Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and welcome to Part LIX (59) of our study of the Book of Revelation, and to the second part of the concluding three plagues of the Seven Bowl or Vial Judgments. There were a few more things I needed to say about these bowls before moving on to the Babylonian segment that follows and rather than make last sabbath's talk longer than it already was, I decided to split this particular study into two.

Today, then, I want to look at the three last woes themselves in more detail. Since they conclude all 21 (3x7) woes, I think they're rather important. So join me in chapter 16 of the Book of Revelation once more, beginning at verse 10. We'll change Bible versions again to make our study more interesting, remembering the admonitionn of the King James Version translators that the Davar Elohim (Word of God) is to be found in a variety of translations and that no one translation can claim to be exclusively the only correct one. Today we're going to be looking at an English translation of the Aramaic and Syriac texts, the Hebraic Roots Version (HRV):

"And the fifth malak (angel) poured his bowl upon the throne of the beast and his kingdom became dark, and they were biting their tongues from pain. And they blasphemed the name of Elohim (Eloah) of heaven because of their pains and because of their boils they did not repent of their deeds" (Rev.16:10-11, HRV).

Now the first question that needs to be asked there is, along with every other chapter and verse in this Apocalypse, is, to whom is this being addressed? The second, if this is a multiple-layered prophecy (as we now firmly believe it to be), is whether the primary meaning is futuristic or in the present (the present, that is, to the first and early second century readers to whom this was originally written). Right at the very beginning of this course, you will remember, we considered all the various theories and ways the Book of Revelation is interpreted by different groups of believers, past and present. The four main ones are the Preterist view, the Historical view, the Futurist view and the Idealist or Poetic view. If you want to refresh your memories, or are new to the course, then it is well worth your while to take a look at the two parts covering these views (III & IV) entitled, The Four Methods of Interpretation.

I hope we have learned during these 58 previous studies, that there is no one interpretative method that works for the whole of Revelation, and that the safest course of action is, in most cases, to view these prophecies as an Hebraic 'cycle/spiral' where there is a primary or 'end' prophetic meaning with a number of shadow-prophetic events that either resemble the final fulfillment or, in a few cases, the reverse where there are future echoes of the primary event. It is only possible to properly understand this Hebrew mindset, which is not at all like ours in the West, by understanding how they viewed time which for them was cyclical or spiral coming eventually to an end-point.

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I mention this again now because of the confusion and contention that exists at this time of Penultimate Judgment in which events seem to be 'happening' as prophesied in the Bible but which are, in reality, only foreshadowings, especially now in the Middle East with the current Israeli-Hamas/Hezbollah conflict in Gaza/Lebanon. Western Zionists in particular are adament that primary biblical prophecy is being fulfilled today by the Israeli Republic which was formed in 1948 and for this reason are convinced that Armageddon (v.16) will happen any day now and that Christ will literally be here in 3½ to 7 years' time. As I have been teaching in recent weeks, there will likely be an Armageddon-like event and another one in which a false messiah will appear, the latter of which Christ Himself warned about (Mt.24:5; Mk,13:6; Lk.21:8), a subject taken up again in the Book of Revelation (e.g. Rev.2:2). Therefore we have got to understand how apocalyptic prophecy works or Christians/Messianics will be spouting nonsense again and making fools of themselves as well as bringing disrepute upon the Bible itself.

One great commentator, E.W.Bullinger, whom I have mentioned many times, who was a pre-millennialist and rapturist (and seemingly at times, a Preterist) was convinced that verses 10 & 11 could only have referred to the Seven Congregations (Churches) of Asia Minor and not to any event in John's distant future. He cites chapter 2 in the King James Version (KJV) on Pergamum which we have already examined in depth:

"I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth" (Rev.2:13, KJV).

