 recording on. Well, the recording is on. Welcome everybody to BC 308. I had just started doing a little review of the book of Revelation, just the previous chapters, and I had forgotten to turn the recording button on, and Christopher reminded me. So we're a few minutes into the class, but we're just doing a quick review of things that they've already spoken. Thank you, Christopher. So we're just doing a review, and we've covered little chapters 14. I'm just reviewing some highlights of these chapters. We saw in chapter 12 how chapter 11, 12, and 13, they started the middle of the Tribulation on, and chapter 11 is about the two witnesses who are doing the ministry in the second half of the Tribulation. They are in Jerusalem, they're doing mighty science, and one of the whole world is watching them. They minister for three and a half years. Chapter 12 is how Satan is going after Israel. He knows his time is short, so he's going after Israel, and he's going after those who have the testimony of the Lord Jesus. Chapter 13 is about how the Antichrist and the false prophet, the beast and the second beast, and we see that in chapter 13 the Antichrist is drawing worship to himself, and the false prophet is assisting in this whole thing. He's setting up an image of the beast, and he's getting people to worship the image of the beast, the false prophet. So basically we see two things happen. One is a global economic system that tries to control people in their buying and selling, and a global religious system that tries to get people to worship the Antichrist, the image of the beast. So these two things we see introduced in chapter 13. Then we came to chapter 14, which is again a chapter that is telling us that here are some other things that are going to happen. There's a chapter of announcements. In chapter 14, the first part of chapter 14, we see the 144,000 Jews in heaven. So we were saying last class, last week, we don't know exactly how they get to heaven, whether they die and they were resurrected and then taken up into heaven, or were they just fractured directly into heaven. It's not very clear, but going by the text, especially by the word the first fruits, it's very likely that they died and were resurrected, or they experienced this resurrection, so glorified bodies, but they were first fruits redeemed from among men during the Tribulation, because at the end of the Tribulation, every believer who died during the Tribulation will be raised up, so that is there, that's coming up. But these people are getting it ahead of time, so they are early, they are first fruits of what others would experience, which is they died during the Tribulation, but they were resurrected and received glorified bodies, so most likely going by that word first fruits, and by the fact that they were redeemed from among men during the Tribulation, we can presume, and we can't say for sure, but we can presume that perhaps they died, they were resurrected, they received glorified bodies and they were taken up into heaven during the Tribulation. So that is up to verse 5, Revelation chapter 14 verse 5. We're going to pick up now in verse 6 onwards and read from here, Revelation chapter 14, starting from verse 6, could somebody read up to verse 13? Sorry, we'll take turns, so each one can read 3 verses, Revelation chapter 14 verses 6 to 13, please, 3 verses each. The proclamation of three angels, then I saw another angel flying in the mist of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with the loud voice, fear God, and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who met heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water. And another angel followed, saying Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great sin too, because she has met all nations, drink of the wine of her permutation. And another angel, a third father, saying with the loud voice, if anyone worships the beast and receives a mark on his forehead, or on his head, or in his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's rock, pour full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be fermented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lord, and the smoke of their permanent goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest there or night, but those worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. What's this, 12 and 13, please? Here is the patience, here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, that I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, right, bless others there who died alone from now on. Yes, says the spirit, that they may rest from their neighbors and their works follow them. Okay, thank you. So, in Revelation 14 verse five onwards, what we actually see is we see God use five angelic proclamations. That means there are five angels commissioned by God, sent by God to make some announcements or proclamations. So we've read three of them. The first angel that's in verse six is announcing the everlasting gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue. So there's one angel saying, hey, people, you need to worship God. You need to worship the true and living God. Now, this is something unusual or let's say, I would say, maybe not unusual, but uncommon because we know that in the church age, the Lord has appointed the church to proclaim the gospel. So the church age, meaning from the day of Pentecost around 80, 30, to the