introduce us to more creatures from the spiritual world. John describes what he
sees in a vision, and the description he gives us is of creatures that we have
no knowledge of. There are many opinions of these creatures and how they carry
out their mission. The one thing I do agree with is the colors of the
breastplate. Fiery red = fire; hyacinth blue = smoke; sulfur yellow =
brimstone. Some really old commentaries equate this to a cannon discharge; the
fire of the explosion, the smoke of the explosion, and the smell of spent gun
powder. Some more modern commentaries equate the three to missiles being fired.
There is no definite clear cut answer as to what these mean, but we do know
they represent death and destruction based on the next verse.
The heads of these horses
appear as a lion’s head and it is from this head the fire, smoke, and brimstone
come. During this event of the future there will be great turmoil in the Middle
East with wars being waged all around Israel. Is war the destructive force?
18 By these
three plagues a third of
mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out
of their mouths.
Based on this verse, the
destruction by means that we aren’t sure of, will be great to kill 1/3 of
mankind. When I first read verse 17 the thought that entered my mind was that
each of the horsemen had different colored breastplates on. Some red, some
blue, some yellow, equating to some horsemen carrying out the plague of fire,
some smoke, and some brimstone. What if these three plagues are volcanic
eruptions of such magnitude like no one ever saw before, that cause all these
deaths by the fire being spewn, thick smoke and ash, and a concentrate of
sulfur mixed with the air that would suffocate life? Is this possible, sure it is,
anything is possible with God! Something is going on with earth for all the
sink holes appearing around the world. What is up with that?
19 For their
power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and
with them they do harm.
This verse takes us to the
opposite end of these spiritual creatures with a tail that has the head of a
serpent. There isn’t much said about this tail except that it can cause
destruction and death. The main emphasis is on the heads of these creatures
that carries out the three plagues.
20 But the
rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the
works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold,
silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
21 And they
did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality
or their thefts.
The plagues God poured out
on the Egyptians had little effect on the proud self-righteous people then, and
the same holds true today. We humans are hard hearted and stiff necked. We
don’t want to submit to God. People believe a statue can cry, but I ask who is
the great deceiver?
Colossians
1:16 For
by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers.
All things were
created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to
him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God."
Sinners
Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. I confess my sins to you; I am sorry for my
sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a sinful lifestyle.) of all my
sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all of my sins. I believe that only you can forgive sin. I commit my life to you and ask you to come
into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from my
sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and right
now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are the Son
of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my Savior.” I believe this and have faith you will make a
new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my heart and lead
me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.”
(John 3:16,17; Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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