THE WAKE-UP REPORTS

The Wake Up Report

Thoughts on Bible Prophecy and Coming Events

April 2011

by Larry Wilson

The prophecies written in the books of Daniel and Revelation describe a sequence of events spanning a period of approximately 3,500 years. Several prophecies began unfolding during the fifth century B.C. and we have been able to observe their chronological fulfillment over the past 2,600 years. It is the consistent and precise fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecy during the past 2,600 years that enables us to determine what the Bible says about tomorrow. Because the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation conform to a well defined architecture, we can determine our location within the chronological order of events they predict. In other words, we can verify what has happened in the past and we can determine what is coming next.

The world stands on the doorstep of a great transition. I am not talking about the unrest currently seen in the Middle East. History reveals that nations routinely change governments. No regime lasts forever. The rise and fall of governors and governments is as old as mankind. Looking toward the future, Bible prophecy largely ignores the current unrest that we see around the world. The books of Daniel and Revelation are concerned with something far larger than the Middle East. The Bible predicts that God Himself will soon step into the affairs of men and bring life – as we currently know it – to an end. The Bible is the only source of truth on this subject because God’s coming actions have nothing to do with the social and political unrest that currently plagues Earth. The Bible is the only book that contains a comprehensive roadmap of soon coming events and the Bible is the only authority that speaks for God about this matter. For these reasons, Christians should prayerfully reconsider the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation. Generally speaking, most of the people on Earth are about to be overwhelmed with the arrival of the "Great Day of the Lord."

What Happens Next?

The following is a brief summary of coming events that will affect the entire planet. The book of Revelation predicts three global earthquakes. These earthquakes will increase in severity as they occur. They will sever bridges, break down hydroelectric dams, tear train tracks apart, collapse metropolitan freeway overpasses, and kill many people. Obviously, thousands of buildings will collapse. The world’s economy will implode. Communication, travel, and manufacturing infrastructures will come to a screeching halt. Prior to 1994, scientists claimed that a global earthquake was physically impossible. This theory has been shattered. An earthquake shook the whole world in December 2004 and approximately 230,000 people died in southern Asia as a result of the tsunami that followed.

In addition to global earthquakes, Revelation also predicts the world will be set on fire by a meteoric shower of burning hail. This cataclysmic event will burn up a third of Earth. Millions of acres of trees and more importantly, food crops will be destroyed. Until the 1980s, scientists scoffed at the notion that Earth had been impacted by a civilization-threatening asteroid. This theory has been shattered. Today, scientists have identified more than 120 impact craters on Earth. A few of the craters are more than 150 miles in diameter!

Powerful telescopes recorded the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, with Jupiter (July 1994). One impact created a crater large enough to hold three planets the size of Earth. No one is ridiculing the possibility that a massive asteroid could hit Earth again and destroy the whole world. In fact, the book of Revelation predicts two asteroid impacts are coming. One asteroid will impact an ocean and the resulting tsunami will wash away thousands of coastal cities with the same ease that high tide removes footprints in the sand. Then, a second asteroid impact will obliterate much of a continent. Many, perhaps millions of people who survive the initial impact will eventually perish from drinking contaminated water. (Ground waves from a massive asteroid impact will shear geological structures allowing deadly bacteria to enter underground aquifers.) The Bible does not say which ocean or which continent will be impacted, but we can be sure that when these events take place, they will not be random events. God is deliberate and purposeful in all that He does and His apocalyptic judgments are executed with surgical precision.

The book of Revelation also predicts that extensive darkness will cover Earth for many months. This darkness could be caused by a sequence of volcanic eruptions that occur shortly after the asteroid impacts. Consider this: Where there is no sunlight, there can be no crops. The result of extended darkness is famine. A worldwide famine is coming.

The most frightening part of Bible prophecy is not coming disaster. What concerns students of Bible prophecy most is the religious and political response that will be forthcoming. The Bible predicts that the world’s religious and political leaders will unite and hastily create a worldwide organization to appease the wrath of an angry God. The Bible predicts this crisis organization will suddenly rise up and it will be given authority over all nations without firing a single bullet! This is no fairy tale. This is not a reality check. These events are predicted in God’s Word and we need to know now what we will soon face. God has informed us of His actions so that we will not lose faith in Him. "I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe." (John 14:29)

God has something to say to every living person on Earth – all seven billion of us. One day, He will suddenly terminate the affairs of man and during a short period of 1,260 days, He will sort through the people of Earth. He will separate the honest in heart from those who hate the light of truth. He will separate the sheep from the goats. God will present the terms and conditions of salvation to every member of the human race during the Great Tribulation, and He will see to it that every person is invited to be a part of a New World order that He will establish. Even the most vile person on Earth (if he repents and turns from sin and rebellion) can be part of God’s coming kingdom. Before He sets up His kingdom, God will destroy the kingdoms of men and this includes everyone opposed to His government and authority. Keep in mind, God is impartial. He loves everyone equally, but the human race has gone too far. God’s patience is exhausted. Corporately speaking, the actions and attitudes of Earth’s inhabitants have become too violent, decadent, and degenerate. We have filled up our cup of iniquity and as it was in Noah’s day, the time has come for God to purify Earth.

How Soon?

The Bible speaks of Earth’s final events as "The End of Days" or "The Appointed Time of the End." Several Bible authors write about this period of time because the end of sin will be marked by a complete spiritual and physical reconfiguration of Earth. In a small way, signs of this coming transformation are visible already. For example, weather patterns have gone crazy. Flooding, drought, tornados, and hurricanes are producing more havoc. Seismic activity is also increasing. According to the USGS, more earthquakes measuring 6.0 and above on the Richter scale have occurred in the past decade than any of the previous three decades. Volcanic activity is also on the increase. Our planet now has more than 400 active volcanos. Are these physical changes a sign of what is to come? Yes, if you understand that sin has doomed this planet. Consider the financial impact from nature’s violence on the financial institutions of the world. Many insurance companies are in deep trouble as a result of natural disasters. Insurance is not available in some areas because insurance companies cannot afford the losses. Moreover, the economy of the twenty richest nations on Earth is nothing more than a house of cards. A global earthquake, a global fire, or an asteroid impact could easily cause the cards to fall.

