It is done

DEVOTION

THE REVELATION

IT IS DONE

Rev 16:17-21

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

NIV

 It never ceases to amaze me as to how those who think of themselves and are thought of by so many as scholars and/or theologians continue to see all this as historical. They note this bowl is widespread because it was put into the air, but they cannot come to terms with the fact God declares it is done. What is done? They see the great city as either Jerusalem, or pagan Rome or Papal Rome and it has all been done before or will happen to the Papal Rome. Some war as it were, a war so great it shakes the earth as never before and the islands were seaports with the mountains being national leaders. It could be, but then if all this has already happened there is nothing to come. Life has no hope, the bible is just history from which we can only learn about how God was and what he did. But the whole of scripture does not match a historical view of this Revelation and therefore those who would view it as such are either radically wrong, or have some purpose of deception. This is why it is wise not to take the counsel of the ungodly. That is not to say they are ungodly as they profess to be godly, but how can a person be led by the Spirit see this revelation as historical? If a person is not led by the Spirit then they are led by the flesh, it seems that simple. So then what are we to do with what is to come? This is an event which no person on the planet has ever experienced before. When the whole sky is filled with lighting, everywhere there is heard rumblings, peals of thunder everyone in every nation will see and hear them. Then the whole earth will be shaken with a quake never before felt. If this does not get the attention of those who refuse to acknowledge God, what will? The great cities of the world will collapse under the movement of this quake. We are talking about a huge earthquake that brings down huge buildings, buildings mankind built with quakeproof designs. This Babylon is simply all the pagan cities of the world, the great cities built to show the greatness of mankind’s achievements. But this quake also brought much destruction to the planet itself. We have to remember that God is going to destroy this planet and create a new earth, with a new city of Jerusalem where we who believe will spent eternity with him. So then what is the difference if this quake is so strong that it brings down the great mountains? What difference is it if the quake creates such a tsunami that islands are flooded over being lost? This is the end, God declares it is finished, this is the last time man will have an opportunity. Yet in the midst of all the lighting, thunder and quake he brings the largest hailstorm mankind has ever recorded. Just think one hundred pound hailstones. If there were anything left standing from the quake these huge stones would demolish them completely. Where could any person hide from these? But do they repent? No! Instead they continue to curse him, curse his name. What can we learn from this that applies to our lives? The simple fact that we will not have to experience this is enough. But we also have to see once again there are people who we care about who have yet to accept Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. Are we content with knowing we will escape all this? Are we content with thinking this is so far in the future that not one person we know will ever see this happen, and thus it really does not matter if they get saved or not? What if all this started next week, or next month or even next year? Which of them would think why didn’t we tell them, they could have accepted Jesus then and escaped as we did. The destruction of this earth is inevitable, the perishing of the wicked is just as inevitable. But every person has the choice between being among the saved or among the perishing. It certainly appears some will never come to God, no matter how much he tries to get their attention. But that does not release us from the great commission Jesus gave us. Sometimes when we think we are in hard times we pray, “Come Lord Jesus, and come quickly”, but then we might be condemning someone we should have told about Jesus, if he answers our prayer. No, God has the perfect time table and we need to be about his business until he declares, “It is done!”