Book of Revelation

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● Rev 13:9a . . He who has an ear, let him hear.

This particular ear refers to paying serious attention rather than merely auditory
perception. For example:

● Deut 29:2-5 . . Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them:

. . .Your eyes have seen all that The Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials
and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous
signs and great wonders. But to this day The Lord has not given you a mind that
understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.

In other words: Moses' people were attentive to God's providence; and at times
even took it for granted, but were indifferent to His counseling— oftentimes His
words went in one ear and right out the other, so to speak. Samuel was just the
opposite.

● 1Sam 3:20 . . And Samuel grew, and The Lord was with him, and did let none of
His words fall to the ground.

During the awful circumstances depicted and described in the book of Revelation,
quite a few folks are going to wake up and begin looking to the Bible for answers.
I'm guessing it will be difficult, and dangerous, trying to locate copies as I suspect
the Beast will initiate something similar to Mao Zedong's cultural revolution and/or
Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to eradicate competing ideologies.

Nevertheless; just as certain agencies at the Federal level have failed to totally
suppress so-called misinformation relative to the Covid thingy, so the Beast will fail
to prevent every last ear from hearing.
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● Rev 13:9b-10 . . If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if
anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the
perseverance and the faith of the saints.

I think that just might be a reiteration of the perseverance and the faith of Job;
where it's said:

"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:22)

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15

That of the prophet Habakkuk:

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in The Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Hab 3:17-18)

And that of the apostle Paul:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: For your
sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
(Rom 8:35-36)

It's generally agreed among conservative Christians that no saved person will enter
the Tribulation; but there will be a large number of lost souls saved out of it;
though at great cost to their welfare. They mustn't allow their misfortunes during
that era to persuade them that they've bought into a fraud.

* Believers are not a protected species; nor are they insulated from the slings and
arrows of outrageous fortune.

When there's a pandemic, they get sick the same as everybody else. When there's
war, they get caught up in it. When there are economic catastrophes like the Great
Depression and the housing bubble of 2008, they lose their jobs and sometimes
their nest eggs. When there are shortages of goods and services, they have to
make do with what there is the same as everybody else. When the weather
becomes disagreeable with tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding, they lose their
homes right along with non believers. Wild fires in California burn the homes of
believers the same as everybody else's homes. Believers get cancer, they get in car
wrecks, they get taken by crime, nature drops tree limbs on them, and the
postman delivers their mail to the wrong address, etc. etc. etc.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say:
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
(Horatio P. Spafford, 1828-1888)
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● Rev 13:11 . . .Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two
horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.

This particular beast will be, from all appearances, a seemingly harmless individual,
viz: he won't have the look of a menace.

For example; German SS officer Heinrich Luitpold Himmler had the look of a classic
Mr. Milquetoast; but underneath that facade was an astonishing capacity for
cruelty, subterfuge, and murder on a grand scale. In other words: you couldn't tell
at first glance that Himmler was a monster in whose opinion human lives are
inconvenient.
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● Rev 13:11-17 . . .Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth . . . and he
performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from
heaven to earth in full view of men . . . he deceived the inhabitants of the earth and
ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast . . . He was given power to
give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who
refused to worship the image to be executed.

The dimensions of the image aren't given but I should think it will be large enough
to be imposing.

For example: side by side statues of former North Korean leaders Kim IL Sung and
Kim Jong-IL, located on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, are 22 meters (72+ feet) tall. If
one of those statues ever came to life, it would make quite an impression because
something that big would be very difficult to fake for even a top-notch magician like
David Copperfield.

* The Greek word translated "beast" refers to dangerous animals as opposed to
peaceful critters like goats, sheep, prairie dogs, and squeaky little gerbils.
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● Rev 14:6-7 . . And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every
nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, announcing with a loud voice: Fear
God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him
that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The everlasting gospel is a bounce from the very first chapter of Genesis; and
reiterated at Ps 19:1-4 and Rom 1:19-20. It's very elementary; pretty much all it
says is:

1) There's a supreme being.

