The record of the seven last plagues
is found in Revelation chapters 15 and 16. They are called the
last plagues because they occur towards the end of the
7th Seal, just prior to the Messiah's return.
The 1st plague causes a noisome and grievous
sore to break out on all who have the Mark of the Beast
(Rev. 16:2). So it is obvious that these horrible plagues can
only occur after the Beast has arrived on the world scene
and deluded the majority of mankind into receiving his mark. These
plagues are fearsome, to say the least, and because they are adequately
explained in the Revelation we will only mention two points about
them in this booklet.
1) The seven last plagues are referred to as the Wrath of God. (Rev. 16:1)
Rev.16: | 1: And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.. |
The reader should not confuse the Great
Tribulation with the Wrath of God, because they are
not the same. The Great Tribulation is that terrible time
of trouble mentioned in Rev. 7:14-17 through which multitudes
of believers will pass. It is a time of scorching heat, famine,
thirst and agonising tears for all mankind; and it begins with
the 1st Trumpet at the opening of the 7th Seal. The
Great Tribulation is experienced by the obedient and disobedient
alike with, perhaps, the exception of those believers who accepted
the Seal of Yahweh before the events of the 7th Seal began.
The Wrath of God, on the other
hand, is only experienced by the persistently disobedient, and
it occurs towards the end of the 7th Seal. This means, most
of humanity will experience the great tribulation
believer and unbeliever alike
but only the persistently disobedient will experience the wrath
of God. That is the difference.
2) The seven plagues will be dealt out unmixed with mercy. (Rev. 14:9-10)
For the first time in human history the universe will witness the pouring out of the undiluted wrath of God. Previously when punishing mankind the Almighty has always tempered His anger with a generous measure of mercy. But at the end time it will be very different. For whosoever worships the Beast and receives his mark shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. Wrath, without mixture, means undiluted punishment of the severest kind! To those who accept the Holy Scriptures as the Word of the living God, that prospect is terrifying beyond imagination, and has led us to the conclusion that:
The responsibility of identifying the Mark of the Beast and then publishing information concerning it, is by far the most important and urgent commitment any church organisation could possibly undertake in these last days
Indeed this is the prime reason why the
Stewarton Bible School is sending out this booklet, (and placing
it on the Internet) so that every person who reads it will have
a clear understanding of the momentous issues at stake and know
how to escape the undiluted wrath of the Almighty God.
Encapsulated in a single instruction the route a person must take to escape God's wrath is as follows:
To fear God (Yahweh) means to
respect him, to honour him, to have faith in him, to love him,
to stand in awe of his immeasurable holiness and worth; and above
all to gratefully accept the priceless gift of salvation which
he has made available through his only begotten Son, Yeshua
the Messiah (Jesus Christ).
To keep His commandments needs
little if any explanation. It simply means to obey Yahweh's law
(Exodus 20). Obedience is in fact an expression of faith, the
fruit of faith, the only reliable manifestation of true love to
God. In other words, believers who love the Almighty should seek
to obey His commandments, because faith without obedience is dead
(1 John 5:1-3, James 2:17-26). All those who fear Yahweh and keep
His commandments will most certainly escape His wrath
the seven last plagues. Let the reader pause and note these vital
facts.
Rev.17: | 1: And there came one of the
seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying
unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the
great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2: 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. 3: So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. 4: And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: 5: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. |
The identity of the Great Whore has
been the subject of speculation for centuries. And even though
the various church groups differ as to who she is, almost all
agree that she represents a religious system or organisation
of some kind which has prostituted itself for the sake of popularity,
power or gain. But what kind of a religious organisation
human or angelic? That is the question.
A clue to the answer is given in the text itself. She bears the name of a city, Babylon the Great, which is a mighty metropolis of evil situated on the Great River Euphrates above.
This City:
Rev.17: | 18: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. |
Rev.18: | 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. |
Rev.18: 23 for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. |
Rev.18: | 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. |
Let the reader pause and consider those
four stunning facts, because they mean that Babylon the Great
is an inter-galactic metropolis of awesome authority which is
currently ruling over all the governments of the earth;
a city whose main objectives are to usurp the authority of the
Almighty, abolish His laws and wherever possible annihilate the
prophets and saints who remain faithful to him. In short, the
Great Harlot symbolises a spiritual city on high
the
epicentre of the Kingdom of Satan
a city which is the implacable opponent of the Heavenly Jerusalem
itself.
The daughters of the Great Harlot are her earthly offspring, the religious organisations of men, which have also prostituted themselves for the sake of popularity, power and gain. Like their fallen mother they too have set aside the commandments of Yahweh and have adulterated His truth with errors to numerous to mention. Over and over again they have degraded themselves with Satan and their guilt has now mounted up to the heavens. More details concerning this Harlot and her prostitute daughters can be found in file The Whore of Revelation.
