Chapter 15 The Seven Last Plagues and Judgment

It may seem rather strange to think God’s judgment is mentioned during the last seven plagues. Once we look at the context, we can understand why the world is reminded about God’s judgment at that particular time.

Revelation 16:1-8 RSVA Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” (2) So the first angel went and poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. (3) The second angel poured his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died that was in the sea. (4) The third angel poured his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of water, and they became blood. (5) And I heard the angel of water say, “Just art thou in these thy judgments, thou who art and wast, O Holy One. (6) For men have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. It is their due!” (7) And I heard the altar cry, “Yea, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are thy judgments!” (8) The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire;

In both cases the angels are glorifying God by agreeing His judgments are just. Those angels witnessed every step of the judgment process. They spent years watching the dead being judged. They reviewed the lives of the dead. Angels knew the people who were being judged. Angels came to save those people, aided them in times of crisis and were with them every step of their lives. Angels saw those people sin, take advantage of other people, learn evil crafts, and pass those energies off to other people. Angels from Heaven saw the influence Satan’s angels had on them. Heavenly angels tried to break those chains Satan’s team of angels wound around them. Time and time again Angels from Heaven sent them good people to confer with and learn from. The good angels tried to surround their lives with aspects that would lead them to Christ, back to God, and to salvation. Time and time again those angels and the influences they sent were rejected. Time after time the healing, favors, and miracles Heavenly angels brought into their lives was accepted with little or no appreciation. Finally the breath left their bodies and there was nothing anyone could do for them. All they could do is rest in the dust until they were raised to hear the verdict.

Some did listen to those Heavenly angels. Some people became human messengers for the angels in Heaven. Some people constantly prayed to God and listened to the voice of God’s Spirit. Some people understood and appreciated the sacrifice Jesus made for them. They knew they could never pay Jesus back for what He had done for them, but they could dedicate their lives to being His servant. “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12 RSVA).

There will only be two classes in the end. Those who are saved, and those who are lost. Suffice to say, those who are lost have nothing to loose. The enemy denies their loss, defends them, and convinces the lost, they have everything to gain. Hence the battle between good and evil reaches its apex. And the universe will witness the outcome.

God’s followers become an instant target. Satan can and will point out everyone of them. Satan knows he’s been judged. And he knows the outcome. Satan has nothing to loose. One goal is to take as many people down with his as he can. But what about God’s people?

Satan enjoyed nothing more during his exile on this planet than to watch Christ suffer. Christ is in Heaven and untouchable. Christ has the power and authority to destroy Satan and all his follows with a single word. Satan has nothing better to do than take advantage of the time he has left. He’s seen millions die in thousands of ways. The best Satan can hope for is a quick, painless death. In the mean time, he can work his magic and make the last living followers of God pay for the fate Satan is about to face.

Of course there is more to the story. The living will eventually be judged. They have to be judged so the Heavenly angels know who to protect, and who to leave to Satan and his ways. What will life be like when Satan has almost total control over this world? I don’t think anyone can imagine what can happen. How far will he go with wars, persecution, slavery, and seeking revenge on the few remaining people who choose to follow God during those perilous times? No one can imagine that scene. No one will be ready for that scene.

I am not going to try and interpret those plagues. Thousands have tried and failed. Most of them place many of the events in the past. Based on the fact many of today’s modern day prophets have used a dozen or so world events to pin point the day one or more of those plagues were going to be fulfilled, you can easily see why. Satan wants to take the minds of all of his followers off the inevitable. Satan wants them as confused as possible so that when it comes time for him to unleash his plan, no one will have any idea what John recorded 2000 years ago.

When we take a brief look at those plagues, the first will place an identifying mark on the lost. They will be covered with boils. God’s followers will stick out like a sore thumb. Or in this case, the only good thumb. We can take a fictitious look at the first plague. Keep in mind. This is not a vision or any claim this is the way the first plague will actually happen. It is only an educated guess based on a lot of prayer, and a few details from similar issues.

At first only a few people break out with infectious boils. Not enough to cause any instant alarm, but it was quickly evident these were no ordinary boils. The sores were contagious. Not deadly, but very irritating and noticeable.