2) People should not take Him lightly.

3) He deserves to be held in very high esteem.

4) There's a reckoning looming on the horizon.

5) The cosmos— all of its forms of life, matter, and energy —is the result of
intelligent design.
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● Rev 14:9-12 . . A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: If anyone
worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the
hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength
into the cup of his wrath.

. . . He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of
the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or
night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the
mark of his name.

The holy city depicted at Rev 21:9-27 will never experience nightfall nor darkness. On
the basis of that, some have proposed that Rev 14:9-12 is entirely symbolic because it
says that the folks assigned to the burning sulfur will be given no rest day or night in a
place where supposedly there will be no night.

However "in the presence of" doesn't necessarily mean the site of the burning sulfur is
located inside the city's walls, mostly because Rev 21:27 says: "Nothing impure will
ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those
whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." And also Rev 22:14-15 which says:
"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life
and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice
magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves
and practices falsehood."

Though there will be neither day nor night inside the city that doesn't preclude the
possibility that there will be day and night outside. At any rate; I think we have to expect
there will be no breaks in the torment but that it will be perpetual 24/7/365 with neither
intermission, nor interruption, nor time off for good behavior. That will be an awful
scene; quite possibly a rather ghastly tourist attraction. (Isa 66:23-24)

● Rev 14:12 . .This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's
commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.

People will find themselves caught in a sort of Catch 22, so to speak. If they follow the
Beast, they'll be safe from execution but end up in the sulfur. If they follow God and His
son Jesus, they'll be safe from the sulfur but end up executed.

● Rev 14:13 . . .Then I heard a voice from heaven say: "Write: Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labor, for
their deeds will follow them."

One of the deeds sure to follow those folks is their decision to remain true to God and
His son Jesus instead of following the Beast. (cf. Matt 10:22)
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● Rev 16:3 . .The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into
blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.

Fresh blood is tolerable as far as odor goes, whereas the blood of a dead man is in
a state of putrefaction; and then adding to that the carcasses and the stench of
dead fish, and everything else, will make for quite a chowder to behold.

The Mediterranean is notable in the Bible; but whether that's the sea spoken of
here is uncertain. However, in Gen 1:10 "sea" pertains to the entirety of Earth's
oceans.

A rather curious sea is located at 1Kings 7:23-26 which suggests that any
accumulation of water, whether in an ocean or on land, can be called a sea, e.g.
ponds and lakes.

● Rev 16:4 . .The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of
water, and they became blood.

The two passages tell of water pollution on a scale quite a bit more severe than that
of Egypt because this is global rather than limited to one specific country. Even so;
Egypt's was pretty bad because there was no clean water anywhere for either
cooking, drinking, laundry, hygiene, or sanitation. (Ex 7:19-20)
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● Rev 16:8-11 . .Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to
scorch everyone with its fire. Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they
cursed the name of God, who sent all of these plagues. They did not repent and
give him glory.

. . .Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his
kingdom was plunged into darkness. And his subjects ground their teeth in anguish,
and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they refused to
repent of all their evil deeds.

Pharaoh stiffened his resolve during those miraculous events in the book of Exodus,
but to my knowledge he never once cursed God. Well these folks in Revelation
show just how hostile and militant the human heart can really get in its resistance
to God's demands. Pretty amazing.
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● Rev 16:12 . . 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.

That is curious because in modern warfare; rivers, and even oceans, present no
obstacle to military aircraft. But where are the airplanes in Revelation; and where
are all the mechanized conveyances? Well; there are none, and in point of fact, war
in Revelation is portrayed as fought on horseback and armies move on foot.

I have an uneasy feeling that the way of life with which us modern folks are
accustomed is coming to an end primarily because oil isn't a renewable resource,
and the Earth's supply is being used up at an alarming rate; something like 95
million barrels every 24 hours; approximately 34.68 trillion barrels per annum--
and the demand isn't static: it's increasing.

