(SGAT meeting, Friday September 23rd, 2022)

We cannot give a time and date for these things to begin. However, as a start to the answering of the question in our title, I would say that we should look at the opening of the 1st Seal, as recorded in Revelation 6:1-2.

There the return of Christ is linked to the Saviour’s opening of the seal.

I believe that the Lord would have us know that the events are indications to His people that the time of His appearance and the deliverance of His ancient people, Israel, is near.

It is a repeat, in a way, of the sequence of event leading up to the Exodus. I believe that there will be a re-emerging of an awareness of the return of Christ amongst God’s people. It is quite some time ago I made the observation that Christ is carrying a bow (6:2) and I suggest that since it is a weapon used at a distance from the enemy, it is an indication that the Saviour’s return is yet some time off when the events signalled by the opening of the seals, are taking place. Verse 11 tells us that there was yet ‘a little season’ before the Lord would return to avenge the slaying of His people.

We are told that the ‘Church’ will have largely gone to sleep, ignoring the return of Christ. This is the state of the Church right up until Christ is virtually on the doorstep, if I might phrase it so. The Saviour makes that clear in Matthew 25:1-13. “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him, verses 5-6.

Surely that time of slumbering and sleeping is upon us now!

But as the time of the Saviour’s return draws near there is an awakening cry from heaven, a fresh revealing of that glorious event, though it is still some way off. The saints of God are made more aware of the times as they are revealed unto them by Christ. His second advent, as it were, is on the horizon! There is a quickening of believers and a growing awareness of His approach, just as the parable of the Virgins teaches us.

Again, when we consider the character of the events that follow the opening of the seals, (6:3-8) and look around us, may we not see the dark storm clouds gathering? We see the beginnings of the troubles that will then be visited upon men, War and Famine, Floods, Fire and Drought have ravaged many lands of late, including parts of the United Kingdom. There is, worst of all, growing opposition to Bible Christianity. Sodomites, adulterers, blasphemers and open defiers of God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, cannot dominate the palace, parliament, the streets and the airwaves of the news media without life for the Christian becoming more hazardous and dangerous!

This all has come upon us suddenly! Since the emergence of Covid 19 in 2020, what unimagined changes and chaos have impacted many nations! Money and technical expertise have not been able to cope with these events.

At the very least, there is in this all a foreshadowing of the scenes depicted under the opening of the SEALS, if not the very beginning of what is revealed in the chapter 6 of Revelation.

We will not merely look at the TIME of the plagues, but at other matters related to their outpouring.

I. THERE WILL BE MANY INDICATIONS OF THE APPROACH OF CHRIST’S RETURN OF WHICH THE PLAGUES ARE BUT ONE

1. As there were clear indications when Christ was to come at the first advent so I believe that there will be even greater and clearer signs of the second advent. An indication of the Lord informing His people of His plans may be seen in Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding the duration of the Babylonian captivity. “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem,” Daniel 9:2. Further information was built upon this timetable in answer to Daniel’s prayers.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined,” Daniel 9:25-26. 

I think that these things are in keeping with God’s mercy since the events that will occur at the second advent will bring upon ungodly mankind the most terrible and eternal consequences. As ever, the Lord gives clear warning of judgment coming. It is in keeping with the term ‘longsuffering’, so often used of the Lord. Israel was kept informed of what the Lord was doing in Egypt in the run-up to the Exodus.

Evidence of this informing of His people and through them mankind, and the awakening of the believers prior to the first advent may be seen in Simeon and Anna’s knowledge and also those to whom they ministered.

“And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  . . . And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem,” Luke 2:25-26, 36-38.

Is this not an indication of the growing awareness that the time of the first advent was drawing nigh?

So it will be again, I believe.

2. The run-up to the Saviour’s return is one of great and traumatic events. I believe they will begin with the opening of the seals, Revelation 6. It will be a period of ‘war’, ‘famine’ and ‘slaughter’ in many lands, particularly in the in the territories of the old Roman Empire. In truth, the majority of the inhabitants of this world have enjoyed comparative peace and quiet and plenty for a long time, generally speaking, but I think we see, in this our day, that this comfortable affluence is coming to an end! The seals indicate that the end times will be turbulent as is indicated in Revelation 6 and 7.

