Armageddon
Read This Week: Revelation 16
Then they gathered the kings together to the place in Hebrew called Armageddon. – Revelation 16:16 NIV.
One important thing to remember when taking in a portion of Scripture, like Revelation 16, is that God is, first and foremost, holy. We speak so much about the character of God and His eternal attributes, which are innumerable, glorious, and unrivaled. We often discuss His love, grace, mercy, goodness, patience, and faithfulness. We highlight His peace, comfort, strength, and omniscience.
All these things are true of the Father, but in recalling these characteristics, we must always recognize that the chief among them is His holiness. The supreme quality cascades, allowing the Lord to be the righteous judge. He is worthy of His seat of judgment and justified in His measures of expression because of His holiness. We must keep this in view always, but especially when trying to absorb parts of the Bible like this one.
There is no way to describe this chapter other than brutal and challenging to read. If you love people and care for others like Jesus does and calls us to, reading the ending account in the series of God’s final judgments is heavy and hard to digest. It tells of the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath and the ultimate fall of Babylon, leading to the triumphant return of Jesus Christ to earth. It also brings forth a place (or word) known even in secular circles and referenced as a metaphor for fierce battles, destruction, and apocalyptic conflict. That place or word is Armageddon. It means the hill of Megiddo, “the place of soldiers and slaughter.”
Armageddon is a valley that is twenty miles long and fourteen miles wide. It forms a vast natural battlefield that can contain troops, horses, artillery, and combat tech as far as the eye can see. One can stand on the famed Mount Carmel, look out over Armageddon with its topographical grandness, and understand why it is the gathering place of the world’s armies. It also has historical significance, as it was where Gideon faced the Midianites (Judges 7) and King Saul died (1 Samuel 31). Additionally, many encounters happened here during the Crusades of the eleventh through fifteenth centuries and when the British defeated the Turks in 1917.
The nations’ armies assemble here according to God’s will and are led by the enemy and his demonic factions as they prepare for the final battle with Jesus. Before this occurs, God unleashes his final righteous judgment on the earth through the Seven Bowls.
The first is sores breaking out on people and not going away (v.2). The second and third are reminiscent of the Exodus, where the waters turn into blood and contaminate the water supply (v. 3-6). The fourth, the sun will scorch the earth and burn people (v. 8-9); the fifth will see the world covered in darkness and people begging for light with no relief (v.10-11), and the sixth will be the drying up of the Euphrates river (v. 12-16) that will allow for the invasion of the Holy Land by the armies of the east. The seventh and final judgment is a massive earthquake followed by hail that weighs in the neighborhood of a hundred pounds that falls on people (v. 17-21). This chapter is a harrowing and disturbing account of God’s justice for sin.
Take heart and be encouraged through the difficulty of this chapter. The King of Kings is and will be victorious over evil, darkness, sin, and death. The rage and wrath of the nations and the supernatural but limited power of the devil are no match for Him in our present day and will be no match for Him at Armageddon. We currently face threats of war and uncertainty among nations. Still, we can be confident that in our times and the ones to come, God will exact His holiness, righteousness, and triumph that we will take part in for eternity.
Revelation Chapter 16 verse 2
So the first [angel] went and emptied his bowl on the earth, and foul and painful ulcers (sores) came on the people who were marked with the stamp of the beast and who did homage to his image.
Revelation chapter 16 verse 7
And [from] the altar I heard [the] cry, Yes, Lord God the omnipotent, Your judgments (sentences, decisions) are true and just and righteous!
What God iIs Saying To Me:
Following the worldly gods and idols is not a representation from me, just like my word says that painful ulcers and sores came upon the people marked by the beast, they come upon the people that don’t know me right now. Just look around you! Look at all of the sins people in now such as pornography, drugs, alcohol, gambling, cults and anything else that is not Godly behavior and doesn’t glorify Me. You my child, live in a world suffocated by sores and ulcers and the only way for relief is by the righteous blood of my Son, jesus Christ!