time the church is here on earth and until the church is raptured, the responsibility of proclaiming the everlasting gospel is on the church. And now when the angels appear to people, that does happen, but it's not all the time. People or the responsibility of proclaiming the everlasting gospel to the nations is given to the church. But now we're seeing something very unusual happen in the second half of the tribulation, Revelation 14, that an angel of God is proclaiming the everlasting gospel to people of every nation, tribe, and tongue. And basically getting people to turn to God. So why God would do that at that time? Again, it's something that we could think about. We could share some thoughts on that. One reason can be, well, the church has been taken out of the way. Of course, there are people believing in Jesus, but many of them are being killed, right? Because that's what the devil is doing in Revelation 12. We saw how he's going out with vengeance against everybody who has a word of God in the testimony of Jesus Christ. The devil is going out after them. The Antichrist is going after them. The false prophet is going after anyone who believes in Jesus. So you can imagine these people are being killed. And so the church is not there. The people who are there are being killed. So it's most likely these two reasons are contributing to why God is using an angel to proclaim the gospel to the nations. That's just thought. I'm not saying we can prove it from the scriptures. I'm just saying, you know, we're just reasoning. We are thinking. There's also in some books that you might read, some people would even take this further and say, well, maybe, you know, this proclamation of the gospel to the nations could actually very well be because the word angel, simply the word angel in its generic form means messenger. Now it could refer to any kind of message, a human or angelic. And so some people venture out to say that maybe these are satellites that are going around the world, you know, they're constantly beaming the gospel to all the nations, which is happening right now. And there are satellites out there that the gospel is being being all around the world. So some people venture out to say, maybe that's what could happen. Well, we don't know. We just stay with the context. The context is referring to angelic beings because we have four other angels doing some certain announcements. So we just stay with that and say, well, the four other angels have to be angelic beings. So then this one also is an angelic being. So but what's interesting to think that this contrast between the church age and what happens in the tribulation is an interesting thought. The God is using angel, an angel to proclaim the everlasting gospel. The second angel is making another announcement, we'll say it. That Babylon is fallen. So they're making announcements in advance, similar to what we saw, you know, earlier on when towards the end of chapter. Chapter 11, second half chapter, where there was an announcement made about the kingdoms of the earth becoming the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, meaning they're announcing that this is coming. It's coming. It's very close. So here's another angel announcing that Babylon is fallen. Now, when we get to chapters 17 and 18, we will see what this Babylon is. But baby, it basically chapter 17 talks about a mystery Babylon. And chapter 18 talks about the great city Babylon. They're both using the same term Babylon, but are referencing two different things. But this angel is announcing the fall of Babylon of both mystery Babylon and the city Babylon, chapter 17 and 18, which will happen then. But this announcement is coming. Hey, Babylon is fallen basically is telling people. Don't put your trust in Babylon. It's going to collapse. It's going to come down. So the angel is warning. Third angel verse nine is a very stern warning. It's a very clear warning. This angel is saying, don't receive the mark of the beast. Don't worship the beast. Don't. Because if you do, you will not be able to stand before God. You'll be sent away forever from the presence of God. So here's the third angel warning the people not to receive the mark of the beast. So the situation on earth is going to be so previous that God is actually going to have these angelic messengers announcing these things around the world, probably angelic appearances coming happening, visible appearances coming forth to different people around the world, giving them these messages. And this third angel is warning people, don't receive the mark of the beast. Because there's only one option, only one option. You've got to endure verse 12. You've got to have patience. You've got to endure. You've got to keep the commandments of God in the faith of Jesus. That's the only option. So again, this reaffirms the fact that there will be people who have the faith of Jesus during the tribulation. There will be people being saved, but it's going to be so hard, so difficult. Let's read from verse 14 to verses 20. We'll read the next two angels or what the next two angels announce. Verses 14 to verse 20, pre-verses each place. Then I looked at behold a white cloud and on the cloud sat one like his son of man, having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud. Trust your sickle and read, for the time has come for you to read. For the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who sat on the cloud, trust in his sickle on the earth and of course, read. And another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Another angel came out from the altar. The angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle. Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for eight grapes arrive. So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city and blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse's brittle for 1,600 stadia. Thank you. So next two angels are telling us what is going to happen. Very interesting. The next two angels are using some images that we are very familiar with. One is a sickle gathering harvest. Another is the winepress. You cut the grapes from the wine and throw the wine into the winepress. So one sickle, this fourth angel sickle cutting the harvest. Fifth angel sickle cutting grapes, putting it into the winepress. Now these are biblical images. Sickle cutting the harvest, representing harvest of souls, people being brought into God's kingdom. Grapes being thrown into the winepress. Winepress representing judgment because in those days they threw the grapes into the vat, the big place. And then men would, people would stomp on it, you know, walk on that, like crush the grapes to get the juice. So it was a symbol of symbolic of judgment. So basically the next two angels are announcing two things are going to happen in this final, see we are in the final stages now of the tribulation. Two things are going to happen. There is going to be a great harvest of souls. Both angel, but there is also going to be great judgment on the people coming. So both are going to happen. There's going to be great harvest of souls, people, because there's the angel proclaiming the everlasting gospel, there's the angel warning people, don't receive the mark of the beast. There's an angel telling people Babylon is going to fall, so don't put your faith in Babylon. So there is going to be a great harvest of souls. Or people have faith in Jesus, but there's also going to be a great judgment. Now, the judgment is going to be so great. Verse 20 says, blood, blood is going to flow. Now you translate that to, you know, you translate that to modern measurements, it's about 180 miles. Blood is going to flow for 180 months from outside the city of Jerusalem. It's going to be as high as the horse's bridle. Meaning, the man's sitting on a horse about five feet above the ground, or four or five feet above the ground, the horse is bridle. So that's how, that's just a picture, a description of the kind of judgment, devastation that's going to come. And the angels are announcing that. So now we move into chapter 15. The chapter 15 is a preparation chapter saying, okay, we're coming down now to the last set of judgments. This is like the final thing, the second row, the final row, the last set of judgments. These are the bowls, seven bowls of judgments are going to be poured out on the earth. And it's the angels are getting ready for this. And we are now coming towards the end of the tribulation. What is going to happen? So chapter 15 is a small chapter. Let's read the full chapter, three verses each place and then we will go forward. I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign, seven angels with the seven last plagues, last because with them God's wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass, blowing with fire and standing beside the sea. Those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held the harps given them by God and sang the song of God's servant, Moses and of the Lamb. Eight and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Best and true are your waves, King of the nations. And one of the four living priests gave to the seven angels. Seven golden bowls full of wrath of God who lives forever and ever. And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. And no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven place of the seven angels were finished. Thank you. So chapter 15 is a short chapter. But it tells us two important things. One, that during this tribulation there are going to be multitudes of people who have victory over the beast. So while the Antichrist, the beast, is going to do his work here. Like we read in chapter 13, try to get people to worship the image of the beast, take the mark of the beast. There are going to be people who refuse it. They allow victory over the beast and the image and the number. And we see that this multitude is standing and worshiping God in heaven. That means they have died. They have lost their lives physically. But the spirit is now in heaven. And they're standing on the sea of glass before the throne of God worshiping. And then, so that's one assurance, one part of what's happening. And then comes the time for the final set of seven judgments. The angels have become ready. And very interestingly, it's saying that at that moment, when these seven angels come up to pour out the wrath of God, this is the final set of seven judgments. It says, God's glory just fills the temple. And no one is able to enter the temple until this last set of judgments is poured out. It's almost like God is revealing his glory. And yet, at the same time, God has to do this. He has to pour out this final set of judgments. And he's a God of great glory, but he's also a God of great justice. And this is an expression. The judgments are an expression of this judgment