We continue and hope to complete our study of the ‘folly’ of man which, though evident on every hand today, will yet increase until it reaches its final expression - when there is a bold and reckless defiance of God. “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,” Revelation 16:10-11.

This is the ultimate act of folly!

1. This unrestrained madness will be seen as a result of the Lord removing His merciful restraint in the last days. 2 Thess 2:6-7. Those who continually strive against the Lord will, as a judgment, be allowed to do what they wish, Proverbs 1:23. Ps 14:3 says: “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Wicked man’s departure is total, his corruption is unlimited, their rebellion is without exception!

2. Unrestrained men, in their folly, will target God’s people. “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD,” verse 4. This hatred springs from the witness of the godly against the folly of men.

This is but natural! Being unable to ‘touch’ the Lord, they target His people. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them,” Dan 7:21. “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations,” Rev 13:7.

3. Deliverance from captivity for the Jew is what the Lord will bring with Him when He returns. “Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad,” Ps 14:7.

Note, “the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion.” See Zechariah 14:3-4. This the expectation of the Jews in the latter days and which will be voiced in this prayer.