Well, as it turns out, he was partly right for it was in the next centuries leading up to Emperor Constantine and beyond that the seat of power of the Beast (at that time, Rome) was eventually thrown into turmoil. This reversal of the Enemy's program back then did not, however, see the return of the Messiah which we are still waiting for two millennia later. The Roman Emperor back in the first believers' days, was the Beast that is to be manifest soon, within the next two or three decades by my estimation, was no more able to defend himself against this plague of darkness than Pharoah was in the first Exodus (Ex.10:21-23). Whether this is to be a literal physical darkness or a spiritual darkness (or both) is hard to tell and we probably won't know until it happens.

If you are of the belief that literal, physical darkness is being spoken of here, then you must search the historical records for examples of shadow events. We know, for instance, that there was a literal 'Dark Age' lasting 18 months starting in 536 AD when a mysterious fog rolled over Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia, blocking out the sun and causing the temperature to drop, crops to fail and people to die. The main source of that fog we now know to have been a volcanic eruption in Iceland in early 536 that spread ash across the northern hemisphere, creating the fog. Byzantine historian Procopius wrote that "the sun gave out its ligght without brightness, like the moon, during this whole year". This was much like the Mount Tambora eruption, the deadliest volcanic eruption on record, that took place two centuries ago in 1815, which was big enough to alter global climate patterns causing years of famine.

We know, from our study of the Seven Congregations (Churches) of Asia Minor that this region in Anatolia (now western Turkey) was subject to lots of devastating earthquakes so something like the events described in chapter 16 could have happened immediately after John's days. But, in my view, there is not sufficient merit to Bullinger's claim that what the Seven Assemblies might have witnessed was the big event of chapter 16. For this to have been true, then there must be concrete evidence that most, if not all, the woes of the whole of the Book of Revelation must be seen to have happened 1,500 to 2,000 years ago and I find no evidence for this.

Just as individual prophecies about Christ in the Tanakh (Old Testament) could have been fulfilled by others sometimes, they could only have been fulfilled by Yah'shua (Jesus) of Nazareth when taken all together [1]. We must treat the events described in the Book of Revelation in exactly the same way, and not cherry-pick isolated events and make them out to be fulfilled according to the personal belief systems of human beings. This is as true for modern Zionists as for those who are exclusively promoting the Preterist thesis (like the Catholics) or the Historicist thesis (like the Adventists). It's the same with the application of scientific evidence - the whole corpus of knowkedge must be applied in defence of a particular hypothesis, and not just cherry-picked ones as 'Flat-Earthers' (for example) do. In other words, we have got to be critical, realistic and rigorous, something we are insistent on in this ministry.

I think it's therefore helpful that we pause, every now and then, and look at case studies such as those like Bullinger who tried to force the scriptural data into a particular model. Every age does this. The Zionists are doing it now. Now, to reiterate, I do not know exactly what this 'darkness' will look like, whether it indicates a supernatural physical event (like that over Egypt in Moses' day), whether it is a natural physical event (like a volcano spewing ash into the atmosphere and causing global chaos (at least in one hemisphere) like Mount Tambora, or whether this is a reference to spiritual darkness. I acknowledge that any, two, or even all three of these might be the cause both of the darkness in chapter 16 and similar passages here in the Book of Revelation, or the one prophesied by Joel in chapter 2 of his book, for instance:

"Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sound the alarm on my qadosh (holy, set-apart) hill (mountain).
Let all who live in the land tremble,
for the [judgment] day of Yahweh is coming.
It is close at hand -
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness.
Like dawn spreading across the mountains
a large and mighty army comes,
such as never was of old
nor ever will be in ages to come.
Before them fire devours,
behind them a flame blazes.
Before them the land is like the garden of Eden,
behind them, a desert waste -
nothing escapes them...
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Yahweh"
(Joel 2:1-3,31, NIV)

