REVELATION LESSON 33

    For this study, we will begin in Revelation 16:11. In the last
lesson, we saw that the suffering of the followers of the beast was so
bad that they gnawed their tongues.

    Revelation 16:11 "And blasphemed the God of heaven because of
their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

    The difficult thing to understand is why they do not repent. Here
again, they curse God and blame God for the problems they have brought
on themselves.

    Revelation 16:12 "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the
great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the
way of the kings of the east might be prepared."

    The Hebrews always believed that their enemies came out of the
Euphrates. Here again this river dries up and the communist countries
come in from the east to start one of the greatest battles ever in
history.  I believe, communist China will come with their great army
and many others who do not fear God.  These evil countries will come
against Israel. This is the battle of Armageddon.

    In Ezekiel chapter 38, we read that 5/6 of the Russians will be
killed in this battle. They are called "Gog in the land of Magog". If
you trace their root, you will find Russia. Millions will be killed in
this battle. We read in Ezekiel that it will take seven months to bury
the dead. Ezekiel 39:12 "And seven months shall the house of Israel be
burying of them, that they may cleanse the land."

    This river dried up because of some of the problems caused by the
other vials. There will be such a drouth that this waterway will dry
up and these armies from the east will come into Israel on dry land.

    Revelation 16:13 "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
[come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the
beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."

    These are evil spirits originating with the devil himself; it
seems that the beast (computer) helps with these deceptive spirits.
The false prophet which works through the church will bring lying,
deceiving spirits.

    I just recently read a book a man has written on demons, and he
described some of the very worst demons as "frogs". They were giant
frogs.

    We do know that even now there are very bad deceiving spirits in
the church. God says that if the time were not shortened even the very
elect could be deceived, Matt.  24:22.   These "...three unclean
spirits..." represent the devil, the world, and the flesh. The
"...dragon..." represents the devil, the world is represented by the
computer ("...beast..."), and the deceit through the flesh represents
the "...false prophet...". I touched on it before, but it is real easy
to see the flesh creeping into many of even the Spirit-filled churches
today.

    Do you remember the Egyptian plague of the frogs? Even then, the
frogs were associated with the devil.  These three are the false
trinity: antichrist, beast, and false prophet. Satan is a counterfeit.
Since there are three in God, (Father, Word, Holy Spirit) then Satan
has three fakes (antichrist, beast, false prophet).

    Revelation 16:14 "For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God
Almighty."

    You see, it tells you here that these are "...spirits of
devils...".  In other words, they are the followers of the devil.
Demons are the fallen angels who followed Lucifer out of heaven. These
"...spirits of devils..." have power to do miracles, just like the
Egyptian magicians copied some of Moses' miracles. Their power is
limited, just as was the Egyptians.  When Moses threw his rod down and
it became a snake, the Egyptians threw two rods down and they became
snakes. The only difference was, that Moses' snake swallowed their
snakes, Exodus 7:9-12.

    The Bible says that at the end, the devil will have power enough
to call down fire from heaven.  His miracles will be so convincing,
that people will believe a lie.  This is deception to the utmost.
These evil spirits are so deceiving, that they convince these armies
to come against Israel. They willingly come to the battle of
Armageddon, believing they will win. This battle is actually the
forces of evil coming against God Himself. This war has actually been
going on for centuries, but here is the culmination of it all.

    Revelation 16:15 "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that
watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see
his shame."

    We see here that this comes unexpectedly. The garment spoken of
here is the robe of righteousness.  We must not despair of His coming
and fall away into sin. We need to walk in righteousness after we
receive our robe of righteousness, washed in the blood of the Lamb.

    Revelation 16:16 "And he gathered them together into a place
called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

    The place where this great battle is to be fought is in Israel.
The blood will run to the horses bridle in this valley of Megeddo
during this battle. This valley is called by the name Jezreal, also.
There have already been twenty battles fought at this very spot, but
never a battle of this magnitude. This battle will be the twenty-first
(3 x 7).
         Three means God.
         Seven means spritually complete.
    God Himself will settle the outcome of this once and for all.
This truly will be the war to end all wars. Shortly after this battle,
Jesus will set up His kingdom.

