Seven Bowl Judgments - Part 4

Welcome to God First with Brian C. Thomas, a program committed to encouraging you to put God first while viewing life through the window of the Bible.

Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, let's join Brian C. Thomas for today's message. Well, this week we are concluding our series on the bowl judgments. We've already looked at bowls one through six. And so today we are coming to the final, the seventh bowl as God is pouring out his wrath during the seven year tribulation. And for the past several months, we've been looking at these judgments from God.

There are a total of 21 judgments. We've looked at the seven seals. We've looked at the seven trumpets and we're concluding today once again, the seven bowls. And, you know, I've had some people that have challenged me by debating that not all of these are the wrath of God.

I've had some that have tried to tell me that, well, when it comes to the seals, that that's not the wrath of God. But we we look at these all last 21 judgments and you think about the number of God. The number of God is seven and seven is the number of completion, the number of perfection. And I find it interesting that when we look at these 21 judgments of the tribulation, that God will often repeat something three times for the point of emphasis. And so we see the full completion of God's judgment for the unbelieving world when we look at the judgments of the seven year tribulation. So today we're going to pick up with Revelation Chapter 16, verse 17.

So please turn your Bibles there with me to see what the Lord has to say to us concerning the seventh bowl judgment. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for this time together. We thank you, Lord, for your holy word. It is my prayer, Lord, that all things that are spoken, that it be nothing but sound doctrine. And may you be honored and glorified in all things in your name. Jesus.

Amen. Revelation Chapter 16, verse 17 reads, Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying it is done. What a welcoming message this is that comes out from the temple of heaven, the message it is done as it declares the consummation of the seven year tribulation. It is the end of God's wrath on the ungodly world, on those who have rejected the gift, the sacrifice of the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is the end of the time of Jacob's trouble. And the scripture calls the seven year period that is yet to come in the future, the the time of Jacob's trouble, because it is a period that will focus primarily on the nation of Israel to bring them to repentance as they collectively rejected Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Now, again, that is not to say, as I've said so many times in the past, that is not to say that there are no Jews who have not recognized and accepted Jesus Christ as the Messiah, because we know the early church. When we look at Pentecost, when we we see there were 3000 Jews that received Jesus in the early church and and we see people throughout the world today who are of Jewish descent that do receive and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

But for the most part, collectively speaking, they did not receive him when we talk about the nation of Israel. So the primary purpose of this seven year period is again called the time of Jacob's trouble. That is the the time of Israel's trouble, because it would be a time that the Bible says our Lord declared it in the Book of Matthew, that it will be the worst time that the earth has ever seen or ever will see. And that is why I urge people receive Jesus Christ today so you don't have to be here because the church, by definition, has received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So there's no purpose of the church being here during this time. We are raptured away before this time begins. We are in heaven with our Lord as he pours out his wrath.

And so I cry out to the unsaved receive him today so you don't have to be here. But even if not referring to the tribulation, you could die at any moment. So you should always come to Christ on today while you have breath in your body.

But this is, again, the time that will be the worst that has ever seen. And we've definitely seen that in going through these judgments of the seven year tribulation. And we see this message here that comes out again from the temple and it says it is done. This is very similar language that our Lord Jesus stated when he was on the cross at his death. He said it is finished and bowing his head.

He gave up his spirit. But you see, the difference is the sacrifice of Jesus was finished on the cross. The pay in the price for sin was finished on the cross.

There was nothing else that needed to be done in order to atone for the sins of mankind. But God's wrath, God's judgment was yet to come because we are living today in the age of grace where God has given us time to repent and to come back to him. But the day is going to come when that grace is going to run out. And during the seven year tribulation, you have to make a decision.

Either you are for Christ or you are for Antichrist. And so once God finishes pouring out his judgment, pouring out his wrath, we hear the declaration that it is done. Again, a very welcome message comes out of heaven for God's completion of his wrath. And as we continue with verse 18 of Revelation, chapter 16, and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and that was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as has not occurred since men were on the earth. Again, God's judgment is going to conclude with the greatest earthquake the world has ever experienced since the creation of man. It boggles the mind when we continue to look at these judgments as God pours out his wrath. And we see these the this judgment is accompanied by noises and thunderings and lightnings.