Christ said similar things in Mark 13:24-25. Whatever it is, it causes great consternation and vexation. So be very, very careful of the pop 'prophets' and the poorly informed Bible 'teachers'. Back in the early 1800's, Anglican Bible teachers of the day were claiming that the prophecy in Revelation 16 was the Suppression of the Monasteries by Napoleon in France in 1789! In every age, the pop teachers leap to conclusions based on what is going on around them. When I was younger it was the first Gulf War, then the Second, and the various conflicts involving the Israeli Republic beginning with the Suez Crisis. These may have been shadows of biblical events to come but they were not, as so many Zionists believe, the final apocalyptical ones we are studying in this course. And sometimes those shadows are very weak and hazy. (One 'proof' that the modern Republic of Israel is true is based on the specious claim that the birth of Abraham was 1,948 years from Creation, and that since this Republic was formed in 1948, this is conclusive proof that this is biblical Israel, never mind the fact that Bible chronologies don't allow for such calculations and that such claims show a poor understanding of how the ancient Hebrews reckoned time). It is our duty and responsibility to bring perspective when poorly informed believers start misinterpreting and getting hysterical.

As I've said before, biblical symbols must symbolise something that is congruous, accordant or affirmable, but we should not go searching for these with a magnifying glass because then we're going to make serious mistakes. Texts must never be forced to mean what they could not possibly have meant to the generations the texts were primarily addressing. When things are described in the Book of Revelation, everyone in the generation that witnesses them will know about it - it will be seared into people's memories and consciousnesses. Silly theories are easily disprovable and those with any common sense will see through their error. Only the most blinded, diehard fanatics will continue, with eyes glazed like the cultist, to stick by false interpretations because their credibility (or the credibility of someone else whom they love and respect) is at stake. We have to be honest and sensible in these matters. We must not substitute imagination for faith.

I believe the darkness in Revelation 16:10-11 could just as easily signify spiritual or heart blindness. At that time in chapter 16, as now in this Penultimate Judgment, and as in all previous shadow mini-judgments throughout history, Yahweh blinds the adversaries so they haven't a clue what's going on or what to do. The defeat of the élites right now in this Penultimate Judgment will be because they have lost control, in major part because of blindness, and won't know what to do other than to hide. The demons, with their supernatural abilities, will be suppressed for a while by Elohim (God) so that all they have left is their own feeble mental resourses. It takes only a spoken word from Him to render them impotent. Even AI (Artificial Intelligence) won't be able to help them, let alone their paranormal, occultic 'Remote Viewing', the way they try to look psychically into the future. The darkness that envellops them, and their foolish supporters, will leave them in a blind panic like rats scurrying on the deck of a sinking ship, perhaps even reduce to them to a psychological state of utter desperation so that they metaphorically (if not literally) chew their own tongues in the way epileptics do. Again, I am not saying the darkness won't also be literal and physical, but I do believe their is an invisible side to all of this too.

Let's move on to the 6th bowl judgment which, like the 3rd, has three divisions, all the others only having two - namely,

• 1. the pouring out;
• 2. the effect; and
• 3. things seen.

The 3rd bowl was the same except that there we had things heard and here we have things seen:

"And the sixth malak (angel) poured his bowl on the great river, Euphrates, and its water dried up to prepare the way of the kings of the east. And I saw [coming] out of the mouth of the Dagon and out of the mouth of the Beast and out of the mouth of the False Navi (Prophet), three unclean spirits, like frogs [2], for they are the spirits of shadim (demons) that do signs, that are going to the kings of the earth to gather them for the battle of that great day of Elohim (Eloah/God) almighty. Behold, He comes like a thief [3]. Blessed [is] he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he should walk naked and they should see his shame. And He gathered them to a place that in Hebrew is called Megiddo" (Rev.16:12-16, HRV).

As pointed out last week, the Euphrates river was, is, and will be a literal boundary between rival empires. We saw it once before in connection with the 6th Shofar or Trumpet and as these two events are obviously reflections of one another, let me remind you of that earlier judgment which we studied in depth in Part XXXV:

"Then the sixth malak (angel) sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before Elohim (God), saying to the sixth malak (angel) who had the shofar (trumpet), 'Release the four malakim (angels) who are bound at the great river Euphrates.' So the four malakim (angels), who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulphur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 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. 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. 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. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts" (Rev.9:13-21, NKJV).

