David: Hey friend, thank you for joining us. I’m going to go back to an incredible writer, St. John, who has taken what Jesus shared with him which was overwhelming to him.

Intro: Welcome to the Before We Go Podcast featuring Dr. David Mains and his wife noted author Karen Mains. Here’s David and Karen Mains.

Karen: I think this was sort of a Before I Go Project. For John? For John. I thought he was in his 90s.

David: He’s probably, yeah, he’s an old man.

Karen: An old man alone on the island, or assuming without a fellowship of Christians on the island of Patmos. No computer. No computer. And he has this vision. And so I think it was the Before I Go kind of thing. He was impelled almost compulsively, so to get this out, this vision he had received from the Lord.

David: And that message has profound implications for us as well. Okay, that’s a pretty good setup, huh? We’ll go to this next lecture.

To understand the prophetic passages in Revelation that we will now look at you have to imagine a few churches organizationally. The church worldwide has been all but eliminated. In many respects its influence is nil. That’s because the public voices is silenced. Sanctuaries had been destroyed. Bibles burned. Then a staggering number of Christians have been slaughtered. Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, even people in groups we today sometimes classify as cults. Around the world, most believers have gone into hiding. Just how many remain alive? No one really knows.

Deception reigns supreme in the person of the Antichrist. There’s also a false system of worship that has been introduced and has a massive global following. Whether this is something brand new or the elevation of a religion that has been around for a long time, I don’t know. However, to fill people’s longings for the supernatural, leaders of this elevated religious system are able to perform exceptional wonders. Whether genuine or fake, these mind-boggling miracles are impressive. Because of such marvelous acts, a certain spiritual authenticity is demonstrated. Even so, it’s a religion of fear and bondage, not one of love and freedom.

Let me just quickly insert. This is number eight in a series of twelve studies based on the New Testament book of Revelation. A new, and for the first time ever, worldwide empire has come into power. Its leader was introduced in Revelation 13. Soon we learned about the religious underpinnings of this beast dictator. Through lies, power grabs, military prowess, and genocide, the whole globe has been brought under the tight control of this single ruling entity. Now the weapons of importance to the Antichrist are not so much ones of massive destruction as they are those that can control large numbers of people. Of course, control has been made easier by insisting that everyone receive the mark of the beast. Those refusing to comply with this order are in for a hard time just trying to survive.

We got a glimpse of what this world of the future will be like on a limited scale anyway, by observing what happened as ISIS took over large sections of the Middle East. There were killings, including crucifixions, beheadings, men set on fire in cages, and the demand for absolute obedience to what ISIS declared to be law. We saw the subjugation of women, the brainwashing of children, the total lack of religious freedoms, and so on listen to me carefully.

At this point I am not saying that radical Islam is the future prophet or the second beast, only that ISIS acted in the same way that the unholy trio of revelation eventually will. I’m aware that messages like this can be upsetting. Thoughts of a future time when a truly evil power exercises absolute control over the world are frightened.

Probably the younger you are the more troubled your response. As I prepared my words for this visit my request to the Lord was that when all was said that instead you will assume an attitude that’s not easily discouraged, intimidated, or defeated. Let me also point out that from Chapter 15 on in Revelation nothing good happens for the forces of evil. A turning point has been reached, and the ultimate outcome is obvious. So, as we now come to a new main section of the book, let’s take a quick look at the way I have outlined Revelation so far.

The brief introduction was Chapter 1, chapters 2 and 3, 7 short sermons. Then it was Scroll of the Future, chapters 4 through 11. Subheadings under Scroll of the Future were Heavenly Worship, 7 seals opened, Word to the Martyrs, Time of the Trumpets, and then we came to the unholy trio, which is chapters 12 through 14. I believe the time of the trumpets and the rise of the earthly power of the unholy trio, Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet, are not sequential.

In other words, one happens after the other, rather they overlap, and both occur during what we usually think of as the last days or the end times. And how pleased I am now to tell you that with today’s assigned chapters, God will begin to show his great power. He is not distant and uninvolved. He cares.

So, we have a new main topic I’m calling Turning of the Tide. That goes from Chapter 15 through verse 10 of 19, and the first subtitle is today’s topic, Seven Bowls of Wrath. Revelation chapters 15 and 16. These seven bowls of God’s wrath are also called the Seven Last Plagues. Verse 1 of Chapter 15 states that they are, quote, last because with them God’s wrath is completed.

Anyway, seven select angels are given golden bowls containing the wrath of God. Angels come up more in Revelation than in any other book of the Bible. As you probably noticed, there are seven angels in this chapter alone. The word angel means messenger, and this is probably the primary role they fill. Angels appear to exist in a dimension other than our own, yet they influence what goes on in our world.

