Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

Continue with The Gathering to Armageddon

What, though, is implied by the warning that those found sleeping would be shamed by losing their "outer garments"?  In ancient Israel, any priest or Levite on guard duty at the temple had a heavy responsibility.  Jewish commentators  tell us that if anyone was caught sleeping on such duty, his garments could be stripped from him and burned, so that he was publicly shamed. 

Jesus here warns that something similar can happen today.  The priests and Levites foreshadowed Jesus' appointed brothers. (1 Peter 2:9)  But Jesus' warning applies by extension to the great crowd too.  The outer garments here referred to identify the wearer of a Christian witness of Jehovah.  (Compare Revelation 3;18; 7:14)  If any allow the pressures of Satan's world to lull them to sleep or into inactivity, they are likely to lose these outer garments-in other words, lose their clean identification as Christians. Such a situation would be shameful.  It would put one in danger of losing out completely. 

The need for Christians to stay awake becomes even more pressing as the next verse of Revelation comes closer to fulfillment:  "And they [the expressions inspired by demons] gathered them [the earthly kings, or rulers] together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon."  (Revelation 16:16) This name,  more commonly rendered Armageddon, occurs only once in the Bible. but it has fired mankind's imagination. World leaders have warned of a possible nuclear Armageddon. Armageddon has been linked also  with the ancient city of Megiddo, the site of many decisive battles in Bible times, and some religious leaders  have therefore speculated that the final war on earth will take place in that limited area. In this, the are far wide of the truth. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -Conclusion of  The Gathering to Armageddon

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

The Gathering to Armageddon

John tells us:  "And I saw three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons of perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty." (Revelation 16:13, 14)  In Moses' day, Jehovah brought a loathsome plague of frogs on Pharaoh's Egypt, so that "the land began to stink."
  (Exodus  8:5-150 During the Lord's day, there has also been a disgusting froglike visitation, though from a different source.  It consists of Satan's  "uncleaned inspired expressions," clearly symbolizing propaganda designed to maneuver  all human rulers, "kings," into opposition to Jehovah God. Satan thus makes sure that they are not swayed by the pouring out of the bowls of God's anger but are firmly on Satan's side when "the war of the great day of God the Almighty" begins.  

The propaganda comes from "the dragon" (Satan) and "the wild beast" (Satan's earthly political setup), creatures that we have already met up with in Revelation. What, though, is "the false prophet"?  This is a newcomer in name only.  Previously, we were shown a wild beast with two horns like a lamb that performed great signs before the seven-headed wild beast.  This deceptive creature acted like a prophet for that wild beast. It promoted worship of the wild beast, even causing an image to be built to it.  (Revelation 13:11-14) This will beast with two horns like a lamb must be the same as "the false prophet" mentioned here.  Confirming this, we read later that the false prophet, like the symbolic wild beast with two horns, "performed in front of the [seven-headed wild beast] the signs with which he misled those who received  the mark of the wild beast and those who render worship to its image." -Revelation 19:20.  

With so much Satanic propaganda around, the next words that John records are indeed timely:  "Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness." (Revelation 16:15)  Who is coming "as a thief"? Jesus  himself, coming at an unannounced time as Jehovah's Executioner. (Revelation 3:3; 2 Peter 3:10)  While still on earth, Jesus also  likened his coming to that of a thief, saying "Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not  know on what day your Lord is coming.  On this account you too prove yourselves ready, because at an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming."  (Matthew 24:42,44; Luke 12:37, 40)  Echoing this warning, the apostle Paul said:  "Jehovah's day is coming exactly as a thief in the night.   Whenever It is that they are saying that 'peace and  security!' then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them."  Satan is even now maneuvering the nations toward making that false proclamation of 'Peace and security!' - 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3.   

Jesus also warned of the kind of pressures that this world,  saturated with propaganda, would put on Christians.  He said:  "Pay attention to yourselves that your hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon you as a snare. . . . Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that you may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man."  (Luke 21:34-36)  "That day"  is  "the great day of God the Almighty."  (Revelation 16:14) As "that day" of the vindication of Jehovah's sovereignty approaches, it becomes ever more difficult to cope with the anxieties of life.  Christians need to be alert and watchful, staying awake until that day arrives.  

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish - Continue with The Gathering to Armageddon

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

The River Euphrates Dried Up

The sixth trumpet blast heralded the releasing of  "the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates."  (Revelation 9:14)  Historically, Babylon was the great city that sat on the river Euphrates. And in 1919 the release of the symbolic four angels accompanied a significant fall of Babylon the Great. ( Revelation 14:8) it is noteworthy, then, that the sixth bowl of God's anger also involves the river Euphrates:  "And the sixth one poured out his bowl upon the great river, Euphrates, and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun." (Revelation 16:12)  This too is bad news for Babylon the Great!

In ancient Babylon's heyday, the abundance of waters of the Euphrates were a major part of her defense system.  In 539 B.C.E. those waters dried up when they were diverted from their course b  the Persian leader Cyrus.  Thus, the way was open for Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Mede, the kings from "the rising sun" (that is, the east), to enter Babylon and conquer it.  In the  hour of crisis, the river Euphrates failed in the defense of that great city.  (Isaiah 44:2745:7; Jeremiah 51:36)  Something familiar  is due to happen to modern Babylon, the worldwide system of false religion. 

Babylon the Great "sits on many waters." According to Revelation 17:1, 15, these symbolic  "peoples and crowds and nations and tongues"-hordes of adherents that she has regarded as a protection.  But the "waters" are drying up!  In Western Europe, where formerly she had great influence, hundreds of millions have openly ignored religion. In some Easter European lands, there is a declared policy to destroy the influence of religion.  The masses in those lands have not risen up on  her behalf. Similarly, when the time comes for Babylon the Great to be destroyed, the dwindling number of her adherents will prove to be no protection at all.  (Revelation 17:16)  Though she claims a membership of thousands of millions.  Babylon the Great will find herself defenseless against "the kings from the rising of the sun." 

Who are these kings?  In 539 B.C.E. they were Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian, who were used by Jehovah to conquer the ancient city of Babylon. In this the Lord's day, the false religious system of Babylon the Great will also be destroyed by human rulers. But again, this will be a divine judgment. Jehovah God and Jesus Christ "the kings from the rising of the sun," will have put into the hearts of human rulers the "thought" to turn on Babylon the Great and destroy her utterly .  (Revelation 17:16, 17) The pouring out of the sixth bowl proclaims publicly that this judgment is about to be executed!

These first six bowls of Jehovah's anger carry a sobering message.  God's earthly servants, supported by the angels, have been busy publicizing their contents on an earth-wide scale. In this way, due warning has been served on all sectors of Satan's world system, and Jehovah has provided individuals an opportunity to turn to righteousness and keep living.  (Ezekiel 33:14-16)  Still, one more bowl of God's anger remains. But before tell us about it, Revelation reveals how Satan and his earthly agents are trying to counteract the publicizing of Jehovah's judgments. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -The Gathering of Armageddon

From the book of Revelations 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

Darkness and Gnawing Pain

The kingdom of this wild beast been in spiritual darkness ever since its beginning.   (Compare Matthew 8:12; Ephesians 6:11, 12) The fifth bowl brings intensified public announcement of this darkness. It even dramatizes it, in that this bowl of God's anger is poured out on the very throne of the symbolic wild beast:  "And its kingdom became darkened, and they began to gnaw their tongues for their pain, but they blasphemed the God of heaven for their pains and their ulcers, and they did not repent of their works." -Revelation 16:10b, 11. 