What is released at the Euphrates - and remember they are 200 million supernatural entities, not a giant human army like the Peoples' Liberation Army of Red China - results in the death of some two billion people! So whilst the river was literal, the army was spiritual. The way we interpret Revelation 9 will influence the way we interpret Revelation 16 now which is why it is so important to get the earlier pieces of the puzzle right. Like I said, starting with Hal Lindsay's books it became very popular to assume this vast army was the PLA [4]. But before the advent of Communist China's massive army, it was popular to associate the 200 million with either the returning 'Ten Tribes' or with 'Christian Princes' though that makes little sense - why would they want to attack the Holy Land and Yahweh's people? Perhaps because, in those days, Palestine was occupied by the Ottoman Turks who were Moslems.

Every generation looks around, see what armies are about, and superimposes them on the text of the Apocalypse. We must not do that. If, as we saw back in Part XXXV, the shofar or trumpet judgment involved a supernatural army; this time, though, it is clear we are dealing with a natural or human army - a vast human army arriving from the east, requiring that the river be dried up this time so that it can cross over unimpeded. (This, by the way, is one of the reasons I do not accept that the 7 seals, shofars and bowls are describing the same 7 events but from a different angle. If you check the APPENDIX: SYNOPSIS OF REVELATION 6-16 at the end of each article, you will see that they don't all correspond or reflect each other in content anyway). Last week, remember, we looked at similar prophecies involving human migrations and river crossings in Isaiah 11 and Zechariah 10.

The kings from the east journey westward to the Promised Land. We speak today of the political 'West' and 'East', drawing the line between the two along what used to be the 'Iron Curtain' separating Capitalist Europe from Communist Europe (along the east German, Czechoslovak, Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian borders) until the Berlin Wall fell and Europe was reintegrated. Today, since 1991, the line between 'West' and 'East' runs along Europe's border with Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. But biblically it is the Euphrates River that divides West from East, as it did in Roman times, again linking readers of the Book of Revelation to the 1st century AD. These are first century symbols, not 20th or 21st century ones. It's important to once again stress that.

As I mentioned last week, in this Penultimate Judgment, which is but a weak shadow of the Revelation 16 prophecy, the most obvious nations that would comprise this army would be from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. However, Revelation 16 is not talking about today but some near future event that could potentially involve any or many armies from Asia as far east as China and Indonesia. We're just going to have to wait and see which ones.

Let's look now at those three frog-like demonic entities and go into a little bit more detail. Importantly, these are miracle-working spirits sent to persuade the kings of the east to assemble an army for an attack on Yahweh's people in the Promised Land. So these are not literal frogs like the plague of frogs of Exodus 8. Rather, they perform miracles like the false prophet of Revelation 12:13-15, the Torahless or lawless one mentioned by Paul in his second letter to the Thessalonians:

"The coming of the Torahless (lawless) one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the emet (truth) and so be saved. For this reason Elohim (God) sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the emet (truth) but have delighted in wickedness" (2 Thess.2:9-12, NIV).

These three slippery frog-like spirits are at work now, goading people to ever greater acts of lawlessness and disobedience, those people being Christians in particular, persuading them to observe less and less Torah, to obey fewer and fewer mitzvot or commandments, and so live lives of ever more unholiness and ungodliness. And you will recall, as I keep incessantly reminding you (because most believers don't wish to hear or know this), that the true believers - the Remnant, the Firstborn, the Elect - not only believe in Christ but are proactive commandment-keepers (i.e. they don't just talk about them), no matter all the goading by unclean Christians not to obey the Torah because, they make the accusation that to do so is 'legalistic' (and therefore sinful). But the Book of Revelation calls these so-called believers out as the devil-inspired liars and mockers of Yahweh that they are, saying:

"Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who obey Elohim's (God's) mitzvot (commandments) and hold to the testimony of Yah'shua (Jesus, Yeshua)" (Rev.12:17, NIV).

"This calls for patient endurance on the part of the qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones, holy ones, elect, firstborn Remnant) who obey Elohim's (God's) mitzvot (commandments) and remain faithful to Yah'shua (Jesus)" (Rev.14:12, NIV).