Within a few days the same sores began to show up in different parts of the world. But who was interested in a few sick people scattered in different parts of the world? The sores spread quickly. One person could easily effect fifty in a day. One person would show up to work with a small sore and by the end of the week an entire office building would be infected. Then the local markets, apartment buildings, and it seemed like the entire city was infected. Some countries began to quarantine entire cities. That didn’t seem to stop the virus.

By the time the news media noticed the story, millions were infected and the soars were spreading faster than the wind. The media interviewed everyone they could. Scientists with no actual experience in the matter made claims on national and worldwide TV. Some said it was a wind born virus. Other claimed it was carried by birds. People blamed the airlines for the quick spread. Investigations showed airlines had no virus detection system and was ill equipped to deal with the situation. Government officials blamed the airlines for having less than adequate air filtration systems on planes. New laws were passed. Apartment buildings and businesses were the next victims on the wave of new laws designed to impress citizens with the concern and quick response from governments. But all the laws were made void by the fact the virus spread so fast, companies were shutting down.

Police and medical personal were the first to begin using charcoal filtered breathing masks that seemed to help. Sales shot up and in days shelves were cleared. Plants were understaffed at first. At first companies banned infected personal from working. When staffing became so lean, management asked infected worker to report to work. It seemed like the end of the world. Many workers wondered why they would show up and work for the few who remained uninfected. They felt like they were being used. Production of all kinds ground to a halt. First is was only a few offices. Factories quickly followed. Then stores, fuel production and distribution, and then food production as the virus reached the out skirts. Now it was time to panic.

Satan had no idea what to do. He didn’t want to arouse suspicion. Of course he pointed people so far away from the Bible, no one thought of checking scripture when it was being fulfilled. It was best to allow science to introduce guesses from one end of the spectrum to the other. The more he had people guessing the better. That of course was the beginning of some rather deep divisions.

Countries began to blame countries. Scientific communities accused one another of withholding information. Medical professionals introduced cures that caused more harm then good. It seemed like the sores covered the entire world in just a few months and science was no closer to explaining the cause than when it first appeared.

Countries began to launch investigations to locate the original source. Some countries used this as an opportunity to accuse their enemies of planing an attack or experimenting with germ warfare.

When we look at this series of plagues, we can see how one plague can turn the world upside down. But a series of plagues. Plagues no one can explain. Of course there will be hundreds of explanations. People will bow down to their favorite news media gods for answers and solutions. The news media will do their best to tell the world their future. But none of that will help.

If we looked back, we would see how those plagues remind us of the plagues in Egypt. If we want to learn anything about those plagues to come, why don’t we look at the plagues that have past? One detail stands out. Pharaoh was a type of symbol pointing to Satan in a few small ways. We have to give Satan the benefit of the doubt. All symbols point to something greater. And of course Satan is greater than Pharaoh. What parts of Pharaoh help us to understand Satan?

Both started their own religions. Both considered themselves gods. Both had plans to control the masses. Both enslaved people. Both fought against and tried to annihilated God’s people. Pharaoh and Satan did seem to have a lot in common. But its not our role to study the devil and give him credit for the world he messed up. Our job is to keep our eyes on Heaven.

When was the last time you heard about water turning into blood. That would have been Moses and Aaron when they were trying to get their flock out of Egypt. Interesting how many parallels there are to the exodus and the last plagues. Not exactly alike, but enough to send us to a place to study. But who wants to be told where and what to study when they can fabricate their own assumptions? As always, men will be men. Or shall I say boys when it comes to scripture.

I don’t think we should ignore the news. But we have to be careful about how the devil is using news to conform minds and led them in the direction he wants them to go. Then when it is time, he can direct people in the direction he wants them to go. I’ve seen a perfect example of that on the news this week.

You can search that prostitution ring in Florida all you want. The only news you are going to get is page after page of a football team owner and other billionaires having sex with women in a message parlor. Well maybe that is all people are interested in. Or maybe this type of manipulation is part of Satan’s plan.