For example: global demand for oil in 1960 was 21.4 million barrels per day. Today
it's 4.5x that amount whereas projections indicate global demand will be 5x that of
1960 by 2035.
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● Rev 16:13-15 . . Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came
out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth
of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and
they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the
great day of God Almighty.

. . . Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his
clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.

There is much disagreement in our day as to signs indicating the extraction
described by 1Thess 4:16-17, but the events depicted in Revelation are neither
vague, typical, nor debatable. When all that stuff begins coming to pass, smart
ones will be on the lookout for a really big surprise.

● Matt 24:27 . . For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to
the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

WHAM; on scene, locked and loaded.
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Rev 16:17-18 predicts a global earthquake so powerful on the Richter scale that
cities all over the world will collapse at once.

Something like 2,829 lost their lives when the World Trade Center was demolished
by a terrorist attack in 2001. Well that was only a few acres of New York City. Just
imagine the body count when all of Manhattan comes down at once. along with
other major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Paris, Moscow,
Beijing, Tokyo, et al. The carnage will be beyond belief; and a great many of the
dead will be moms, infants, senior citizens, and underage children regardless of
race, gender, or religious preference.

** The Bible says that we should consider not only God's benevolence, but also His
severity. (Rom 11:22) Folks in the tribulation will be dealing with a someone in
control far more terrifying than even the tyrants of North Korea, Communist China,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the awful regimes in Africa.

● Heb 12:29 . . For our God is a consuming fire.

That's a quote from Deut 4:24 which, in context, doesn't describe God's physical
characteristics, rather, it's a figure of speech illustrating rage: defined by Webster's
as violent and uncontrolled anger. It's hard to imagine Christianity's divine patron
ticked off to that extent, but there it is.

A consuming fire is one that cannot be extinguished, i.e. once it gets going, there's
no stopping till all that's aflame is utterly destroyed, viz: an unquenchable
conflagration.
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● Rev 16:21 . . And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone
about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of
the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

** Talents were gross units of gold weighing from 75-100 pounds. That would be a
preposterous amount of gold to own in our day when it's current market value is
nearly $2,000 an ounce, but not so bad back there when it was strictly money
instead of traded as a commodity. Gold coins were common, but try to find one in
somebody's pocket today.

Dropping lumps of ice that size from the sky all over the globe will be like a deadly
implosion smashing, bashing, and crushing most everything it touches: homes,
barns, super markets, strip malls, sports arenas, theaters, forests, pastures, crops,
vehicles, etc. Noah's rainfall was likely pretty destructive too, but not like this. That
was at least liquid; this will be solid.

The natural world will surely experience significant damage among the critters who
live above ground, e.g. hogs, deer, elk, ducks, geese, turkeys, cows, mustangs,
monkeys, gorillas, lions, tigers, hyenas, elephants, giraffes, butterflies, moths,
tortoises, etc.

Just imagine being caught out in the open when that hail starts. Finding adequate
shelter from such a bombardment of ice will be very difficult and no doubt
frightened people will be shrieking and screaming in mortal panic.

Curiously, numbers of people will know the hail is from God but it won't persuade
them to consider making peace with Him, instead; the hail will just make 'em
angry.
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● Rev 19:19-21 . .Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies
gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the
beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the
miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had
received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

. . .The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest
of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the
horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

The potent weapon proceeding from that person's mouth is speech; which causes
me to wonder why more people weren't afraid of Jesus back in his day because if
by speech he could cure leprosy then by speech he could've caused someone to
come down with leprosy; and if by speech he could energize a crippled man's legs,
then by speech he could've put somebody in a wheel chair; and if by speech he
could restore someone's corpse to life, then by speech he could've made people
drop dead to the floor; and if by speech he could cure blindness, then by speech he
could've put people's eyes out; and if by speech he could multiply loaves and
fishes, then by speech he could've caused famine; and if by speech he could calm a
storm, then by speech he could've caused a hurricane, a typhoon, and/or a
tornado.