What about the spiritual condition of man? Have you noticed more hatred? Have you noticed less patience? Have you noticed more predators? As the global population continues to increase (a net gain of 9 million new people per month), another world war seems inevitable. The Middle East is boiling. North Korea and Iran are powder kegs. An increasing number of nations now have nuclear capability, so what will Earth look like after World War III? It is time to wake up America! Planetary resources are too few for so many people and this will bring a global revolt. The world’s political leaders see the problems, but there is no solution. They are too complex. People are uncertain about prices, they fear the unknown, and their anger builds. More and more, people are giving study to ways of protecting themselves from others.

Although the Bible does not precisely state when the Great Tribulation will begin, it does offer enough data to determine a "window of time" during which the end of the age happens. For example, if a person totals all the prophetic time periods in Daniel and Revelation, the genealogical records of Genesis and Exodus, and the years from the Exodus to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., the Bible only refers to approximately 7,000 years (plus or minus a few years). We know that the 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation 20 occurs after The Great Tribulation. Therefore, this suggests that on or about the 6,000th year of sin, life as we now know it could come to an end. According to these general calculations, the Great Tribulation could begin any time. Maybe the end of the age will occur before 2017 – but the passage of time will have to reveal the actual date. This much is certain, the world is in trouble and it is only a matter of time until a nuclear exchange occurs.

God Has a Plan

God is sovereign. God has a plan for Earth. He has a purpose for each individual. To understand God’s purpose and plan takes some effort and personal desire. The Bible reveals everything we need to know, and we need to know all that we can know. The end time story in Revelation is not based on a continual decline into global, moral bankruptcy. Instead, the end time story focuses on two points. The first point is timing, the second is degeneration. In other words, given enough time, degeneration overcomes mankind. If history reveals anything, it tells us that civilizations come and go because of degeneracy. The length of time a civilization enjoys prosperity is directly proportional to God’s favor. Notice this response of the prophet Daniel to King Nebuchadnezzar: "He [the God of Heaven] changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning." (Daniel 2:21, insertion mine) Each time we have a political election in the United States, I reflect on this text. How does God set up kings (or leaders) and depose of them when they were elected to office by popular vote? I have found a rather simple answer: God is able to bring about circumstances that propel people in various directions. One clear example of this is found in the story about the Tower of Babel. God altered the common language of man by creating many languages, and this simple event brought about the dispersion of nations. (See Genesis 11:1-9.) Back to Daniel for one more point: Notice Daniel’s statement to Nebuchadnezzar about the quality of men God places in leadership. "The decision [to punish you for unbridled vanity, oh king] is announced by messengers, the holy ones [angels] declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men." (Daniel 4:17, insertions mine)

Here is a profound point: When a nation turns its back on principles of righteousness and its individuals turn away from right doing, God deals with that nation and its individuals accordingly. The prophet Daniel clearly understood why he was in Babylon as a captive. Notice his confession: "All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. ‘Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.’ " (See Daniel 9:11 and Ezekiel 14:12-22.)

These principles are timeless because God is eternal. Our planet has turned away from God. Moreover, the resources of the world are limited. This is a recipe for conflict. The cancer of sin has become pandemic. Selfish ambitions and greed have ruined our economy. Affections for one another are cold and ethnicity is all too important. All of these things serve to alienate us from one another. So, what must God do with His wayward planet? He must act. He will act.

Keep in mind that we cannot protect ourselves from the coming tribulation. Any efforts to save self is a lot like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. What difference does it ultimately make where the chairs are placed on a ship headed for the bottom of the ocean? Like Humpty Dumpty (representing the civilizations of the world), all the king’s horses and all the king’s men (the efforts of man) cannot put it back together again. In the language of football, we have reached fourth and goal, and 5 seconds remain on the clock. Will the world implode or will God step in? The prophecies of Daniel and Revelation reveal that God is about to take matters into His own hands.

What Does God Want?

The Bible indicates that God will accomplish four important matters during the Great Tribulation. First, He will awaken every person on Earth to the fact that Jesus, the Judge of all mankind, is about to appear and require an account of each person’s behavior. Second, God is about to expose the properties of sin to the human race because few people recognize or understand sin’s powerful control. Third, God is going to expose the contents of every human heart by placing a comprehensive test of faith before each of us. Finally, God will silence the blasphemous claims of the world’s religious systems. He will demonstrate that human beings cannot obtain salvation through membership in any religious system. God is about to inform the world that salvation only comes through total commitment and submission to Jesus Christ.

Most of the prophetic interpretations we hear on radio and television are misleading. Do not misunderstand. People can believe anything they choose to believe about the future, but belief or denial has no effect on coming events. Almost everyone in Noah’s day refused to believe a flood was coming. What effect did their denial have on the promised event? Millions of people anticipate things that will never happen and when the predicted events of Revelation begin, everything that can be shaken, will be shaken. On that day, many people will abandon their faith in God because they placed their faith in their religious leaders instead of studying God’s Word for themselves. Even worse, many religious leaders have not spiritually prepared their flocks (their parishioners) for the trying circumstances they are about to face. What is more bitter than the experience of misplaced trust? I mention these things because most religious leaders, either do not know about the coming events or they deny the seriousness of the fulfillment of prophecy.

