Hello, and welcome to the Takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, to help you understand God's Word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Hello, and welcome again to the takeaway. I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barens, and in today's episode, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 16, verses 13 to 21, the last two bowl judgments. In our last episode, we reviewed the first five bowls and saw that each one in some way resembled something that Jesus offered to give life, but now brings full judgment for the rejection of him. The first bowl was sores on the flesh. Since this world wanted to be their own God, he turned their flesh into death and disease, with these sores, since they rejected Jesus' flesh that brings life. John 6 56. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. The second bowl, the sea water turned to blood, and killing all sea life. The water being turned into blood could represent this world rejecting the blood of Christ that saves us from death. Romans 5.9. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. The third bowl was fresh water turning to blood. Because this world relies on fresh water to sustain their lives, God now gives them poisoned water to drink, because they rejected the living water Jesus offered in himself. John 4 14. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. The fourth bowl, the sun scorched the earth. Since this world thinks we rely on the Son as the ultimate life giver, God will allow it to scorch them and torment them, since they rejected the only begotten Son of God who truly gives eternal life. First John 2 23. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. And the fifth bowl was complete darkness. This darkness indicates a complete and utter separation from God, as God is light and no darkness is found in him. First John 1 5. This is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Now we're going to see the last two bowl judgments are going to gather the rest of the wicked who are left on the earth for God's final judgment. Here is a quick recap from Revelation chapter 14, verses 14 to 20. This was the vision John was given about the events we are about to read in the last two bowls. It reads, Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who was seated on the cloud swung a sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel who had charge of the fire came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe. The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes, and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horse's bridle for a distance of one thousand six hundred furlongs. That was the vision that now drives these events on earth, starting in verse twelve. Verses twelve through fourteen. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, for they are spirits of demons, performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. The Euphrates is often seen as a geographic marker that delineates belonging and exclusion. For instance, in Genesis 15, 18, God makes a covenant with Abraham and tells him about the land he will give his descendants, mapped out with the river Euphrates as its eastern border. For Solomon, the Euphrates is not just the promised border, but the actual geographical boundary of his kingdom found in 1 Kings 4, 21 to 24. After the Babylonian exile, the Euphrates is used as an example to indicate the separation of the exiles from their homeland. The fact that we now see the Euphrates dried up indicates that God has broken down this boundary to allow the outside world into the promised land. This is clearly a double meaning here, as the river will be completely dried up as a sign to Israel that God has removed his supernatural protection from the land to allow his enemies to be gathered for battle. Again, we saw this in chapter 14 that Jesus is the one gathering them for battle, and now he is letting the gates down to let them come right to where he wants them for his final judgment. In verse 14, we see that the beast and the false prophet are clearly demon-possessed and controlled by Satan. It's the same demonic power that manipulates the leaders and people of this world to gather them for battle against Jesus. These spirits going out in the sixth bowl are all a part of God's plan to gather up the wicked for the wine press of his wrath. Looking at verses fifteen and sixteen, we read, Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place called and called in Hebrew Armageddon. Verse 15 is a similar saying to what we have seen previously in chapter 14, verses 12 and 13. Here is the patience of the saints, here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write, blessed are those are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works follow them. The next question we want to ask is, Is Jesus coming as a thief for the saved or for the wicked? The answer is Jesus is not coming as a thief to those who believe in him, as indicated when he says, Blessed is he who watches. We watch because we know he's coming, and all the signs point to that. He is coming as a thief to the wicked world who is not watching. Matthew chapter 14, verse 36 says, But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. It was the world that didn't know the flood was coming. Noah and his family clearly knew and were prepared for it, because they prepared and watched, they were saved and kept from the flood in the ark. This is how we know that when we put our trust in Jesus, we too will be kept from the hour of trial. Revelation chapter three, verse ten because you have kept my commandment to preserve, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. Now we might not know the exact day and hour, but we can definitely discern the signs in the season. Moving on to verses 17 to 21. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done, and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. In verse 17, God says from the temple in heaven that it is done. There will be no more plagues, and now the kingdom of our Lord can be established on the earth, and access to God will be available again. The judgment that has fallen upon this world is the judgment Jesus took upon himself two thousand years ago on the cross. God had forsaken Jesus and turned his back on him to allow his this sinful world access to God. In Jesus' last breath, he said, It is finished, indicating that he had accomplished the perfect sacrifice, taking the sin of this world on himself, and in it the full judgment of God. We can see that in John chapter 19, verses 28 to 30. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to his mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. When God says, It is done in Revelation chapter 16, 17, he is indicating that this world has now received the full judgment he had originally placed on Jesus 2,000 years ago. They have received what they deserved by rejecting what Jesus did at the cross and are experiencing what it truly is to be forsaken by God. In verse 18, we see a great earthquake, unlike anything the world has ever seen. It wipes out mountains and makes islands disappear. Again, we saw a type of this in Exodus chapter 19, verses 16 to 22. Then it came to pass on the third day and in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through the gaze at the Lord, and many of them perish. Also let the priest who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. We see here a loud trumpet blow and a great earthquake. Immediately after this, the Lord came down on Mount Sinai. This is similar to Jesus' return at the end of the age, and lets us know that the seventh and final trumpet sounds, and that these plagues are poured out quickly on the earth. In the very last plague, the earthquakes, and immediately following it, the Lord will step foot on the Mount of Olives and destroy the wicked army that gather to fight him. In Zechariah chapter 14, we can see a beautiful picture of this as he tells us plainly what will happen in great detail. Pay close attention as I read this chapter to you, and you will see what I'm talking about. Starting in verse 1 of chapter 14 of Zechariah, behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst, for I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken, the house is rifled, and the women ravished, half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. This would be the Antichrist coming upon the city at the midpoint of the tribulation, and God will rescue a remnant of Israel to protect them in the wilderness. Verse three. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. This is the gathering of those armies, and our Lord's return to destroy them with the word of his mouth. Verse 4. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountains shall move toward the north and half toward the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach Azel. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with you. Here is the great earthquake that leads levels mountains and removes islands. We also see that the saints, that you and I, will return with Jesus when he comes back. Verse six it shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light, the light will diminish, similar to the fifth bowl that calls darkness. Verse seven, it shall be one day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time it shall happen that it will be light. It seems the darkness will only last one day, and when the Lord returns it will be evening, and he will illuminate light as if it were day. Verses eight and nine. And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea, in both summer and winter it shall occur, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day it shall be, the Lord is one, and his name one. This is Jesus setting up his kingdom to begin the one thousand year reign. If you continue to read the rest of the chapter, you will see further detail of this that I will cover in the coming chapters of Revelation. Moving on to verses 19 to 21. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found, and great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent, men blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. In the next two chapters, we will get into the judgment of Babylon and the meaning of it as it's covered in great detail. But for now it's enough to know that God is going to judge the commercial and religious systems of the world as well. They will be removed to make room for the kingdom Jesus is going to set up on earth. Verse 21 says, The great hail will be massive and weighs up to a hundred pounds. You definitely don't want to get hit by one of those. I can't imagine much would be able to protect a person from something that heavy, as hail that size will crash right through an average house. Again, we see an example of this in Exodus chapter 9, verses 16 and 19. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that it might show you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go. Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt from this day it was founded till now. Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die. So we see here that the hail that fell in Egypt killed everything that was left outside. We aren't told how large that hail was, but I'm sure it was of great size to kill animals and people. Either way, this would have been extremely terrifying, and no doubt the hail from the full wrath of God coming on this world will be beyond terrifying. To recap, these individuals who are left to experience these plagues will in a very short period of time, most likely days, experience painful sores, scorching heat from the sun, water turning to blood, and killing all sea life and becoming undrinkable, complete in utter darkness, and hail that weighs a hundred pounds. Something else that I would like to take note of, as I'm sure you're thinking it if you have listened to the past two episodes, does God make some people for the purpose of going to hell? Notice what Exodus chapter 9, verse 16 says. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that it might show you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus chapter 7, 3 and 4 says, But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miracles, signs, and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. We also saw this in Revelation chapter 17, verse 17. For God has put it in their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over the royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. So as we see here, God was the one that hardened the hearts and raised them up for this very purpose. So again, the big question is if God loves the whole world, why does he seem to make certain people for the purpose of evil or betrayal? The answer to this question really requires the mind of God to fully understand. However, there are things we can look at in Scripture to help us get a grasp on this. First, we need to hold on to this one truth. Isaiah chapter 55, verses 8 and 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. We are not capable of fully understanding God's thoughts and ways. That's why we are told to have faith, believe, and trust in Him. Our minds cannot comprehend the ways of God. So what we want to do here more than understand God's thoughts or his ways is to rule out any contradiction in his word, because that's really what we're battling with here. How can a loving God create someone for evil when everything we have been taught about God is that he loves everyone? Now you would be right in asking that question, and you will also get your answer from it. God does love the world, and God is love. That's the