Sure people are guilty of paying for sex. But that’s not one tenth of the story at hand. What about the girls? What about the people who are running the massage parlors? They are kidnapping young woman, bringing them to the US, and making sex slaves out of them. But how? The police have hundreds to women to question. Can’t they get information from those girls and come up with a plan to warn those in other countries trying to get into the US? I am tired of hearing stories about illegal aliens in the country, and when we hear a story about women being enslaved, no one seems to care. No one seems to have made the connection. Why? Has America been so dumbed down by the media? Their minds are working at 1/100th speed? If we gave the story a moment and a shred of thought, we’d see there are greater victims than the billionaires. Those women were made slaves in the United States. And no one seems to give a hoot.

Satan is having a field day with this. He just proved how he controls the media and how people are controlled by the media. Set up a human sacrifice, and no one seems to know the time of day. All they want to do is see a rich guy hung. That ain’t gonna happen. So don’t hold your breath.

Remember the story about Saul? Satan used Saul. Satan sent demons to control Saul. When Satan was done using Saul, he couldn’t wait to tell Saul he was going to die. That’s what Satan does. He uses people then throws them away.

Satan will make people successful for a reason. Satan uses successful people to restrain, control, and persecute the masses. Satan used Pharaoh and a host of others. The Bible is full of stories where God controlled people. God controlled kings, nations, and armies. God told then to go, and they went. On the same token, the devil uses people, kings, and armies to do his own bidding. This planet is like one big chess board with God and the devil shifting pawns around to different parts of the board. Of course God has a set of rules. And God knows every move the devil is going to make before he makes it.

Then of course Satan has limits, and he knows how to push them. Satan is not as smart as some people make him out to be. Satan knows little about the Bible. He couldn’t know the Bible without the Spirit. When you talk to someone about the scriptures, you can tell if they have the Spirit or not. And it is getting difficult to find people with a connection with the Spirit.

Satan has no choice but to test humans to find out what makes them tick, think, and react. It is not all that difficult to figure out. It is much like training a dog. Once you train a dog, you always know how they will react to a specified command. It is that simple. If you think I am making that up, look up the word worship. Or you can page back to chapter 13 in this book where worship was covered.

The Greek just happened to use the loyalty of a dog to help define worship. That wasn’t my choice. The Greek did it long before I was around. It does seem rather odd. What do we do when we find strange things in the Bible? Of course we put on our thinking caps and blurt out the first thing that pops into our mind. Sorry– that’s social media. Here, our task is to study scripture, we put it aside for a time and pray about it. And I mean listen when we pray.

The Greek inserted that little blurb about a dog for a reason. God isn’t training us like dogs. Otherwise we’d still be in Eden. Satan is the one trying to train us to be like and react like dogs. And this is how.

A news story comes out about a rich guy having sex at a message parlor. People are trained to sniff for blood. They want to see heads roll. Especially the heads of rich people. Satan has one class that has its own rich people, but the majority is poor. They are against everyone – sometimes for no reason at all. A different political party seems to be their favorite motive for the time being.

So a rich guy from the other side of the tracks makes a major mistake. Forget the fact those women were slaves. And many of the people shouting for blood also make a host of comments about slavery. But their minds are so controlled, they can’t see any connection. Both sides of the tracks are looking for blood based on the fact, that guy is filthy rich. People from both sides of the tracks cry out for blood like they are getting that guy’s money when he goes to jail. But that ain’t gonna happen. Satan has a way of introducing subjects that don’t exist, and making it seem like they could exist. It is like offering a dog a treat.

Now Satan knows what type of reaction he will get when he offers a human sacrifice. People will look at the sacrifice in front to them and not notice the army of demons behind them. They have no idea how hard those demons had to work to pull that stunt off. People just call the act, human nature. It is human nature to look at the set of facts the master, or teacher present and pay total attention to that one fact and ignore the rest. Satan is gathering a host of information from this stunt. And he will soon use that knowledge.

If those last plagues are around the corner, Satan has to know how many people he controls and how far he can push them. If someone doesn’t want to cooperate, no problem. Satan has people waiting in line. When the plagues do come. Satan has to push and push hard. He has to put a few key people into action. This time he has to convince the general public into calling for the sacrifice of innocent people – God’s people. That may not be as easy as it sounds. So Satan has to practice his dark art for the time being.