Few people are spiritually prepared for the trying experiences ahead. What many people have been led to believe about God is not true. In the coming hour of tribulation, many unprepared people will become bitter. In their anger, frustration and fear, many people will turn against their religious leaders and hate God. Of course, such hatred will be misdirected. After all, Bibles are readily available and where should the responsibility for preparation lie.

God’s Silence

The character of God is poorly understood – even in the United States. Many people diminish God’s authority, glory, and power because He has not recently revealed Himself in the affairs of man. When the prophet, Isaiah, saw God’s throne, he fell on his face saying, " ‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’ " (Isaiah 6:5) On the other hand, Isaiah was amazed at God’s reluctance to show Himself as the Almighty. Isaiah wrote, "Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God and Savior of Israel." (Isaiah 45:15)

God’s apparent silence comes as a consequence of sin. Just as offenses physically separate friends or family members, the offensiveness of sin separates us from God’s physical presence. As generations come and go, knowledge of God dims. The reality of God becomes faint, and the longer we go without renewed evidence of God’s authority and glory, the more silent He appears to be. In the vacuum of this silence, sin becomes more attractive and less offensive. Sinners become bold and defiant in transgression. Sin metastasises. Violence, sorrow, and suffering spring up like dandelions after a spring rain. Every night, the evening news confirms our accelerating slide into depravity. Degenerate, hideous sins are justified and glamorized on TV for purposes of entertainment. Sin has a strange effect on human beings – it causes sinners to minimize the effects or the guilt of their wrong actions. Think about this for a full five seconds: Sin causes human beings to deny the significance of personal wrong doing! (How many people in prison falsely maintain innocence?)

The Bible reveals that God breaks His silence from time to time. He uses four judgments to limit the growth of sin. (Ezekiel 14:21) His four judgments are sword, famine, plague, and wild beasts. In His infinite wisdom, God allows nations to rule until they fill up their cup of iniquity, and when they do, the Bible says that He removes them from power. (See Daniel 2:21; 4:16, Leviticus 18:24-27.) What makes this process so remarkable is that God, even within the chaos of sin, completely accomplishes His plans and purposes on this Earth! We may try to explain the outcome of Earthly events by analyzing the actions of the players, but this is only a limited view. Do not be naive and think that things happen by the prowess of man. Nothing happens in the universe without God’s knowledge and permission. Even though we are not able to see God on His throne, we can know that He reigns over the kingdoms of man. God is sovereign. We may not see all that He is doing, but the evidence is right before our eyes. The Bible is clear – God is ever in control. How He maintains control over Earth is a mystery. That He does it without showing Himself is His silence.

God’s silence is not too hard to penetrate, if you really want to see and hear Him. The evidences of His handiwork are all around us if we want to acknowledge Him. However, if we do not want to give Him respect, we can easily ignore Him and deny Him the recognition He is due. Thus, His silence compliments our power of choice. God can either be the greatest and most wonderful being in the universe, or if we choose, we can deny His existence. What a God! Perhaps the least understood element within God’s character is His reluctance to awe His creatures with His powers and presence. His silence will be a topic of eternal discovery!

A Very Important Point

Soon, God will break His silence with mankind by raining down His judgments upon Earth. These coming events will be correctly understood as manifestations of God’s wrath, but God Himself will be grossly misunderstood. To appease God and stay His awful judgments, the world’s religious and political systems will enact laws "honoring God" that will be contrary to what He actually wants! What God seeks from man is a repentant heart and a submissive attitude. He calls men and women to live a life free of the damning power of sin. Even more, He grants men and women who put their faith in Him, the power to be transformed through victory over sin.

Unfortunately, Revelation predicts that billions of people will reject God’s gracious offer of grace, His gift of power over sin and resulting salvation. They will turn away because they do not believe. The hearts of many people have become hardened through rebellion and ignorance, but this is not the worst part of the story. Revelation predicts a time is coming when wicked people will punish and torture those who obey God’s laws. The persecutors will think that their actions are justified and that like Pilate, they can wash away their guilt by washing their hands. God never ignores an evil deed even though He may allow evil to flourish for a season. God will avenge the suffering of His children and we can be sure that justice day is coming. (See Revelation 18:6 and Obadiah 1:15.)

In the context of His coming judgments, God’s character and His behavior will be misrepresented and misinterpreted. This is the heart of Revelation’s story. It is a story of a loving God visiting a planet in trouble. It is a story of a just God rendering justice. It is a story of a merciful God extending mercy. What does it say about the human race when God is left with no other alternative than deadly judgments to gain man’s attention?

Revelation is a story about rebellious people and a world gone astray. Most people, when put to the coming test of faith in God, will openly and conscientiously reject the clearest evidences of God’s truth. They will unite themselves in rebellion against the commandments of God (the Ten Commandments) by obeying the laws of the coming Antichrist. God will allow Satan (the dreaded Antichrist) to physically appear during the Great Tribulation at the appointed time. This will be a deadly deception. You need to understand that God allows the devil to appear and personate Christ before Christ returns because the wicked "refused to love the truth and so be saved." (2 Thessalonians 2:10) Lucifer will claim to be God and he will lead billions of people to believe that he has come to establish a thousand years of peace, but his claims are lies.

Why will the majority of the world be duped by this coming imposter? Jesus said, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." (John 3:19-20)

If my understanding of Bible prophecy is correct, God will soon break His silence. On that dreadful day, everyone will know that God’s patience with sin and sinners has reached its limit. When the great day of the Lord begins, mortals living on a tiny speck of a planet called Earth will know that Almighty God, Owner and Creator of the Universe, has summoned mankind to appear before His everlasting throne. We can prepare for coming events. We can prepare now to be a part of God’s new creation. Read your Bible. It tells us who God is, what He is like, and what He wants from each of us. Preparing for Jesus’ return can be compared to preparing for final exams in the senior year of college. This is serious. Ready or not, the great day of the Lord is coming. Bible prophecy is a beacon signaling that the kingdom of God is at hand. Prepare to meet God!

