12
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood; 13 And the stars of
heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when
she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And
the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places. 15
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on
us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the Lamb: 17 For the great day
of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
Here, God’s
wrath is being poured out on the Beast’s kingdom. The sixth and seventh seals
appear to be happening either at the same time or very close to each other. What
we have just seen here is the rise of the Beast and his kingdom, a great
conqueror whose power comes from Satan. This is an overview but specifics are
coming. Chapter 13 also gives us details about his reign, its spiritual origin,
and how long it will be. This destruction that comes from God during the
Beast’s reign is what Paul promised that the church would be delivered from;
God’s wrath, not the Beast’s wrath whom we popularly call the Antichrist.
John the
Baptist asked this question of the self-righteous religious leadership of his
day.
Matthew 3:7
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism,
he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Paul assured
the church they would not face this wrath
of the Lamb.
1Thessalonians 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he
raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Here is
chapter 13 about the Beast’s reign which will be discussed later.
Revelation 13:1 ¶ And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw
a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his
horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a
leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of
a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were
wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered
after the beast. 4 And they worshipped
the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast,
saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking
great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against
God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war
with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all
kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall
go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the
sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
11
¶ And I beheld another beast coming up
out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of
the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by
the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast;
saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the
beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image
of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as
many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he causeth all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads: 17 And that no man
might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the
number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom.
Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the
number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
As we will
see, the Beast, who is wounded and may not be even able to talk and stand, is
worshipped by order of his evil coworker, the second Beast, through an image.
Perhaps in the need to cement an authority that God’s wrath is making almost impossible
to maintain, he creates this mark. It is a matter of control. We’ll discuss
these verses in 13 in detail later.
Who is
calling down these horrible judgments?
Revelation 11:1 ¶ And there was given me a reed like unto a
rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the
altar, and them that worship therein. 2
But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not;
for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the
holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3
¶ And I will give power unto my two
witnesses, and they shall prophesy a
thousand two hundred and threescore days [42 months], clothed in sackcloth. 4 These are the two olive trees, and the two
candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. 5 And if any man will hurt them, fire
proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will
hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. 6 These have power to shut
heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over
waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often
as they will. 7 And when they shall
have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street
of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our
Lord was crucified. 9 And they of the
people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three
days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
10 And they that dwell upon the earth
shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another;
because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. 11 And after three days and an half the Spirit
of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great
fear fell upon them which saw them. 12
And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up
hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld
them. 13 And the same hour was there a
great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake
were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave
glory to the God of heaven.
14
¶ The second woe is past; and, behold,
the third woe cometh quickly. 15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat
before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, 17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God
Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee
thy great power, and hast reigned. 18
And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the
dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy
servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small
and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven,
and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings,
and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
By the sixth
seal, the description of the Beast’s kingdom in chapter 13, and the two
witnesses ascension we see when a translation/resurrection will be; just before
the wrath of God annihilates the Beast’s kingdom. The last trumpet is in verse
15 of chapter 11.
1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Corinthians 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
More on this
later. What is happening to the Jews during this 3 ½ years, this 42 months?
Here is the history of Satan’s action against them as symbolized by the 42
chapters of Job’s suffering, ending in his restoration.
Revelation 12:1 ¶ And there appeared a great wonder in heaven;
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being
with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. [Christ] 3
And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of
the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood
before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as
soon as it was born. 5 And she brought
forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her
child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. [Christ’s two advents
mentioned in one passage] 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand
two hundred and threescore days. 7 And
there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and
the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was
cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power
of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night. 11 And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and
they loved not their lives unto the death.
12
¶ Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye
that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the
devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he
hath but a short time. 13 And when the
dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which
brought forth the man child. 14 And to
the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, [3 ½ years] from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water
as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the
flood. 16 And the earth helped the
woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the
dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the
dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her
seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus
Christ.
The Beast, a
great conqueror operating under the power of Satan, builds his kingdom on war and
conquest resulting in famine, disease, and death. He persecutes and murders
Gentile and the Jews who believe, the latter fleeing to the wilderness, the
former being murdered wholesale. God’s wrath is brought to bear on him at which
time God’s people are removed to heaven. The false prophet, the Beast’s right
hand man, after the Beast is wounded, perhaps by a stroke or an assassination
attempt, causes the Beast to be worshipped and the mark to be taken. Now, we go
into detail about those 3 ½ years we call The Great Tribulation.
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