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Revelation #16

            Dear listeners, Have you been at peace in the Lord over the past week? It’s time to continue studying the words of the book of Revelation. In our studies, we have entered the depths of tribulation. After the rapture of the saints, the wedding feast of the Lamb will continue for seven years in heaven, but on earth the tribulation pains of the Antichrist will begin. It will also be a period of persecution of the people of Israel. This is the time of Jacob’s trouble as spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. Therefore, I pray that no one who hears this word today will enter into tribulation. The children of God who have truly received Jesus Christ and have been born again by the Holy Spirit will never remain on the earth. When the Lord comes, all of God’s children are taken away, and as the Lord said in John 10:10, the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd. Those who have become sheep and have Jesus Christ as their shepherd will hear it all and go up when the Lord appears from heaven and takes them and calls them by name. However, if there are still people who have not been saved, they will fall into tribulation and suffer tremendously. Now we will see events that will occur when the sixth trumpet is sounded. These words will come true literally, never symbolic, and these words are not obscured, but revealed. These words are not implied. They are completely open, revealed. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and told him to seal the words, but the Lord who appeared to John revealed the word and told him to open it. Therefore, as the Lord says when the Holy Spirit comes to this earth, he will guide you into all truth, give you understanding, and make you aware of things to come. The future is not about knowing good or bad things will happen while we live on this earth for a few decades, but what will happen when the Lord and Savior comes. What will happen when Jesus Christ, the truly blessed hope, comes. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Those who focus on the coming of the Lord will never become discouraged because of worldly affairs. The Bible says, And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:17 KJV)  Therefore, remembering these words today, even in the midst of hardships, I hope that you will all be steadfast in these words, trusting that everything will be resolved when the Lord comes. These are words of terror to unbelievers, but words of hope to those who believe. In the old days of Noah, rain was disaster for others, but it blessing for Noah’s family. When the door of the ark opened 150 days after the rain stopped, only Noah’s family existed on this earth. Likewise, in Sodom and Gomorrah, only Lot and his two daughters were saved. So it will be like this at the end. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8 KJV)  I hope that you will all be believers.

            Now let’s start from verse 13 and see what will happen when the sixth trumpet is sounded. These are things that must happen. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. (Revelation 9:13-16 KJV) This text is about events that will take place towards the end of the tribulation. Until now, forestry, sea-life, water, sun, stars, moon, the 1/3 of all creatures have been environmentally affected, but now it is a devastating catastrophe that kills 1/3 of world population. Terrible, right? In Revelation 6:8, we saw a scene where a quarter of the earth had already died before this army appeared. Of the remaining 3/4, here again 1/3 die, so half of the population dies. Now, if our population is 7.8 billion and 3.9 billion die, who will hold the funeral for all the dead? It’s horrifying. However, this does not apply to those who believe in Jesus Christ and are saved. By this time around, there is no such thing as the church on earth. There are buildings, but no true Christians will remain as they have all gone up. That is why God pours out indefinite amount of disasters globally. He took out Lot long ago and then brought down the brimstone fire in Sodom and Gomorrah, didn’t he? Also, after closing the door of the ark, God sent in torrential amount of rain during the days of Noah did He not? It will be like those days. After all the saints are raptured, these calamities will come upon the earth, so those who believe in the Lord and are saved do not need to be afraid. However, the unbelieving parents, siblings, relatives, acquaintances, and friends, still say “What do you mean I’m a sinner?”  When we see people who say they believe in themselves rather than God, we have to share the gospel with these people with pity. We must preach the gospel tearfully. Otherwise, you will go up to heaven and shed a lot of tears. Now here comes the 200 million armies of Satan’s cavalry from the east. They also appear in Revelation 16:12. It’s the same event. This army crosses the Euphrates River from east to west into the land of Palestine, and their time is set for certain year, month, day, and the hour.

            This is also mentioned in Daniel 7:12. It ends in one day. It is the day of Jehovah, the day of the Lord. Let’s see what these riders look like from verse 17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt. (Revelation 9:17-19 KJV) This cavalry is actually superhuman. These are the monstrous locusts from earlier in the chapter. Jump out of the depths of hell, they harbor fire, brimstone and smoke. These are like the half-beast and half-human mythical centaurs of Greek mythology, monstrous beasts and demonic beings coming up from hell. Einstein said a nuclear war would wipe out 1/3 of the world population back when we had 2.2 billion. So, if a nuclear warfare can kill a third of the world population, how many people will those demonic hordes come up from hell kill? This is a vicious cavalry commanded by Satan and is coming to annihilate Israel. Hitler tried to annihilate Israel once. But now, instead of the German army, these demonic armies are rising up from hell to decimate Israel. This is the time of Jacob’s trouble. This is the last time to refine Israel. Only those who repent will survive.