Larry Wilson

Permission is granted to those who wish to make copies of this article for purposes of distribution.

The Wake Up Report

The Seven Bowls

March 2011

by Larry Wilson

"I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues– last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. . . . Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the Earth.’ " (Revelation 15:1, 16:1)

The seven bowls (also called the seven last plagues) are puzzling to many Christians. When do they occur? What is their purpose? Who receives them? Who tortures the wicked – Jesus or the devil? The seven bowls are not discussed very often because people do not think they will be affected by them. Of course, the bowls will occur in the future, but they are important right now because they reveal more information about God’s character. Before we examine the seven bowls, please notice that they can be divided into two groups:

Plagues on Evil Individuals Plagues on Evil Corporate Entities
1. Ugly and painful sores 5. Painful blindness affects Lucifer's officials
2. Oceans turn to blood 6. Kings of Earth gather for Armageddon
3. Rivers and springs turn to blood 7. Hailstones weighing 100 pounds each fall and a sword comes out of Jesus' mouth kills the remaining evil people
4. Scorching heat

The seven last plagues are called seven bowls (or vials in the KJV) because God wants us to understand that near the end of the Great Tribulation, He will force the wicked to "drink and swallow" His wrath. The result will be a very painful and eventually, a deadly experience. In Bible times, experiences were sometimes described as drinking from a phiale.* For example, filled with overflowing gratitude for God’s protection, King David wrote, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows [with joy]." (Psalm 23:5, italics and insertion mine) Centuries later, Jesus cried out from the Garden of Gethsemane, " ‘Abba, Father,’ he said, ‘everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.’ " (Mark 14:36, italics mine) The ancients often used the imagery of a cup to describe a human experience because they observed that once something is swallowed, the results become inescapable. Everything from euphoria and joy to excruciating pain and death came in a cup and being forced to drink a cup of poison was the worst possible experience. (See Jeremiah 25:15-30.)

*Note: The Greek word phiale describes a broad shallow cup, a saucer, or a bowl. The KJV transliterates phiale into the English word "vial," but this choice of words does not convey the proper meaning in today’s English.

The seven bowls can be listed in two columns because the first four bowls serve a different purpose than the last three. Everyone who receives the mark of the beast will experience the first four bowls. The last three bowls will impact corporate entities that Jesus intends to destroy. For example, Jesus will impose the fifth bowl on Lucifer’s theocracy (his officials and employees). Jesus will impose the sixth bowl on the kings of Earth and their armies, and finally, the seventh bowl will affect Earth itself. Fiery hailstones will destroy some of the wicked and the rest will be destroyed by the sword that comes out of Jesus’ mouth. This will occur at the close of the seventh bowl. (Revelation 16:21; 19:19-21)

Note: If you have read my book, A Study on the Seven Trumpets, Two Witnesses and Four Beasts, you should recall that the seven trumpets can also be divided into two columns. The first four trumpet-judgments will fall upon notably wicked places and wicked people will experience the last three trumpet-judgments.

The First Five Bowls Examined

I believe the seven last plagues will occur over a period of seventy days – each bowl is poured out for ten days. It is interesting that the first four bowls focus on food, water, and shelter because prior to the seven last plagues, wicked predators will deprive God’s children of these same necessities! The following is a short paraphrase on how I believe the first five plagues will unfold. Hopefully, this will help you better understand the story:

{Revelation 16:1} Then I heard a loud voice in Heaven say to the seven angels, "Go now and make the wicked drink from the cup of God’s wrath." Jesus said to the first angel, "Lucifer controls the world. He will not permit my people to buy or sell because they will not wear his mark. He intends to starve my people to death. Do to the wicked as they have done to my people. Go and poison their food. Let those wearing the mark of the beast eat the food and suffer the horrible boils that will follow."

". . . . The day of the Lord is near for all nations. As you have done, it will

be done to you; your deeds will return upon

your own head." (Obadiah 1:15)

{2} The first angel poured out his bowl of poison on the land and ugly and painful sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast, but the saints were not affected. When the wicked realized that their food supplies were the source of their boils, they rushed to the ocean to find food. Then Jesus said, "Neither shall the sea provide food for the wicked. Poison the oceans of the world!"

{3} The second angel poured out his bowl upon the oceans and the water turned into a thick blood-like fluid, like the blood of a dead man. Every living creature in the sea died. The remains of the sea creatures floated to the surface and washed onto the shores. Nothing from the sea could be eaten, but again, the saints were not affected. God provided food for them.

Jesus said to the third angel, "Many of the wicked participated in the slaughter of my servants, the 144,000. Since they are bloodthirsty, take away their water and give them blood to drink."

{4} The third angel poured his bowl of poison on the rivers and springs of water, and the springs of water became like blood, just like the oceans. Even more, the drinking water became poisonous for everyone who had participated in the murder of God’s people. The agony suffered by the murderers was intense. They were hungry and thirsty, and the agony they suffered was unbearable.

{5} The angel with the third bowl spoke to Jesus: "Eternal God, you are just and fair in these judgments, for you have judged righteously; {6} for these devil worshipers shed the innocent blood of your saints and prophets – and you have given them blood to drink."

{7} Then, the mighty angel who stood at the Altar of Incense also responded: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, your vengeance is righteous and your actions are justifiable."