At critical times they have also been known to make themselves visible to select human beings. Even though I have never encountered an angel, I believe in them. Mainly that’s because in the Gospels Jesus not only repeatedly affirms their existence, but they play a significant role in his life. They appear often in the events surrounding his birth. Angels also minister to Jesus following his temptation in the wilderness. They strengthen him later in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the accounts of his resurrection, they are present once again. Revelation 16 verse 1, Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth. Let me add to emphasize a point. Pour them on an earth that now, for the most part, has totally rejected God, has allowed countless believers to be slaughtered, has embraced the enemy in his vile ways, and has made survival incredibly difficult for those who bravely refused to accept the mark of the beast. This rotten world under the devil, and two beasts have come to the place where it truly deserves whatever is in those bowls.

The seven bowls that are now detailed one by one might on the surface remind us of the seven trumpets, except that these bowls are much more intense. They also have the added element of punishing Satan, who has always tried to frustrate God and his desires for this beautiful planet. So, you could say that the seven bowls of wrath are the response of God to Satan’s final efforts to oppose his divine rule.

Also be reminded that John is not describing a documentary he witnessed, it’s a vision he had, or a green-like revelation. Verse 2 of chapter 16. The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, painful sores broke out. Nobody likes ugly and painful sores breaking out on them, but who are the “them”? It says ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood.

Back in Exodus you recall how the waters of the Nile were turned to blood at the command of Moses. Scripture has Moses saying, “The fish in the Nile will die and the river will stink. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars. Scripture still. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water because they could not drink the water of the river.”

Verses 5 to 7. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were the holy one, because you have so judged, for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” Angels are created beings who rank higher than humans with superior strength and intellect. So, I believe we do well to pay attention to what they have to say and here the angel in charge of the waters is basically telling us that God is just to turn all the salt waters and the fresh waters into blood. The Antichrist and his henchmen, plus all those who support him in his evil agenda, will have shed the blood of countless of God’s saints and prophets, therefore God is just in giving the enemy blood to drink as they deserve.

Verse 8. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat. We already know the sun can be merciless. Here it appears its intensity has simply been turned up a few notches. And how do people respond? They cursed the name of God who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Power out! Has to be embarrassing. The mighty Antichrist whole kingdom plunged into darkness. Men nod their tongues in agony and cursed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.

Then angel six emptied his bowl of wrath and we see the kings or leaders of the various languages or territories being tricked by the dragon Satan and his two beasts, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, and gathering their people for battle against God and the long-anticipated place of conflict is Armageddon.

Verse 16. They gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. Taken literally, this is a plain in Israel located between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the Sea of Galilee on the east. A number of prominent Old Testament battles were fought there. Whether this is the actual sight, or Armageddon is symbolic of where the final military struggle will be between the forces of good and evil again, I don’t know. Also embedded in this text is a very quick Christ-like reminder. Behold, I come like a thief.

When the final bowl of wrath is emptied by Angel 7, a loud voice from heaven, presumably God says, “It is done.” It’s followed by typical manifestations of His power, such as flashes of lightning, rumblings, peels of thunder, and a severe earthquake. In fact, no earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.

Now at verse 19 we have arrived at what will be the main topic of our next visit. Cities, and more specifically, the great city that will be the seat of power of the forces of evil. If you were a first-century believer hearing this text read, the great city would have been Rome. If you are a Christ follower in the 21st century, that’s going to be the capital city of the Antichrist, his power base. The place Satan operates out of with his twin puppets. To quote Revelation 17 verse 18, the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.

In the next chapter it’s symbolically called the great whore. Prostitute. There will be such a headquarters. It’s inevitable. Where will it be? Beijing, Tehran, New York, Cairo, London, Rome once again, Jerusalem, Moscow, Washington, DC. Somewhere we have never heard of, a great capital city yet to be built.

In the next chapter of Revelation 17 this place is also symbolically called Babylon the Great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth. The bigger truth is that all great cities of the world including my home city of Chicago, will be under the control of this single overlord. These urban seats of power around the world will help enforce his will, carry out his orders, govern surrounding territories and punish any dissidents. That’s just how it will be when the Antichrist according to Revelation 13 verse 7 and 8 is given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.

Back to verses 18 and 19 of Revelation 16, no earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth so tremendous was a quake. There’s nothing like a massive earthquake, the most powerful one that has ever occurred to humble the Antichrist. The great city split into three parts and cities of the nations collapsed. Babylon was the great enemy of Old Testament Israel. But in Jewish Christian apocalyptic writings Babylon became the symbolic name for Rome. For us in our study of Revelation it is also the name of the future city of the Antichrist. At this point we don’t know the location of this new Babylon. What we do know is that it will be destroyed by a devastating act of God.