            And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Revelation 9:20-21 KJV) Even these days, it is difficult to find people who repent to God when natural disasters occur. Rather, there are many who curse at the sky, don’t you think? Saying, “God is love, how can this be?” In times of tribulation, greater calamities will come. People will not repent and worship idols more and do not repent of murder, witchcraft, fornication, and theft that God hates. The Bible says, the wicked will become more wicked and the righteous will become more righteous. Here people continue to worship idols of gold, silver, brass and stone. What contains these precious metals and stones?  Automobiles, smart devices, homes, skyscrapers, millions of products of various functions and sizes people use throughout the world on daily basis. The world will continue to serve the material civilization. Serving material things instead of serving God. They still say, “Let’s find stability without God. Let’s unite the race. Let’s unite all religions.” They will not know that God has brought disaster upon them. Even now, the world continues to be evil, dark, and harsher, but do not know how to repent. Therefore, how lawless will it be when there will be no believers on earth? Still, America is somewhat OK for now as a nation founded by Puritans. It’s Sodom and Gomorrah, but still a country that respects human rights. It’s gotten worse lately and it will get worse as time goes on, but it’s still better than other communist nations, for now. However, if all Christians go up, America also will completely become a land of lawlessness. There’s a spaghetti western titled Fistful of Dollars with bunch of outlaws, but America will be a nation where actual outlaws run rampant. Verse 21 mentions murder, sorcery, fornication, and theft. The word sorceries here equates to the word Pharmacy. Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, and reviewing medications. Derived from Greek word pharmakeia, sorcery is the use of drugs. Drug abuse is rampant. Drugs are problematic no matter where you go in the world. Even God’s children suffer from drugs. By then, there will be huge number of drug addicts. Sorceries. How easy has it become to obtain pharmaceuticals these days? Sorceries are drug abuse. Worship is shown in verse 20. Worship means ‘to bow down’, right? An interesting word. Anywhere in the New Testament, you mean a form of worship in which a person bends over and kisses something, right? When the Lord was resurrected, women took hold of his feet and worshiped him. They kissed His feet. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, (Psalm 2:12 KJV)

            To worship means to kiss. During Baal worship, people were told to kiss the calf. God said this to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:18, Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (1 Kings 19:18 KJV) Remember, kissing is worship, but do you worship God? Or Do You Worship the Devil? Judas betrayed Jesus by kissing him. The signal of the Antichrist will be a kiss in the future. Even now, wherever the Pope goes, many people kiss his hand. Kissing is worship, and God is clearly prophesying here in the era of worshiping other things.

            Now it’s time for a short break after the 6^th trumpet has been sounded. There was a brief silence in Chapter 8 as well. There was a bit of a break during the unsealing. In the midst of tribulation, there is a short pause. Let’s continue with Chapter 10. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: (Revelation 10:1 KJV) Clouds are usually associated with Jesus Christ. The Bible says Jesus is coming on the clouds of heaven. Also when Jesus ascended into heaven, cloud covered Him so he could no longer be seen. The one here is undoubtedly the angel who appeared in Revelation 1:14 and 15, and this angel is the angel of the Lord, and this angel of the Lord speaks of the appearance of Jesus Christ. The angels of the Lord appeared in the Old Testament. Gideon thought he was going to die for seeing the angel of God, but he didn’t (Judges 6:22-23). It is the manifestation of God through an angel, not an angel carrying a message, but a manifestation of God. When God appears, we can see him appearing in the form of an angel.

            And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, (Revelation 10:2 KJV) Revelation 5:5 says Jesus Christ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Sometime before the tribulation ends, Jesus Christ will appear. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ Himself will personally appear to the people of Israel, and one day this Israel will be born again, and the nation bears fruit just as a woman in childbirth gives birth to a male child. This is in Isaiah 66:7-8, Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. (Isaiah 66:7-8 KJV) Just as Jesus Christ was born as a boy in birthing pain, The Bible says the children of Israel will be reborn as soon as Israel, a woman, is in labor during the tribulation. In the Bible, there is a book called the Book of Job. The book of Job is very mysterious, and is another type of tribulation. Of the 7 year tribulation, there is greater suffering in the second half of three and a half years of tribulation. Three and a half years are 42 months. The book of Job has 42 chapters. Job is a typical example of the people of Israel who suffer during the tribulation. So the persecuted is persecuted for no reason. Job lived in Edom, south of the Dead Sea. In the end, he suffers for 42 chapters. However he is blessed in his final years. When the people of Israel repent at the Lord’s coming in the future, they will receive blessings and be restored in the Millennium Kingdom. That is why Jesus specifically taught His disciples to pray, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10 KJV) And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10 KJV) The turning of captivity here refers to the restoration of Israel in the land of Palestine, and we can see that Israel is being persecuted just as Job was persecuted by Satan. In the 42 chapters of the book of Job, the Lord appears to Job in the 38th chapter, as if referring to 38 months in the midst of tribulation. This is the scene where the Lord appears at the end of the tribulation. This can be seen four months before the end of the tribulation, and this can also be seen from the scene that appears in the text of Revelation (Chapter 10). Appears in the form of an angel. Let’s continue with verse 5, And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, (Revelation 10:5 KJV) It is Jesus Christ putting one foot on the land of Palestine and the other on the Mediterranean Sea. Amazing, isn’t it? This isn’t like Jesus at His first coming. Palestine is God’s land. It sits between the three lands God gave to Shem, Ham and Japheth. All countries in the world originate from this region. It is historically evident that the White, Black and Asian people spread from Noah’s three sons.