Again I say, are we not seeing the beginning of this disruption and disorder?

3. The period of the ‘trumpets’ will bring even more distressing times upon many. “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring,” Luke 21:25.

Just before the period of the ‘plagues’ or ‘vials of wrath’ it is to be noted that there is a reference to the final harvest. “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe,” Revelation 14:15.

This announcement is followed by the pouring out of the ‘plagues’ or ‘vials of wrath’ as recorded in Revelation 15.

Can we not safely say that the events in the closing years of this age will be such as to arouse men from the deepest slumber and cause them to realise that the ‘halcyon days’ of God’s longsuffering of man’s wicked rebellion are coming to an end and the intervention of God in man’s affairs, so often a topic in prophecy, is about to take place as never before!

II. THE TIME OF THE ‘SEALS’ IS CLOSE TO THE END OF THIS AGE FOR IT IS THE TIME WHEN THE LORD STARTS THE PROCESS OF CLAIMING HIS HERITAGE

“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals,” Revelation 5:1.

1. An understanding of the significance of this sealed book may be had by looking at Jeremiah 32:6-12. In this chapter, Jeremiah is depicting the Lord delivering His people and their land into the hands of the Babylonians as a punishment for their sin, verses 2-5.

But Jeremiah also prophesied of the return of God’s people to their own land in verse 15. The prophet was told to engage in the purchase of a field from his uncle’s son and, by so doing, demonstrate that the land of Israel would return one day to the ownership of God’s people and that such a purchase would not be a lost investment. The enemy would not always occupy Canaan. It would return one day to Israel.

What is particularly interesting is the legal requirement to have two deeds of sale, one sealed and one unsealed (verse 11). When the property was to be redeemed, that is bought back by the original owner or his descendants, then the redeemer of the property would have to produce the sealed deed to prove his right of ownership.

2. Christ the Redeemer of God’s elect, possesses a sealed book that is evidence of His rightful ownership of a people and all that pertains to their eternal happiness and glory. He made that purchase at Calvary when He offered His blood as the price of redeeming His elect from captivity and condemnation under sin. Christ’s elect are His inheritance. He has yet to claim His possession and enter into it. He will one day.

Presently, each child of God is sealed until the redemption of the purchased possession, Ephesians 1:14. The day of the opening of the seals and the claiming of His inheritance by Christ draws on. “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh,” Luke 21:28.

The Bible is the ‘unsealed copy’ of the document declaring what is the Lord’s and there is a sealed copy in heaven which Christ will open in preparation for His claiming of His possessions!

3. It is surely reasonable to assume that the opening of the seals is very close to the end of this age. Indeed, we are told that clearly in the narrative dealing with the outpouring of the plagues that John saw. Note, “seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God,” Revelation 15:1-2.

The linking together of these two scenes indicates just when the plagues are to be poured out. It was during the time when ‘the mark of the beast’ was being enforced upon those under his dominion. It is during the last 42 months of this age.

III. CONSIDER THE LOCATION WHERE THE EVENTS WILL TAKE PLACE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE SEALS, TRUMPETS AND PLAGUES.

I know that there is a widespread perception amongst God’s people that these events will impact upon the whole world. That arises chiefly from the folly that was propagated by those who believed in the ‘Dispensationalist’ and the ‘A-Millennial’ views of the end times.

1. The first advent impacted, at the first, only the land of Israel. Yes, it spread outward as the apostles went forth at Christ’s command. At the first however, it was an event known only to the people of the Holy Land and only to a limited number of them.

Remember the Saviour’s words to the ‘woman of Canaan’? “But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” Matthew 15:24. However, that embargo was soon lifted following the Day of Pentecost and the glorious news of Christ’s redemption began to spread throughout the whole world.

There is a pattern there for us to note. Please consider these words. “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; in those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you,”Zechariah 8:20-23.

Note the phrase “we have heard that God is with you”. The return of Christ to take up residence in Zion is something that has been the subject of ‘news reports’ which have reached out beyond the Holy Land unto unbelieving nations and in response to these reports there is a flocking to Jerusalem in company with the exiled Jews who are being gathered by the Lord.

