The Book of Revelation (page 5)

STUDY INDEX

Page 1 Introduction, Rapture, Judgement of Christians, Marriage Supper

Page 2 Daniel's Dreams and Prophecies

Page 3 Daniel's Vision of Seventy Weeks; Great Tribulation Period

Page 4 Seven Trumpet Judgements; Middle of Tribulation Period

Page 5 Seven Vials; Great Whore; Second Coming; The Millennium

Page 6 Judgement of the Wicked; New Heaven and Earth; Conclusion

The Seven Vial Judgements

The second half of the Tribulation Period begins with the Antichrist in control, ruling and dominating the earth and forcing everyone to worship his image and to take his mark, without which they can neither buy nor sell. The Antichrist has desolated the temple in Jerusalem, and is sitting on the throne in the temple proclaiming and magnifying himself above God and above all gods. Israel has fleed in fear to Petra for protection. At the point, Jesus said that, "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:21). The great earthquakes, fire and hailstorms, the slaughter of one-third of mankind, the destruction of one-third of the grass and trees, the darkening of one-third of the sun and stars, the release of a horde of scorpion-like locusts, will not be comparable to what is coming through the seven vial judgements. "The seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled." (Revelation 15:6-8).

The first angel poured out his vial, or bowl, upon the earth, and "there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image." The second angel emptied his bowl upon the sea, and the oceans became like the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea. Then the third angel poured out his bowl upon the rivers and springs, and they became blood. The angel proclaimed unto God, "Thou art righteous, O Lord..... because thou has judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy." (Revelation 15:5-6). The fourth angel then stepped forward and poured out his vial upon the sun, and the angel was given power to scorch men with the heat of the sun. Again, sadly, men do not repent under such terrible judgement and condemnation, but "blasphemed the name of God, which hat power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory." (Revelation 15:9). The fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, and the people gnawed their tongues because of their pain. Again, they "blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds." (Revelation 15:11). Then the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the river Euphrates, and the river dried up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. John saw the spirits of devils issue from the mouths of the dragon and the beast and the false prophet, and they went throughout the whole world to gather the nations together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And the place toward which they marched for battle was called Armageddon. Before taking a look at the final vial, let's first study John's vision of the Great Whore and the judgement she shall receive.

The Great Whore: Mystery Babylon

One of the seven angels which held one of seven vials came to John and said, "Come hither; I will shew thee the judgment of the great whore..... with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." (Revelation 17:1). The woman John saw sat upon a beast representing the Antichrist which had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet robes and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. She had a golden cup in her hand full of the abominations and filthiness of her fornication. Upon her forehead was written, "Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth." John saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (read Revelation 17:1-18). Verse 9 says that the woman sits upon seven heads which represent seven mountains. There are seven kings, five are fallen, one is, and one is yet to come. And the beast is the eighth and is of the seven. In our earlier discussion there were five kingdoms that ruled over Israel: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece (Daniel's visions began with Babylon). These five have fallen. When John had these visions, Rome was in power over Israel; hence, "one is." The one which is to come represents the ten kingdoms out of which the eighth shall come, which is the Antichrist. The woman, the Great Whore, rode upon the Antichrist using his influence and power to further her agenda.

The Mystery Babylon religion could be a revival of an ancient Babylonian religion, or perhaps a new religion altogether. But, many believe that the Great Whore is representative of the Roman Catholic church. The Catholic church, especially through the Inquisitions, has been responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of Christians through the centuries (the infallible Pope recently apologized for this). Many of the Catholic traditions and doctrines were formulated from the ancient Babylonian religions. For instance, the image of the Queen of Heaven and her Son was replaced with Mary and the baby Jesus. The image of the Babylonian Queen holding a cup in her hand was copied by the Catholics when they minted a coin in 1825 which bore the image of Mary holding a cup, similar to the description of John's vision, and it bore the inscription, "The whole world is her seat." The city of Rome itself sits upon seven hills. The pope and the church's hierarchy perform their rituals while dressed in fine robes and garments, decked with stones and gold. Though her priests take vows of poverty, the Catholic church, is extremely rich. The Vatican contains museums of fine art, and is decorated with golden statues and ornamentation. The Vatican itself is considered a nation, and even has its own national flag and ambassadors, and is a member of the United Nations. Many governments have invited the Pontiff for visits, and allowed him to speak to their people in national forums.