            Let’s continue to study the scene where the seventh trumpet is sounded and the bride of Christ appears. And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. (Revelation 10:6-7 KJV) Revelation 10:7 and 11:15 speak of Christ Jesus coming to earth literally and physically and visibly to take over the kingdoms of this world, which are literally and materially visible. Since 4000 B.C., Jesus Christ has never taken over the kingdoms of this world. Four thousand years have passed until the first coming of the Lord, but Jesus has never come to this earth in this form. When the seventh angel utters his voice, he announces that all these things will come to pass. It’s mysterious indeed.

            And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. (Revelation 10:8-11 KJV) This voice comes down from heaven. A small book with unknown contents is shown. Clearly it’s the word of God. God once told Ezekiel to eat all the words. Then told him to testify of the book he ate. Lord also said eat my flesh. eat the word. How would we know the fact that this is the word of God? Now look at Amos 3:8, the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?  Then in Psalm 119:103 (KJV) How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! He said the word is sweet as honey. That is why the Word is eaten. You must eat the word, for it is sweet like honey. We must not just listen to it, we must eat the Word. And you must meditate. You have to regurgitate it like cows chew the cud. Only then will it taste like honey. In fact, food doesn’t taste good if you simply swallow it. The more you chew, the better it tastes. The same goes for the word of God. In the Bible, the taste of God’s word is like milk in 1 Corinthians 3, in Hebrews 5, it is like strong meat. Luke 4 says it is like bread, Psalm 119 says it is like honey, and Proverbs 25 says it is like an apple. Just as the food of the world has vitamins, various kinds of fish, vegetables, and meat, so there are all the words of God. I have to eat all of it. If you only drink milk, you won’t grow. Strong meats, the book of Revelation is strong solid food. Only by eating this food can you become healthy, do not become discouraged in the world, and become a soldier of the cross who does not blink an eye no matter what happens. So, does the Word of God keep us from my sins and yours? Or is my sin preventing me from seeing His word? Do I overcome this sin with the word? Or does sin rule over me? This ultimately depends on whether you eat the Word of God or not. That’s why the Apostle Paul told us to put on the full armor of God. We are told to wear the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the shoes of the gospel of peace, and the helmet of salvation. Therefore, we must wear the belt of truth with the Word of God and gain strength. After all, if we leave the Bible without reading and meditating on it, if we leave it in the house, in the car, in the bathroom, in the living room, sin catches up with us. The old evil personalities will attack again. Satan will turn to these things of lying and stealing with anger to bring you back to your old ways. He will even make you doubt whether you are saved or not. Also, you will not bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit and will not be used by God. We will be able to overcome sin and our spirit will become healthy, when we eat all the words of God like honey, meat, milk, vegetables. Why is the Word sweet in your mouth but bitter in your stomach? If you eat all these words to testify of the Lord and point out the sins, you will be persecuted. “You are a sinner and must be saved!” People hate it when you preach it like this. They hate sins being pointed out. That is why the word is sweet in the mouth, but bitter in the stomach. The apostle Paul said, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12 KJV)  Those who abide in the Word and testify to the Word, that is, those who evangelize, will be persecuted. Those who continue to testify to the book of Revelation will suffer persecution. Religions are always popular are they not? Hiding the inner wickedness without showing it. Always saying nice things, flattering people with charismatic ear itching talks “everything will get better”. This is how you become popular isn’t it? But the Bible never does. Religions are the most popular book for the unsaved, but the Bible is called hate literature. People hate the Bible, the word of God, because it point out sins, saying they’ll go to hell, fall into the lake of fire, as it mentions the Devil and eventually disciplines them. When we eat the words of Revelation like John, it is sweet in our mouth, and God will bless you. But when you digest this and witness it, the unsaved people will surround you with, “what are you talking about? Why are you telling me these terrifying things? Why are you talking about hell, devil, lake of fire? They don’t want to hear it.  That’s why it’s bitter when you digest it. But do you want God’s blessings? Or Do you want to be popular? This is the same for the layman or the servant of the Lord. Do you want to be popular with people? Or Do you want God’s blessings? That blessing is not received now, but on the day of Christ when the Lord comes. The Apostle Paul said that I want to be praised on the day of Christ. His last hope was for that day. Therefore, just as Job was blessed in his final year, just as Israel was blessed in the final year, God’s children who believe in Jesus Christ may not enjoy the blessings right now, but even if they are being persecuted right now, if we preach the word and help even one more person stand on the Lord’s side and receive salvation, the Lord’s blessings will overflow on the day of Christ. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ that you will enjoy these blessings of God. Amen.