The Past is Prologue ...

The Revelations of Jesus Christ to his servant, the prophet John continue with events so close to the return of our Lord, they can nearly be seen already.  To say these events occur in the last days would seem obvious.  But when trying to pinpoint a more precise timeframe, one need only look at the sequence of events in terms of what has been completed already, and what is still left unfulfilled.  The sequence of seven that is the method of these revelations since the start of this book is once again to be employed as the last plagues of God’s judgments are poured out upon the evil in this world.  But to gauge where we are today consider the previous sequence’s.  The messages to the seven churches show you and I to be living in the days of Laodicea the last church before He returns.  The sixth seal has been opened.  The sixth trumpet has been sounded.  The history of the great disappointment, and work of the two witnesses is in our past now.  The plan of the enemy in raising three beasts to war against the lamb has seen us witness the rise of the third beast.  The ability to conduct commerce to be tied to the compulsion of conscience on a worldwide basis is something only our country has the power to implement.  And we are fast on our way to seeing it done.  Our direction in that regard has already been set; all that remains is to see our direction achieved.  Whether by those atheists, or believers of other religions who deny Christ altogether; or by those zealous fundamentalists Christians who believe only their version of doctrine is correct; the compulsion of conscience and attacks of our identity as followers of Jesus Christ is certain to be seen in our near future.

What remains undone to place us along the timeline of events that John has revealed to us is … the completion of the latter rain in the harvest described by the work of the Lamb and the fourth angel in the prior chapter.  The fulfillment of His work within us in the sealing of the 144,000 first fruits who have a special mission in the last days of our world’s history (likely tied closely to the work of the fourth angel).  The worldwide implementation of the Mark of the Third Beast which will restrict commerce unless we forfeit our identity as individual followers of Jesus Christ.  After which follows the seven last plagues which fall upon the evil in this world about to be described, as well as the work of the fifth and sixth angels who see a harvest of blood reaped among the wicked through these events.  These sequences conclude with the “seventh” church, or seal, or trumpet, or angels mission, or plague all being the culmination of His return and the beginning of our reunion with our Lord and our God. 

We, you and I, live perilously close to the end of all things.  While for believers to have thought that the last days have been with us for hundreds of years prior to now is also true.  In no other time has our country been in the position it is in today financially and with its ability to influence the financial systems of the entire world economy.  Our worldwide network of computer systems are now the backbone of immediate controls of wealth from every nation on the planet, and no nation can survive financially without participation in these systems.  In no other time has our nation had such a tremendous momentum to tie politics to fundamentalist beliefs in the right wing of the Republican party, or such fervor to see religion denied altogether from far left wing of the Democratic party.  Regardless of which political power triumphs, the ultimate compulsion of the conscience and attack on our identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone is imminent.  People today have more of a desire to look to men to find salvation than to submit to Jesus Christ.  Believers of all religions are more willing to follow their human leaders, than to seek Christ with a submissive heart and allow His transformation to be completed within them.  Instead we would rather follow the Pope, or Joel Osteen, or the Dali Lama, or a Cleric, or Rabbi, cult leader, or local pastor – most of all the man in the mirror; than to trust in ONLY Jesus Christ to save us from ourselves.

So while the delay in His return and the messages of warning cries about its nearness have persisted so long we have become hardened to them; the events needed to transpire to see the end emerge have crept up upon us like a thief in the night.  We sit now on the edge, on the precipice of the end of all things, and yet go about our lives with no sense of urgency or even joyous anticipation.  We marry and divorce with no thought other than to find what pleases our hearts as they are.  We attend our churches and try to find food in our sermons, but we tire of the idea of living as if tomorrow may be our last day, and today our last opportunity to see love reflected through us, inspire another to find Jesus and their salvation.  We have come to a point where prophecy is only decried by extremists wearing sandwich boards on the streets and in electronic forums predicting nothing but doom and fear as the reasons to seek God before it is too late.  But these revelations were not given to us to inspire fear; or as an attempt to use fear to bring us back to God.  In fact, quite the opposite.  The revelations were provided so that as events unfold they would NOT surprise us, or cause us fear.  We can be prepared for them both mentally, and spiritually.  We can take heart knowing that while danger and attacks are employed by the enemy of souls, the ultimate triumph of the Lamb is foretold in the same passages – both within us, and external to us.

All of the revelations described in this book, were intended to be of a redemptive nature.  Even what follows of the plagues in this chapter is to give comfort to those who accept His redemption and refuse this final mark against our identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone, that all is not lost.  The judgments of God against evil and the pain it has so long caused, are NOT poured out upon His servants in these last days.  For God is not indiscriminant in pouring out the cup of His wrath, His wrath is reserved against evil alone, and is reserved only for those whose choice He must respect to remain apart from the salvation He offers.  Unlike His enemy, God does NOT compel the conscience of men.  He offers them salvation, through the power of His love, but He does not force them to take it.  If we choose to remain true to our love of self, we will ultimately be allowed to make this choice, and remain aligned with the ranks of His enemy.  It is for those who make this choice, who the following passages will inspire fear.  Those who have elected to be saved from the love of self, will see only His protective hand in the final sequence of events in this world’s history.  Like Noah before them, they will find grace and protection from the Lord during the destruction that lies all around them.