After the third bowl was poured out, the wicked were in great anguish all over the world. The devil, who pompously masqueraded as Almighty God, could not prevent or cancel the effects of the first three bowls. To keep his masquerade intact, the devil stalled for time by promising to improve food supplies and the availability of fresh water, but his promises remained unfulfilled. To further divert the attention of the wicked from his failure to save them, Lucifer directed the wicked to utterly destroy the remaining saints because, he claimed, they were aligned with "the devil." Lucifer cleverly led the wicked into thinking the saints were the reason for the great curse upon Earth and if the saints were eliminated, the curse would end. Immediately, the wicked agreed to kill the saints on a specific day (the 1,290th day of the Great Tribulation) and great rewards were promised to everyone who captured and killed one of God’s saints. Instead, Jesus protected His saints. Not one single saint perished. Jesus said, "The wicked intended to kill my people, now let them feel the heat of my wrath."

{8} The fourth angel poured his bowl on the Sun. The Sun became so hot that it scorched Earth with unbearable heat. The stench rising from the dead sea creatures was so unbearable that no one wanted to go outdoors, but the situation indoors was worse. There was no water or electricity. {9} Objects became so hot that people were badly burned by merely touching them. Millions of wicked people, exhausted from their efforts to survive, died from hunger, thirst, and heat exhaustion. Even the devil’s highest ranking officials had no food, water, or protection from the searing heat. Nevertheless, the wicked refused to repent of their wickedness and worship the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the only true God. They cursed the saints along with their God and refused to glorify Him.

The wicked cried out to Lucifer, "If you are Almighty God as you claim, stop these curses. Ever since you became king of kings and lord of lords (during the sixth trumpet), our condition has only become worse and worse. Use your miracle working powers to end the suffering! Show us again that you are Almighty God!" These requests put the devil in a predicament. He no longer had power to stop anything, including the effects of the first four bowls.

{10} A few days later, the fifth bowl was poured out. Suddenly, a painful plague afflicted everyone who worked for the devil. His officials and employees became dysfunctional. They had willingly closed their eyes to the light of God’s truth (presented by the 144,000); therefore, Jesus removed their eyesight. When the fifth bowl was poured out, a painful blindness fell upon Lucifer’s officials and employees, and his theocracy ended. The only thing the devil’s officials and employees could do was to sit on the ground and gnaw their tongues in agony. {11} They cursed the God of Heaven (Jesus) because of the pain, but they refused to repent for what they had done.

The fifth plague, directed specifically at Lucifer’s government, stunned the remaining wicked. Suddenly, they began to question the identity of the glorious being who claimed to be Almighty God. Why would he give a curse of painful blindness to his officials and employees? Why would he destroy his entire work force and kingdom with painful blindness? Why would he treat his loyal followers with such horrifying contempt . . . unless he really was an imposter? Could he actually be the devil?

The fifth bowl will be the game changer. The wicked will be forced by unavoidable circumstances to admit that the 144,000, who they ridiculed and murdered as "false prophets," are the true prophets of Almighty God after all. As events unfold, one bowl at a time, the wicked will be forced to admit that the glorious being masquerading as Almighty God is the devil, the dreaded Antichrist. He is the "false prophet" – just as the 144,000 claimed. The wicked will be crushed by unspeakable disappointment and guilt. They will realize, too late, that they were duped. They were duped because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12) Instead of placing their faith in Jesus and submitting to the authority of a God of love, they temporarily avoided persecution. They placed their loyalty and trust in the father of lies — a cunning devil who told them all kinds of lies while performing endless miracles to win their confidence and loyalty.

God Is Love

If God is love, then God’s behavior defines love in action. In other words, whatever God does must be perfectly within the boundaries of love. God’s love can be defined as a perfect balance between justice and mercy. According to infinite wisdom and changeless consistency, God knows when mercy is appropriate and when the demands of justice are required. This balance is always perfect because God is love personified! The actions of God always demonstrate what love is and what love is not. Given this eternal truth, the seven bowls have to be understood as an action of love. Much more can be written about this topic, but time and space will not permit it. Please consider these three purposes for the seven bowls: Vengeance, exposure, and discovery. A few words about each might be helpful.

1. Vengeance

There is an important distinction between vengeance and revenge. Vengeance is a righteous process that achieves justice. Vengeance is exercised when a disinterested party (having no relationship with the parties involved) lawfully punishes a predator or perpetrator of a crime on behalf of an injured party. On the other hand, revenge is retaliation. Revenge is exercised when someone having a personal interest in an injury punishes another party. The problem with revenge is that the limits of justice are usually ignored or abandoned in order to satisfy passion. In other words, left to his own devices, a person seeking revenge will often go beyond justice and become a predator himself.

During the Great Tribulation, the wicked will drink the wine of Babylon and treat God’s saints with contempt and hatred because God’s saints will not cooperate. Babylon will unjustly persecute the saints, taking their possessions and ultimately, their lives. The wicked will impose a stunning amount of cruelty and hardship on the saints. Of course, Jesus will not miss a single event, faithfully recording every thought, word, and action because He will execute justice at the appointed time. Every ounce of suffering imposed on the saints will be repaid to the wicked. In fact, they will be repaid with a double portion of suffering by a God of love! (Revelation 18:6)

*Note: A double portion of restitution is required when malicious intent is premeditated and carried out. (Exodus 22:4-9)

After Noah’s flood, God imposed a system of law and order on mankind. (Genesis 9:5,6) Later, God expanded the role of law and order at Mount Sinai: "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." (Exodus 21:24,25) God set up civil authorities to administer justice and to execute vengeance as necessary (Romans 13) and when lawfully applied, God’s system of justice is a deterrent to crime. God requires everyone to respect the person and property of others, just as they respect their own person and property. God’s system of justice protects the weak from the strong and the innocent from the ruthless. Every society has builders (those who contribute to the advancement and well being of society) and predators (scoundrels who abuse the weak by depriving them of their possessions and/or lives).