These are all signs of judgments. If we look at our history of the world for the greatest earthquakes that have ever taken place in terms of death in China, fifteen fifty six eight hundred and thirty thousand people were killed. And then we found in Haiti in the year of 2010, in the lifetime of many of us, that was three hundred and sixteen thousand that were killed.

And then in Turkey in the year 115, two hundred and sixty thousand were killed. So so to put that in perspective, when you think about how bad those earthquakes were and how many people were killed. And yet the Bible says that this one that is coming at the end of the seven year tribulation is the greatest earthquake that the world has ever experienced since the creation of man. That's God pours out his wrath for the unbelieving world. Verse 19, Now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fail, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Babylon, the capital city of the world during the tribulation, the scripture says is going to be divided into three parts due to the magnitude of this earthquake is going to bring about such devastation. And this calamity upon Babylon is referred to as the the cup of the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath.

And cities all around the world will be devastated because of this great earthquake, this great earthquake that is going to take place. God is judging and folks again. That's why I plead come to Christ today.

We're living in this age of grace, but the time is going to come when God says it's time up. If you have not made your decision, you are going to suffer under his wrath. So come to Jesus today. Repent, turn away from seeing we serve a loving God, a merciful God who wants us all to come to him. But if you refuse to accept the free gift of Jesus Christ in dying for our sins, then you have to die for your own sins because the price has to be paid. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.

Someone must die. But Jesus already died for all of us. So if you would just accept his payment, then he stood in our place. But you have to accept it.

He's not going to force it upon you. And so if you accept it today, you can have eternal life. But if you reject it, then you will have to pay the price with your own life. And that is judgment. That is going to lead to eternal damnation in the lake of fire.

So come to Jesus Christ on today. Verse 20. Then every island fled away and the mountains were not found again. You know, it boggles the mind when I when I read this, that this earthquake is going to be so powerful that the Earth's landscape is going to be transformed into flat land. It says that every mountain is going to be flattened.

It says that every island is going to disappear. Jerusalem will become the highest point on the earth in this day. It was prophesied in the book of Isaiah, chapter two, verse two. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on top of the mountain and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow to it.

What an amazing time this will be. When again, God pours out his wrath. There will be no doubt as to where this judgment is coming from, as we will see in the coming verse. But we've already seen it in prior judgments in which the people know that this this judgment is coming from God. We saw it way back in the seal judgments and we saw it in the trumpet judgments where the people were crying out to the mountains to fall on us and hide us from who? The wrath of the lamb. They know that this is coming from our great Lord, our savior, Jesus Christ, as he's pouring out judgment for those who have rejected him. And it should be a reminder for us in our society today as we look around in the world and we see how many are rejecting our Lord Jesus Christ, how many are rejecting his ways? A day of reckoning is coming.

We can sit back today and fold our arms and cross our legs and think that, yes, everything is OK, everything is going to be just fine. There are those in the scripture even says that there are those who say, well, all things continue as it always has since the beginning of creation. They they deny the flood of Noah's day and they deny the coming wrath and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to this earth to set up his earthly kingdom. The Bible prophesies that that would be the nature of society in the last days.

And we see that we see the mocking. But Jesus Christ is coming back again. He's coming back to rule and reign.

He's coming back to bring judgment upon those who have rejected him. So what is your stance today? Are you on the Lord's side? Are you going to be on the side of the devil?

Are you going to be on the side that is going to face his wrath? Come to our Lord Jesus on today. You are listening to Brian C. Thomas on God First. For more of Brian's teachings, please visit Godfirst.org to browse our extensive library of material. There you will find devotionals, blogs, articles and audio messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation, Bible prophecy, marriage and the significance of Lesson Israel, just to name a few.

You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our Web store. So please visit us at Godfirst.org. Now, let's return to the conclusion of today's message. And then the 16 chapter 16, verse 21 of Revelation says, And great hail fell from heaven upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blaspheme God because of the plague of hell, since that plague was exceedingly great. As bad as things are from this earthquake that we've already looked at, then the Bible says, Hailstones will begin to rain down upon the earth. Turn over to the book of Job chapter 38. And we're going to see in verses 22 and 23 that this was prophesied from days old as to what would come. It says there, Have you entered the treasury of snow or have you seen the treasury of hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble for the day of battle and war? God has reserved this judgment for this day, for this time of trouble, for the time of what trouble? It is the time of Jacob's trouble, the time of Israel's trouble when God is calling his people, his chosen nation to repentance, to receive him as Lord and Savior.