So John begins in verse one saying … “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.”  John does not specify if the voice who begins these plagues is that of God, or of the Lamb, or of an Angel, or one of the 4 beasts in front of the throne.  We assume it is the voice of God, because no human was allowed entry into the temple while the plagues are to be poured out as we learned in the previous passages.  John continues in verse 2 … “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.”  What is past is prologue.  Egypt, due the hardness of the heart of the Pharaoh, suffered plagues and judgments from God because Pharaoh thought of himself as god, instead of submitting to the power of the only true God.  So now after the Mark of the Third Beast has been universally implemented which places the time of these plagues very close to when we live, the first vial of His wrath contains noisome and grievous sores to be poured out on those who have accepted this mark.  The men of our day accept no god greater than themselves.  They would rather worship self, or other men, than to worship Christ alone.  They would rather declare against Jesus and remain able to conduct commerce and live, than to risk starvation, persecution, and death by the majority who bare the mark of the beast.

Pharaoh refused to accept the supremacy of a god greater than himself.  He and his nation bore the consequences.  Now, the men of our day, will refuse once again to accept toleration of the voices of dissent among them.  They will choose to compel the conscience of others, and in so doing raise themselves to the level of “god”.  They will force a choice to deny personal and individual worship of Jesus Christ alone, and instead demand we follow the edicts of mankind.  In so doing they mimic the Pharaoh of old and share in his fate.  What is past is prologue.  When Satan came to tempt Christ, he came in the disguise of angel of light.  When men propose the choice to submit to their edicts, or follow conscience to serve Jesus Christ, they will also take on a disguise.  They will carry with them the wisdom of the majority in matters of doctrines and beliefs.  They will use scripture to “prove” their doctrinal positions are the only correct ones to take. 

Islamists often quote the Bible today to attempt to show they are not completely unaligned with the history of other “prophets” of God.  However, they do not accept the divinity of Christ, as that would prove the undoing of their entire religion.  The Jewish faith of today, still adheres to the scriptures of the Old Testament, but they cannot accept that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.  Catholics still believe the Pope has equality to God upon this world, and thus has authority to dictate practices he believes are scripturally based.  Protestants believe in a scriptural morality that would see those who dissent die, rather than to pollute the faith.  And atheists do not accept any god greater than the man who stands in the mirror.  To find any of these groups, or all of them united in purpose to see individual worship of Jesus Christ ended can be no surprise.  All of these groups can present excellent arguments and facts to support their various positions.  All of them tell elements of truth, and can cite our own scriptures, in an attempt to dissuade us from our various and personal beliefs.  But for all the strength of their arguments, their goal remains the same, to attack our individual identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone.  Whether we share some basis of belief or doctrines with any of these groups or ideas, it cannot excuse a wholesale denial of allowing ourselves to follow anyone other than Jesus Christ alone.  It is not the Protestant doctrines that save me, it is Jesus Christ alone.  It is not the Pope, or a cleric, or Rabbi, or a local pastor, or the majority opinion of any group, it is Jesus Christ alone.

Should we find ourselves in sympathy with those who would seek to compel the conscience of others, we have found ourselves on the side of the Beast and the enemy of souls.  For compulsion is not the way of Jesus Christ.  No matter how devout our faith in a given doctrine of scripture, there is never a reason it needs to be advanced at the point of a sword.  The punishment of the wicked must be left to God, not to us.  We are commanded only to love them, to love specifically those who hate us and would seek to kill us.  We do not show love, when we inflict persecution, and death, in order for their “greater good”.  That is not love.  That is the tool of the enemy.  It is not love we show when we kill our enemies “in order to defend ourselves, or our faith”.  It is what it is.  It is pain and death, and a vain attempt to advance scripture at the point of a sword.  It is blasphemy to think ourselves and our ideas as equal to God, to believe we can take life or allow it to persist based on an acceptance of our ideology.  It is the devout thinking of the Pharisees that took this idea and used it to crucify Jesus Christ.  Lest we think we are different, we are not.  What is past is prologue.  We should learn from history, that compulsion of morality can never be achieved.