It has always been the goal of Roman Catholicsm to dominate its members and exercise complete control over them, and to spread their religion through fear or force by uniting with government leaders and making Catholicsm the state religion. Such institutions as the confessional help the church to know what its members are doing, and to come to the church, and not Jesus, to find forgiveness, by a combination of confessing and performing acts of penance. Also, in 1545 A.D., church teaching and tradition was proclaimed to be equal in authority to the Bible, opening the door for the leadership to do whatever they desired. They teach many doctrines which are pagan in origin and cannot be found in the Bible, or are even contradictory to Biblical teaching, such as the worship of and the immaculate conception of Mary, chanting and counting prayers, the rosary, prayers to dead saints, and purgatory, a place of suffering for one's sins for a limited time. A loved one's time in purgatory can be shortened by reciting prayers and giving money to the church. The worship and veneration of images, which is blatant idolatry, began as early as the 8th century.

If you have ever conversed with a Catholic, you will notice that most do not talk about what the Bible teaches or what Jesus commands, but they only talk about what the church teaches. Even the Scriptures were forbidden to be read by its members and was placed on the Index of forbidden books by the Council of Toledo in 1229 A.D. I know personally of many Catholics who belong to the church because they can live any way they want to. They are considered saved and in good graces with the church as long as they come to mass and the confessional an appropriated number of times each year. For them, it is just a convenient way of having religion without altering their lifestyle ("having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof"). But, there are many sincere Catholics in the church today who have good hearts and seek the truth. They love the Lord and long to serve Him. But they have been deceived by this false copy of Christianity and need to come out from her (for more information please visit www.pro-gospel.org).

Near the end of the Tribulation, we see, in John's vision, the ten kings are consumed with hatred for the Great Whore and shall destroy her, for "God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will." (Revelation 17:17).

Babylon, the City

We also see in Revelation 18 a literal city called Babylon which will be destroyed at the end of the Tribulation. Whether it is the actual city rebuilt or is representative of another city is unclear. We do know that Iraq has made plans to rebuild the city and ignite the former glory their nation once had in ancient times. Ads were placed in national newspapers across the world several years ago advertising for someone to determine how the Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon were constructed as part of this rebuilding plan. The city will become an international center of commerce and trade, and will boast of her greatness of influence (Revelation 18:7-19). In one hour the city will be turned to rubble, and all the kings of the earth will see the smoke of her burning as it rises upward. Like any international trade city, such as New York City in the USA, opportunities for sin will be widespread, and will no doubt be multiplied to a greater degree in the city of Babylon. "Come out of her my people, "the voice from heaven pleaded, "that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." (Revelation 18:4-5).

The Seventh Vial: The Second Coming and the Battle of Armageddon

The seventh angel poured his vial into the air, and a great voice from Heaven thundered, "It is done." Then there were voices, thunder and lightning, and a great earthquake, so mighty such as the world has never seen. Mountains crumbled, islands sank into the sea, and great cities across the earth were demolished. The city of Jerusalem was divided by this earthquake into three parts. And a great hail fell from heaven, with each hailstone weighing about a talent (100 pounds), and it fell upon all men. "And men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Revelation 16:17-21). In the valley of Megiddo, at the place called Armageddon, the armies of the kings of the earth have gathered together into place.

John said, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven (that's us!) followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Revelation 19:11-21). Concerning this great war, the parenthetical chapter 14 of Revelation declared, "The angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." (verse19-20).

The Thousand Year Reign of Christ

"It is done," said the voice from Heaven. What was done? "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to FINISH the transgression, and to make an END of sins, and to make RECONCILIATION for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy." (Daniel 9:24). This terrible war of Armageddon, now complete, ushers in the great Millenial reign of Jesus Christ. Micah the prophet said of this day, "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Micah 4:1-3).

John saw in his vision, "An angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:1-4).

With Satan bound and out of the way, it will be a great time of prosperity, peace and righteousness, and the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the land. There will be no denominations, and the body of Christ will be in complete unity, worshipping God in spirit and in truth. There will be no more killing or war as swords are beaten into plowshares. Even animal natures will change as, "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 65:25). But even in this time of prosperity, many people who suffered through the Great Tribulation will not have surrendered totally to God in their hearts. They will still be bitter and angry, and will be given one more chance to choose life or death.