..........Myspace Codes An Extraordinary Life: Revelation 15-16 ~ Armageddon

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Revelation 15-16 ~ Armageddon

Revelation 15 opens with seven last plagues indicating the very end of the world or judgment day itself. It starts when God's people celebrate the victory of conquering the beast by singing the song of Moses (similar to that in Exodus 15) and the song of the Lamb while playing the harp. Angels then carry out the plagues from the sanctuary and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished (Revelation 15:8) i.e. no one can enter heaven until judgment is complete.

These seven plagues are detailed in chapter 16. Similar to those that struck the Egyptians in Exodus, these plagues consist of sores; death; water turning into blood; fire and scorching heat; darkness, pain and sores; drought and unclean spirits like frogs; and earthquake and hailstones. And just as how the Egyptians were made the earlier targets, these seven plagues target people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image (Revelation 16:2), who have shed the blood of saints and prophets (Revelation 16:6) by persecuting them. It is a final plague and there is no escape as martyrs are avenged for to fulfill their call for judgment in Revelation 6. It is the final battle as the demonic spirits assemble kings of the whole world on this great day of God the Almighty, but those on the dragon's side are defeated and destroyed. Despite these agonizing plagues, verses 9, 10 and 21 tell us that they continued to curse God, unrepentant of their deeds.

This Armageddon is God's righteous anger demonstrating His power, justice and glory. Matthew 10:28 tells us to fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. This beckons the question: whose side will you be on? God's side with His saints who will no doubt win or the dragon's side? Remember what Revelation 16:15 and 2 Peter 3:10-12 warn us: the day of the Lord will come like a thief - we need to repent before then or it will all be too late. So as we wait for His coming, let us continue to be in lives of holiness and godliness.

This coming Sunday, we will be taking a short break from Revelation to explore 2 Thessalonians for the next 4 weeks before returning from winter break to continue our series on Revelation. Be sure to join us every Sunday at Keith Burrows Theatre, UNSW for FOCUS PM church service at 4.30PM! =)

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