The fifth trumpet blast is not exactly the same as the fifth bowl of God's anger, since the trumpet blast heralded a plague of locusts.  But  notice that there was a darkening of the sun and the air. (Revelation 9:2-5)  And at Exodus 10:14, 15, we read concerning the locusts with which Jehovah plagued Egypt: "They were very burdensome.  Before them there had  never turned up in this locusts like them, and there will never turn up any in this way after them.  And they went covering the visible surface of the entire land, and the land grew dark." Yes, darkness!  Today, the world's spiritual darkness has become all too evident as  a result of the sounding of the fifth trumpet and the pouring out of the fifth bowl of God's anger.  The stinging message proclaimed by the modern-day locust swarm brings torment and pain to those wicked ones who "have loved the darkness rather than the light." -John 3:16. 

As world ruler, Satan has caused much unhappiness and suffering. Famine, wars, violence, crime, drug abuse, immorality,  sexually transmitted diseases, dishonesty, religious hypocrisy-these and more are the hallmarks of Satan's system of things.  (Compare Galatians 5:19-21) Even so,  the public exposure of Satan as the god of this system of things caused pain and embarrassment to those who live by his standards.  "They began to gnaw their tongues for their pain," especially in Christendom.  Many resent that the truth exposes their life-style.  Some find it threatening and they persecuted those who publish it.  The reject God's Kingdom and revile Jehovah's holy name.  Their religiously diseased, ulcerous condition is laid bare, so that they blaspheme the God of heaven.  No, they do "not repent of their works." So we cannot expect a mass  conversion before the end of this system of things. -Isaiah 32:6.  

Next time:  Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -The River Euphrates Dried Up

From the book  of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finsh

The Throne of the Wild Beast

Upon what does the next angel pour out his bowl?  "And the fifth one poured out his bowl upon the throne of the wild beast." (Revelation 16:10a)  "The wild beast' is Satan's governmental system. It does not have a literal throne, any more than the wild beast itself is literal.  Mention of a throne, however, shows that the wild beast has exercised  royal authority over mankind; this is in harmony with the fact that each of the beast's heads bears a royal diadem. In fact, "the throne of the wild beast" is the foundation, or source, of this authority.  The Bible reveals the true situation of the royal authority of the wild beast when it says that "the dragon gave the beast its power and its throne great authority. (Revelation 13:1, 2; 1 John 5:19)  Thus, the pouring out of the bowl upon the throne of the wild beast involves a proclamation revealing the true role that Satan has played and still plays in supporting and promoting the wild beast. 

How is this relationship between Satan and the nations maintained?  When Satan tempted Jesus, he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a vision and offered "all this authority and the glory of them."  But there was a condition-Jesus first had to perform an act of worship  before Satan.  (Luke 4:5-7)  Can we imagine that the governments of the world receive their authority at a lesser price?  Not at all. According to the Bible, Satan is the god of this system of things, so that whether the nations  are aware of it or not, they serve him.  (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4)  This situation is revealed in the makeup of the present world system,which is built on narrow nationalism, hatred,  and self-interest. It is organized the way Satan wants it-to keep mankind under his control.  The corruption in government, the lust for power, the lying diplomacy, the armaments race-these reflect Satan's debased personality.  The world subscribes to Satan's unrighteous standards, thus making him its god.  The throne of the wild beast suffers extinction and he Seed of God's woman finally abysses Satan himself. -Genesis 3:15; Revelation 19:20, 21; 20:1-3. 

Note: Talk about selling your soul to the Devil, which is exactly what they did in wanting power so much, you have to give your soul away to Satan. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -Darkness and Gnawing Pain

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

Scorching Men With Fire

The fourth bowl of the anger of God has the sun as its target.  John tells us:  "And the fourth one poured out his bowl upon the sun; and to the sun it was granted to scorch the men with fire.  And the men were scorched with great heat, but they blasphemed the name of God, who has he authority  over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give glory to him." -Revelation 16:8, 9.  

Today, at the conclusion of the system of things,  Jesus' spiritual brothers "shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (Matthew 13:40, 43) Jesus himself is "the sun of righteousness."  (Malachi 4:2)  Mankind, though, has its own "sun," its own rulers who try to shine in opposition to God's Kingdom.  The fourth trumpet blast proclaimed that the 'sun, moon, and stars'  in Christendom's heavens are really sources of darkness, not light. (Revelation 8:12)  The fourth bowl of God's anger now shows that the world's "sun" would get unbearably hot.  Those looked to as sun-like leaders would "scorch" mankind.  This would be granted  to the symbolic sun.   In other words, Jehovah would allow this as part of the fiery judgment on mankind.  In what way has this scorching taken place? 

After the first world war, the rulers of this world formed the League of Nations in an effort to solve the  problems of world security, but this failed. So other experimental types of rulership were tried, such as Fascism and Nazism.  communism continued to expand. Rather than improve mankind's lot, the sun-like rulers in these systems  began to 'scorch mankind with great heat.'  Local wars in Spain, Ethiopia, and Manchuria led up to this second world war. Modern history records that Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin as dictators became responsible directly and indirectly for the deaths of tens of millions, including many of their own nationals.  More recently, international or civil conflicts have  "scorched" the people of countries such as Vietnam, Kampuchea, Iran, Lebanon, and Ireland, as well as countries in Latin America and Africa. Add to this the ongoing struggle between the superpowers, whose horrendous nuclear weapons are capable of incinerating all mankind.  In these last days, humanity has surely be exposed to a scorching "sun,"  its unrighteous rulers.  The pouring out of the fourth bowl of God's anger has pinpointed these historic facts, and God's people have proclaimed them throughout the earth.

Jehovah's Witnesses have consistently taught that the only solution of mankind's baffling problems is God's Kingdom, which Jehovah purposes to sanctify his name.  (Psalm 83:4, 17, 18;  Matthew 6:9, 10)  Mankind, however, has as a whole  turned a deaf ear to this solution. Many who reject the Kingdom also blaspheme the name of God, even as Pharaoh did when he refused  to acknowledge Jehovah's sovereignty.  (Exodus 1:8-10; 5:2) Having no interest in the Messianic Kingdom, these opposers choose to suffer under their own torrid "sun" of oppressive human rulership.

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -The Throne of the Wild Beast 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

Giving Them Blood to Drink

The third bowl of God's anger, like the third trumpet blast, has an effect on freshwater sources.  "And the third one poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters.  And they became blood. And I heard the angel over the waters say: 'You the One, who is and who was, the loyal One, are righteous, because you have rendered these decisions, because they poured out the blood of holy ones and of prophets, and you have given them blood to drink.  They deserve it.' And I heard the altar say: 'Yes, Jehovah God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judicial decisions.' " -Revelation 16:4-7. 

These "rivers and fountains of the waters" picture the so-called fresh sources of guidance and wisdom accepted by this world, such as the political, economic, scientific, educational, social, and religious philosophies that guide human actions and decisions.  Rather than look to Jehovah, the Fountain of life, for life-giving truth, men have 'hewn out for themselves broken cisterns' and drunk deeply of "the wisdom of this world [that] is foolishness with God." -Jeremiah 2:13; 1 Corinthians 1:19; 2:6; 3:19; Psalm 3:6-9. 

