Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome back to Part LVII (57) of our study of the Book of Revelation as we now launch into a close examination of the seven bowl or vial judgments.

Last week I introduced the seven bowls with a vision of John - the 6th vision sequentially - a vision seen in heaven that is covered by chapter 15. What follows now is a continuation of this 6th vision but this time on earth. At last it is the persecutors who get their come-uppance; the righteous have suffered and been vindicated but now the fury of an offended Elohim (God) is hurled, in full measure, against the wicked. These seven great and final judgments close up the whole series set forth in the next three chapters:

• Chapter 16 - The Great Judgments (the 7 Bowls)
• Chapter 17 - The Great Whore (Mystery Babylon)
• Chapter 18 - the Great City (Great Babylon)

What we're about to cover in these the seven bowls is by far the most important of all the visions seen by the apostle in relation to the earth, and is also given the greatest amount of space in its description. Yahweh wants His people to know excatly how it is all going to end for the wicked, that they're not getting away with anything they have done, not even for one second. Justice is going to be seen to be done. Now you have probably already noticed that I have used the word 'great' multiple times already and this is to remind us that this word appears more often in this chapter than in any other, 11 times to be exact. The next contender would be chapter 18 where it is used 9 times. So referring to these particular judgments as being 'Great' is more than justified.

The stage is now set for the final assault on the 'infernal trinity' of the Dragon (Satan), the Beast (Antichrist) and the False Prophet which will specifically mark "the great and terrible day of Yahweh" that's been spoken of so much throughout the Scriptures. Well, this is it, the final reckoning. So how does it all end for the Enemy?

• 1. The Dragon is to be attacked in his own capital and on his own throne;
• 2. The two Beasts (Antichrist & False Prophet) are to be attacked in their seats of authority; and
• 3. Their followers and worshippers are to "have no rest day and night" upon the earth (Rev.14:11).

Let's now read today's text portion in chapter 16. We're only going to look at the first 9 verses which cover the first 4 of the 7 bowl judgments and then examine the last three next week. The text is pretty straightforward with no major translation issues that need carefully unpacking though pay close attention when we come to the verse that talks about the Altar:

"1 Then I heard a loud voice from the Temple (Heb. hekal, 'sanctuary' - JNT, JB, NEB, JBP, Barclay; 'Dwelling Place' - ISRV) (Rev.11:19) saying ('shouting' - NLT, JB, Barclay) to the seven malakim (angels) ('messengers' - AENT, CLNT, ISRV) (Rev.15:1), 'Go and pour out the bowls ('vials', KJV; 'cups' - AENT) of the wrath ('fury' - JNT, RNAB, CLNT; 'anger' - JB) of Elohim (God) on the earth.' (Ps.79:6; Zeph.3:8) 2 So the first went and poured out ('emptied' - JB) his bowl upon ('over', NLT, JB; 'into' - NASB) the earth ('land' - NIV) (Rev.8:7), and [a] foul ('disgusting' - JNT, JB; 'loathesome' - NASB; 'horrible' - NLT; 'festering' - RNAB; 'evil' - CLNT, ISRV; 'harmful' - ESV; 'ugly' - NIV; 'ulcerous' - Barclay) and loathsome ('painful' - JNT, NRSV, AENT, ESV, NIV; 'malignant' - NASB, NEB, AENT, CLNT, JBP, Barclay; 'virulent' - JB; 'ugly' RNAB; 'wicked' - ISRV) sore(s) ('boil' - HRV) (Ex.9:8-11; Dt.28:35) came upon ('broke out on' - RNAB; 'attacked' - Barclay) the men ('people' - JNT, NIV; 'everyone' - NLT; 'those' - RNAB) who had ('wore' - NEB; 'bore' - ESV) the mark ('emblem' - CLNT) of the beast ['of prey' - AENT] (Anti-Messiah, Antichrist) and those who worshiped his image ('statue' - NLT, JBP) (Rev.13:15-17; 14:9; 16:3).

"3 Then the second malak (angel) poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as ('like that' - NASB) of a dead man ('person' - JNT, AENT; 'the sea became as dead' - HRV; 'like the blood of a corpse' - NLT, JB, NEB, NRSV, RNAB, ESV, Barclay); and every living creature in the sea died (Ex.7:17-21; Rev.8:8-9; 11:6).