To a great extent, a child’s character is determined by the presence or absence of parental training and childhood associations. In Bible times, if a teenager observed the execution of a convicted murderer, that experience and the importance of another person’s life would not be soon forgotten. Because God closely identifies with children and the weaker people in society, God demands the execution of vengeance on murderers to protect society from predators. Therefore, we should not be surprised to learn that God, who loves every person equally, demands that murderers be put to death.

God has a golden rule. "Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31) When this law is violated, God’s justice requires restitution. If a predator does not make amends and he is not caught and punished during his lifetime, God will resurrect the predator at the appointed time and personally see to it that restitution is extracted. This shows God’s fairness and love for justice! The inverse of the Golden Rule is iron clad. It says, "It will be done to you as you did to others." Vengeance is the lawful execution of justice, and one day, restitution will be extracted from every wicked person who failed to provide restitution. In fact, restitution is one of the purposes for the lake of fire that will consume the wicked at the end of the 1,000 years. The wicked will suffer in the lake of fire in direct proportion to the suffering they imposed upon their victims. This is why Paul warned, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord." (Romans 12:19) We should never forget this phrase:
". . . I will repay, says the Lord."*

*Note: If a murderer is caught and executed for his crime, the demands of the law – life for life – have been met. However, restitution for the suffering he created during the crime has not been met. This, too, must be paid in full. God’s law includes punitive action (punishment), as well as compensatory action (restitution). If a murderer repents of his sin before execution, his death will satisfy the punitive requirement of God’s law and the compensatory requirements for suffering will be transferred to the scapegoat (Lucifer). On the other hand, if a murderer does not repent of his sin and he dies a natural death, the murderer will suffer in the lake of fire at the end of the 1,000 years, according to the amount of compensation imposed upon him. Only then will he die, thereby satisfying the punitive requirment, because the penalty for his sin remains upon his own head.

We have examined the concept of vengeance because the seven bowls contain God’s vengeance. During the Great Tribulation, desperate circumstances will separate the people of Earth into two groups. The sheep (God’s people) will embrace the testimony of the 144,000, worship the Creator, and love one another. The goats (the wicked) will rebel against God’s authority and submit to Babylon’s authority. The contest between the two authorities will be sharp and distinct. The wicked will do whatever it takes to survive – only to end up as slaves of the devil. There will be no justice for God’s saints during the Great Tribulation, so God Himself will execute vengeance upon the wicked with the seven bowls during the final seventy days of the Great Tribulation. God will lawfully punish the wicked according to the way they maliciously treated His children.

2. Exposure

Another purpose for the seven bowls is exposure. Jesus will expose the devil’s masquerade during the fifth bowl! Here’s the story: About a year before the fifth bowl occurs, God will permit Lucifer to leave the spirit realm and physically appear before mankind. He will lead the wicked into total rebellion against the authority and will of God. The devil will masquerade as Almighty God and he will perform many magnificent miracles – even calling fire down from Heaven! Many of the wicked will embrace the devil as though he was God. When the devil gains enough followers, he will demand that everyone on Earth worship as he dictates or be killed. The devil will set up a false theocracy and rule over Earth as king of kings and lord of lords. This pompous despot will reign over the whole world for about nine months. During the fifth bowl, Jesus will strip away the devil’s masquerade and He will expose the great deceiver for who he really is (evil incarnate).

The fifth bowl will be poured out on a specific group of people. Those who serve as officials and employees in Lucifer’s government (false theocracy) will be struck down with excruciating pain, a blindness that renders them dysfunctional, and Lucifer’s empire will immediately shut down. Ironically, those who refused to see any light in the gospel of Jesus Christ will no longer be able to see the god of darkness they serve. When the rest of the wicked realize that Lucifer is powerless to stop the painful blindness and "heal" his administrative staff, the devil will be exposed for who he really is. The wicked will be paralyzed by great fear. Not only will they hate the devil, but they will also loathe themselves. They will remember the 144,000’s testimony, but it will be too late. Finally, the wicked will realize they cannot escape the coming doom.

3. Discovery

When the wicked discover that the glorious being who masqueraded as Almighty God is the devil, they will also discover that they have no Savior and no refuge from Almighty God. They will have no one to worship, no divine being in whom to trust, and no hope for the future. The fifth bowl will force the wicked to discover their true condition before God, the Creator of the universe. In an attempt to lessen the impact of this awful discovery, Lucifer will send miracle working demons to the ten kings of Earth during the sixth bowl. These demons will perform miracle after miracle before the kings of Earth and then, with sophisticated cunning, they will present their demonic proposal. They will tell the kings that Jesus will arrive soon to ultimately destroy the entire world. They will suggest to the kings of Earth that they must join forces with Lucifer to stop Jesus! They must make war on Jesus as He appears – the demons contend it is their only chance of survival.

Two interesting facts will emerge: First, the Bible predicts that Earth’s ten kings will join forces with Lucifer’s demons, even though they know that Lucifer is the devil and his angels are demons. Consider the ramifications of this union for a moment. To save self, sinners would rather join forces with the devil and attempt to destroy the Creator of the universe than to confess their sins and repent. Let me be clear – the power of sin within sinners is entirely delusional. Second, the desperate actions of Earth’s ten kings prove that ultimately, sin has the same effect on human beings as angels. Under the right circumstances, both would attempt to destroy the God of love if possible. A sinner’s love for his own life speaks volumes.

On the other hand, the cross proves that the Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ, was willing to cease to exist so that sinners might be saved. This is love in action! Contrast this with the war against Jesus at the Second Coming. This final revelation demonstrates why sin and sinners cannot be tolerated in God’s universe ever again. Given the time, power, and opportunity, every sinner eventually becomes a predator. This fact would be very hard to accept were it not for the "discovery" made possible during the seven bowls.