Such tainted  "waters" have led men to become bloodguilty, for example, in encouraging them to shed blood on a monumental scale in the wars of this century, which have now taken more than a hundred million lives.  Particularly in Christendom, where the two world wars erupted, have men been "in a hurry to shed innocent blood," and this has included the blood of God's own witnesses. (Isaiah 59:7; Jeremiah 2:3, 4)  Mankind has also incurred bloodguilty by its misuse of huge quantities of blood for transfusions, in violation of Jehovah's righteous laws.  (Genesis 9:3-5; Leviticus 17:14; Acts 15:28, 29)  On this account, they have already reaped  sorrow by the proliferation through blood transfusions, of AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases.  Full retribution for all bloodguilt will come shortly when transgressors pay the supreme penalty, being trampled in "the great winepress of the anger of God." -Revelation 14:19, 20. 

In Moses' day, when the Nile River was turned into blood, the Egyptians were able to keep alive by seeking other sources of water. (Exodus 7:24) Today, though, during the spiritual plague, there is  nowhere in Satan's word that people can find life-giving waters.  The pouring out of the third bowl involves proclaiming that the world's "rivers and the fountains of the waters" are as blood, bringing spiritual death to all who imbibe them.  Unless people turn to Jehovah, the reap this adverse judgment.-Compare Ezekiel 33:11.   

"The angel over the waters," that is, the angel who pours this bowl into the waters, magnifies Jehovah as the Universal Judge, who righteous decisions are absolute. Therefore, he says of this judgment:  "They deserve it." Doubtless, the angel personally witnessed much of the bloodshed and cruelty fomented over thousands of years by the false teachings and philosophies of this wicked word. Hence, he knows that Jehovah's judicial decision is right. Even God's  "altar" speaks out.  At Revelation 6:9, 10, the souls of those who were martyred are said to be at the base of the altar. So "the altar" adds powerful testimony as to the justice and righteousness of Jehovah' decisions.  Certainly, it is fitting that those who have shed and misuse so much blood should themselves be force-fed with blood, in symbol of Jehovah's sentencing them to death. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -Scorching Men With Fire

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

The Sea Becomes Blood

The second bowl of God's anger must now be poured out.  What will it mean for mankind? John tells us:  "And the second one poured out his bowl into the sea. And it became blood as of a dead man, and every living soul died, yes the things in the sea." (Revelation 16:3)  Like the second trumpet blast, this bowl is directed against "the sea'-seething rebellious mass of humanity alienated from Jehovah's eyes, this "sea" is like blood, unfit for creatures to live in.  That is why Christians must be no part of the world. (John 17:14)  The pouring out of the second bowl of God's anger reveals that all of mankind who inhabit this sea are dead in Jehovah's eyes.  By reason of community responsibility, mankind is guilty of gross shedding of innocent blood. When Jehovah's day of anger arrives, they will literally die at the hands of his executional  forces. - Revelation 19:17, 18; compare Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 2:13. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -Giving Them Blood to Drink

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish

JOHN has already introduced the angels commissioned to pour out the seven bowls. He tells us that "these are the last ones, because by  means of them the anger of God is brought to a finish." (Revelation 15:1; 16:1) These plagues, revealing Jehovah's sanctions for wickedness in the earth,  must be poured out to a finality.  When they are over, God's judgment  will have been executed. Satan's world will be no more!  What do these plagues  portend for mankind and the rulers of the present wicked system? How can Christians avoid  being plagued along with this doomed world?  Vital questions, these, and now they are to be answered. All who long for the trumpet of righteousness will have keep interest in what John sees next.

Jehovah's Wrath Against "the Earth" 

The first angel goes into action:  "And the first one went off and poured out his bowl into the earth.  Ans a hurtful and malignant ulcer came to be upon the men that had the mark of the  wild beast and that were worshiping its image."  (Revelation 16:2) As in the case of the first trumpet blast, "the earth" here symbolizes the stable-looking political system that Satan began to build here on earth back in Nimrod's time.  Over 4,000 years ago. -Revelation 8:7.

In these last days, many governments have  demanded what amounts to worship from their subjects, insisting the State must be exalted above God or any other loyalty.  (2 Timothy 3:1; compare Luke 20:25; John 19:15)  Since 1914 it has become common for nations to conscript their youth in order for them to fight, the kind of total warfare that has so bloodied the pages of modern history.  During the Lord's day, the nations have also produced, as a substitute for God's Kingdom, the image of the beast-the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations. What blasphemy to proclaim, as recent popes have done, that this man-made body is the nation's sole hope for peace!  It staunchly opposes God's Kingdom.  Those who worship it become spiritually unclean, ulcerated, just as the Egyptians who opposed Jehovah in Moses' day were plagued by  literal sores and ulcers. -Exodus 9:10, 11. 

The contents of this bowl strongly emphasize the choice that lies before humans. They must suffer either the world's disapproval or Jehovah's indignation. Mankind has been put under compulsion to accept the mark of the wild beast, with the intent that "nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name."  (Revelation 13:16, 17)  But there is a price to pay for this!  Jehovah regards those who accept  the mark as being stricken with "a hurtful and malignant ulcer."  Since 1922 they have been marked in public as having rejected the living God. Their political schemes have no success,  and they suffer anguish. Spiritually, the are unclean. Unless they repent, this "hurtful" illness  will become terminal, for it is now Jehovah's day of judgment. There is no neutral ground between being a part of the world's system of things and serving Jehovah on the side of his Christ. -Luke 11:23; compare James 4:4. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish -The Sea Becomes Blood

From the book of Revelation  

Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful

The Bowls and the Trumpet Blasts

The bowls of Jehovah's anger reveal features of the world scene as Jehovah view them and warn of judgments that Jehovah will execute.  The angels pour out the bowls through the agency of the congregation of anointed Christians on earth, the ones singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. While proclaiming the Kingdom as good news, the John class have boldly revealed  the contents of these bowls of anger.  (Matthew  24:14; Revelation 14:6, 7)  Thus, their twofold message has been peaceful in proclaiming liberty to mankind but warlike in warning of "the day  of vengeance on the part of our God." -Isaiah 61:1, 2. 

The targets of the first four bowls of God's anger correspond to those of the first four trumpet blasts, that is, the earth, the sea, the rivers and fountains of water, and the  heavenly sources of light.  (Revelation 8:1-12)  But the trumpet blasts announced plagues on "a third," whereas an entirety is afflicted by the pouring out of bowls of God's anger. Thus, while Christendom, as "a third," has received first attention during the Lord's day, not one part of Satan's system  has been exempted from being plagued by Jehovah's vexatious judgment messages and the sorrows they bring. 

The final three trumpet blasts were different, for they were called woes.  (Revelation 8:13; 9:12)  The first two of these consisted particularly of the locusts and the armies of cavalry, while the third introduced  the birth of Jehovah's Kingdom.  (Revelation 9:1-21; 11:15-19) As we shall see, the final three bowls of his wrath also cover some of these aspects, but they are somewhat different from the three woes. Let us now pay close attention to the dramatic disclosures that result from the pouring out of the bowls of Jehovah's anger.

Next time:  Chapter Thirty-Two -God's Anger Brought to a Finish 

From the book of Revelation  

Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful

Jehovah in His Sanctuary 

Finally, completing this part of the vision, John tells us: "And the sanctuary became filled with smoke because of the glory of God and because of his power, and no one was able to enter into the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished."  (Revelation 15:8)  There were  occasions in Israel's history when a cloud covered the literal sanctuary, and this manifestation of Jehovah's glory prevented the priests from entering there.  (1 Kings 8:10, 11; 2 Chronicles 5:13, 14; compare Isaiah 6:4, 5)  These were times when Jehovah was actively involved with the developments on earth. 

