Category Archives: Bible Studies

The Third Bowl – Judgment on the Fresh Water (Revelation 16:4-7)

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This third bowl-plague will come after the second bowl-plague of death to the sea; probably after it has affected human kind to its fullest extent. We don’t really know when this plague will begin; but I don’t think there will be any time between these bowl-plagues to relax.

This plague is another plague on water, but this time it will come on the rivers and the springs—on all the fresh water; water that is for drinking. It will all become blood. I suppose it will be much like the first plague of Egypt (Ex. 7:14-25), the blood in the water coming from the death of all the fish in the river (the Nile). But in this third bowl judgment all the fish and all that is living in all the rivers and the springs on the earth will die.

I am wondering how wide-ranging it will be? That is, in Egypt they were able to dig anywhere around the Nile and find fresh water; but I have a feeling that in the Tribulation even the underground water will be polluted. I don’t know. I am wondering also if they will be able to rely on fresh fruit for a source of water. Or will that be polluted too—since fruit trees have to be nourished from fresh water?

How will people survive without water? They may have to rely on bottled water or coke that they have stored away. But what will they do when that is used up? Perhaps they will be able to purify the water or somehow sanitize it.

As we ponder these questions let’s hear what an angel, “the angel of the waters” has to say. He says,

Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.

Here, this angel, who apparently has been charged with guarding the waters of the earth, praises God for His righteousness and holiness in respect to what He has done: for His judgment on the rivers and the springs in polluting it with death and blood, so that the people will have to drink it. It is well deserved, he said, because of what they have done in “pouring out the blood of saints and prophets.”

I’m not sure if we can be certain of who “they” (in verse 6) is referring to. Most directly, I think, it would be the leaders: the Antichrist, the false prophet, and the false church (the harlot) during the seven-year Tribulation. But it seems that this guilt, the guilt of the blood of the saints and prophets is also on all those who worship the Antichrist and Satan—all unbelievers. Hence, it seems that they all are guilty by association; for all will be given blood to drink. Yes, the angel of water says that they deserve it. Hence, they all will drink the bloody water. Yuck!

But indirectly, and for many years, the Catholic inquisition as well as the corrupt Roman government, corrupted by Babylonialism, has barbarically persecuted and killed many Christians, as we know; and God, I’m sure will deal with them justly in eternity.

Those in the seven-year Tribulation, however, may top that murder-rate and barbarism. During the first part of the Tribulation, the false church (or the Great Harlot) will be most guilty; for in Revelation 17:6 John sees her as “the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.” This false church is pictured in Revelation 17:4-5 as a woman…

clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Hal Lindsey writes of this woman,

When the angel told John that he would tell him the mystery of the woman, he meant that this Harlot, the false religious system, would have as its main teachings the same occultic practices as ancient Babylon. It would include black magic, demon contact, seances, miraculous materializations, witchcraft, astrology, and sorcery. Her luxurious external appearances of jewels and royal clothes meant that she would have a great appeal to the sensual nature of men, but her gold cup filled with abominations represented her corrupt and perverse teachings. Her drunkenness with the saint’s blood shows how she had successfully eliminated all who opposed her.3

Then also, after the Antichrist destroys the Harlot (Rev. 17:16), he, with his armies, will make war with the saints and overcome them (Rev. 13:7; Dan. 7:21). We don’t know to what extent he will kill and persecute them. John MacArthur writes that “the Antichrist will be allowed to massacre those who are God’s children.”4

Now in verse seven a very strange thing occurs. John hears the altar speak, saying that indeed God’s judgments are true and righteous. The altar here is probably the same as in Revelation 6:9, the altar of incense in heaven. And, I think, just as in chapter 6, in the fifth seal, the speaking of the altar is actually the voices of martyrs expressing their approval of God and His judgments. According to Barnes in his Barnes Notes, on Revelation 6:9,

This is one of the incidental proofs in the Bible that the soul does not cease to exist at death, and also that it does not cease to be conscious, or does not sleep until the resurrection. These souls of the martyrs are represented as still in existence; as remembering what had occurred on the earth; as interested in what was now taking place; as engaged in prayer; and as manifesting earnest desires for the divine interposition to avenge the wrongs which they had suffered.5

We also have a familiar occurrence in Genesis 4:10, when God says to Cain after he had slain his brother Abel, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.” Hence, this is yet another proof that the soul does not die after the body dies. It lives on, and the believer’s soul naturally cries out to God for vengeance, and also praises and approves of God’s good judgments.