towards sin and what's happening, or what has happened on the earth. So we come into chapter 16, which just takes us through these last set of seven judgments. Which, when we come into the last two, basically, the last two of the seven bowls of judgment, it is saying, okay, now at this time, there's going to be the battle of Armageddon. So these bowl judgments lead us right into the battle of Armageddon, the build up towards the battle of Armageddon, the final climax of everything. And it's interesting that when we read, especially the sixth bowl, it's interesting that today, when you look at what's happening, it's almost seems like, hey, things are moving exactly in that direction, exactly in the direction. And you will see, you will see. Okay. So let's read this little by little. Let's read the first seven verses, please, of Revelation 16. We will look at these last set of seven judgments, the seven bowl judgments. Sir, Revelation 16, 1 to 7. Yes, please. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, go and pour out on the earth the seven bowl bowls of wrath of God. So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth and harmful and painful source came upon the people who bought the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became like the blood of the corpse and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the reverse and the springs of water and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the water say, just are you, oh, holy one who is and who was and for you brought these judgments but they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink is it is what they deserve. And I heard the altar saying, yes, Lord, God, the almighty, true and just are your judgments. Thank you. So the bowl judgments, first floors upon those who received the mark of the beast, really destroying them. Second, the water, the sea becoming blood, killing all the living creatures. Third, all the drinking water once again being affected. What is interesting, just as an observation, in this third bowl, there is verse five as an angel of the waters. You contrast this to the angel who was bound or the angels were bound to the river Euphrates who who were released, who this is in chapter nine, you know, the earlier chapter nine was 14, the angels who were bound to the river Euphrates and those angels at his revelation nine, 14, 15, those angels connected to the river Euphrates actually went and caused destruction. Here, Revelation 16, five, there's an angel of the waters. This angel is worshipping God. So it seems like, as we have said in the past, angels have territorial assignments. That means they are connected to or assigned to, I'm not saying all angels, but there are angels who have territorial assignments, both from God's angels as well as demonic spirits, demonic angels, which we have seen. We see the book of Daniel. We're seeing it now coming, being highlighted in the book of Revelation. And this angel, this particular angel, Revelation 16, sorry, verse five, is associated geographically with the waters, stewarding or carrying or taking care, but this angel is an angel that worships God. Unlike the angels around the river Euphrates, that region, they were angels who instigated destruction or caused destruction. You see the difference. Just as a side note, so three bowls of judgment, each causing different devastations on the earth. Let's read on from verse eight through to verse 16, please. And this is kind of bringing us to the final judgments. Revelation 16, eight through 16, please. Somebody, three verses each. Somebody else can do that. Thank you. First, along with the cease 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. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God Almighty. Behold, I am coming like a thief, pleasant is the one who stays awake, keep his garment on, that he may not go about naked and be seen as post. Yeah, verse 16, and they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. So, the fourth angel, verse number eight, the fourth angel, is causing, when that judgment is poured out, there is such intense heat from the sun. And people are so scorched with heat. Now, if you want to look at it, look at this from, as a scientific perspective. Now, God doesn't need to depend on the progress in science to make this happen. Obviously, God can just do it. But what I'm just pointing to, yes, from a scientific perspective, it's almost like the world is heading in that direction. With what we understand about climate change, the ozone layer being depleted, and therefore, more and more of the earth being exposed to the radiation from the sun, we are understanding those things from a scientific perspective. But here, it's almost like saying the thing that we are afraid of today is actually happening there in Revelation 16, 8 and 9. The heat from the sun is so intense, people are being scorched. I'm not saying God depends on science to make it. No, it's not. I'm just saying it's actually happening there. Revelation 16, 8 and 9. But we see that people don't repent. They are blaspheming God, some of the people on earth. The fifth judgment is being poured out, and there is darkness, and people are now, this is a culmination of everything. There is the source that are happening. There are the waters that have been turned. They're not able to drink it. They become like blood. There is intense heat. Now there is darkness, and