Jehovah is also deeply interested in things happening on earth now. He wants the seven angels to complete their assignment.  It is a climatic time of judgment, as described at Psalm 114: 6:  "Jehovah  is in his holy temple. Jehovah-in the heavens is his throne. His own eyes behold, his own beaming eyes examine the sons of men. Jehovah himself examines the righteous one as well as the wicked one, and anyone loving violence His soul certainly  hates. He will rain down upon the wicked ones traps, fire and sulphur and a scorching wind, as the portion of their cup."  Until these seven plagues are poured out upon the wicked ones, the seven angels will not return to Jehovah's lofty presence. 

The awesome command thunders forth:  "And I heard a loud voice coming out of the sanctuary say to the seven angels:  "Go and pour out the seven bowls  of the anger of God into the earth.' " (Revelation 16:1)  Who issues this command?  It must be Jehovah himself, since the radiance of his glory and power prevented anyone else from entering the sanctuary. Jehovah came to his spiritual temple for  judgment in 1918.  (Malachi 3:1-5) It must, then, have been shortly  after that date that he gave the command to pour out the bowls of the anger of God. In fact, the judgments contained in the symbolic bowls started to be proclaimed with intensity in 1922.  And their proclamation is increasing to a crescendo today.  

Next time: Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful - The Bowls and the Trumpet Blasts 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful

The Angles With the Bowls

It is fitting that we hear the song of these anointed conquerors. Why? Because they have publicized on earth the judgments contained in the bowls that were full of the anger of God. But the pouring out of these bowls involves more than mere humans, as John goes on to show: "And after these things I saw, and the sanctuary of the tent of the witness was opened in heaven, and the seven angels with the seven plagues emerged from the sanctuary, clothed with  clean, bright linen and girded about their breasts with golden girdles. And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls that were full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever." -Revelation 15:5-7. 

As respects the Israelite temple, which contained representations of heaven things, only the high priest could enter the Most Holy, here called "the sanctuary."  (Hebrews 9:3-7)  It represents the place of Jehovah's presence in heaven. In heaven itself, however, not only does the High Priest Jesus Christ have the privilege of entering in before Jehovah but the angels do also.  (Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 9:24-26)  It is not surprising, then, that seven angels should be seen coming out from the sanctuary in heaven.  They have a commission from Jehovah God himself: Pour out the bowls full of the anger of God.  -Revelation 16:1. 

These angels are well qualified for this work.  They are clothed with clean, bright linen, showing that  they are spiritually clean and holy, righteous in Jehovah's sight.  Also, they wear golden girdles. Girdles are usually used when a person girds himself for a task to be accomplished. (Leviticus 8:7, 13;  1 Samuel 2:18; Luke 12:37; John 13:4, 5) So the angels are girded for carrying out an assignment. Moreover, their girdles  are golden.  In the ancient tabernacle, gold was used to represent divine, heavenly things.  (Hebrews 9:4, 11, 12)  That means that these angels have a precious, divine commission of service to perform.   Others too are involved in this great task. One of the four living creatures hands the actual bowls to them. Doubtless, this was the first living creature, which resembled a lion, symbolizing the boldness and indomitable  courage needed to proclaim Jehovah's judgments. -Revelation 4:7.  

Next time:  Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful -Jehovah in His Sanctuary

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-One - Jehovah's Works -Great and Wonderful

Conclusion of The Song of Moses and of the Lamb 

How Moses himself would have rejoiced to be in the Lord's day, now, singing along with the heavenly chorus "All the nations will come and worship before you"!  That transcendent song continues to have marvelous fulfillment today, as we see, not just in vision but as a living reality, the millions from "the nations" who are now flocking joyfully to Jehovah's earthly organization. 

Nevertheless, this is the song not only of Moses but also "of the Lamb."  How so?  Moses himself prophesied that Jehovah would raise up a prophet like him.  This One proved to be the Lamb, Jesus Christ.  Whereas Moses was "the slave of God,"Jesus was God's Son, in effect, the Greater Moses.  (Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Acts 3:22, 23; Hebrews 3:5, 6;)  Hence, the singers also sing "the song of the Lamb."

Like Moses, Jesus publicly sang God's praises and prophesied about His victory over all enemies.  (Matthew  24:21, 22;  26:30; Luke 19:41-44)  Jesus too looked forward to the time when the nations would come in to praise Jehovah, and as the self-sacrificing "Lamb of God," he laid down his human life to make this possible. (John 1:29; Revelation 7:9; compare  Isaiah 2:2-4; Zechariah 8:23)  And just as Moses came to appreciate God's name, Jehovah, and extol that name, so Jesus made God's name manifest. (Exodus 6:2, 3; Psalm 90:1, 17;  John 17:6)  Since Jehovah is loyal, his glorious promises are certain of fulfillment.  Surely, then, we are at one with these loyal singers, with the Lamb, and with Moses, in subscribing to the words of the song:  "Who will not really fear you, Jehovah, and glorify your name?" 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful -The Angels With the Bowls 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-One-Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful

Continue with The Song of Moses and of the Lamb

These loyal overcomers have harps of God.  In this, they are like the temple Levites of old, who worshiped Jehovah with son to the accompaniment of harps.  Some also prophesied to a harp accompaniment.  (1 Chronicles  15:16; 25:1-3) The beautiful strains of the harp embellished Israel's songs of joy and prayers of praise and thanksgiving to Jehovah.  (1 Chronicles 13:8; Psalm 33:2; 43:4; 57;7, 8) In times of depression or captivity, the harp was no heard.  (Psalm 137:2)  The presence of harps of God in this vision should whet our anticipation for an exultant, triumphant song of praise and thanksgiving to our God." 

That is what John reports:  "And they are singing the song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the Lamb, saying:  'Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty.  Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity.  Who will not really fear  you, Jehovah, and glorify your name, because you alone  are loyal?  All nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous  decrees have been made manifest.' " -Revelation 15:3, 4. 

These victors sing "the song of Moses," that is, a song similar to one that Moses sang in like circumstances. After the Israelites had witnessed the ten plagues in Egypt and the destruction of the Egyptian armies in the Red Sea, Moses led them in such a song of triumphant praise to Jehovah, proclaiming "Jehovah will rule as King to time indefinite, even forever."  (Exodus 15:1-19) How fitting that the singers in John's vision, coming off victorious from the wild beast and being involved  in proclaiming the seven last plagues should also Sing "to the King of eternity"! -1 Timothy 1:17. 

In another song, composed as Israel prepared for the conquest of Canaan, the aged Moses told that nation:  "I shall declare the name of Jehovah.  Do you attribute greatness to our God!" The last verse of this song also gave encouragement to non-Israelites, and Moses' inspired  words reach right down to the great crowd of today:   "Be glad, you nations, with his people."  And why  should they be glad?  Because now Jehovah "will avenge the blood of his servants, and he will pay back vengeance to his adversaries."  This execution of righteous judgment will bring jubilation to all who hope in Jehovah.  -Deuteronomy 32:3, 43; Romans 15:10-13; Revelation 7:9.  

Next time: Chapter Thirty -One -Jehovah's Works -Great and Wonderful -Conclusion of The Song of Moses and of the Lamb 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works -Great and Wonderful

The Song of Moses and of the Lamb

A remarkable panorama now comes into John's view:  "And and I saw what seemed to be a glass sea mingled with fire, and those who come off victorious from the wild beast and from its image and from the number of its name standing by the glassy sea,  having harps of God." -Revelation 15:2. 