This, then, is the overview of the world in which we live: a world of mystifying extremes, of order on the one hand of confusion on the other, of righteousness and sin, of love and hate, life and death. Oh how few people even suspect that behind the scenes there are those two super-cities above Jerusalem the Golden, the mother of the believing church (Galatians 4:26), the heavenly home-base of all the saints who have ever lived: and Babylon the Great, the implacable opponent of everything holy, just and true.
Of the Heavenly Jerusalem the Scriptures have a great deal to say. Here is just one beautiful passage about her.
Psalm 87: | 6: The LORD shall count,
when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there.
Selah. 7: As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the highest himself shall establish her. |
Galatians 4: | 26: But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. |
Rev.18: | 18: And cried when they saw
the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this
great city! 19: And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. 20: Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 21: And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. 22: And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; 23: And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. 24: And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. |
According to this passage and from others
in the Scriptures the collapse of Babylon the Great is
absolutely guaranteed. Indeed, it is so certain to occur that
the Almighty especially ordered a miniature version of the event
to take place on earth thousands of years ago in the fertile plains
of Mesopotamia. The inspired records of the prophets tell us in
great detail how ancient Babylon was defeated on the very night
its kings and courtiers were honouring their idols in blasphemous
defiance of the God of Heaven (Daniel 5).
On the orders of the Eternal, the earthly Babylon, which as we have pointed out was merely a model of the spiritual metropolis above, was literally demolished as a fearsome forecast to the entire angelic host of what was in store for the Great Harlot above. Consequently, to properly appreciate what is scheduled to occur throughout the mighty universe in the near future, the reader is strongly advised to study the fall of the ancient Babylon as recorded in the Old Testament (Isaiah chapters 13 and 14, Jeremiah chapters 50 and 51). On doing this he/she will quickly see how certain is the collapse of Babylon the Great. When that spiritual capital's collapse occurs this shout of triumph will reverberate across the mighty universe.
Rev.19: | 1: And after these things
I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia;
Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our
God: 2: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3: And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4: And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5: And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6: And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. |
The fall of Babylon the Great
will have immediate repercussions throughout the universe. On
earth an economic crash of unparalleled proportions will occur,
which will permanently cripple thousands of business enterprises
the world over. International trade, which we all know is motivated
mainly by greed rather than anything noble, will come to a standstill
as though smitten by a massive stroke; and many shops, banks,
factories and business corporations around the world will shut
down.
The whole of Revelation 18 is given over to describing the trade and economic side-effects of Babylon's fall. Strange as it may seem, the Revelation clearly indicates that mankind is not only going to share in a small way Babylon's punishment and collapse, but is also going to eye-witness the event itself. Just as human eyes will be permitted to actually see the throne of the living God at the 6th Seal (Rev. 6:16-17) so too at Babylon's fall millions of human beings will actually stand aghast as they see that evil super-city above going up in smoke.
Rev.18: | 9: And the kings of the earth,
who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her,
shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see
the smoke of her burning, 10: Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. |
Then, in a frenzy of awareness, men and woman will realise how terribly deceived they have been in religious matters: how easily the Harlot and her promiscuous earthly daughters had inveigled them into accepting as truth the dubious doctrines of devils. Mankind will then turn in rage on all the religious organisations of men Christian or otherwise and will literally tear them to pieces.
Rev.17: | 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest
upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. |
Goaded on by the Beast, whose deadly dictatorship at that time will be universally accepted, men will abandon themselves to the service of the Man of Sin. It will, indeed, be a Time of Trouble such as never was since there was a nation. But, and this is the most wondrous part of it all, Yahweh's true church, the ekklesia of God, the sealed commandment-keeping servants of the Most High will be saved out of it. During that awesome period the sealed church, symbolised by the pure woman in Revelation chapter 12, will be safe in the wilderness of the nations out of the Devil's reach (Rev. 12:13-16, Ezekiel 20:33-37) See SBS article entitled The Coming Exodus.
In the unseen spirit realms above and
on the earth below there will be total confusion and chaos at
Babylon's fall. But at that time Yahweh's followers throughout
the universe, especially those on earth, will rejoice with joy
unspeakable. For they will have a measure of peace and protection
which no demon will be able to disturb.
Isn't that good news? We think it is. Indeed were it not for those encouraging passages in the prophecy which tell of pardon, peace and protection for those who trust and obey the Almighty, the Revelation would terrify the bravest heart and produce panic in the mind of every believer who read it. It is precisely for this reason that the Stewarton Bible School has put out this booklet, that believers the world over may begin to study the Revelation, understand its symbolism and pay special heed to those inspired passages which indicate that obedience is a vital pre-requisite to protection. For, believe it or not, divine protection is conditional; and the main condition believers must meet to qualify for protection is to add to their faith - obedience.
Remember:
The Almighty God of Israel wants His
followers to Understand the Revelation, to wake up and
prepare for the cataclysmic events scheduled to engulf mankind
in the near future. But far more than this, He wants them to demonstrate
their faith in Him by obeying His law. Do you have the will to
do that? We hope you do, because if you do not you will be overwhelmed
by the troubles which have already begun and are escalating out
of control all over the world.
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