Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 16:12-16 Pt. 1
Apr 4th, 2010
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

The Sixth Vial poured Out -  The Final Preparations for Armegeddon -

The Armies were Delayed

"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." verse 12.

The sixth vial is the final preparation for the last great battle of Armageddon. We see in verse 12, that the armies had been delayed by the Euphrates river. This battle is not about weapons of war, it is about men, God is drawing men to this battle in order to destroy them. The delay is removed, God's patience has run out and it is now judgment time. The river is dried up, "that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." It was on the Euphrates River that civilization began and it will in the same place civilization will end. Its birthplace was here and its grave will be here. The Euphrates is the dividing line between the East and the West. in Genesis 15:18, the Euphrates river is the Eastern border of the promised land. It is 1800 miles long, and in places it is wide and deep, making it difficult for an army to cross it. I believe that the river will be flowing with much water at that time as an obstruction to the armies of the East, and at God's time it will be dried up. I do not believe that at this time a drought in the area has anything to do with this situation in our text.

China, India and Japan are today developing into great economic and military powers and by the end of the tribulation period they will rebel against a Roman dictator who has ignored them. Beyond that, they also are to come under the judgment of God for their false gods and their rejection of God and His Son.

The Armies were Deluded

"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." verse 13-14.

I remember as a boy going to the Canadian National Exabition and seeing the daredevil Lucky Teeder. In one of the acts, two cars would go around the track and head directly at each other in a deliberate head on collision. In our text we see the beast and the false prophet and the armies of the entire world in a deliberate head on collision. This is the final battle, the final confrontation between Satan and all of his dark kingdom of this world, this is the climax of the contest between God and Satan. This is the moment when the issue is going to be settled, God has suffered Satan's assaults against Him for long ages, but now the bill has come due for the enemies of God. Notice how the demon spirits work at drawing the world to this battle. They go to the kings or leaders of the world and perform miracles to deceive them into coming to the battle.

The Armies are Gathered by God

"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armegeddon" verse 16. 

So the armies of the world are assembled for the final battle of the age. There are two altars of sacrifice that dominate the history of the world. The one is Mount Calvary -- The other is The Plain of Megeddo.

On Calvary the Son of God offered up a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

On the Plains of Megiddo for those who reject the sacrifice of God's Son at Calvary, the sacrifice of vengence is poured upon them.  Both are blood baths!

The Human Reason for the Battle  is a showdown between the East and the Beast. It is a challenge to the World dictatorship of Antichrist. Caught in the middle, as planned by Satan, is God's people Israel facing extinction. The battle is set in array, from Megiddo to Petra (Bosra), a distance of 200 miles. The first four vials poured out have greatly weakened the kingdom of Antichrist. Now the stage is set for it's total destruction.

The Exhortation to God's Tribulation Saints

"Behold, I come as a thief.  Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame," Verse 15.

We have an exhortation to these saints who are living in such a desperate time. Watch and live pure and productive lives, difficult times are no excuse for slack living, the purpose of God for His children never changes.

Zechariah 14:1-3 is an insight into this hour. "Behold, the Day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.  For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.  Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle."

Israel is in the midst of the battle, as God's people she is at the center of the conflict. we see Israel's God fighting for her.

Matthew 2:1-12 Pt. 1
Apr 4th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Inspirational;Book Study

Introduction

Jesus Christ is the theme of the New Testament, He is the object of the four gospels. Each of the gospel writers portray Jesus in a unique way. They all cover His life,  but each one covers it in a unque way. In Matthew, He is the king who comes to rule and reign. In Mark, He is the servant who comes to serve and to suffer. In Luke, He is the Son of man who comes to share and sympath In John, He is the Son of God who comes to reveal God and redeem man.

Each one of the Evangelists approaches Jesus in a very special way. The contrasts are extreme, in Matthew He is the king.  In Mark He is the servant, you couldn't have greater extremes! In Luke He is the Son of man, in John He is the Son of God, what a contrast!

Matthew presents Christ as king, and everything in Matthew focuses on His rulership. He is shown to be the one who has the right to rule, He is shown to have the power to rule, He is shown to have the credentials to rule.

Because Matthew is presenting Christ as king he traces the lineage of Christ through the royal line of David. Mark presents Christ as servant, because he presents Christ as a servant he has no genealogy at all, It is irrelevant. Luke presents Christ as the Son of man, so He takes the genealogy all the way back to Adam. John presents Christ as the Son of God, and bypasses all human genealogy and simply says in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  John goes directly back to eternity past and establishes the eternal essence of Christ.

So each of the gospel writers matches his genealogy with his emphasis concerning Christ. So in Matthew He is the Messiah, the annointed sovereign and thus comes to us through the line of David.

 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David",  Matthew 1:1

Matthew 1: Establishes Christ as King by His lineage. 

Matthew 2: Establishes Christ as King because of the recognition men give to a king. Christ is shown to be a king as men pay Him homeage as a king.

So in Matthew 2: Matthew tells the story of certain wisemen who came to proclaim that Jesus was indeed a king as they bowed at His feet and worshipped Him as a king.

``Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.`` Matthew 2:1 

"Wise Men" =  Greek =  "Magi"  The Magi were a priestly tribe among the peopleknown as the Medes (todays Kurds).  The Medes were a large group of people made up of many tribes, one of the tribes was the Magi. It was a heriditary  priestly tribe, much like the Levites were in Israel. The Medes rose to the place of being the advisers to the kings of Babylon and to the Medio-Persians.

They became so influential that no king ever took the throne of the Persian Empire except they were trained by the Medes in their laws, the Laws of the Medes and Persians. No king was crowned that was not approved by the Medes. They were the great king makers of the empire to the east of Israel, by this time known as the Parthian Empire. It was their business to recognize and crown kings, they had been in the courts of kings for centuries, they were the king makers of the East.

It is out of this significant background that they made their way from the east to recognize and honour Christ as king. So Matthew makes his point that Christ is king in Matthew 1, by virtue of His lineage and in Matthew 2, by virtue of the recognition of men.

The question arises, Where did ther Magi get their information about Jesus?  Remember in 586 BC Israel was taken captive into Babylon. It was at that time and in that situation the Babylonians learned of the great Jewish King that would someday be born.

One of those Jews, Daniel rose to great prominence among the Medes, we read about Daniel at that time. "There is a man in thy kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzer thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers."  Daniel 5:11.  Daniel was made chief of the Magi,(master of the Magi) so great was Daniel`s wisdom and revelations, that the Magi would study and revere his teachings for centuries that followed. That is how the Magi were ready for this event, through the centuries they had been watching for this event, the great king to come. They had passed down the information and when the time came they were ready. God had prepared the Magi to come and worship His Son.

When Christ came, there were two great powers in the world.

1 - The Powers of the East - the Persians (Parthians), they had had ruled the world a few hundred years earlier. They were in decline, but they still aspired to rule the world again.

2 - The powers of the West - Rome dominated the West, including Israel, but had never dominated the Persians.

  First - I suspect, that the Magi had hoped that this great king, whom they understood, would one day rule the world, would also be their king as well as Israel`s.

Secondly - They understood that this King was God`s King. They had some spiritual understanding and desire concerning the Messiah of Israel. 

So they came to Jerusalem, a group of official Persian king-makers, longing for a new king.

Next week we will see five acts in the drama.