"4 Then the third malak (angel) poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs ('fountains' - HRV, AENT) of water (Rev.8:10), and they became blood (Ex.7:17-21). 5 And I heard the malak (angel) of ['who had authority over' - NLT; 'in charge of' - NIV] the mayim (waters) saying:

'You are righteous (Heb. tzaddiq, 'just' - NLT, RNAB; 'just in these judgments' - NIV) (Rev.15:3), O Master (Lord),
The One who is and who was (Rev.1:4)) and who is to be ['Set Apart', AENT] ('holy' - HRV; ' O Holy One' - NASB, NEB, NIV; 'the holy He-Is-and-Was, the Just One' - JB),
Because You have judged these things ('for you have judged these' - HRV; 'You are just in these judgments of Yours' - JNT) (Rev.6:10).
6 For they have shed ('spilt' - JB) the blood of qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) and nevi'im (prophets) (Lk.11:49-51),
And You have given them ('their murderers' - NLT) blood to drink (Is.49:26; Rev.17:6; 18:24).
For it is their just due ('which they deserve' - HRV, NASB, JB, NRSV, AENT, OJB, JBP, ESV, Barclay, ISRV; 'they have their [just] deserts' - NEB) (Is.49:26)."

"7 And I heard another from ('at' - HRV) the altar (Heb. mizbe'ach, 'the altar itself' - JB, NLT; 'I heard the altar respond' - NRSV, ESV, NIV) (Rev.6:9; 14:18) saying, 'Even so, Yahweh-Elohim ('Master Yahweh,' - HRV) [1] Almighty ('Adonai, God of heaven's armies' - JNT; 'El Shaddai' - ISRV) ('Master Yahweh, Elohim Almighty' - AENT) (Amos 3:13; 4:13; Rev.1:8), true and righteous are Your judgments.' (Rev.15:3; 19:2)

"8 Then the fourth malak (angel) (Rev.8:12) poured out his bowl on the sun (Rev.6:12), and power was given to him to scorch ('burn' - JNT) men ('everyone' - NLT; 'people' - NIV) with fire ('in its fiery blaze' - JBP; 'its flame' - Barclay) (Rev.14:18). 9 And ['the sons of' - HRV] men were scorched ('burned' - JNT; 'terribly burned' - JBP; 'seared' - NIV; 'dreadfully burned' - Barclay) with great ('fierce' - NASB, NRSV, ESV; 'intense' - NIV) heat, and ('yet' - JNT) they blasphemed ('cursed' - JNT, NLT, LB, NRSV, ESV, NIV) the Name of Elohim (God) who has power ('authority' - HRV, JNT, AENT; 'jurisdiction' - CLNT; 'control' - NIVF) over these plagues ('afflictions' - JBP); and they did not repent (make teshuvah) (Rev.2:21) and give Him glory ('esteem' - ISRV; 'praise Him' - JB) (Rev.11:13)" (Rev.16:1-9, NKJV).

The first and, I think, most important observation we need to make about the bowls (and the same goes for the three bowls that we'll examine next week) is that their contents and effects are to be taken quite literally. They are not figures of speech so there is no 'mystery' that needs unravelling from any symbols used. The language is clear and precise which makes our task today that much easier. So the p'shat or literal reading of the words is the reality they are describing.

True, these remain supernatural events. Nevertheless we are at perfect libery now to cast our minds back to the First Exodus under Moses. There we have lots of supernatural activity involving the natural world...and please carefully note that the physical instruments of Yahweh's judgments are always natural things and not man-made things like nuclear weapons, chemical warfare or weaponised vaccines. In this Second Exodus scenario the situation is exactly parallel to the First. In the plagues of Egypt, which everyone takes to be literal (in spite of the liberals believing it all to be fictional), we find many similar judgments. Indeed, 6 of the seven Bowls are just the same as the plagues of Egypt, and Yahweh has again declared that the final judgments should not be like, but far worse, than those. I am reminded of these words of Moses in particular who wrote:

"Then Yahweh said: 'I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, Yahweh, will do for you" (Ex.34:10, NIV).