people are blaspheming God because of all of these things happening. It's like almost the whole weather conditions have become chaotic, and people are blaspheming God. But now, something significant happens in the sixth ball. The river Euphrates is dried up. It's interesting to see what's happening as recent news. If you just look up online on the river Euphrates, the water level is going down. Portions of it are drying up. Now it has been happening, but it's even more so of late. And now obviously, from a biblical perspective, when you look at it, it says, oh, that's quite interesting because here in Revelation 16, verse 12, the Bible said 2,000 years ago, John wrote, the river Euphrates would be dried up. And so today when we see that, hey, it's kind of getting there, it becomes very interesting observation. Now some people, of course, you'll read these articles online. They explain it from a scientific perspective. Oh yeah, because people are not caring for the river and all these things are happening. The river is drying up. That's from an environmental, scientific perspective. Explanations are being given. Fine. But Revelation 16-12 was written 2,000 years ago and it was foretold that the river Euphrates would dry up. Now even if the river Euphrates was on full flow, maybe even the water levels are rising, doesn't matter. God can make it dry up in an instant. But it's interesting just as an observation to see that these physical conditions are actually causing the water levels to go down and try patches to appear around the river. But here in Revelation 16-12, it's going to be dried up and it's going to enable armies to move. Now, of course, today we know that armies can, you know, fly and they move in so many different, on the seas, fly in the air. But we also know that there are armies that move on the ground, the tanks and so on. And so it's going to facilitate that happening. But the sixth ball is very significant because it says in Revelation 16-12, kings from the east, kings from the east are going to be prepared to do what, to attack. They're going to move into battle all on this focal point in Mount Megiddo, the northern part of Israel, the valley of Megiddo. They're all going to come there. It's going to become a focal point. And so the drying up of the river Euphrates is one of the things that are saying time has come. The armies of the east are going to get ready. They're going to move in. Now, another thing, significant thing is this. There is a spiritual dimension to this. He tells us in verses 13 and 14 that through the mouth of the beast and the false prophet, originating from the dragon, evil spirits are going to be released to go and instigate the nations. It says there in verse 14, they go out to the kings of the earth. They're going out to kings representing the leaders of the earth to gather them together for this great battle. In other words, this sixth bone judgment is very significant because it is the starting of the preparation for the battle of Armageddon. The physical sign is the drying up of the river Euphrates. In the spiritual, Satan, the dragon, is releasing demonic powers through the anti-crush and the false prophet to instigate the leaders of the nations to get them ready to come in battle towards Israel. So that's the thing that's happening. Kings from the east are going to move in. Who's instigating them? The anti-Christ and the false prophet. But really, it's demonic powers all at work getting these people to come in. Now, when we when we study in detail from Ezekiel the 38th chapter, Daniel chapter 11, which we saw the last part of Daniel 11 and Zechariah the 14th chapter, we see the, I'm jumping ahead of myself now, but we see that the build up towards the battle of Armageddon takes place in stages because the first mover in this battle, and you read this in Ezekiel 38, it's described there, are the tribes from Russia, Cuba. These are tribes in Russia. So basically, Russia moves first along with its Arab allies, Persia, Turkey, Egypt, the mover. So that's the first move, but Israel pushes them back. They go away. The next move is the kings of the east, the armies of the east mentioned here. That means most likely, and it doesn't mention by name, but most likely they are thinking of a big country like China joining hands with Russia, moving east of Jerusalem, east of Israel, moving in. And the final stage is all armies of the earth coming in to fight. There will be those who stand by Israel and there will be those who pose Israel coming in to fight. And the valley of Megiddo, northern part of Israel, becomes a place of conflict. And the final reason, this is Joel chapter three, verse one and two, the final reason that these armies are moving in is Joel three, verse two says, they have come to divide up my land. So that's the final, you know, like there are those nations who say the land must be divided. There are those who say, no, we're standing by Israel. The land should not be divided. Big, what we would call us, World War, which is Revelation 16, 16, the battle of Armageddon, the final battle. So the sixth bowl is significant because it signals the beginning of the preparation for this final battle of Armageddon. You all with me so far? I'm trying to tell it like a story. You can imagine the movie happening. Okay, let's take a little break. We'll come back and we will continue this from verse 17 onwards. Okay. Thank you.