Vengeance, exposure, and discovery have been briefly discussed to help you understand that the seven bowls have several important purposes. During the Great Tribulation, the inhabitants of Earth will experience a period of increasing distress. As circumstances become more desperate, a sharp distinction between the sheep and the goats will appear. One group will choose the way of divine love, worship the Creator, and love one another. The other group will grasp at every straw to save themselves from suffering, hardship, and death – only to face God’s wrath, extended suffering, and finally death.

Love for God will take the sheep in one direction and love for self will take the goats in the opposite direction. As the Great Tribulation escalates, the wicked will prey on the saints to survive. The wicked will take the saint’s possessions and treat them with contempt. The wicked will torture and imprison the saints of God for rebellion against the laws of Babylon. Many of God’s people will die in the process. When every person has reached his or her spiritual destination, that is, either sealed as a sheep or marked as a goat, salvation’s offer will end. At that time, God will execute vengeance on behalf of His helpless saints. He will lawfully punish the wicked with seven plagues, and holy angels will declare that God’s actions are righteous! Justice will be served. Unrepentant predators will suffer according to the suffering they caused. "For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Hebrews 10:30,31)

Larry Wilson

The Wake Up Report

Warning! Don't Drink the Wine of Babylon

February 2011

by Larry Wilson

Mr. Wilson:

Revelation 14:8 indicates that all of the nations will drink the maddening wine of Babylon’s adulteries. Who is Babylon? What is the wine of Babylon? What is Babylon’s adultery?

Sincerely, Sherri

Thank you for your questions. I hope my response will be helpful because the future has a sequence of events that few people anticipate. We have to understand the circumstances that will cause the formation of Babylon before we can discuss Babylon’s adultery and wine. According to Wikipedia, the estimated size and diversity of Earth’s seven billion people currently live in approximately 195 nations and speak about 6,500 languages.

1. China has a population of about 1.3 billion people – most of which are atheists.

2. India has a population of about 1.2 billion people – most of which are Hindu or Buddhist.

3. There are about 1.5 billion Muslims and 1.2 billion Catholics living in various countries.

4. This leaves about 1.8 billion people in smaller categories such as Protestants (650 million), Jews (14 million) and various other groups.

These statistics force us to consider the nationalistic, linguistic, religious, and political diversity that exists on Earth. For thousands of years, this diversity has been a source of antagonism and conflict. In the past forty years, leaps in technology have made our world seem very small in matters of travel, economics, food supplies, energy, communication, and nuclear proliferation. It seems inevitable that one day, a nuclear exchange will occur at some point in the future. This oncoming eventuality is important in this study because the Bible indicates that life as we presently know it will abruptly change in a single day. (See 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6.)

God’s Wrath Will Produce Babylon

Please consider this short scenario that could lead to the formation of Babylon.* Sometime in the near future, I anticipate a nuclear exchange will occur. When this happens, God will step into the conflict with a series of apocalyptic judgments that will be so overwhelming that the war will cease. Suddenly, world leaders will realize that their greatest opponent is not another nation having atomic bombs, but Almighty God Himself!

When God’s wrath breaks out, He will get the undivided attention of all nations. In terms of scope and consequences, God’s wrath will be global and totally devastating. The Bible indicates that God’s wrath will begin with a mighty display of lightning, intimidating peals of thunder, rumblings deep within Earth, and a global earthquake that will destroy dams, bridges, electrical grids, and buildings. This earthquake will make travel and communication almost impossible. God will put the world in a state of lock-down because He has a message for this rebellious planet. A few days after the global earthquake, God will burn up a third of the world with a meteoric shower of burning hail. A few days later, God will hurl a great asteroid into an ocean. The impact will destroy a third of the ships as well as a third of the sea creatures. The resulting tsunamis will swell several hundred feet high. Giant concentric walls of water will rush toward coastal cities and destroy thousands of them in minutes. A few days after this, God will hurl a flaming asteroid into a continent and the shockwaves from the impact will shatter its geological strata. This will cause the rivers, aquifers, and springs of water to become contaminated and millions of people will die from drinking poisoned water. After this, hundreds of volcanos will erupt and fill the sky with ash, soot, and debris. The jet stream will cause darkness to cover the middle third of Earth. There will be no light for weeks, crops will perish, and global famine will follow.

God will destroy 25% of the world’s population (1.75 billion people) within a period of a couple months. It goes without saying that the remaining 5.25 billion survivors will be badly traumatized and scared to death. The omnipotent power of Almighty God will silence the whole world in the same way that He silenced a powerful storm on the Sea of Galilee. The fear of the Almighty will humble everyone and the survivors will whisper, "What does He want?"

When the religious and political leaders of the world see the fierce destruction and apocalyptic proportions of God’s wrath, they too will be overwhelmed and traumatized just like everyone else. Since they do not know God’s plans (even though His plans are announced in the book of Revelation), the leaders of the world will erroneously conclude that God’s wrath will continue without cessation unless something is done quickly to appease Him. Furthermore, world leaders will not be able to dismiss these judgments as random acts of nature because I believe God’s wrath will target notoriously wicked places (like Sodom and Gomorrah). Thus, Atheists, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Pagans will be forced to admit that a discernable pattern of destruction is obvious. The smouldering ruins of thousands of wicked cities will prove to everyone that Almighty God reigns and He must be very angry!

Think about this: By the time the fourth trumpet-judgment in Revelation 8 has ended, all of the world’s infrastructures (communication, banking, manufacturing, travel, and every nation’s economy) will be destroyed. A third of the world will be a heap of ashes. Thousands of coastal cities will either be missing or uninhabitable. Twenty-five percent of the world’s population will be dead. Darkness will cover Earth 24/7 and the onset of global famine will be inescapable. These dire circumstances and the anticipation that more judgments are imminently coming will motivate world leaders to unite and do something quickly!