Can we perhaps, therefore, understand why the works of the end-time Exodus will finally cause the nations to recognise who Yahweh is and turn in repentance to worship Him? These events are what will accomplish that, horrific though they may be, that nothing else ever will. In other words, those who believe there is a 'kinder' or maybe more 'civil' way to bring the nations to repentance are seriously mistaken. There isn't.

This is a repudiation of 'Kingdom-Now' theology which teaches, amongst other things, that the 'overcomers' have themselves purged the earth of all evil influences by means of, amongst other things, gaining political control over the nations and enacting godly laws. Indeed these people believe that Christ cannot return until they have put all of God's enemies beneath the feet of the church. Anyone who has been making this detailed study of the Book of Revelation with us thus far will see that such notions are nonsense. The 'overcoming' of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) is solely in the area of their personal lives - overcoming the flesh - not their collective, political achievements, and that it is Yahweh, through the supernatural intervention of His faithful malakim (angels) using natural elements, who finally overcomes both the human and demonic powers-that-be!

So what, precisely, brings about this 'change'? Depending which version or translation you use, it is nothing less that the "foul, disgusting, loathesome, horrible, festering, evil, harmful, ugly, ulcerous, painful, malignant, virulent, ugly, wicked sores or boils that break out on those who wore or bore the mark or emblem of the Beast of the Antichrist and who worshiped his image, idol or statue"...that's what did it! That's what persuaded everyone else to yield. That may not be the kind of repentance that moves the godly to change (for they do not need such radical prompting) but it's certainly what will move all the rest who do resist taking the mark! Pure and simple, brutal but effective, and most importantly, life-saving.

We ourselves are fond of the expression, are we not, 'whatever it takes' and so, apparently, is our Heavenly Father, because this is what it takes. And, sadly, we really are so stubborn and rebellious that that is the only kind of remedy that works on all but the elect 144,000 who need no 'persuasion' because godliness is inherent to their very being. What a negative testimony to fallen human nature! This may offend the pride of the 'Kingdom-Now' folks who think that they, through their political works, will achieve this end, but the truth is the truth. Even they will need a brutal wake-up call. Look at the record: they haven't been too successful so far, have they? Frankly, we should not be at all surprised to learn that this is the only divine medicine that works for the vast majority of humanity. Does it seem, therefore, unreasonable that the elect would be such a small body of people - a mere 144,000 to a little over a million? Natural milk will only produce so much natural cream.

Let's compare the Bowl plagues with the Egyptian plages to see the similarities:

• 1. The 1st Bowl is like the 6th Plague, which was of boils, etc.;
• 2. The 2nd & 3rd Bowls are like the 1st Plague, when the waters became blood;
• 3. The 5th Bowl (as we'll see next week) is much like the 9th Plague, when darkness covered the land;
• 4. The 6th Bowl (as we'll see next week) is like the 2nd Plague of frogs; and
• 5. The 7th Bowl (as we'll see next week) is like the 7th Plague of hail, etc..

The only Bowl with no counterpart in the Egyptian Plagues is the 4th one and that is the great "heat". So let me ask this simple question to those who insist that today's and next week's segment is all 'symbolic' of something else: if 6 out of these 7 judgments have already been seen and experienced physically once before, historically-speaking, why should not similar plagues be sent again, seeing as how effective they were the first time? Moreover, why is this such a difficult proposition for some to accept when we are told in the prophecies that the supernatural events connected with Israel's return are "as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt" (Is.11:16, NIV)? Do we, or do we not, believe in prophecies, many of which have already been fulfilled literally?

Go through the various Bible commentaries of men and you will find all sorts of nonsense which is why I urge you to be careful of commentaries. Look at the immense theological damage done by the Scofield Reference Bible just with its footnotes and chapter headings. I was talking to my wife just the other day about how people read all sorts of nonsense into the Book of Revelation prophecies, the most popular one of which currently allegedly concerns the soon-to-be built 'Third Temple' by the 'Jews'. That's the current fad. One such commentary, following the upheaval caused by revolutionary France at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, claimed that the 1st Bowl was the French Revolution and the 'sores' its wickedness; the 2nd Bowl was the naval wars of the French Revolution; the 3rd Bowl was Napoleon's campaign in Italy; the 4th Bowl was Napoleon's military tyranny, and so on...you get the idea. There are lots of spurious 'interpretations' like this one; one of the worst - and most outrageous to reason - is that we are already in the Millennium and that the worst is already over! That's the absurdity of Catholic dogma.

