SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/9/2023 9:03 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “Devastation
Throughout The World”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
24:7b-8
Message of the verses: “and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
I mentioned at the end of the last SD that we would
start this SD by looking at the trumpet judgments.
“7 The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed
with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was
burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was
burned up. 8 The second angel sounded, and something like a great
mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea
became blood, 9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had
life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel
sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell
on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 11 The name of the star
is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men
died from the waters, because they were made bitter. 12 The fourth angel
sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the
stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would
not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way” (Rev. 8:7-12).
Now I want to compare these verses with some other
verses. “1 Then I heard a loud voice
from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth
the seven bowls of the wrath of God." 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. 3 The
second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that
of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died. 4 Then the third angel
poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became
blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous are You,
who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; 6 for they poured out the blood of saints and
prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it." 7 And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O
Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."
8 The fourth angel
poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with
fire. 9 Men were scorched with fierce
heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues,
and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his
bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they
gnawed their tongues because of pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven
because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds”
(Rev. 16:1-11).
“Before
them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And
the stars lose their brightness” (Joel 2:10).
“19 And I
will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath — blood
and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood before that great and notable Day of the Lord come” (Acts
2:19-20).
MacArthur writes of these devastations: “Crops and other vegetation will be
devastated throughout the world, those who depend upon the sea for food will
suffer famine, a third of the world’s shipping will be destroyed, countless
people will be poisoned from contaminated water supplies, and calendars,
seasons, and tides will be thrown out of kilter. The physical and emotional agony will be so
excruciating that men will gnaw “their tongues because of pain” (Rev. 16:10). “There torment [will be] like the torment of
a scorpion when it stings a man,” and “men will seek death and will not find
it; and they will long to die and death flees from them” (9:5-6).
“Some time later, when the seventh angel poured out
his bowl into the air,
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon
the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying,
"It is done." 18 And there
were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a
great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the
earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 The great city
was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the
great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce
wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And
huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men;
and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague
*was extremely severe” (Rev. 16:17-21).”
Rev. 11:13 “And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth
of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the
rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
“But all these things (those mentioned in verses
4-8, which parallel the first four seals of Revelation 6) are merely the
beginning of birth pangs. There is much
more to come, as we have noted in the other seals, trumpets, and bowl
judgments. But after the third birth
pang (fourth seal) comes persecution.”
That
is what we will be looking at in our next SD “Deliverance of Believers to
Tribulation” (Matt. 24:9).
12/9/2023 9:28 AM
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