"The glassy sea" is the same one that John saw earlier, positioned before the throne of God.  (Revelation 4:6)  It is similar to "the molten sea" (water container) of Solomon's temple, where the priests obtained water to cleanse themselves.  (1 Kings 7:23)  It is thus a fine representation of  "the bath of water," that is, God's Word, by which Jesus cleanses the priestly congregation of anointed Christians.  (Ephesians 5:25, 26; Hebrews 10:22)  This glassy sea is "mingled with fire," indicating that these anointed ones are tested and purged as they obey the high standard set for them. Further, it reminds us that God's Word also contains expressions of fiery  judgments against his enemies.  (Deuteronomy 9:3; Zephaniah 3:8)  Some of these fiery judgments are manifested in the seven last plagues that are about to be poured out.  

The fact that the molten sea in Solomon's temple was for the use of the priests indicates that the singers standing before the heavenly glassy sea are a priestly class.  They have "harps of God," and we therefore associate them with the 24 elders and the 144,000, since these groups  also sing to an accompaniment.  (Revelation 5:8; 14:2) The singers  that John sees "come off victorious from the wild beast and from its image and from the number of its name."  So they must be those from among the 144,000 who live on earth during the last days. As a group, they do indeed come off victorious. For some 70 years since 1919,  they have refused to accept the mark of the wild beast or look to its image as man's only hope for peace.  Many of them have already endured faithful to the death, and these, now in heaven, doubtless follow with special delight the singing of their brothers who are still on earth. -Revelation 14:11-13. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works - Great and Wonderful - Continue with The Song of Moses and of the Lamb

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works -Great and Wonderful

A WOMAN giving birth to a male child! A great dragon seeking to devour that child! Those two heavenly signs, so vividly portrayed in Revelation  chapter 12, brought home to us that the agelong controversy involving the Seed of God's woman and Satan and his demonic seed is reaching it climax.  In highlighting these symbols, John says:  "And a great sign was seen in heaven . . . and another sign was seen."  (Revelation 12:1, 3, 7-12)  Now John reports a third sign, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues. These are the last ones, because by means of them the anger of God is brought to a finish."  (Revelation 15:1) This third sign also has vital meaning for Jehovah's servants. 

Notice the important roles that angels again have in accomplishing God's will.  This fact has long been known by Jehovah's servants. Why, under inspiration the ancient psalmist even spoke to such angels, urging them:  "Bless Jehovah, O you angels of his , mighty in power, carrying out his word.!  (Psalm 103: 20) Now, in this new scene, angels are assigned to pour out the seven last plagues. 

What are these plagues?  Like the seven trumpet blasts, they are scathing judgment pronouncements publicizing Jehovah's view of various features of this world and warning of the final outcome of his judicial decisions.  (Revelation 8:1-9:21) The pouring out of them points to  the execution of those judgments, when the objects of Jehovah's  wrath are destroyed in the day of his burning anger.  (Isaiah 13:9-13; Revelation 6:16, 17) Thus, by means of them "the anger of God is brought to a finish."  But before describing the pouring out of the plagues,  John tells us about some humans who will not be adversely affected by them.  Having refused  the mark of the wild beast, these loyal ones sing praises to Jehovah as they proclaim   his day of vengeance. -Revelation 13:15-17.  

Next time: Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Works -Great and Wonderful

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty- "Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

Judgment must be executed! "And the angle thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and he hurled it into the great winepress of  the anger of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood  came out of the winepress as high up as the bridles of the horses, for a distance of a thousand six hundred furlongs.." (Revelation 14:19, 20) Jehovah's indignation against this vision, not only are the grapes harvested but the whole symbolic vine is cut down and thrown into the winepress to be trampled. So the vine of the earth will be stamped out from and will never be able to grow again. 

The visionary treading is done by horses, for the blood trodden out from the vine reaches "The bridles of the horses." Since the term "horses" usually refers to war operations this must be a time of war.  The armies of the heavens that follow Jesus into the final war against Satan's system of things are said to tread "the winepress of the anger of the wrath of God the Almighty." (Revelation 19:11-16) These are clearly the ones that do the treading of the vine of the earth.  The winepress is "trodden outside the city," that is, outside heavenly Zion. Indeed, it is fitting that the vine of the earth should be "trodden outside the city" in that no harm will come to the remaining ones of the woman's seed, who represent the heavenly Zion on earth.  These together with the great crowd will be safely hidden within Jehovah's organizational arrangement. -Isaiah 26:20, 21. 

This vivid vision has a parallel in the crushing  of the kingdoms of the earth b y the Kingdom stone described at Daniel 2:34, 44. There will be an extermination.  The river of blood from winepress is very deep, up to the bridles of the horse, and it extends for a distance of 1,600 furlongs.  This huge figure, produced by multiplying the square of four by the square of ten (4 x 4 x 10 x 10), emphatically conveys the message that evidence of the destruction will involve all the earth (Isaiah 66:15, 16) The destruction will be complete and irreversible. Never, no never again, will Satan's vine of the earth take root! - Psalm 83:17, 18, 

Living as we do deep in the time of the end, the vision of these two harvests is very meaningful. We have only to look around us to see the fruits of Satan's Vine. Abortions and other forms or murder; homosexuality, adultery, and other forms of immorality; dishonesty and lack of natural affection-all such things make this world vile in Jehovah's eyes. Satan's vine bears "the fruit of a poisonous plant and wormwood."  Its ruinous, Idolatrous course dishonors mankind's Grand Creator.  (Deuteronomy 29:18; 32:5; Isaiah 42:5, 8)  What a privilege it is to be actively associated  with the John class in the harvest of wholesome fruitage that Jesus is bringing forth to Jehovah's praise!  (Luke 10:2) May all of us be determined  that we will never be tainted by the vine of this world, and may we thus avoid being trampled with the vine of the earth when Jehovah's adverse judgment is executed. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty-One -Jehovah's Great Works -Great and Wonderful

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

Treading the Vine of the Earth

with the harvest of salvation completed, it is time for another harvest. John  reports:"And still another angel [the fifth] emerged from the temple sanctuary that is in heaven, he, too, having a sharp sickle. And still another angel [the sixth] emerged from the altar and he had authority over the fire.  And he called out with a loud voice to the one that had the sharp sickle, saying:  'Put you sharp sickle in and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, because its grapes  have become ripe.' " -(Revelation 14:17, 18)  The angelic hosts are entrusted with much harvesting during the Lord's day, separating the good from the bad! 

The fifth angel comes from Jehovah's presence in the temple sanctuary, hence, he final harvest also takes place according to Jehovah's will.  The angel is commanded to begin his work by a message related through another angle that "emerged from the altar."  This fact is most significant, since faithful souls underneath the altar had asked:  "Until when, Sovereign Lord holy and rue, are you refraining from judging and avenging our blood upon those who dwell on the earth?"  (Revelation 6:9, 10)  With the harvesting of the vine of the earth, this cry for vengeance will be justified.

But what is "the vine of the earth"?  In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Jewish nation was spoken of as Jehovah's vine.  (Isaiah 5:7; Jeremiah 2:21)  Similarly, Jesus Christ and those who will serve him in God's Kingdom are spoken off as the vine.  (John 15:1-8)  In this setting, the significant characteristic of a vine is that it produces fruit, and the true Christian vine has produced abundant fruit to Jehovah's  praise. (Matthew 21:43) "The vine of the earth," therefore must be, not this genuine vine, but Satan's imitation of it, his corrupt visible system of government over mankind, with it various "clusters" of demonic fruitage produced over the centuries. Babylon the Great, in which apostate Christianity is so prominent, has exercised great influence over this poisonous vine. -Compare Deuteronomy 32:32-35. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!" -Conclusion of Treading the Vine of the Earth

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

Harvest of the Earth 

Others are also to benefit in this day of judgment, as John goes on to tell us:  "And I saw, and look! a white cloud, and upon the cloud someone seated like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel [the fourth] emerged from the temple sanctuary, crying with a loud voice to the one seated on the cloud: 'Put your sickle in an reap, because the hour has come to reap for the harvest of the earth is thoroughly ripe.'  And the one seated on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped." -Revelation 14:14-16. 

