Revelation 14 is quite interesting, but it is all about things that happen in heaven and are likely all about events that are described in the other chapters. A few good quotes that are relevant to this threads stated intent:
9Â*Â*Â*A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,
10Â*Â*Â*he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
11Â*Â*Â*And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."
12Â*Â*Â*This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.
It is fairly clear that if one receives the mark, whatever it may be (and it will be clear when it happens that it is the mark), they will be under the judgment of God when all is said and done. There is shown no way to recant once you have taken the mark either. The only instance I can find in scripture where possibly something cannot be forgiven, or maybe once you take the mark you will not be interested in forgiveness... On this point I am very unsure.
Revelation 15 takes us into the seven last plagues that will strike the earth and all in it. These are the last and they are God's judgment of the earth in its finality.
5Â*Â*Â*After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened.
6Â*Â*Â*Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests.
7Â*Â*Â*Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever.
8Â*Â*Â*And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Which leads us into Chapter 16. The wrath of God on those that chose to worship the AntiChrist is poured out here. The Physical manifestations are described here.
Revelation 16
1Â*Â*Â*Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."
2Â*Â*Â*The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
Boils and sores that are painful and ugly, only for those that worshipped the AntiChrist and took the mark.
3Â*Â*Â*The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4Â*Â*Â*The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
5Â*Â*Â*Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged;
6Â*Â*Â*for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."
These plagues will affect the whole world, but is aimed specifically at those who martyr God's servants. It specifically points out that you will reap what you sow. If you plant death and bloodshed you will get death and bloodshed when all is said and done.
8Â*Â*Â*The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire.
9Â*Â*Â*They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify Him.
People will be so unwilling to accept that God is God that they, even in the face of all that is going on, will be unwilling to say that they were wrong and that God is who He says He is. But, they will acknowledge that God is responsible for the plagues, and will curse him for them. A strange mixture to say the least.
10Â*Â*Â*The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony
11Â*Â*Â*and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
The kingdom of the AntiChrist will be the earth, and the darkness will be so great that nothing will likely be able to break it. Not a light bulb, not the sun, not a candle. Likely it will be like the plague in Egypt where it was so dark it could be felt. And still people will refuse to acknowledge God.
12Â*Â*Â*The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.
This is leading up to the battle of Armageddon. The last battle between God and Satan. Spoiler, Satan loses.
13Â*Â*Â*Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14Â*Â*Â*They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15Â*Â*Â*"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16Â*Â*Â*Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The Evil spirits can be literally translated to unclean spirits which is the phrase used to describe demons throughout the bible. This seems to imply that demons will influence and possibly posess the rulers of the world and cause them to come to the battle of Armageddon to oppose God with them. The battle never happens however. It is ended by God with the next bowl. Sort of anticlimactic, but a good indicator of God's power.
17Â*Â*Â*The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
18Â*Â*Â*Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.
19Â*Â*Â*The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
20Â*Â*Â*Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.
21Â*Â*Â*From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
In other words, God simply spoke and the world was laid to waste. A great earthquake, larger than any before, likely 10+ on the richter (sp?) scale. Every city collapsed, all of them. Hailstones of 100+ lbs fell from the sky crushing any they hit. And still they cursed God. This appears to end what will happen on earth. After that there is the judgment. But that is another topic altogether.
Let me close with this final statement. I started this thread because I was hearing a lot of people making claims that they think we are in the last days right now with all that is going on in the middle east, how technology is progressing, the Formation of the EU, and so on. This was a thread to find out what everyone here thought about how it would end. It was not to say that any of this is happening now, nor was it to say that i know when it will begin and how long it will be. It is my interpretation of a part of scripture that God never intended for anyone, not even John who wrote it, to know the time or the day.
It is something that interests me in passing and I do not spend my days brooding over it, and neither should any. We should spend our days living as if the next day will be our last, and as if Jesus were physically here with us now. I hope the thread at least entertained you if nothing more. If you have any comments you would like to make feel free. Do not expect me to remain silent if they need a response. I will respond to any that request it, or by their phrasing demand it. That is not a challenge, just a comment.
God bless all of you, truly. I have enjoyed this thread, and even if we disagree on many things I really enjoy speaking with all of you. Thank you!
NoahJ
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." - Mahatma Gandhi
NoahJ
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." - Mahatma Gandhi