3 Ibid., p. 224.

4 John MacArthur, John MacArthur’s notes on Revelation 13:7.

5 Albert Barnes, Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database, 1997, Biblesoft.

How to Hallow God’s Name — from Matthew 6:9-13

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

First of all we should discuss why we should hallow His name?  There are several reasons to hallow His name.  Two reasons stand out to me.  First, the most obvious reason is because He deserves it.  He is God and He is holy; therefore we ought to treat Him as holy.  He is the one that is high and lifted up.  Hence we ought to cry out daily (in our mind or even verbally) as the angels do, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Is. 6:1-3).

A second reason to treat God as holy is so that others around us will treat Him as holy, and likewise, believe and obey Him.  For when we show God (or anyone) respect, others who observe us will tend to follow our example (Heb. 13:7).  But when we disrespect God…

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The Second Bowl – Judgment on the Sea (Revelation 16:3)

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After the first bowl judgment of the sores, the second angel will pour out his plague into the sea (large bodies of water; the oceans and all the bodies called seas).

We don’t know if there will be much of a break of time between each plague, but I imagine that there won’t be. Each plague will take a significant amount of time to affect the people and to spread out into the whole earth; but I don’t think there will be much of a break after each plague. In other words, every day of the seven-year Tribulation will be full of suffering and terror. Just when you think a plague has run its course, so that things are seeming to relax, another plague will start.

This second bowl-plague is a plague on the sea, so that it will be polluted with blood and death. It will be similar to the second trumpet, but much worse; for in the second trumpet only a third of the sea creatures die; here all living things will die—both plants and animals.

Imagine it! Imagine the stench of it! We know that there are about one million species of animals in the oceans. There are invertebrates (without a backbone) and vertebrates; there are very large animals like whales, sharks, and dolphins; and then there are smaller fish of many varieties. The oceans are also teeming with many varieties of plant life, and some microscopic in size. All will die and probably float to the top of the water with much blood. And the stench of it will permeate and pollute the air for miles.

We don’t know how God will kill all ocean life. I suppose He will either use the devastation of war (nuclear bombs, etc.), or He will just make it happen by a word. But the fact is, we know He will do it at the time of His choosing.

And we should know that this plague will not be meant for the oceans alone. In fact, it will be primarily a plague on humans. For the survival and health of humans will depend on water, even the ocean water. And isn’t it ironic that for years we have been polluting its waters with our dumping and poor sanitation; and soon, by this deadly plague it will bring disease and even death to those in the Tribulation.

People don’t drink from the salt water of the oceans, but we eat so much of what lives in the ocean. All that will be gone from man’s diet. But one thing I am thinking about most, is the pollution and the destruction of the air we breathe.  Did you know that about half of the oxygen we humans breathe comes from the process of photosynthesis? This will all be destroyed, gone; because photosynthesis is produced by living microscopic plants called phytoplankton as it receives light from the sun.

So, this marvelous God-created process in nature will suddenly stop. And so, we can imagine what effect that will have on humans. There will be a lot of coughing and gaging going on, with an almost inability to breathe. And this plague I imagine will continue for the entire length of the rest of the Tribulation period.

Hallowed Be Your Name – What It Means To Hallow God’s Name

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Stephen Nielsen's avatarPrayer A to Z

cropped-copy-of-northern-lights1.jpg This first petition in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) is designed to bring us further into the presence of God, but with the aim that God would be glorified.  Hence, when we pray “Hallowed be Your name,” we are in fact praying as such: “Lord, let Your name be hallowed in me so that I will experience who You are and give You praise; and let Your name be hallowed in my friends so that they also can know You and praise You.”  Therefore, though we are asking God to show Himself to us in all His glory, and though we are seeking to ascend further into the heavenlies to experience the awesomeness of God, the aim is not to get our personal needs met, rather it is that God would be lifted up and glorified.  Hence, in this first petition, Jesus is teaching us that we should start our…

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First Bowl: Malignant Sores (Revelation 16:2)

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This first bowl describes the plague in only one verse. It is a plague of a “loathsome and malignant sore on [all] the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image.” We can’t be exactly sure what this plague will be like, but we can get a good idea of its nature from three sources: from Job (Job 2:7), from the sixth plague of Egypt (Ex. 9:9-11), and from the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Lu. 16:20-21).