Seriously, is there anybody here who honestly believes that we have gone through the greater part of the "great and terrible Day of Yahweh" without knowing it? and all the while preaching the Gospel of God's Grace (GGG) without additionally proclaiming, as we should, that "the hour of his judgment has come" (Rev.14:7, NIV)? Any church or messianic congregation that isn't doing that is living a lie and is under a great delusion. No wonder so many preachers skip over the judgment sections of the Book of Revelation! No wonder John Calvin didn't understand the book and did not make a commentary on it. For you see, if I may be allowed to adapt the words of the great 20th century American theologian, H.Richard Niebuhr (not to be confused with his brother Rheinhold Niebuhr), said, criticising the liberal vision of Christianity: 'A God without wrath who brings men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross' is not the Elohim (God) of the Bible or the Elohim (God) of salvation. It is the preferred god of both liberals and other apostate groups of the Western Church but that 'god' has no objective reality except in their own imaginations. This is a fantasy god which the Book of Revelation knows nothing of and those who pursue it have not laid hold of salvation but are exposing themselves to the wrath they themselves deny is coming.

That we should already be living in the Millennium - one without Christ physically present - as Preterists and Catholics do, is seriously deluded. Bible students who believe what Yahweh says and whose only desire is to understand what He has said, can never be satisfied with such stupid confessions that serve only to perplex the mind instead of bringing enlightenment. The Jehovah's Witnesses are the same, claiming that Christ returned invisibly in 1914 when their earlier prophecies of a literal, physical, visible Second Coming failed, only now they have had to backtrack as even they can see the 1,000 years of peace isn't here which they claimed would be and be witnessed by the generation alive in 1914. Well, that generation is dead, since I don't know of many who are over 108 years old. Christians and Messianics need to wake up and stop preaching false doctrine because they are harming the work of the Kingdom.

Today's segment is very graphic, isn't it? Horrendously so, even. I am sure that you, like me, can imagine what festering sores are like but trying to picture people being roasted alive because of soaring temperatures is a little harder. Now we don't know whether this 'baking' of human beings is caused by excessive radiation (when I was younger all the talk was of the thinning ozone layer in the polar regions and the risk of sun cancer from too much sunbathing) or because of massive temperature rises. The hottest temeperature on earth, recorded on 10 July 1913, was in the appropriately named Furnace Creek area in the California desert which reached a blistering 56.7°C or 134.1°F. Average summer temperatures there often rise above 45°C or 113°F.

I don't know about you, but I don't sleep much when there's a heat wave, and I'm only talking about temperatures in the 30°C's! Today's text tells us that the first to suffer on account of the First Bowl are those who choose to worship the Beast and his Image. They were previously warned in chapter 14, verses 9-11 that they would have no rest day and night whether it be because of those sores or the insufferable, burning heat. Next we're told the sea will die, so no fishing industry any more and a major loss of food to the world (Ex.7:20-25; Ps.105:29; Is.50:2; Nahum 1:2-4). No further explanation is needed. These revelations tell us exactly what it's going to be like...a reason, you'll appreciate, why Yahweh has prepared cities of refuge for His people since, as we have already established, no one is going to be raptured out of this nightmare scenario (one area of doctrine, incidentally, that the 'Kingdom-Now' people have got right).

But it's not only the sea that's affected. The fresh-water fountains also turn into blood, and by that I'm assuming rivers and lakes too. Perhaps now you'll take me seriously when I tell you to store water and ensure you have filtration devices and the ability to boil (and preferably distill) it. Don't assume that 'God will provide' if you refuse to do nothing to prepare. Though it ought to be common sense (just imagine what I'll be like when the water grid supplying cities and towns fails - if you don't have water you'll die within about 4 days on average). For those not gathered against this terrible day there will be no water to drink anywhere unless they are able to extract it from the air, from deep wells, or by other means. The ancients used to store water in large cisterns, like the huge one archaeologists found at Massada which I myself has seen and which still continued to function two thousand years later. I have had prophetic visions warning people not to forget to store water and seen places that are going to be badly affected in this penultimate judgment. But this time of the Seven Bowls is going to be far, far worse. Nothing like it has ever been seen which is another reason we know that we haven't experienced the Great Judgments and aren't living in the Millennium now!