There you have your "two or three witness" (Dt.19:15; Mt.18:16; 2 Cor.13:1) and from the same end-time boook for end-time Torah-compliant, commandment-keeping believers. Do you believe this is the end-time? If you do, and if you fear Yahweh, then you know what to do. If you refuse to submit to the mitzvot (commandments) and instead listen to those three seductive, lying frog-like spirits who goad the heathen into attacking Elohim's (God's) people, then know for a surety what Elohim (God) is going to do to you: He is going to send you a "strong delusion" because the disobedient are unworthy of the inheritance of the elect. He will blind you to the truth. We may not need the Torah to save us in the present moment of choosing to trust Christ but we absolutely need it to be saved-at-last when the whole of our life is taken into account in determining our eternal status and reward. That's what Paul teaches. And where Paul with his incredible mind is sometimes "hard to understand" (2 Pet.3:16) (he was undoubtedly the leading intellectual and theologian of his day, like N.T.Wright is in ours), the Book of Revelation - which has the Final Word - makes absolutely crystal clear (Rev.12:17; 14:12). Paul the intellectual and John the mystic are in complete agreement and are perfect compliments to one another's ways of conveying the Gospel to both the clever and the simple.

So you'd better finally start taking all of this seriously if you are at all in earnest about your final salvation - don't ever assume or fall for the lazy man's false gospel of 'once saved, always saved' which is one of the big slippery lies of those three frog-like spirits. So you run along now and do what Heavenly father has told you to do otherwise your faith in Yah'shua (Jesus) is ultimately in vain! Why? Because trusting in Yah'shua (Jesus) involves doing what He and His Heaveny Father - and our Heavenly Father - Yahweh has told us to do. LIVE THE KINGDOM WAY - THE TORAH WAY! I don't care what 'spirit' or sio-called 'anointing' has told you otherwise, because if it contradicts the Davar (Word) it's an impure, filthy, LYING spirit counterfeiting the authentic, life-giving Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) - that false, polluting spirit is everywhere in the Body of Christ now, brought in and strengthened by liberals, charismatics, Calvinists and even some messianics, not to mention many others. They, and what they teach, are all part of the false Babylonian system that we are commanded to flee from, which we shall be talking more about in the next few lessons.

Remember, it's these impure, lawless, anti-Torah, frog-like spirits or demons that are responsible for goading the kings of the East to attack, ravish and kill Yahweh's people gathered - and gathering - in the Promised Land. By that time today's alien anti-Messiah occupants of the 'Republic of Israel' and 'Palestine', who are currently at war, will mostly (if not entirely) be gone already. What's happening in the Middle East now are the opening stages of this final cleansing before the authentic Twelve Tribes return.

Let's now turn to that parenthetical, interjectional clause again that I made brief mention of last week because it's wrongly used by rapturists to defend their pretribulation teaching:

"(See, I'm coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame)" (Rev.16:15, NRSV).

Now where have we heard this saying before? Actually, it's recorded twice in the Gospels (by means of different parables) and mentioned by Peter in his second epistle. Here's the first reference:

"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Master will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Mt.24:38-44, NIV).

Luke records a another time Yah'shua (Jesus) uses this same imagery conveying exactly the same idea:

"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their Master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose Master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second (9 pm to midnight) or third watch (midnight to 3 am) of the night. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him" (Lk.12:35-40, NIV).

The imagery is plain enough. We are supposed to always be spiritually awake and alert, always ready to serve in the Kingdom, so that we are not taken by surprise when the Master returns, because when He does, it will be at a time of apocalyptic tribulation such as we find described in Revelation 16. The same imagery is used in chapter 3 (Part V of this course) in the message to the congregation in Sardis, remember?

"These are the words of Him who holds the seven Ruachot Elohim (Spirits of God) and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being [spiritually] alive, but you are [spiritually] dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my Elohim (God). Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you" (Rev 3:1-3, NIV).