First of all, we know that in these three cases, the word for “sore” is the same as in this bowl judgment. In the New Testament case with Lazarus, it is the same Greek word helkos; and in the two Old Testament references, the same Greek word from the Septuagint is used.

In the earliest case of Job, the plague is described as “sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” It was a terrible infection of the skin directly caused by Satan, to test his loyalty to God. In this particular case, Job found some relief from his suffering by scraping his boils with a piece of broken pottery, perhaps to break the boils open and release the infection.

In the case of the sixth plague on Egypt, it is said to be “boils breaking out with sores on man and beast.” Here it seems to be the same as in Job’s case and in the Tribulation, except here the animals will be infected too.

Putting these together, we may conclude that in the Tribulation the sores will be similar, but I can’t help thinking that it may be worse. And though it will be a punishment by the Lord, He may use a man-made means to cause the boils like radioactivity in the air. Hal Lindsey writes,

This rash of malignant sores could easily be caused by the tremendous radioactive pollution in the atmosphere. After the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima thousands of people developed hideous sores because of the radioactivity.

As to the duration of this first bowl-plague, we can’t be sure that it will last for the entire length of the Great Tribulation (for three and a half years); however, it seems clear from verse eleven, that during the fifth bowl, people will still be suffering from their sores.

But there is one thing we can be sure of; the plague will affect only those unbelievers that took the mark of the beast and who worship his image. All true believers will be supernaturally protected as were the Jews in Egypt in the days of Moses.

Introduction To The Bowls (Revelation 15:5-16:1)

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After John takes in the glad and victorious vision of the saints in heaven, rejoicing in their victory over the beast (Rev. 15:1-4), he then looked and saw the heavenly temple—where God dwells. And the door to the temple was open, so he could see inside, even into the Holy of Holies. And he saw the seven angels (referred to in verse 1). They came out of the temple clothed in clean linen, and they were girded around their chest with golden sashes. The clean and bright linen represents their holiness and purity, and the golden sashes denotes their royalty.

Then one of the four living creatures (God’s cherubim) gave to each of the seven angels, golden bowls full of the wrath of God. Take note that it is not the wrath of the Antichrist, but the wrath of God. Hence, all the terrible tribulation during the next period of time (approximately three- and one-half years) will come from the wrath of God as He pours out His anger on the sins of the world.

Suddenly, after the angels were out of the temple and had received the bowls of wrath, there came into the temple a cloud of smoke. It was not any ordinary smoke; it was smoke from the glory and power of God. And it was impenetrable, so that no one was able to pass through it to enter the temple until after the seven plagues were finished.

Now we don’t know exactly what this cloud of smoke was like, but I imagine that it was the same smoke as in the Old Testament, the smoke of God’s presence preventing Moses or the priests from entering the temple. Now I don’t think that its impenetrability had anything to do with its physical make-up. I think it has more to do with its spiritual make-up, with the holiness of God, mainly His wrath and judgment.

I dare not say too much—more that I am sure of, but I need to say something about this situation of not being able to enter the temple. The temple here is not the physical, Tribulation temple. Verse five tells us that it is the temple in heaven. So, I take it that it is the place of God’s presence, the place where we now go to draw near God when we pray. It is the throne of grace where we go to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Heb. 4:16). Hence, during this Great Tribulation, I take it that the time of grace is over, that for unbelievers as well as believers, it is too late to call out to Him. For believers during that time, I believe that God will take care of them. But for unbelievers that suddenly want God’s help, I think it may be too late for them.