Notice that a malak (angel) is assigned to the care of water on the earth, again demonstrating that everymalak (angel) has his particular assignment and stewardship. So the malakim (angels) have their spheres and offices as do we in other areas. This ministry, and all those a part of it by covenant, have the Five Commissions. I have a number specific personal commissions including, amongst others, the restoration and implementation of Holy Echad Marriage, along with all those called to be a part of that. Everyone has a commission, a sphere, or an office if they will receive it on the terms that Yahweh gives it to them. What's yours? You need to find out because you absolutely have one. And if you're idling your time away doing nothing constructive for the Kingdom, then you're out of tune with Yahweh and need to repent. Find out your calling and do it diligently.

The only non-literal aspect of this segment is the personification of the Altar in the Third Bowl section where in the better translations it reads that "I heard the altar respond" (v.7, NRSV, ESV, NIV) - most translations take the next step and 'interpret' this to read "I heard another from ('at' - HRV) the altar" (NKJV), inplying another malak (angel) though none is actually specified. What's special about the Altar in the Throne Room? It's the place, as we are told in Revelation 6:9, where the martyrs cry out for vindication as well as being the place where the prayers of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) on the earth ascend. In either case, the malak's (angel's) words show that this is the Day of Vindication.

Chapters like Revelation 16 cause confusion - and no small amount of consternation - to the 'Grace Alone' school of salvation. This, in chapter 16, is 'the Day of Salvation-Future' at which time our works are most clearly and definitely taken into account. 'Grace-Onlyers', and particularly the Calvinist 'Once Saved, Only Saved' crowd, circumvent this 'problem' by inventing 'dispensations', and it's often why they 'need' a 'rapture' to justify them. Indeed, you'll not find the word 'dispensation' anywhere in the Bible except in the King James (KJV) and New King James Versions (NKJV) at Ephesians 1:10 and 3:2 where 'dispensation' translates the Greek word from which we get the English word 'economy'. And since this causes no end of confusion, especially in Evangelical Protestant cicles, and crops up again and again, I do need to clarify what Paul's teaching actually is on grace and salvation once more, something the Anglican scholar N.T.Wright, the leading Pauline theologian of our time, explains so well.

We are, according to Paul, when we receive Christ, saved by grace alone through faith - that is, we are saved apart from works, that no man might boast of any works. And this is absolutely true. This remains as true today as it did on the day we were born-again or spiritually regenerated. But, explains N.T.Wright, on the final or last or final day of salvation ('salvation-future' to us, right now) when we are actually saved finally, as is being depicted now in these critically important passages in the Book of Revelation, our works and choices to sin or not sin are factored in. At this point, obviously, we cannot rest on faith-alone but must give an account of our deeds on the Day of Yahweh - the Day of Judgment - and this will determine what kind of reward we receive in the eternities.

What we're witnessing here isn't some imaginary 'switch over' from a 'Dispensation of Grace' to a 'Dispensation of Retribution and Judgment' which, we're told by the dispensationalists, the truly saved escape because they're not here (when they clearly are) because they have been allegedly 'raptured' (which they clearly haven't been) - what we are seeing is the end of an æon or age that began with the atonement and resurrection of Christ 2,000 years ago, and ends as the Judgment is concluded and the Millennium begins. The Book of Revelation isn't, as I keep on insisting, just for an imaginary group of people called the 'left-behinders' but for everyone, both the saved and the unsaved. This is a fire we all pass though one way or another. If we are to rightly divide or understand the Scriptures, we have to lay the false doctrine of dispensationalism to rest once and for all. It just adds confusion to otherwise very plain-to-comprehend scriptures. It's a doctrine invented for those with willful, selective spiritual blindness (not to mention, in some cases, cowardice).