Remember what Jesus said about Jerusalem in his Olivet Discourse? The time will come when not one stone will be left on another. Every one of them will be thrown down. Did that prophecy come true? You bet it did. So, will this prophecy from Jesus to John to us in Revelation come true? Babylon number one, the enemy of the Jews in the Old Testament, fell. So did Babylon number two, Rome. And so will Babylon number three, even though we at this point don’t even know its name or location. In more detail, the Roman Empire fell in the great imperial city. Rome was sacked repeatedly. That irrefutable fact tends to make me believe that the same will someday be true of the city of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet.

More about this city of the future next visit. And your assignment is to read Revelation chapter 17, 18 and verses 1 to 10 of 19. Again, that’s chapters 17, 18 and verses 1 to 10 of Revelation chapter 19. Convinced they are on the winning side during the end times, informed Christians should assume an indomitable attitude, knowing that even as pompous Rome was sacked and her empire destroyed, so God will also demolish the capital city of the Antichrist, plus all her urban affiliates. So, cities, these great monuments to human achievement will all someday collapse in ruin. Each one will come tumbling down and our God will create a new earth, a new holy city, the new Jerusalem, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Knowledge gives power. Which would you rather be? Uninformed and unconverted, but for a while able to get food and fuel and flights here and there but find out too late after your city has fallen that you are numbered among the damned. Or would you say that a better choice would be found on the side of the informed, who maybe have it rough for a while? Even see your days ended prematurely, but in your heart and mind you know that for all eternity you’ll be with the Lord and all those who love Him and all that for which He stands. I would say that a deep-seated conviction like this should make you indomitable in your faith. Unshakable, courageous, valiant, fearless, unconquerable, able to stand even in the worst of times. Oh, I thank God for revelation. It is a most encouraging message about who eventually wins the war between Christ and the Antichrist.

I want to briefly go back to the opening paragraphs of chapter 15 of Revelation. We have here a heavenly picture of the martyrs who lived during the reign of the Antichrist and were killed by him. They are said to have been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. The beast used his authority and power to have them killed, but they were the real victors in that they remain true to the Lord and are now being rewarded by living in his heavenly presence. And they are singing the song of Moses. So, it’s a song of deliverance from the domination of the first of the seven superpowers, ancient Egypt. When you read the words in verses 3 and 4 it’s relatively easy to picture the Israelites having sung these lyrics as they escaped Pharaoh’s army. Now martyrs are singing the same words because of their escape from the Antichrist. A long-cherished tradition of the church is the singing of songs of victory.

I want you to ask Jesus to put a song about victory in your heart this week. Maybe it will come to you right away. Then again you might need to talk to a friend to get some suggestions or listen to Christian radio or whatever. But it would be sad if a whole week went by and you couldn’t come up with something. There are so many such songs that have been written because again it’s a long-cherished tradition of the church, this singing of victory songs of the Lamb. So that’s your spiritual quest for between now and when we next get together.

Personal short stories were a great gift given to me by my grandpa Ben. He left me with tales about his early days living in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia or New Scotland. According to him the Bay of Fundy area has the biggest title changes in the world with a difference between high and low tide often nearing 50 feet. When the water was out the local fishermen tied baited lines to stakes, they had driven into the low mud flats. Then when the tide rushed back fish would take the bait and get hooked. Soon as it went out again these men would go down and check to see what they had caught.

One of grandpa’s stories I still remember was about old man Shaw. He lived alone and rather liked it that way. He usually waited until the others had finished their rounds before checking his lines but once Shaw got an even later start than normal, so he hurried to check them all before the tide rushed in again. What Shaw hadn’t taken into consideration was a dense fog settling into the area right as he was gathering his catch. It descended so fast he became disoriented. Now he totally missed one of his stakes and actually tripped over the next one sprawling on the wet ground. He got up, regrouped, again putting his catch over his back, but now he was not sure what direction he was heading. He seemed to be walking quite a while but getting nowhere. Should he alter his route and how long did he have before the water returned in force? What will you do, young Master David? My grandfather asked. Here was this old man with a few good-sized fish hanging over his back, walking in thick fog to who knows where. Had to make a decision. Should he remain independent? Still keep to himself and try to solve this problem on his own or holler for help?