What kind of people appear to be spiritually alive but who are in fact spiritually dead? Well, for one, those operating in the psyche instead of the spiritual person represented by the seven Ruachot! Just because you're very emotional and lively doesn't mean you're necessarily spiritually alive! It's just an 'appearance', like 'putting on airs and graces'. And note here the Saviour makes especial mention of their deeds or works which, He says, are incomplete. The fact that the Seven Ruachot or Spirits are specifically mentioned (and not simply 'the Spirit') is a tell-tale sign. They do not accompany the inner life of those pretending to be spiritual because they're absent. The Ruachot haQodesh (Holy Spirits) do not vindicate those goats putting on performances. The seven Ruachot (Spirits) only bless the true sheep of the true Kingdom.

Indeed, how often do you find Christians and Messianics alluding to the Seven Holy Spirits at all? Very rarely! Why not? Because they don't understand Who or what They are. Most try to allegorise Them away, reducing them to an imaginary 'sevenfold spirit'. They've only ever heard of one Ruach (Spirit). If they knew, and lived, their Torah authentically they would know that we are commanded to observe seven annual festivals which are a picture of the Torah lifestyle and the seven steps to a full salvation, they would understand the importance of the mitzvot (commandments) in this sanctifying process, and much more besides. They would understand that there are Seven Ruachot (Spirits), not just one, who are female (not male), one of whom is assigned to each of the seven annual festivals, and these facts would themselves lead them on an amazing spiritual voyage of discovery and the realisation that the Gospel is a little bit more involved than the one they have heard about in Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism and elsewhere. Do you see what I mean? The Book of Revelation purposefully brings all of these elements together to show us who the elect are...and who aren't. You see, the elect know and live certain things out.

Like I said, Bullinger and other rapturists use the 'thief in the night' illustration as evidence for the 'rapture'. Bullinger in particular cites 1 Thessalonians 5:4 in support of his belief, which we must now look at carefully because Paul uses the thief arrival imagery here too:

"Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Master (Lord) will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on emunah (faith) and ahavah (love) as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For Elohim (God) did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Master Yah'shua the Messiah (Lord Jesus Christ). He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing" (1 Thess.5:1-11, NIV).

Now hopefully the meaning of all these passages is plainly understood by you. In brief, they tell us that when Christ returns, it will be suddenly, so that only those who are awake and prepared will be finally saved. The indolent (slothful, lazy) won't be because they're spiritually asleep, following false, lawless spirits (like the three frog-like ones) masquerading as the Seven Ruachot (Spirits) of Elohim (God). Because they are disobedient, we're also told, Yahweh will Himself ensure they are living in a spirit of delusion so that even the supposedly 'wise' and 'intelligent' among them will be blind to what's going on, and when. This is the plain sense of all the Scriptures we've talked about today. And yet Bullinger, the brilliant theologian, was blind to these very plain facts, when he insisted that Revelation 16:15 was proof "that the Church of God is not in the judgment scene...for the Thessalonian believers were positively assured that that day will NOT come on them as a thief" [5]. Incredible, but there you have it. And I know a lot of brilliant intellectuals who are under similar delusions because the issue - that of clarity of spiritual sight - is one of obedience and not of mind-intelligence. If you habitually obey, you will see clearly; if you habitually disobey, you will be blinded by the devil and the Father Himself will ensure the delusion remains in you, even if you're a densely grey matter-endowed craniac like some of the 'great' atheistic scientists I know about. This is as true for rapturists as it is for gibberish tongues-speakers as it is for the 'once saved, always saved' mob, because all of these practices and beliefs are born of slothfulness and disobedience.

That was a long discourse but, I feel, a very necessary one. As I have said several times before, I will not be covering this material again in my lifetime so I want it completed now. All Heavenly Father's 'hot potato' doctrines are here in the Book of Revelation, and - as I have also said - all the false ones are exposed here too, a reason why so many like Calvin have shyed away from commenting on this Book or, like Luther, have doubted its authenticity, because it contradicted their strange man-made teachings. Well, Messianic Evangelicals love it. Together with Genesis, it frames all the essential truths we need to preach and accept, even if they only mention them in passing. Anyway, I have nothing more I want to add to Armageddon (v.16) today, as we covered that adequately last week, so let's move on and conclude with the final bowl judgment, jam-packed as it is with interesting content.