The identity of the one seated on the white cloud is not in doubt. Seated on a white cloud, resembling a son of man and with a golden crown, he is clearly Jesus, the Messianic King that Daniel also saw in vision.  (Daniel  7:13, 14; Mark 14;61, 62) But what is the harvest here prophesied?  While on earth, Jesus likened the discipling work to the harvesting of the world field of humanity.  (Matthew 9:37, 38; John 4:35, 36) The climax of this harvesting comes in the Lord's day, when Jesus is crowned as King and executes judgment  on behalf of his Father.  Thus, his time of ruling, since 1914, is also the joyful time for bringing in the harvest. -Compare Deuteronomy 16:13-15. 

Although he is a King and a Judge, Jesus waits for word from Jehovah his God before beginning to reap.  That word comes from "the temple sanctuary" by means  of an angel. Immediately, Jesus obeys. First, from 1919 on, he has his angels complete the harvesting of the 144,000. (Matthew 13:39, 43) Next, the harvest ingathering of the great crowd of other sheep takes place.  (Matthew  25:31-33; John 10:16; Revelation 7:9)  History shows that between 1931 and 1935 a goodly number of other sheep began to appear. In 1935 Jehovah opened to the understanding of the John class the real identity of the great crowd of Revelation 7:9-17. Thenceforth, much emphasis was placed on the ingathering of this crowd.  By the year 19 88, its number has far exceeded the three million mark, and is still increasing. Surely, the one like a son of man has reaped a bountiful, joyous harvest during this time of the end. -Compare Exodus 23:16; 34:22.  

Next time: Chapter Thirty - "Babylon the Great Has Fallen!' -Treading the Vine of the Earth 

From the book of Revelation  

Chapter Thirty - "Babylon the Great Has Fallen!'

Conclusion of Endurance for the Holy Ones

Those who have the mark of the wild beast will also be destroyed completely, as if by fire. As the prophecy later reveals, their dead bodies will be left unburied for animals and birds to eat. (Revelation 19:17, 18)  So, clearly, they are not being literally tortured forever!  How are they "tormented with fire and sulphur? In that the proclamation of truth exposes them and warns them of God's coming judgment. Therefore, they vilify God's people and, where  possible, slyly  persuade the political wild beast   to persecute and even kill Jehovah's Witnesses.  As a climax, these opposers will be destroyed as with fire and brimstone. Then "the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever" In that God's judgment of them will serve as a touchstone if ever again Jehovah's rightful sovereignty is challenged.  That issue will have been settled for all eternity. 

Who deliver the tormenting message today?  Remember, the symbolic locusts have authority to torment the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.  (Revelation 9:5)  Evidently, these ones  under angelic direction are the tormentors.  Such is the persistence of the symbolic locust that"day and night they have no rest, those who worship the wild beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."  And finally, after their destruction, the monumental evidence of that vindication  of Jehovah's sovereignty,  'the smoke of their torment," will ascend forever and ever. May the John class endure until that vindication is complete!  As the angel concludes:  "Here is where it means endurance for the holy ones, those who observe God's commandments and the faith of Jesus." -Revelation 14:12.

Yes, "endurance for the holy ones" means their worshiping Jehovah in exclusive devotion through Jesus Christ.  Their message is not popular. It leads to opposition, persecution, even martyrdom.  But they are strengthened by what John  next reports:  'Write: Happy are the dead who die in  union with the Lord from this time onward. Yes, says the spirit, let them rest their labors, for the things they did right with them.' " -Revelation 14:13. 

This promise harmonizes well with Paul's prophecy concerning Jesus' presence: "Those who are dead in  union with Christ will rise first. Afterward we the living who are surviving [those of the anointed ones who survive in the Lord's day] will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)  After Satan's ouster from heaven, those who were dead in union with Christ rose first.  (Compare Revelation 6:9-11) Afterward, those of the anointed ones who die during the Lord's day are promised a special privilege.  Their resurrection to spirit life in heaven is instantaneous,  "in the twinkling of an eye."  (1 Corinthians 15:52)  How marvelous this is!  And their works of righteousness continue right on in the heavenly realm. 

Next time: Chapter Thirty - "Babylon the Great Has Fallen!" -Harvest of the Earth

From the book of Revelation  

Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

Endurance for the Holy Ones

Now the third angel speaks.  Listen!  "And another angel, a third, followed them, saying in a loud voice: 'If anyone worships the wild beast and its image, and receives a mark on heir forehead or upon his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the anger of God that is poured out undiluted into the cup of his wrath.' "  (Revelation 14:9,  10a)  At Revelation  13:16, 17, it was revealed that during the Lord's day those who do not worship the image of the wild beast would suffer-even be killed. Now we learn that Jehovah has determined to bring to judgment those "having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name."  They will be forced to drink a bitter 'cup of wrath' of Jehovah's anger. What will this mean for them,?  In 607 B.C.E., when Jehovah forced Jerusalem to drink "his cup of rage,' the city experienced "despoiling and breakdown, and hunger and sword" at the hands of the Babylonians.  (Isaiah 51:17, 19) Similarly, when idolizers of earth's  political powers and their image, the United Nations, get to drink the cup of Jehovah's wrath, the result will be a calamity for them.  (Jeremiah 25:17, 32, 33) They will be utterly destroyed. 

Even before that happens, however, those with the mark of the beast have to undergo the tormenting effects of Jehovah's disapproval.  Speaking of the wild beast and its image, the angel informs John:  "And he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and day and night they have no rest, those who worship the wild beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." -Revelation 14:10b,11. 

Some have viewed the mention here of fire and sulphur ("fire and brimstone,"  King James Version)  as a proof of the existence of a hellfire.  But a brief look at a similar prophecy shows the real import of these words in this context.  Back in the days of Isaiah, Jehovah  warned the nation of Edom that they would be punished because of their enmity toward Israel. He said:  "Her torrents must be changed into pitch, and her dust into sulphur, and her land must become as burning pitch.  By night or by day, it will not be extinguished; to time indefinite its smoke will keep ascending. From generation to generation she will be parched; forever and ever no one will be passing across her." -Isaiah 34:9, 10. 

Was Edom hurled into some mythical hellfire to burn forever?  Of course not. Rather, the nation completely disappeared from the world scene as if she had been totally consumed with by fire and sulphur.  The final result of the punishment was not everlasting torment but "emptiness . . . wasteness . . . nothing." (Isaiah 34:11, 12)  The smoke 'ascending to time indefinite' vividly illustrates this.  When a house burns down, smoke keeps coming from the ashes for some time after the flames have died, providing onlookers with evidence that there has been a destructive conflagration. Even today God's people remember the lesson to be learned  from the destruction of Edom. In this way 'the smoke of her burning' is still ascending in a symbolic way. 

Next time:  Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!" -Conclusion of Endurance for the Holy Ones 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

The Wheat and the Weeds

In his parable of the wheat and the weeds, Jesus spoke of a man who sowed fine seed in a field.  But "while men were sleeping," an enemy came and oversowed weeds. Hence, the wheat came to be obscured by these weeds. Jesus explained his parable  in these words:  "The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, as for the fine seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one, and the enemy that sowed them is the Devil."  He then showed that the wheat and weeds would be  allowed to grow together until "the conclusion of the system of things," when the angels would "collect out" the symbolic weeds. -Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. 