What This Means To Me:
The end times and final totality of God’s wrath is happening right now all around us. The pitfalls of living a life of lies and not living for God produces despair, confusion, unhappiness, and even death, literally and spiritually. God’s love and Hs word is the only way to living a truthful, happy, joyous, spiritual life in the end time. Giving our heart and soul to God,. Following Him and living our lives for him is the only medication of salve to comfort the sores. Thank you God for having justice for us as sinners by the blood of Jesus Christ and providing a cleansing salve to soothe our wounds as we walk throughout life in a sinful world. May we praise your Holy Name because your decisions and actions are just, worthy and righteous. May our eyes and spirits be always mindful of the fact that if not for your decision to sacrifice your only begotten son for us, we would have no justice or favor from you, Oh Lord, and would always walk in darkness licking our own wounds like a dog. I love you Father. God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit! ❤️❤️❤️
Revelation 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame.”)
Father God was saying to me
My child, Today is a new day, you may not know the hour when I return, but until that day when you come home you are blessed when you are clothed Spiritually with my love so it’s important to always be ready and to stay awake spiritually, be ready means to be up for what I need you to do today, always be prepared to give an answer that will help someone, if you feel like you missed it, learn from it, ask me what you can do, I may say I got it but learn from it and be prepared for the next time, be listening to my voice, don’t get discouraged if someone doesn’t receive my love and instructions, your job is to do what I’m asking you to do! Repentance is so important for someone to have a change of heart ❤️ To come to Me to get what they need !
You have an anointing from the Holy One, you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit, always remember to be listening to My voice to be ready not only when I return but be ready to help someone for Me! Always remember the most important thing to share is the Gift of Salvation! ❤️
What that means to me is to always be ready to help someone, Father God has a purpose for my life, so it’s up to me to do my part, I’m blessed that I get to be a servant, it’s a job so I need to be Learning and growing everyday! I’m blessed when I stay awake spiritually, being open to do what my Father wants me to do until He comes to get me! If I’m here when He comes in the end I have to trust Him through those times but I know God will help me through it because He loves me I’m His child!
Thank you Father God because I know you cloth me
With your Love ❤️
This week God blessed me with a song in Revelation chapter 16
He is good
Let’s come together to worship our Lord Let’s come together to worship our Lord, securing our tomorrows bringing God’s love joy hope to others people can’t change the truth the truth changes people so let’s get ready one day soon our Lords coming back, our Lord is coming back, so let’s be the light the light of the Lord, bringing others to share the good news let’s come together to worship our Lord let’s come together to worship our Lord
Amen
Always be ready to be a good servant we know as Christians we don’t want to miss our opportunity’s for what our Father has in store for us. Let’s spread is love to others.
This Week in the Life: Revelation 16
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In this powerful chapter of Revelation 16, God wanted me to pay attention to Verse 10:11
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
God said to me on this: “Introspection is crucial for your growth as a human and spiritual being. If you are not self aware then how can you be aware of anything else? I say this not to shame you but to empower you. To give you the strength to recognize shortcomings and become stronger than you thought possible.”
I am extremely appreciative of this verse. Ego is the soul killer. It is easy for our vision to become clouded when we are too proud or blinded to recognize the truth. It is why so many people have a difficult time accepting truth, because it is difficult to adopt something that goes against the false reality they have created for themselves. With God we have the ability to be self aware and to be introspective and really dig deep even when it’s uncomfortable. Doing so does not make us weak, but makes us stronger than we ever were before with God’s breath behind us, empowering us.
This is what I got from Revelation 16. The bowls of judgement represent My wrath. They have the purpose of bringing repentance and the purpose of bringing punishments. The first bowl was poured on the earth. Those who worshipped the beast and received his mark, are now marked by Me with horrible sores. The second bowl was poured on the sea, and it became blood, which contaminated the sea, and every living creature in the sea died. The third bowl was ” poured on rivers and streams of water, and they became blood” which contaminated all the fresh waters. Those who delighted in shedding the blood of the saints, are now forced to drink blood. The fourth bowl “was poured out on the sun,” which caused men to be scorched. The fifth bowl was “poured out on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness”. “The sixth angel poured out the bowl on the Euphrates river, and it’s water was dried up.” The seventh bowl was “poured out into the air,” and caused a massive earthquake and giant hailstones. “It is done” here means there is no more delay.
What this said to me, was that the will of God may be done on “earth as it is in heaven”. I have to have a readiness to do the will of God. Even though this chapter scares me, I have to remember that God is always in control, and I have to trust Him.