John continues 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.”  The parallels between the second plague and the second trumpet sounding in ages past are undeniable.  Both are poured out against the sea.  The sounding of the second trumpet affects a third of life in the sea, whereas this plague appears to affect the entire sea.  It is not immediately apparent how the alteration of water into blood would result in the deaths of all those on the sea at the time.  But consider the effects of the difference in buoyancy between water and blood.  Could metal ships and submarines that use water as coolant still function if blood were introduced instead?  Could steam be produced from blood as it is from water?  The ocean life that lives in the sea, would likely also die.  On a worldwide scale this plague would certainly cause a level of devastation like none we have ever borne witness to.

John continues in verse 4 … “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. [verse 5] And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. [verse 6] For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. [verse 7] And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”  The third plague turns what is left of the world’s water supplies to blood.  All of the fresh water has been turned.  Egypt witnessed this plague as well.  The corollary to the winepress of the wrath of God which produces blood instead of grape juice springs to mind. The wicked are offered blood to drink, as they have seen fit to believe that the killing of saints, and prophets, were in the best interest of everyone.  The “purification” of the church has seen any who dissent give their lives violently for the cause of Christ.  In vain efforts at keeping church doctrine pure, countless saints and prophets who actually serve God were murdered.  In changing the water into blood and offering it as drink, God shows His supremacy to the men who cling to the ideas of control they have embraced.  They have none.  They never did.

It is not dissent the makes doctrine impure.  It is dissent that causes us to learn, to grow, and to either deepen in our faith and beliefs, or to alter and expand them to embrace greater truth.  Dissent is not our enemy, nor those who will not comply with our majority view.  It merely represents a different position in the journey to the perfection Christ brings about.  Over time, incorrect thinking and beliefs are altered by the power of His love and grace to the point where truth is better understood, and embraced.  This process is inevitable.  But it happens on different timelines, as each of us are unique.  He must bring it about in our lives in the ways in which each of us respond to His love.  He knows us better than we know ourselves, and MUCH better than we know each other.  We must allow Christ the freedom to change each of us, in His time, and in His manner.  To seek to accelerate the process through force is nothing but folly.  We cannot compel others to stop believing what they believe, and we need not do so.  Christ will take care of the incorrect thinking and beliefs of others.  This is the process of salvation.  Our “job” is merely to love them through the process, and to realize this process is also going on within us.  It may well be “we” who are changed in matters of belief and doctrinal persuasion over time, to believe otherwise is arrogance and pride.

John continues in verse 8 … “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. [verse 9] 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.”  The fourth plague in our day could be easily attributable to global warming, or global climate change; but as scientists point out, these changes take place over very long periods of time.  The plagues that are falling upon the wicked are thought to happen in fairly rapid sequence and with worldwide dimensions to their scope.  This plague in particular only affirms the pattern set by Pharaoh of old, in that repentance is not sought.  Instead blasphemy occurs.  We think ourselves equal to God, and therefore deny His power in the genesis of this plague, or any other.  Despite all the miraculous events that occur during these plagues, atheists do what atheists always do, they look for a scientific explanation that negates the need of God.

But blasphemy is not the exclusive province of the atheist.  It is shared in hearts of those who prefer the wealth of this world to the humble service found in the next one.  Many who still carry the name of “Christian” will suffer under the weight of these plagues.  This will only serve to intensify their passion to weeding out and killing the voices of dissent.  They believe that until every soul who refuses to follow their majority view is killed, the plagues will continue.  They must all be found and slaughtered, offered as human sacrifice to the vengeful god they serve in order that relief is found.  The fact that those who do NOT bare the mark of the third beast, are NOT suffering from any of these plagues has been lost on them.  They believe it must be Satan protecting his own, instead of God who alone has the power to perform these plagues, protecting His own.  They like the Pharisees of old, accuse the divine protection and healing that comes from God as coming from demons.  What is past is prologue. 

Suffering does nothing to inspire the wicked to change.  This is the mistake even Christians have so long made in their evangelistic efforts.  Fear has been presented as a prime motivator to bring people to Christ.  But fear and punishment do not deter evil in the slightest.  If anything, evil is fed off of fear.  The first words of Christ to His servants all throughout time have generally been … “do not be afraid”.  Christ does not look for us to fear Him, rather to respond to His so great love.  His first concern in almost every dialogue is for us to lose our fear.  We cannot think well when we are afraid.  We do not reason well, and it is impossible to love under the threat of fear.  The reason for these revelations of great plagues upon the evil of this world, is that our fear is to be completely negated.  When all these events unfold we will be fully aware, and the peace of Christ will be our pursuit.  While the wicked carry sores upon them, our bodies will not.  While the wicked are offered only blood to drink, we will find water to sustain us.  While the sun bares down in scorching heat upon the men of this world, for only a miraculous reason, we will find none of its ill effects.  For we know that our God is God.  Like the children of Israel who awaited in eager anticipation to leave what they knew of slavery and find God in a promised land, so we too will wait eagerly knowing these plagues only mark a timeline for His imminent return to take us away, home to be with Him forever.

But three more plagues are to mark that timeline, for what is past remains prologue …