But not only that, and I don't want those of you who are not Jewish to think you just get a pass because, yes, this is the time of Jacob's trouble, but it is a time in which everybody, not just Israel, who rejects Jesus Christ as savior, you too will face the wrath of Almighty God. Now, it is estimated that a talent is between 75 and 135 pounds. So the scripture tells us here that this great hail that is going to fall, the hailstones are about the weight of a talent. So, folks, we're talking about the weight of 100 plus possible pounds. Now, I have two children. My children are each in this weight range. They're both within that plus or minus about 100 pounds.

And my kids are 11 and 13 years old. So you imagine the size of an 11 and 13 year old year old. And there are also some adults that also fall into this weight category. But imagine anyone that you know that is of this weight and hailstones falling out of the sky.

That is equal to their weight. It is going to devastate everything that it hits. I've witnessed where we're hailstones the size of golf balls and see the damage that it can do, the way it can can tear the siding off of houses and shatter windshields. And then I've seen baseball size and grapefruit size hail and and just see the utter destruction that it can do to vehicles and to houses. And and certainly if a person is out and they're hit in the head with a hailstone the size of a grapefruit, most likely you are going to die.

If not die, you will be majorly injured, seriously injured. But here we have hailstones that are going to be nothing like the earth has ever seen. It's going to annihilate anything that it touches. If this sounds familiar to you, we did see similar judgment from God in Egypt when the Hebrews were coming out, as we we've seen these parallels between the judgments of the seven year tribulation and and the judgments that God poured out on Egypt when they refused to let the Israelites go. This was Egyptian plague number seven from the book of Exodus Chapter nine. We won't read through it all, but just make a note to look at it on your own time. Exodus Chapter nine, verses 13 through 35, in which God poured out this this plague of hail and fire that fell upon the Egyptians.

But the Israelites in Goshen were not touched. But the difference is this judgment is going to be of much greater magnitude. This judgment, again, is going to be hailstones so great that they will weigh the equivalent of.

A human being. It is going to be something that the world has never seen. That is why Jesus said it is going to be the worst time that the earth has ever seen or ever will see come to our Lord today. But what we see from our text is that rather than repent, most of the people during this time will curse God because of this plague. It says they blaspheme God because of the plague of hell. Again, the hardness of heart is on full display instead of turning to the one who has the power over the plague, the one who who can give mercy and stop the suffering is there. They curse God. They shake their fists at God and say, God, this is because of you that we're going through this.

It just boggles the mind. But, folks, we see that hardness of heart even in our day today for those who are rejecting the ways of our great Lord. Now, I find it interesting that during the tribulation, there will be great sin. There is going to be sin unlike anything that we've ever seen. And during this time, those who take the mark of the beast will violate the first four of the Ten Commandments. Exodus, Exodus, chapter 20, verse three says you shall have no other gods before me. And they will violate that by accepting and worshiping Antichrist as God.

Exodus 24 through six. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third or fourth generations of those who hate me. But showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.

They will make an image for the Antichrist to worship. And folks, I must admit, when I read scriptures like this, where our Lord says. Those who hate me. It breaks my heart to imagine that there are people who actually hate God. It really brings sorrow to me to think that our creator and the way that he loves us. Because I think about my love for my children.

And how it would be if my children were to hate me. And God's love goes beyond any love that I could ever display, as much as I love my children. The Bible says that Jesus is love.

He's perfect. So there's no amount of love that we as human beings can express or convey to anyone. We cannot feel the magnitude of love toward anyone that God has for us. And he loved us to the point that he came out of heaven.

Because seeing had to be accounted for. And the only way that could be done was through a perfect sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice of a human being. And because no human being is perfect, has ever been or ever will be. Then God said the only way that they can be saved from going to eternal damnation is I have to go down and become one of them. He did just that in our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he allowed himself to be tormented.