Reading on from verse 17:

"And the seventh malak (angel) poured his bowl into the air, and a great voice came out of the Temple from before the Throne saying, 'It is [done]'. And there were lightnings and thunders and there was a great trembling of the earth, the like of which had not happened since the sons of men had been on the earth, for this earthquake was so great. And the great city became three parts and the cities of the nations fell, and Babel (Bavel, Babylon), the great, was remembered before Elohim (Eloah) to give her the cup of the wine of His wrath and His anger. And every island fled away and the mountains were not found. And great hail [6] as a talent descended from the heaven upon the sons of men, and the sons of men blasphemed Elohim (Eloah) on account of the hail, because its plague was very great" (Rev.16:17-21, HRV).

So, with the same finality as the atonement of Messiah on the cross at the moment right before His death, the words "It is done" are spoken by Yahweh Himself to end all the terrible judgments, the same words echoed by the Alef and the Taw - the Alpha and the Omega - near the end of the Book of Revelation itself (Rev.21:6) when the New Heaven and the New Earth spring into reality where there will be no Temple at all (Rev.21:22). The Temple, it must be noted, is seen at the close of each of the three sets of seven judgments, but then ceases to be a separate entity. Why? Because it is no longer requried as a point of intersection between Heaven and Earth, since the two are to be finally fused into One. It's all 'Temple' thereafter. So, it's over, all has been accomplished that Elohim (God) set out to accomplish in the Final Judgment, with the exception of an important footnote on Babylon which we have yet to examine.

Appropriately, the greatest earthquake in the history of mankind ends the last set of judgments, the one spoken of by the nevi'im (prophets) Ezekiel (38:20), Isaiah (2:19,21) and Haggai (2:21.22). Both Babylon and all the cities of its confederated nations, the allies of the Beast or Monster (Rev.16:14; 17:13-17), are destroyed. As to whether Babylon is Rome, or Jerusalem, or America, or any number of other speculations, we will deal with that next time. For now, I would like us to focus on the idea that Babylon was the scene of the first ever apostacy from Yahweh after the Flood, becoming thereafter the perpetual enemy of Yahweh's people and the very first great pagan empire as seen by Nebuchadnezzar himself in his prophetic dream. Here, though, Yahweh remembers His covenant with Israel and when He does so, He promises also to remember Babylon in the day of His wrath. And this is why in the Psalms particularly, His people cry out, "Remember, O Yahweh" - remember Your promises to us! (Ps.137; 98:3; 105:8.42)

Babylon is only partly destroyed now in token of the total destruction soon to follow. One tenth of the city will have already fallen, as we're told in Revelation 11:12-13. And chapters 17 and 18 are going to tell us of the causes, and of the manner, and the consequences of this judgment.

The 7th woe of the third and final set of woes ends with islands 'fleeing', mountains 'not being found' and of one last terrible plague caused by a tremendous hail storm, also mentioned in the Olive Branch (368:11-12), which causes men to blaspheme Yahweh, as the judgments increase in their severity. In chapter 6, verse 14, you may remember, we learned that the mountains and islands are 'moved'. And right at the very end, we're told, heaven and earth will 'flee' too which gives us a clue as to the meaning of the apocalyptical language being used since obviously neither are about to disappear forever. Does this mean there will be no literal mountains during the Millennium? If that's the case, then a whole stack of scriptures describing mountains in the Millennium make no sense [7] so this has to be a symbolic or figurative representations of human kingdoms or governments [8]. Babylon is even described as a "ruinous" or "destroying mountain" by Jeremiah (Jer.51:24-25) with various aggressive governments being described as "mountains of prey" in Psalms and Nahum (Ps.76:4, NKJV; cp. Nahum 2:11-13). David describes his Kingdom as a 'strong mountain' (Ps.30:7; cp. 2 Sam.5:12). And finally, in the well-known language of Daniel, Yahweh's Kingdom is compared to a 'burning mountain' that fills the whole earth (Dan.2:34-24,44-45), alluding to His planet-wide rule. So the meaning is clear enough.