truth that we have learned about God. So the answer we are looking for cannot contradict that truth. That lets us know that God does not create man, any man, to send him to hell. Now let's look at Revelation chapter 13, verse 8. And all who dwell on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. Here again, we see that before the foundations of the world were laid, God already had the names of all the saints from all time written in it. This is starting to look more like God chooses who is saved and who isn't, meaning that maybe he does create people to go to hell. But is that the issue or is it our perspective? I think our problem is all too often we try to understand God from the perspective of earth where we are surrounded by a sinful world. We are looking up while he is looking down. We are sinful while he is sinless. We have limited knowledge while he is limitless. We have to turn our perspective around and look at things from God's side to have a clear understanding. That's why I believe he gave us the book of Revelation, that is mostly all heavenly perspective, so that we could have details of our future home and the place where God dwells. It's perfect, flawless, timeless, and beautiful. So now let's look at some more scripture to bring it back home. In Psalms chapter 139, verses 13 to 18. For you formed my inward parts, you covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret, skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God, how great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139, verse 2. You know my sitting down and my rising up, you understand my thought afar off. And Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5 really makes it clear. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Do you see the picture yet? Before time began, God saw all things in all time. He already knew us and the relationship we were going to have with him. For God, He always knew. Us, while for us, we are just now getting to know him. He's eternal and knows all things. He knew man was going to fall and sin before Adam sinned. He already had designed his salvation plan into creation before the fall. It all goes back to free will and God's desire for us to freely choose to love him. Just because he already knew how it was going to play out doesn't mean that he created man to be sent to hell. But because he is God and knows the choices we are going to make before we make them, he uses that to his advantage to accomplish his will. He knows before a man is born if he is going to harden his heart towards God or accept him and live for him. Because God has his fore this foreknowledge, he can justly form the wicked man's steps just as he does ours. It doesn't look like some people ever get a chance to know God because God already knows it doesn't matter. Therefore, he can form them into the vessel he desires to accomplish his purpose. Second Timothy chapter two, verses 19 to 26. Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having the seal, the Lord knows those who are his, and let anyone who names the name of Christ depart from inequity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the master, prepared for every good work. Remember, we are all born sinners, deserving of death. But Timothy makes it clear some are vessels made for honor and some for dishonor. But notice in verse 21, he says, If anyone cleanses himself, he will be a vessel for honor. It's our choice which vessel we will be. God just happens to know our choice before we do and forms our ways around that. This is what makes him God and us the vessel. Our free choice gives us the ability to decide which vessel we will be. Either way you choose, just know this. God already knew you were going to choose that. That doesn't change his love for you in any way. He has already been enjoying his relationship with you from before the foundations of the earth. If you will just accept that and enter into a relationship with him today, you will have all of eternity to find out what he knows about you and how he wants to bless you as his child. The wicked of this world have already made their choices. And what's important is that you make yours. Too many people are sitting on the fence waiting to see what will happen. Read your Bible, and you will know what's going to happen. Stop sitting on the fence and decide today who you are going to live for. It's either God or yourself. There is no in between. Matthew chapter twelve, verse thirty. Second Timothy chapter two, twenty-two to twenty-six. Flee also youthful lust, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart, but avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife, and a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. In Exodus chapter nine, verse sixteen. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that it might show you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. At the end of the day, that's God's purpose for everyone, whether we accept him or not, he's using all of us to show his power and glory, so that his name will be proclaimed in all the earth. Let's pray. Father God, thank you so much that you are using us to glorify yourself, that you desire good things for us, that you want us to choose you to cleanse ourselves to be a vessel for honor, so that we can glorify you and live for your kingdom, Jesus, that we can proclaim your word, your revelation, and lead other people to the truth of that, that they too may cleanse themselves, become a vessel of honor, and have life in you, Jesus. And as a vessel, we ask that you fill us with the Holy Spirit, that you will be glorified in us, God, in our ways, that you will empower us and use us for your perfect will. Thank you, Jesus, that you love us and care for us. We love you and we thank you in your precious name. Amen. I want to thank you for joining us today. I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. In our next episode, we will be moving on to chapter 17 and looking at the judgment of the great harlot. Who is this harlot and what is this judgment? If we just saw God complete his judgments. These next two chapters are another place in Revelation where people get lost. We will discuss how they fit into the context of the book and what our takeaways should be as we read them. And before we go, I want to encourage you to visit us at thetaway.faith. On our website, you can find out more about who we are and sign up to receive emails to get notifications on new episodes and ministry updates. This also makes it easy to share our podcast and allows you to use it as a resource to help others. On our website, you can easily send us a message, a word of encouragement, questions, or comments. We would love to hear from you and encourage you to send us a message soon. God bless, and we'll see you next time on the takeaway.