What Jesus and the apostles Paul and Peter warned about happened.  "While men were sleeping," either after the apostles feel asleep in death or when Christian overseers became drowsy in guarding the flock of God, Babylonish apostasy sprouted right inside the congregation.  (Acts 20:31)  Soon the weeds greatly outnumbered the wheat and hid it from view. For a number of centuries, it might have appeared that the seed of the woman had been completely engulfed by the voluminous skirts of Babylon the Great.

In the 1870's anointed Christians began to make determined efforts to disassociate themselves from the whorish ways of Babylon the Great. The abandoned  false doctrines that Christendom had brought in from paganism and boldly used the Bible in preaching that the times of the Gentiles would end in 1914. The chief instrument of Babylon the Great, the clergy of Christendom, opposed these stirrings of restoration of true worship.  During the first world war, they took advantage of wartime hysteria to try to stamp out that small group of faithful Christians.  In 1918, when their activities  were almost completely suppressed, it appeared that Babylon the Great had succeeded. She seemed to have triumphed over them.

As we previously noted, the proud city of Babylon experienced a disastrous fall from power in 539 B.C.E. Then the cry was heard: "She has fallen!  Babylon the Great has fallen!"  The great seat of the world empire had fallen to the armies of Medo-Persia under Cyrus the Great.  Although the city itself survived  the conquest, her fall from power was real, and it resulted in the release of her Jewish captives. They returned to Jerusalem to reestablish pure worship there. -Isaiah 21:9; 2 Chronicles 36:22, 23; Jeremiah 51:7, 8. 

In our century the cry that Babylon  the Great has fallen has also been heard!  Babylonish Christendom's temporary success in 1918 was sharply reversed  in 1919 when the remnant of anointed ones, the John class, was restored by a spiritual resurrection. Babylon the Great had fallen as far as having any captive hold on God's people was concerned.  Like locust, Christ's anointed brothers swarmed out of the abyss, ready for action.  (Revelation 9:1-3; 11:11, 12)  They were the modern"faithful and discreet slave," and the Master appointed them over all his belongings on earth.  (Matthew 24:45-47)  Their being used in this way proved that Jehovah had utterly rejected Christendom despite her claim to be his representative on earth. Pure worship was reestablished, and the way open to compete the work of sealing the remnant of the 144,000-the remaining ones of the seed of the woman, the age-old enemy of Babylon the Great. All of this signaled a crushing defeat for that satanic religious organization.

Next time: Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!" -Endurance for the Holy Ones 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty-"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

Babylon's Disgraceful Fall

Let us examine in more detail the circumstances surrounding the disgraceful fall of Babylon the Great. The angel here tells us that "Babylon the Great . . . made all the nations drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication."  What does this mean? It relates to conquest.  For example, Jehovah told Jeremiah:  "Take this cup of the wine of rage out of my hand, and you must make all the nations to whom I am sending you drink it. And they must drink and shake back and forth and act like crazed men because of the sword that I am sending among them."  (Jeremiah 2:15, 16) In the sixth and seventh centuries B.C.E., Jehovah used ancient Babylon to pour out a symbolic cup of tribulation for many nations to drink, including apostate Judah, so that even his own people were taken into exile. Then, in her turn, Babylon fell because her king exalted himself against Jehovah, the Lord of the heavens." -Daniel 5:23

Babylon the Great has also made conquests, for the most part, these have been more subtle.  She has "made all the nations drink" by using the wiles of a prostitute, committing religious fornication with them. She has enticed political rulers into alliances and friendships with her. Through religious allurements, she has schemed political, commercial, and economic oppression.  She has fomented religious persecution  and religious wars and crusades, as well as national wars for purely political and commercial reasons. And she has sanctified these wars by saying they are God's will.  

Religion's involvement in the wars and politics of this 20th century is common knowledge-as in Shinto Japan, Hindu India, Buddhist Vietnam, "Christian"  Northern Ireland and Latin America, as well as others-not to overlook the army chaplain's part on both sides of the two world wars in urging young men to slaughter one another.  A classic example of the philandering of Babylon the Great is the share she had in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39, in which at least 600,000 people were killed.  This spilling of blood was provoked  by supporters of the Catholic clergy and their allies, in part because the wealth and position  of the church was threatened by Spain's government.  

Since  Babylon the Great is the religious part of Satan's seed, she has always made Jehovah's "woman" "Jerusalem above" her main target.  In the first century, the congregation of anointed Christians was clearly identified as the  the woman's seed.  (Genesis 3:15; Galatians 3:29; 4:26)  Babylon the Great tried hard to conquer that chaste congregation by seducing it into committing religious fornication.  The apostles Paul and Peter warned that many would succumb   and a great apostasy would result.  (Acts 20:29, 30; 2 Peter 2:1-3)  Jesus' messages to the seven congregations indicated that toward the end of John's life, Babylon the Great was making some progress in her efforts to corrupt.  (Revelation 2:6, 14, 15, 20-23) But Jesus had already shown how far she would be permitted to go.  

Next time: Chapter Thirty - "Babylon the Great Has Fallen!" -The Wheat and the Weeds 

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

IT IS the hour of God's judgment!  Listen,then, to the divine message:  " And another, a second angel, followed, saying:  'She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, she who made all the nation drink of the wind of the anger of her fornication!' " (Revelation 14:8)  For the first time, but not the last,Revelation focuses attention on Babylon the Great.  Later, chapter 17 will describe her as a voluptuous harlot. Who is she?  As we shall see,she is a global empire, she is religious, and she is Satan's counterfeit system that he uses in fighting against the seed of God's woman.  (Revelation 12:17)  Babylon the Great is the entire world empire of false religion.  She includes all religions that preserve the religious teachings and practices of ancient Babylon and that manifest her spirit.

It was at Babylon, more than 44,000 years ago, that Jehovah confused the tongues of the  would-be builders of the Tower of Babel.  The different language groups were scattered to the ends of the earth, taking with them the apostate beliefs and practices that are in the basis of most religions to this day.  (Genesis 11:1-9) Babylon the Great is the religious part of Satan's organization.  (Compare John 8:43-47) Her most prominent segment today is apostate Christendom, which emerged as a powerful, lawless organization in the fourth century after Christ, with creeds and formalism derived not from the Bible, but largely from Babylonish religion.  -2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.  

You may ask, 'Since religion still exercises great influence on the earth, why does the angel announce that Babylon the Great has fallen?  Well, what resulted in 539 B.C.E. when ancient Babylon fell?  Why, Israel was freed to return to it homeland and restore true worship there!  So the restoration of spiritual Israel in 1919 to a radiant spiritual prosperity, which continues and expands to this day, stands as evidence that Babylon the Great fell  in that year.  No longer does she have power of restraint over God's people.  Moreover, she has come into deep trouble within her own ranks.  Since 1919 her corruption, dishonesty, and immorality have been widely exposed. In most of Europe, few people go to church anymore, and in many socialistic countries, religion is regarded as "the opium of the people."  Disgraced in the eyes of all lovers of God's Word of truth, as it were, for the execution of Jehovah's righteous judgment on her.  

Next time:  Chapter Thirty - "Babylon the Great Has Fallen!" -Babylon's Disgraceful Fall

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Twenty-Nine -Singing the Triumphal New Song

Declaring the Everlasting Good News

John next writes:  "And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, and he had  everlasting good news to declare as glad tidings to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nations and tribe and tongue and people, saying in a loud voice:  "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of the judgment b y him has arrived and so worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and sea and fountains of waters.' "  (Revelation 14:6, 7)   The angel is flying "in midheaven,"  where the birds fly. (Compare Revelation 19:17)  Hence, his voice can be heard around the globe. Of how much greater range than any television news flash is this angel's worldwide proclamation!