    Revelation 16:17 "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into
the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven,
from the throne, saying, It is done."

    This "...great voice out of the temple..." was probably God. In
Genesis, when God made the earth in six days, then He said "it is
finished". When Jesus hung on the cross six hours, He said "it is
finished". I believe that is just what this "...It is done..." means
here. I believe this is at the close of the six-1000 year days of work
for the earth, just before the 1000 year sabbath of rest. God would be
the one to decide, and I believe this is Him speaking here.

    Revelation 16:18 "And there were voices, and thunders, and
lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since
men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great."

    We read that there will be an earthquake so great that all of the
mountains will flatten, and that it will be felt around the world.
This has to be that earthquake.  Earthquakes, thunders, and such are
usually from God in His dealing with mankind.

    Revelation 16:19 "And the great city was divided into three parts,
and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in
remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of his wrath."

     This is evil overcome by God.  This just means the devastation of
evil and the world system along with real cities was complete. The
wrath of God is poured out in completeness here, and nothing can
stand. This, also, could be describing an all out nuclear war.  This
is probably both literal and speaking of kingdoms figuratively.

    Revelation 16:20 "And every island fled away, and the mountains
were not found."

    This earthquake was so great, as I said before, that nothing could
stand. The earthquake could be triggered by a nuclear war.

    Revelation 16:21 "And there fell upon men a great hail out of
heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed
God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was
exceeding great."

    This "...great hail out of heaven..." could be just that, a hail.
God has sent hail before as he did on Pharaoh, Exodus 9:23. This,
also, could be bombs that appear to come from heaven, being dropped by
planes . At any rate, if this is real hail, it is the largest ever
recorded.

    Even now, these men do not repent.  Instead of repenting and
asking for God's help, they curse Him. You see, in all of these
plagues, God wants them to repent and turn to Him.

    Additional scriptures to study: Jeremiah 51:31-32, Malachi 4:4,
Zechariah 3:8, Luke 1:78, Matthew 24:44, Luke 12:39, 1 Thessalonians
5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, Zechariah 12:11, 2 Kings 23:29, Judges 5:19,
Joshua 10 :11.

    Memorize Matthew 24:22 and Revelation 16:15.













































                        Revelation Questions 33


1.  What did these followers of the beast do because of their pain?
2.  Upon what river was the vial of the sixth angel poured out?
3.  Why was the water dried up?
4.  Where did the Hebrews believe their enemies came from?
5.  In chapter 38 of Ezekiel, how many Russians are killed?
6.  What are they called?
7.  How many months does it take to bury the dead?
8.  How many unclean spirits came out of the mouth of the dragon ?
9.  What did they look like?
10. What do these three unclean spirits represent?
11. When was there a plague of frogs before ?
12. In V-14, we find they are spirits of ----------.
13. What were they doing that deceived people?
14. Why did they go forth?
15. The devil's miracles will be so great that they will --------
    ---------  -----------.
16. In V-15, He comes as a -----------.
17. Who are the blessed here?
18. Where were they gathered together?
19. How many battles have already been fought here?
20. What is this valley generally called?
21. What does twenty-one mean here?
22. Where did the seventh angel pour his vial?
23. What did the great voice say?
24. How many days did God spend building the earth?
25. How many hours was Jesus on the cross?
26. Approx. how long has it been since Adam?
27. In V-18 there were voices, thunders, lightning and a great
    ------------.
28. What is Babylon symbolic of?
29. What does the city dividing in three parts mean?
30. What happened to the islands and mountains?
31. How much did the hail weigh?
32. When the hail fell, what did the men do?
33. Write Matthew 24:22.
34. Write Revelation 16:15.
35. Write a few sentences about when, where, and why this great battle
    is fought.