March 20 - Seven Bowls of God's Wrath (pt. 2)

March 20 – Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath (pt. 2)
Rev. 16:8-

“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 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.” (Rev. 16:8-9)

Notice the response of hard-hearted people. Even after all of this, they (we?) still refuse to repent and glorify God.

“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 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” (Rev. 16:10-11)

“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. 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. 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.” (Rev. 16:12-14)

Read those two verses again. Though this seems a little like a sci-fi movie with frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon, beast and false prophet, we immediately recognize that their power is now mobile enough to traverse the earth gathering the world for the battle to come.

“’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.’ Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” (Rev. 16:15-16)

The same warning that Jesus gave us in Matthew 24:42 (or Luke 12:35) is found here. Be ready! HE comes like a thief. I doubt that this literally means you are to stay awake at all times, but you definitely need to stay alert, stay watchful, be aware and watch for the Day of the Lord.

The spirits gather the kings of the earth together to a place that is called Armageddon. That name (Armageddon) means “Mount of Megiddo. There is no mountain in Megiddo and this location is one more of the cryptic references that exists in the Revelation. Megiddo is on the western branch of a narrow pass and an ancient trade route which connected the lands of Egypt and Assyria. Because of its strategic location at the crossroads of several major routes, Megiddo saw many battles throughout history.

There is one last battle that will occur in Megiddo. The kings are being gathered for war.