Everyone is urged to fear, not the wild beast and its image, but Jehovah, who is incomparably more powerful than any symbolic beast controlled by Satan.  Why, Jehovah created heaven and earth, and now the time has come for him to judge the earth!  (Compare Genesis 1:1; Revelation 11:18)  When on earth, Jesus prophesied concerning our day: "And this good news  of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come."  (Matthew 24:14) The congregation of anointed Christians is fulfilling this commission.  (1 Corinthians 9:16; Ephesians 6:15)  Revelation here reveals that invisible angels are also involved in this preaching work. How often angelic guidance has been apparent in bringing one of Jehovah's Witnesses to a home where some distressed soul was yearning, even praying, for spiritual help!  

As the angel flying in midheaven has declared, the hour for judgment has arrived. What judgment  will God now render?  Ears will tingle at the announcements now to be made by a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth angel.  _Jeremiah 19:3.

Next time: Chapter Thirty -"Babylon the Great Has Fallen!"

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Twenty-Nine -Singing the Triumphal New Song

Followers of the Lamb

Continuing his description of the 144,000 who are "bought from the earth,"  John tells us:  "These are the ones that did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins.  These are the ones that keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes.  These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, and no falsehood  as found in their mouths; they are without blemish." (Revelation 14:4, 5)  The fact that the 144,000 "are virgins" does not mean that members of this class are necessarily married in the flesh.  The apostle Paul wrote to Christians who had heavenly calling that, whereas there are advantages to Christian singleness, marriage is preferable under he certain circumstances.  (1 Corinthians 7:1, 2, 36, 37)  What characteristics this class is a spiritual virginity.  They have avoided spiritual adultery with worldly politics and with false religion.  (James 4:4; Revelation 1 7:5) As the betrothed bride of Christ, they have kept themselves  pure, "without a blemish in among a crooked and twisted generation." -Philippians 2:15. 

Additionally, "no falsehood was found in their mouths."  In this, they are like their King, Jesus Christ.  As a perfect human,  "he committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth."  (1 Peter 2:21, 22)  In being simultaneously  without blemish and truthful, the 144,000 are prepared as a chaste bride for Jehovah's great High Priest.  When Jesus was on earth, he invited righthearted ones to follow him.   (Mark 8:34; 10:21; John 14:3)  Those who responded imitated  his way of life and obeyed his teachings.  Thus, during their earthly course, they "keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes" as he guides them through Satan's world.

The 144,000 are "bought from the earth," adopted as spirit sons of God, and after their resurrection, they will no longer be mere flesh-and-blood humans.  As mentioned in verse 4, they became the"firstfruits   of those who have fallen asleep in death."  ( 1 Corinthians 15:20, 23) But the 144,000 are the "certain firstfruits" of imperfect mankind, purchased by means of Jesus' sacrifice.  (James 1:18) Nevertheless, the ingathering of fruitage from mankind does not end with them.  The book of Revelation has already pointed to the harvesting of an unnumbered great crowd that cries out with a loud voice.  "Salvation we owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb."  This great crowd will survive the great tribulation, and as they continue to be refreshed b y "fountains of waters of life," they will be raised to human perfection on earth. Sometime after the great tribulation, Hades will be emptied, and countless millions of other humans will be resurrected and have the opportunity to drink from those same waters of life. With this in mind, it would be correct to call the great crowd a firstfruits of the other sheep -they are  the first to 'wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb' With the hope of living forever on earth. -Revelation 7:9, 10, 14, 17; 20:12, 13. 

These three firstfruits (Jesus Christ, the 144,000, and the great crowd) have interesting correspondencies in the festivals celebrated according to the ancient Mosaic Law.  On Nisan 16, during the festival of Unfermented Cakes, a sheaf of the firstfruits of the barley harvest was offered to Jehovah.  (Leviticus 23:6-14)  Nisan 16 was the day Jesus was resurrected from the dead. On the 50th day from Nisan 16, in the third month, the Israelites celebrated the festival of the harvest of the first ripe fruits of the wheat harvest.  (Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:15, 16)  This festival came to be called Pentecost (from a Greek word meaning "fiftieth"), and it was at Pentecost 33 C.E. that the first members of the 144,000 were anointed  with holy spirit. Finally, in the seventh month when the whole harvest was gathered in, there was the Festival of Booths, a time of joyful thanksgiving when the Israelites dwelt for a week in booths made of, among other things, palm branches.   (Leviticus  23:33-43) Correspondingly, the great crowd, who are part of the great ingathering, give thanks  before the throne with"palm branches in their hands." -Revelation 7:9.  

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Nine -Singing the Triumphal New Song - Declaring the Everlasting Good News

From the book of Revelation 

Chapter Twenty-Nine -Singing the Triumphal New Song

Conclusion of Singing as if a New Song

Nevertheless, others listen and respond to their singing. Since 1935 a growing great crowd of other sheep has heard their triumphant song and been moved to join with them in publicizing God's Kingdom.  (John 10:16; Revelation 7:9) True, these newcomers cannot learn to sing exactly  the same new song that the future rulers of God's Kingdom sing.  But they too sound a melodious chorus of praise to Jehovah that is an anthem lauding Jehovah for the new things he is accomplishing.  They thus fulfill the psalmist's exhortation:  "Sing to Jehovah a new song.  Sing to Jehovah, all you people of the earth. Sing to Jehovah bless his name.  From day to day tell the good news of salvation by him. Declare among the nations his glory, among the peoples his wonderful works. Ascribe to Jehovah, O you families of the peoples, ascribe to Jehovah glory and strength. Say among the nations:  'Jehovah himself has become king.' " -Psalm 86:1-3, 7, 10; 98:1-9.

How can the 144,000 sing  "before" the elders, since the 24 elders and the 144,00 are in their heavenly position?  Early in the Lord's day, those "dead in union with Christ" were resurrected as spirit creatures. Thus faithful anointed Christians who have conquered are now in heaven, symbolically fulfilling functions comparable to the those of the 24 divisions of priestly elders.  They are included in the vision of Jehovah's heavenly organization.  (1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16; 1 Chronicles 24:1-8' Revelation 4:4; 6:11)  The remnant of the 144,000 still on earth are therefore singing the new song before, or in the sight of, their resurrected brothers in heaven. 

At this point we might also ask: Why is it that these anointed overcomers are referred as the symbolic 24 elders as well as the 144,000?  It is because Revelation views this one group from two different standpoints.  he 24 elders are always shown in their ultimate position around Jehovah's throne, installed as kings and priests in the heavens.  They symbolize the entire group of 144,000 in their heavenly position, although at present a small remnant of these are still on earth.  (Revelation 4:4, 10; 5:5-14; 7:11-13; 11:16-18) Revelation chapter 7, however, focuses on the 144,000 as brought forth from humankind, and it stresses Jehovah's grand  purpose to seal the complete number of individual spiritual Israelites and to grant salvation to an unnumbered great crowd. Revelation chapter 14 provides a picture confirming that the complete Kingdom class of 144,000 individual overcomers will be assembled  with the Lamb on Mount Zion.  The qualifications to be met in order to be numbered with the 144,000 are also made known, as we shall now see.

Next time: Chapter Twenty-Nine -Singing the Triumphal New Song - Followers of the Lamb

From the book of Revelation