We should not, then, be at all surprised to discover that the disappearance of islands has a similar figurative meaning here. Sure enough, the Hebrew word for 'islands', i'yim ('i' = island, like the Swedish 'ö' and the Norwegian 'øy'), can also mean the inhabitants of islands and coastlands [9] or even distant places and their inhabitants [10]. This, then, is poetic language declaring that nothing will be too remote or inaccessible to escape the 'earthquake' or judgment on Babylon the Great, to the inclusion, for example, of some cannibalistic tribe on a remote island in the Pacific or an idol-worshipping tribe isolated in the deepest Amazonian rain forest. Simply put, the Judgment will reach every place, including the élites when they scuttle off to their secret subterranean cities and even to their outposts on the moon, Mars or other planets, should such even exist. Even astronauts in orbit will be reached. There will be nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape.

The heaviest recorded hailstone in modern times fell in the Gopallganj district of Bagladesh on 14 April 1986 and weighed in at 2.25 pounds or one kilogram. That particular storm killed 92 people. But that was nothing compared to the hailstorms that the Tatars have in their own records. In one storm in 1843, it is said that hailstones as large 12 pounds or 5½ kilos fell, wiping out entire flocks. I knew a lady from Austria who said that Alpine hailstones killed an entire flock of sheep when she was a girl and that people feared for their lives. I have seen pictures of cars pulverised by hailstones. I have read of accounts where blocks of ice the size of millstones have fallen out of the sky.

Now according to the Book of Revelation, the very last judgment is of hailstones weighing a talent or 114 pounds or over 51 kilos, roughly the same size as the massive boulders hurled at Jerusalem by the Roman siege engines of General Titus [11]. That's the equivalent weight of about 50 liters of water, 25 standard red bricks or 42 500-page textbooks. That's heavy! You don't want that sort of weight falling on you unless you want to be crushed to death or very seriously injured. No wonder unrepentant worshippers of the Beast will curse Elohim (God) for nothing will be able to withstand this hail. To remind you once again what the Olive Branch says concerning those outside the Cities of Refuge at this particular time:

"And the hour cometh when great hailstorms shall destroy the crops of the earth, and great rocks of ice shall slay those who hear not My Voice neither obey it. And it shall be as it was ordained in the beginning" (Olive Branch 368:11-12).

Thus ends the seventh or last bowl judgment, indeed, all 21 judgments. Next week, Yahweh willing...if I am well enough...we shall begin on chapters 17 and 18 which cover the Judgment of the Whore of Babylon the Great, and then the last four chapters of the journey. And as this is the Penultimate Judgment, keep your eyes open for parallel happenings on a smaller scale in our own time with hopefully lots of exegetical clues. Until then, Yahweh bless you and keep you in Yah'shua's (Jesus') Name. Amen.

Endnotes

[1] See, for example, the Messianic Prophecies of Isaiah
[2] Exodus 8:2
[3] Matthew 24:42-51; 1 Thessalonians 5:2-10; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 3:3
[4] Not to be confused with the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA) of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
[5] E.W.Bullinger, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1984), p.489
[6] Exodus 9:23
[7] Psalm 72:3,16; 148:9; Isaiah 2:2; 44:23; Ezekiel 36:8)
[8] Daniel 2:35,44-45; cp. Isaiah 41:15; Revelation 17:9-11,18
[9] Genesis 10:5; Isaiah 49:1; 51:5;59:18;n 60:9
[10] Isaiah 41:5; 66:19; Ezekiel 39:6
[11] Josephus, Wars iii.vii.9. Yahweh has used hailstones in judgments of men in the past (Exodus 9:22-26; Psalm 78:47; 105:32; Joshua 10:11; Isaiah 30:30; Ezekiel 13:11)

Comments from Readers

[1] "Brother Warren, thanks for another amazing interpretation" (MM, USA, 22 October 2023)
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, Michigan: 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

  ---

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

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

  ---

• 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

  ---

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

  ---

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

  ---

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

  ---

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

  ---

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

  ---

• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

  ---

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