Suddenly, John was disturbed by a loud voice from inside the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

Timeline Of Events Leading To The Bowl Judgments

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I don’t know if we can be exact about when all the judgments will occur; but, according to most bible prophecy scholars, the seal judgments will occur roughly during the first twenty-one months of the Tribulation, the trumpet judgments during the second twenty-one months, and the bowl judgments during the entire second half of the Tribulation, for forty-two months or three and a half years. In the first half of the Tribulation (with the seals and trumpets) the earth will experience the wrath of the Antichrist, along with the harlot (or the false church); and in the second half of the Tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation, the earth and its people will experience the wrath of the Almighty God.

I don’t think it is super important to try to fit everything exactly into its proper place—nor can we; but, I think, to at least guess at it, we may get a better understanding of how things will fit together, especially during the time of the middle of the Tribulation and leading up to the bowl judgments.

The way I see it, there are two categories of time; events at the mid-Trib, and events a little later, leading up to the bowl judgments.

Events at the Middle of the Tribulation

1. The Antichrist is resurrected (Rev. 13:3). After this seemingly miraculous event, the Scripture says, “The whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast.”

2. The Antichrist breaks his peace covenant with Israel and puts a stop to animal sacrifices and grain offerings in the Jewish temple (Dan. 9:27). Notice that he does this in the middle of the week (meaning the seven-year covenant).

3. He exalts himself, and others exalt him, as God (2 Thess. 2:3b-4; Rev. 13:3b-4). In 2 Thessalonians we read, “The man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Then in Revelation it is written, “And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast, and who is able to war with him?’”

These three points will mark the exact time at the middle of the Tribulation. And this is the time when scholars believe that Satan fills and empowers the Antichrist so that he believes himself to be God and the resurrected Christ. Hence, it is at this time that he begins to speak so arrogantly against God and against believers and makes war with them (Rev. 13:5-7).

A Few Days or Weeks Later

We cannot be sure how long it will take the following events to transpire, but it seems logical that it will take at least a few days to a few weeks—but probably not longer than that.

4. The Antichrist destroys the harlot (Rev. 17:16-17). The harlot (the false church) will reign together with the Antichrist during the first half of the Tribulation (Rev. 17). But when he is fully controlled by Satan and thinks that he alone is God, he no longer will tolerate the harlot; and he, along with his ten kings will hate her and make her “desolate.” Now we don’t know how long it will take to destroy her, but I imagine that with just a strike of the pen, with an executive order, he will do it.

5. He will make war with all true believers (Rev. 13:7). Besides the false believers of the false church, He will also, and more, go against the true believers. In fact, he will hunt them down and kill them—all who are destined to be martyred (read Rev. 13:10).

6. The image of the Antichrist is made and set up (Rev. 13:14-15). We don’t know how long it will take for those “who dwell on the earth” to make this image and to make it speak, but I am guessing that it will take some time. However, the way advanced technology will be, it may not be long.

7. Many Jews flee to safety into the wilderness (Rev. 12:14; Matt. 24:15-21). We know exactly when these Jews—as many as decide to go—will begin fleeing for safety into the wilderness. It will be, as Matthew 24:15 indicates, when they see the Abomination of Desolation standing in the temple. This, I think, is the image of the beast (I won’t go into more details as I have already written on it on pages 155-157).

8. All people are required to take the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:16-18). These verses (vs. 16-18) explain it quite well. Everyone, no matter how old, how wealthy, or what status, will be required to take the mark; which is a mark representing the Antichrist. It will be the government’s system to control people. And if you want to buy or sell anything you must have the mark.

But we know that there will be many who refuse to take the mark. All true believers will not take the mark; for it is a sign of the Antichrist and for those who worship Him (Rev. 14:9-10). And since all who take the mark will suffer the wrath of God (hell), we can be certain that believers will not receive it, nor will they be force to get it, or be tricked into getting it. However, we know that God will somehow provide for them; He will provide for any believer that is destined to live during that time.

Now one of the reasons I decided to do this timeline is to give us an idea as to when the bowl judgments will begin; because the first bowl is a judgment on those who received the mark and who worship his image. For that reason, the first bowl will not commence until after the image is set up.

However, in saying that, I think we can be certain that even though there is a gap of time between the mid-Trib and the first bowl, there still will be plenty of Tribulation-suffering going on in that short gap of time.