Am I saying that we have to earn our salvation or deliverance from sin and death? No, of course not. That is impossible and I have said so a hundred times in my sermons but dispensationalists and antinomians are willing to misrepresent me as having claimed that in order to win theological brownie points for themselves. However, there's more to 'salvation' than that kind of rescue. There is still judgment for disobedience and apostacy. Believers can and do lose their salvation when they have exhausted grace through continuous sinning. Our deeds count both for rewards and deliverance from punishment. Otherwise why would we at all concern ourselves about whether we're getting the Beast's mark or not? Some saved believers will choose the mark to avoid persecution and martyrdom! They just will, and have done so over the generations. The Kingdom you inherit in eternity does depend on your choices as a believer.

Judgment is continuous throughout life both of individuals and groups of peoples. We see this in the comings and goings of the nations. You and I have been judged many times in our lives. However, the Book of Revelation is about, for the most part, the Judgment right before the Millennium. But there's another, and final judgment, right at the end of the Millennium too. The one we're looking at here is what should properly be called the Penultime Judgment (not to be confused with the 'penultimate judgment' that I have been speaking of over the years which is happening right now...I guess this current one should more accuratelybe called the 'penultimate Penultimate Judgment'. We'll learn more about this very last post-millennium judgment as we approach the end of Revelation.

Now you may remember in the sounding of the 4th Shofar or Trumpet which we studied some weeks ago now - recall that the sun was smitten but with only a third of it being darkened in this particular case (Rev.8:12). Apparently there are to be many such 'sun-signs' if I can call them that (not at all referring to astrology, I hasten to add) which Messiah Himself mentions when He said in Luke 21:

"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:25-28, NIV).

Remember, from our study last week, that when Yah'shua (Jesus) is referred to as the 'Son of Man' it's always because He's here on the earth physically so don't let anyone try to 'spiritualise' or 'allegorise' this verse away...there are some who claim that everyone is in heaven during the Millennium (the Seventh Day Adventists) and others that that's where the 144,000 will be (the Jehovah's Witensses).

Remember also that Isaiah tells us that there will be a time when the inhabitants of the world will be burned, leaving very few men left:

"Therefore a curse consumes the earth;
its people must bear their guilt.
Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up,
and very few are left" (Is.24:6, NIV).

"So He poured out on them Hs burning anger,
the violence of war.
It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart" (Is.2:25, NIV).

The first of these quotations is most definitely not an allegory. This is a prophecy about the burning up of most of the earth's inhabitants, for you will remember that unlike the Flood (which was judgment by water) that the endtime Judgment is to be judgment by fire. It's literal fire at that, as far as the physical realm is concerned. That's another reason the 12 Cities of Refuge are essential to the survival of the Remnant because the 144,000 will not be out witnessing any longer, not once the 7 Bowl Judgments begin. Their job by then will be over, the martyrs will have gone home to await the resurrection, and the remainder will weather the last period of time under special protection from both the ravages of the elements and of wicked men.

So perhaps are you beginning to see that many of the passages of Scripture that you once supposed to be exclusively allegorical are, in fact, literal too in many cases? Take this familiar one:

"'Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant (proud) and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,' says Yahweh-Elohim. 'Not a root or a branch will be left to them'" (Mal.4:1-2, NIV).

Understand that this is going to be a very thorough and literal cleansing of the planet - physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. And this isn't just one generation's clean-up but thousands of them, going all the way back to the Flood. This is one horrid human mess that the Father has to clean up. It's so bad that drastic action has to be taken requiring a complete purging by fire. None of the old is going to remain when He's done. And so it is you will never read Malachi 4 in the same light having now learned of verse 1's literal meaning; the world will "burn like a furnace". Who are they who are thus burned up? They who refuse to "give glory to Elohim (God)" - pure and simple, because that's what we were created for...not to 'do our own thing' and pretend we arrived here completely by chance. No one will believe in the dogma of evolution and all the ridiculous, currently in vogue social theories again when the "Day of Yahweh" is done. People will finally understand when they see with their own eyes that "'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says Yahweh" (Rom.12:19, NKJV; Heb.10:30; Dt.32:35). He said He would do it and now, in chapter 16, it is being seen to be happening at last.

