SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/7/2015
11:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The First
Bowl
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
16:2
Message of the
verses: “2 So the first angel went
and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant
sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.”
I want to begin this SD with what I wrote on this verse
on September 12, 2005 “The first judgment is very painful sores, but it is only
those who have the mark of the beast and have worshiped the image of the beast
that will be affected by it. This
judgment is similar to the later judgments that God gave to Egypt in that not
all of them affected the children of Israel, only the Egyptians. The word used for these sores is the same
word that is used for Job’s sores, and also affected those Egyptians in Ex.
9:9-11. The word is also used for the
sores that Lazarus had, (See Luke 16:21).
Of course this word in the OT is from the Greek translation of the OT
called the LXX. One more thing of
interest is that when the fifth vial judgment is poured out upon the earth it
seems that these unbelievers are still suffering with this first one. (See Rev. 16:10-11)”
We have mentioned that the bowls are actually shallow saucers
and when the angel would dump them on the earth the contents would come out
very fast. John MacArthur writes the
following about the words “loathsome” and “malignant” these words are “translated
two general Greek words for evil (kakos and poneros). Used together translates they stress that the
sores will be festering, painful, and incurable. ‘Sore translates helkos, the Greek eequivalent of the Latin word from which the
English word ulcer derives. It describes inflamed, oozing, ulcerous
sores, such as those that affected the Egyptians, and the ones that covered Lazarus
the beggar. They will bring unrelieved
physical torment to those who have rejected Christ.”
We read the following fate of these unbelievers from an
angel that is recorded in Revelation 14:9-11 “9
Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud
voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on
his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also
will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in
the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the
presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up
forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast
and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."” MacArthur adds “That passage describes
eternal judgment; the present one describes temporal judgment. Antichrist’s followers are suffering the
consequences of having rejected the preaching of the gospel and the warning of
the angel given in 14:7: ‘Fear God, and give glory, because the hour of His
judgment has come.’” Part of that
judgment is now being poured out on those who have rejected Christ and have
taken the mark of the beast as they are aligned with Antichrist and will
continue to suffer for that decision.
I now want to share a verse from the prophet Zechariah
that probably has to do with this section, if not this one then surely one that
happens during the Tribulation period. “12
Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who
have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on
their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot
in their mouth.” A bit graphic to say
the least, but I have read or was told that similar things happen to people who
have suffered the effects of a nuclear explosion.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I look at what is going to happen to
those who follow the Antichrist I can say that I truly am thankful for the
grace that God has given me for salvation and continues to bestow upon me
everyday.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
To love the Lord and to tell others the
truth of the Gospel and to tell others what will happen in the end.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “A centurion” (Matthew 8:8).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where did Jonah try to go
instead of Nineveh?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/7/2015 12:21 PM
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