We might also consider the words of Rahab as an example of how the reports of the extraordinary plaguing of Egypt by the Lord went out to the surrounding nations.

“And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed,” Joshua 2:9-10.

We could also consider the words of the inhabitants of Gibeon. “ . . . . thy servants are come because of the name of the LORD thy God: for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth,” Joshua 9:9-10.

The point I am making is that the plagues of God were centred upon Egypt, though a much wider area heard reports of these events!

Likewise, the events of the last days will be centred in that territory which is central to the story of the Bible, from Abraham’s birthplace in Babylon or modern day Iraq over to the Great Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and territories relating to that area.

That, I believe, will be the territory which will feature in the events of the last days.

2. We are told particularly that Jerusalem and Babylon will feature in the events in the final days. In Revelation chapter 11, we read of that period which refers to the last 42 months of this age, verse 2. The events recorded in that chapter take place in “the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified,” Revelation 11:8.

Again, we are told upon whom the first plague will fall. “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image,” Revelation 16:2.

The word ‘earth’ is the Greek word ‘ge’. That word is often used to refer to the land of Israel. Indeed, its first appearance in the New Testament refers to ‘Judah’. “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel,” Matthew 2:6. It likewise appears so again a few verses further on. “Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life,” Matthew 2:20.

This focus upon the land of Israel and territories associated with it may be seen again in Luke 2:1. “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.” Although the ‘world’ is referred to here, it obviously does not mean the whole inhabited earth. Rather, it refers to the Roman Empire, the territories that Caesar Augustus ruled over!  It is that territory which will feature very much in the events that we are considering.

3. We are told specifically that the plagues will be poured out on the ‘earth’. “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth,” Revelation 16:1. The word ‘earth’ is that same word ‘ge’ that we have looked at already. It is to be understood as a reference to the ‘Roman earth’, the future territory of the Antichrist, his ten kingdoms referred to in Revelation 17:12-14. The word appears again in verse 2.

4. A further indication of the location upon which the plagues fall is seen in verse 3. “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.” I believe this is the same sea as is referred to in Revelation 13:1. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.”

That sea is the Mediterranean Sea, the name of which means significantly, ‘the middle of the earth’! It will be the centre of the area plagued by the Lord.

5. Even more definitely is the location of the area plagued given in verse 10. “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,” Revelation 16:10. Here is the chief target of God’s plagues, the modern-day ‘Pharaoh’!

We are again directed to that same territory in verse 12. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”

The ‘battle of the great day of God Almighty’ and the coming of the Lord as a thief, draws near, verses 14-15.

IV. THE SPECIFIC TIME WHEN THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES ARE TO BE POURED OUT IS CLEARLY TOLD US IN GOD’S WORD.

1. We are told the period in which the first plague is poured out. Rev 16:1-2. “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”

It is the time when A/C is in his zenith, the last 31/2 years of this age.

2. We are told the purpose of the plagues. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done,” 16:17. The gloriously triumphant purpose of God regarding Babylon and the apostasy linked with it, is ended under the wrath of God! It is one of the final scenes of this age.

It is the purpose of God to avenge Babylon and its age-old rebellion, which it fomented amongst mankind. It is the ‘wine of her fornication’ that has intoxicated the nations of men, even today!

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication,” Revelation 17:1-2.

God will fulfil His purpose, that He has promised. “And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant,” Jeremiah 51:29.

3. What is said in verses 9-11 should be noted. “And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”

They ‘repented not’. Even to such as these rebels will an opportunity be given to learn of their sin and turn from it, but they did not. They were sold out entirely to rebellion against God. Opportunities to repent may be given but repentance is not in man’s power, but is the gift of God’s grace. Wicked men may be given space to repent, yet if God does not give grace to repent, no man will repent.

4. Here is foretold the dreadful fate of the ungodly! Such a forewarning displays God’s mercy. No clearer warning of the fate of the defiers of God could be given.

In closing, may I ask if you have noted these words of clear warning of that which is to come on wicked men. Have you taken heed of these words and sought the Lord for His mercy, crying out, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” Luke 18:13.

Long ago, a young mother, Hannah, said: “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed,” 1 Samuel 2:10.

How right she was!

Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)

23rd September 2022