To be bruised. The Bible says he was bruised for our transgressions. The the iniquity that was upon him, the suffering that our Lord went through, and yet to think he did all of that. And for now, thousands of years, he's still extending grace and mercy to to come to him to repent. And yet our Lord has to declare that there are those who hate him.

It boggles the mind. Exodus, chapter 20, verse seven. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. And we've seen time at the time through the text where they will blaspheme God during the seven year tribulation. And then in Exodus, chapter 20, verse eight, it says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. So we see all of these commandments from God being violated during the seven year tribulation from those who take the mark of the beast.

So as we wrap this series up, looking at these judgments from God, as we conclude the the seven bowl judgments, and as we conclude the the total wrath of God being poured out with these 21 judgments. The question is, why will God do all of this? Well, God is just and he must judge sin. And I've heard people say, well, how can a loving God send people to hell? But it is not God that sends anyone to hell.

Because of his just nature. God says that sin has to be accounted for. And again, he chose himself to be that sacrifice. But you have to make a choice. And if you will make the choice to receive him, then your sins are accounted for and you can live in his presence for eternity.

But if you reject him, then you have to pay with your own life. And so God doesn't send anyone to hell. He created hell for the angels, the fallen angels, the ones who fail with with Lucifer. He did not create it for man, but for man who decides to go the way of Lucifer, then you two must go to the same destination as the fallen angels, which is again the lake of fire. Jesus is the payment.

But for all who refuse him, you must pay with your own life. And someone may ask the question, if the church will be in heaven, why do we need to study this? Why do we need to know all this? That's because we love others. We don't want anyone to be lost. We want all to be saved, just as God says it is not his will that any should perish.

That is our will and desire as well. And, you know, it baffles me when I look around the world today as we've just celebrated this overturning of Roe versus Wade. And and I would have thought to myself that all churches throughout our land would be celebrating, would be joyous, would be just up in arms over this. This great event, this monumental thing in which babies in the womb now are being saved, not in all states, of course, but in some states is being banned.

So that is a step in the right direction, a major step. But the battle is not over yet. But yet I hear account after account of churches in which their silence, not a single word was stated. And it boggles my mind how you cannot rejoice in the goodness of God. But the Bible says there is going to be apostasy in the last days. The Bible says there will be those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. And we see that playing out right in our lives and our lives. But Jesus Christ is going to bring judgment for those who have not truly received him.

And then the Book of Ezekiel, 33, verse six, warns us that if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not warn the people, the Lord will hold the watchman responsible. And so that is why we are here as watchmen to warn the world that a day of judgment is coming to the indifferent church, to the apostate churches. I'm begging you today to repent and come back to Jesus Christ. Stop accepting the ways of the world.

Stop being indifferent to sins of the world and going along to get along. Stop being afraid to stand for the truth of our God's word because Jesus died for our sins and the least we can do is stand for him, stand for the truth of his holy word. And so I'm calling on the church today and I'm calling on all of those out there in the world who have not received him as Lord and Savior. Come to Jesus Christ on today while you have breath in your body.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you, Lord, that in your loving kindness, your loving grace, your mercy, Lord, that you gave us this word as a warning of what's to come. You didn't have to do it.

You could have just said obey. And for all who do not, what happens is what happens. But but you and your great love and mercy, you warned us what would be the consequence of not obeying you and not receiving you. And so, Lord, we thank you for it. And Lord, it is just my prayer, Lord, that this word will go out for those who are rejecting you to realize, to become sober minded and to realize that a day of judgment is coming. And it is my desire, just like your desire, Lord, that none should perish, but that all should come to you and receive everlasting life. We look forward to that day, Lord Jesus, when you will come back to this earth, when you will rule and reign and we will live in your kingdom where you will have full authority and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you, Jesus Christ, is Lord. We look forward to that day, Lord, and we just thank you, Lord, again, for your word, your grace and your mercy. As we depart from here today, we remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, blessings to the great nation of Israel. And unto you, the only wise God, be glory through Jesus Christ forever.

Amen. You've been listening to the Bible teacher Brian C. Thomas, founder and president of God First. Brian and God First reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at our website, GodFirst.org. Until next time, remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, bless God's great nation of Israel, and seek first the kingdom of God.