David's combat with Goliath was an encounter that was possible for David to win;
but I see no chance of anybody's success in a fight with Christ when he has at his
disposal all the miraculous abilities of the supreme being who, according to the
book of Genesis, created a fully functioning cosmos-- all its forms of life, matter,
and energy --by nothing more than His voice.
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God's patience is long-suffering. However, He's wise enough to know when to say
when and to stop throwing good money after bad, so to speak. For example:

● 2Thess 2:11-12 . . God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe
the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness.

In other words: there's coming a time when God's patience will reach its reasonable
limits, and He will purposely, willfully, and deliberately make sure that a certain
category of people during the Tribulation have no chance whatsoever to be spared
the wrath of God.

Back when Noah was preparing the ark, no doubt his neighbors all mocked and
poked fun at him as if he were a deranged soul going around with a sandwich board
that reads: Repent; The End Is Near! But when the rain started, I bet those very
same neighbors panicked and tried to get Noah to open up and let them in. But
even had Noah wanted to; he couldn't. The hatch of the ark was sealed from the
outside: and God was the only one on earth who could open it-- He chose not to.

● Rev 1:18 . . I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

● Rev 3:7 . .These are the words of him who is holy and true: who holds the key of
David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
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● Rev 19:11-16 . . I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who
sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages
war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and
He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is
clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God.

. . . And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,
were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so
that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and
He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe
and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords."

** The winepress mentioned in that verse appears in Isa 63:1-6, and again in Rev
14:19-20.

The fierce wrath of God is interesting. For example:

● Isa 13:9 . . Behold, the day of The Lord comes-- cruel; with both wrath and fierce
anger

The Hebrew word for "wrath" in that statement is pertains to an outburst of
passion. In other words: the wrath of God won't be weeping big wet crocodile tears
while it's slamming the dead at the Great White Throne event depicted at Rev
20:11-15; no, they will be terminated with extreme prejudice; viz: their judgment
will be administered with choler.

Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals that
inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in attack. Ferocity is
an aspect commonly seen among carnivorous beasts savagely attacking prey.
There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in ferocity; only sheer terror, brutality,
and blood lust.

"cruel" is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering; viz: devoid of humane
feelings

● Heb 10:27 . . A certain fearful expectation of . . . fiery indignation

"fiery indignation" is quite a bit more severe than ordinary indignation. It speaks of
someone who is seriously ticked off; and so angry that they're actually red in the
face.

There are people out there in pews all around the world who have been so coddled
by sappy versions of Christianity that they have no concept of the magnitude of the
lethal tsunami of rage and violence coming their way to get them.
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● Luke 21:25 . .There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth,
nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.

I'd imagine that folks infatuated with climate change would find the roaring and
tossing of the sea a useful political advantage. But of course down the road when
that actually takes place, climate change will likely lose much of its allure as people
will no doubt be far more interested in survival than politics.

● Luke 21:25 . . Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the
world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

That will be a very dangerous time for elder citizens as anxiety attacks can be fatal
to folks in advanced age.
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Matthew 3:29 is often said to be "the" unpardonable sin. There are others; for
example the mark of the Beast is lethal too.

● Rev 14:9-11 . . And 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 upon his hand, 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.

. . . And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no
rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever
receives the mark of his name.

The world saw a sort of "mark of the beast" during the Covid 19 pandemic. In some
areas folks risked the loss of their jobs, their careers, and their licenses to practice
for refusing to accept a Covid vacc, and shoppers had to show proof of inoculation
before they could even enter a store to purchase basic necessities. So we can be
fairly certain the passage below is at the very least plausible.

● Rev 13:16-17 . . And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the
poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or
on their forehead, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell,
except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of
his name.
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