As a six-year-old sitting on my grandpa’s big lap, as far as I was concerned, this was a no-brainer. I had a holler for help, I responded. But Shaw didn’t have friends like you do, I was reminded. He kind of kept to himself and people tended to leave him alone, so what do you think he did? I don’t know, Grandpa. Come on, David, Grandpa prodded. Shaw has bewildered and frightened him all alone with his life being threatened. Tell him what to do. But I don’t know what to tell. Help! Grandpa suddenly hollered. I almost fell off his lap. Never before I heard him yell like that. Shaw maybe independently wasn’t stupid, Grandpa exclaimed. Help! Help! Grandpa then was even louder this time. Then way off in the distance, a man heard Shaw’s cry, knew what was happening. This stranger understood that someone was lost in the fog out in the mud flats, and the tide was soon to rush in.

Here came the response from off in the distance. This time Grandpa’s voice was just above a whisper. Help! Here! Help! Here, just a little louder. The two voices bounced back and forth. One from the flats of the bay and the other from somewhere up on the high banks. Help! Here! An old man Shaw ran and scrambled and yelled and stumbled and raced some more at the last of the way in water that was quickly coming into the area. Faster now, leaving his fish behind, trusting the voice in the fog that eventually led him to safety. Well, he made it, young man. He sure did. What do you think of that? Grandpa then was a good storyteller.

In Psalm 90, Moses writes, the length of our days is 70 years or 80 if we have the strength. Moses was an amazing man in more ways than one. The scriptures record, Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone. That’s Deuteronomy 34:7. With me being 82, Moses’ psalm has me in a precarious age. I’m already beyond the generally allotted 70, plus the 10-year extension if I would have the strength. I doubt Wikipedia paid any attention to Psalm 90.

Nevertheless, that internet resource lists the life expectancy of white American males as 78. So, wisdom would say that now is certainly an appropriate time for me to start thinking about what I want to pass on to those to whom I feel the closest. To those I love I leave. The easy part was writing a will some years ago. What’s more complicated is how to pass on certain strong convictions I have regarding scriptures I’ve been studying for many years now. I’ve preached on these matters when loved ones and friends were present, but I haven’t taken the time to put my thoughts into concise form so they can be studied alongside the Bible passages.

To be more specific, Revelation is a book in which I have spent countless hours of time. Though I don’t understand all of it, I find it to be a text I dearly love, and I’m drawn to it again and again. I don’t believe that history as we know it will continue indefinitely. Instead, it is headed for an ultimate showdown between the forces of good and evil. This is the orthodox view of most Christians.

One of the great truths of the book of Revelation is that God will emerge victorious. Another emphasis not taught that often is that the end times will be bloody ones for believers. In the Gospels, Jesus carefully prepared his disciples for his death and resurrection. John 13:19 has our Lord in the upper room saying these words to the twelve, I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. In similar fashion in the final book of the Bible, Jesus thoughtfully informs his followers ahead of time about events related to the end of the world.

The response this inside information calls for is one of unshakable loyalty, even under terrible persecution, because of faith regarding our Lord’s final triumph and our joyous eternal future together. I don’t believe Christ’s intent in Revelation was to confuse and depress the elect, but to enlighten and encourage them.

Even so, there is no indication in this book that believers will escape these troubling times. My own concise understanding of Revelation has now been told first to my extended family. This includes members in my generation as well as the age group of my four adult children and their spouses. The oldest of my nine grandchildren are in their twenties, and at the age when they can grasp my thoughts. I hope the time will come when each of the others can one day hear and appreciate their grandfather’s words also.

I do not believe the basic thrust of Revelation are all that mysterious or difficult to grasp. The key is to stick to the big picture truths and avoid getting bogged down in details. The biggest fault I find with most books about the apocalypse is that they quickly overwhelm the reader with minutia. My goal is to stick to the big picture truths.

Revelation is not a mind-boggling puzzle to be solved only by scholars, but a relatively clear word from the Lord to be carefully heated and most certainly by this present generation. My main reason for sharing my thoughts is that I see our world rapidly changing, and my children and grandchildren could someday face difficult situations I never experienced. I want them to know what I believe are some extremely important truths. I have a feeling there are many grandparents who are in a similar situation. There must also be uncles and aunts who are anxious in their thoughts for their nephews and nieces, even grand nephews and grandnieces.

Our concern is that a day may come when those precious to us feel all alone, and they’re terribly confused by what’s happening in their world. Events could make them anxious or intimidated, frightened and possibly even scared to death. “Help me!” They might cry out. That’s when I want them to recall the faint words of someone older and biblically wiser saying, “Here, this is the way.” “Help!” “I hear you. I know you can’t see me, but I’m in a safe place. Remember what I told you. Follow my advice. You’ll be all right.” “Help!” “Here. Hold dear to what Revelation says.” “Help!” “Here. Jesus loves you.” “Help!” “Here. You’ll be all right.”

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