And here's why it's so final this time. Here, in today's segment, is the most cogent description of the normal behaviour of hardened sinners: "They cursed the Name of Elohim (God)...instead of turning from their sins" (v.9, JNT/CJB), the result of which would have been to give Him glory. We give glory to Yahweh when we repent - reverse direction - and do what's right. And although it's made plain in today's text that Yahweh had complete authority over these plagues, these unbelievers and former believers, in their irrationality because of their possession by demonic powers, instead of entreating the One who could help them and rescue them, what do they do? They curse Him! Why? Because that's easier than repenting! It requires less effort. So they blame their Heavenly Father instead of themselves. Why? Because they are amoral and materialistic; they see no causal connection between their own sinful behaviour and these events as judgment because they don't want to. They've made a choice, and there are consequences - repercussions - for every choice made, for good or evil, depending what it is we imagine we will have. And we imagine what we will or won't have based on whether we believe the Davar Elohim (Word of God) or not - whether we believe the Bible, whether we believe the preachers warning us of the wrath to come for unrepentant sinners. These people who choose to worship the Beast, and therefore Satan the Dragon, remain unrepentant throughout chapter 16 (vv.11,21) as we shall see next week too.

Every generation makes these choices - it's not as though this only happens right at the end. People right now are hardening their hearts and refusing to turn away from wickedness and unbelief. And that is why Yahweh sends preachers in every generation to warn people of the terrible consequences of wrong-choosing. You may not be covered in terrible sores or burned by the sun such that you have no relief day or night today but you might as well be if right now you're stubbornly choosing to go your own way. Just because you may not be of the last generation described in chapter 16 doesn't mean you will escape the same fate after you're removed from earth life. Every single living soul faces these choices in whatever situation he or she find themselves. It is not for nothing that a metaphor for hell is 'burning in fire' because that is what it will seem like to the seared conscience confronted finally with all truth but having failed to secure the only secure escape route: faith in the Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Lord Jesus Christ).

So I urge you, most soberly, if you have not yet made a decision for Christ to make that decision now, wherever you are. Repent of your stubbornness and rebellion against His mitzvot (commandments), verbally in the presence of witnesses invite Yah'shua (Jesus) to take the helm of your life and serve Him the rest of your days. And if you're backslidden, to repent and renew your baptismal covenant of faithfulness and obedience by concretely offrering yoruself for service again. He has planty for you to do, always. Start storing rewards for yourself in the next life which can only be secured here while you are physically alive. This is an investment in eternity. The events of chapter 16 may not be literally happening today yet but the choices people face are no less real or consequential. Make your life count for something, know peace or mind and joy of heart as you walk a new life in the confident expectation of good things.

Next week we shall examine the last 3 of the 7 bowl judgments and witness the world system reach its bloody climax, bloody enough as it already is as Yahweh fulfils the promise He made through Isaiah to Israel:

"I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am Yahweh your Saviour, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (Is.49:26, NRSV; cp. Rev.16:6; 17:6,16).

Endnotes

[1] See also Revelation 1:8 & Part V, The 7 Ruachot & the Lesser Yahweh (Revelation 1:1-8) with important material on the Aramaic MarYa and the parallel Hebrew text
[2] See also Ezekiel 38:21-22, Haggai 2:21-22 and Zechariah 14:12-13 which also suggests the 1st and 5th bowl judgments

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[3] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)
[4] ESV Study Bible (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois: 2011)
[5] The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1995)
[6] Ed. J.R.Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (MacMillan, London: 1909)
[7] David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible: A Unique Overview of the Whole Bible (Collins, London: 2007)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

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• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

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  INTERLUDE I (Ch.7)
  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

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• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake I

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

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• 5. Insects and plague (for five months) (1st Woe)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army) (2nd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE II (Ch.10-11)
  (The Malak with the Little Scroll)
  (The Two Witnesses)

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• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake II (3rd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE III (Ch.13-14)
  (The First & Second Beasts)
  (The Lamb & the 144,000)
  (The Messages of the Three Malakim)

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• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

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• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

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• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake III, leading to international collapse