The religious and political leaders of the world will assemble, and according to the book of Revelation, their solution to appease God’s awful wrath will be to form a crisis government that will oversee every nation, making sure every effort is made to appease God. This crisis government (called Babylon in the book of Revelation) will have authority over not only civil matters, but also religious ones as well. All 195 nations of the world will humbly agree to follow the directives of this "monstrous beast." (Revelation 13:3)

Babylon’s Adulteries

Revelation describes Babylon as an adulterous organization because God considers manmade church-state governments an abomination. The church (the bride of Christ) belongs to Christ and she is not permitted to "get in bed" with civil or secular authorities. Even when God delivered Israel from Egypt, He kept the powers of church (the priesthood) and state (the king) separate. Babylon’s function and role will appear to be a reasonable idea to almost everyone traumatized by the first four trumpets. Its motto will be simple: "The whole world must appease God so that His wrath will cease or we shall all die!" After witnessing the smouldering evidences of God’s wrath, the destruction of thousands of coastal cities, the slaughter of 1.75 billion people, endless darkness, and looming famine, who can disagree with Babylon’s motto without insulting the Almighty?

After the adulterous church-state government forms, I can envision a scenario where the leaders of Babylon announce to the world: "Every nation has suffered great loss. God is angry with the whole world for one reason. We have become wicked, degenerate, and violent. God is offended with our evil ways. The Bible says that God destroyed the world in Noah’s day because of violence and wickedness. The Bible teaches that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of sexual immorality, and the Bible teaches that God destroyed Jerusalem for idolatry and violence. God never changes, and now that a third of the world has been reduced to ashes and 25% of the world has been slain, it is absolutely necessary to change our sinful ways if we want to survive. We must therefore make every effort to please the Almighty or He will destroy the rest of us. Given this unforeseeable crisis, which is due to our decadent and degenerate behavior, the leaders of the world have established a new organization which will lead the way forward. This new organization will work with the authorities in each nation. World leaders have elected the pope to the head this new government because the Roman Catholic Church is unique in that it already has diplomatic relations with 175 nations. The pope will be assisted by an executive council of religious leaders from every religious body. This coalition of the world’s religious leaders will guide us and provide counsel as we proceed.

"All 195 nations have wholeheartedly agreed to carry out the recommendations that will proceed from the crisis government. Due to the implementation of martial law in every nation, many new laws, carefully designed to eliminate offensive behaviors in God’s sight, will be implemented without debate or delay. People refusing to obey these laws will be arrested and punished because the world cannot risk offending Almighty God any further. We have no choice but to appease God’s wrath if we want to survive. Therefore, a list of sinful behaviors will be published and anyone caught offending the Almighty will be quickly punished. Did not God say ‘Is it not better for one man to die than a whole nation perish?’ (See John 11:50.)"

Babylon’s Wine

The wine of Babylon will be a compelling lie. It will be the biggest lie told ever since Lucifer lied to Eve in the Garden of Eden. The lie Babylon will promote is that God’s wrath can be appeased. The wine of Babylon will seem reasonable and all 195 nations will drink it and do stupid things to try to stop God’s wrath. (This is why the wine is called maddening wine.) To counteract this lie, God will send 144,000 prophets throughout the world. They will speak plainly against Babylon’s wine. They will boldly say, ". . . . ‘Fallen! Fallen [False! False] is Babylon the Great [whose plans for appeasing God are nonsense and its presumed authority is an insult to the Almighty], which made all the nations drink the maddening wine [those nations and people who participate in Babylon’s lies will become delusional fools and mad men] of her adulteries [unholy alliance between church and state].’ " (Revelation 14:8, insertions and underlining mine)

Getting Prepared

The book of Revelation teaches three facts that every Christian should clearly understand at this hour. First, God’s wrath is surely coming. The book of Revelation indicates that God is about to send fourteen overwhelming judgments upon Earth. (These judgments are described as seven trumpets and seven bowls.) These judgments will be progressively destructive. In fact, Earth will be totally devastated during the seventh bowl.

Second, Jesus said that the end of the world will be similar to the story of Noah. (Matthew 24:37-39) For 120 years, God warned the people through Noah. Noah told the antediluvians what God was going to do and when He was going to do it. (Genesis 6:3) The antediluvians did not believe Noah. They did not repent of their evil ways and neither did God deviate from His plan. Similarly, the book of Revelation is speaking to the world. It contains God’s plan and He will not deviate from it. When His wrath begins, God will speak to the whole world (and the leaders of Babylon) through His 144,000 servants, and like the antediluvians, most of the world will not listen and will defy God’s commandments.

Third, every Christian should know today that there can be no appeasement of God’s wrath during the Great Tribulation because Earth has passed the point of return. When God’s wrath begins, no amount of appeasement can change, divert, or alter God’s actions. This explains why God sends 144,000 prophets to tell the world that Babylon’s wine is a huge lie. This truth is confirmed by the casting down of the censer at the Altar of Incense in Heaven’s temple. (Revelation 8:5) When the daily service at Heaven’s Altar of Incense is terminated, there can be no further appeasement of God’s wrath because 6,000 years of corporate atonement ends when the censer is cast down.** Salvation will be offered to individuals during the seven trumpets and all who are willing to obey the eternal gospel and put their faith in Christ will be saved. However, it is vital to understand that there will not be any appeasement of God’s wrath – in fact, His wrath will only get worse when the seven bowls begin.

Sherri, I know this scenario sounds like a fairy tale. (The antediluvians also thought a flood was a fairy tale, until the first raindrops fell.) If the documentation was not in the Bible, I would not believe it. Currently, there are many scoffers, but when God’s wrath begins, life will change. Babylon will implement martial law and the individual freedoms that we treasure so much today will be suspended. Constitutional rights and legislative debate will be set aside because of the overwhelming crisis. A day is coming when a few "civil servants" will rule over each nation with absolute power, and worse, a small group of religious leaders will rule over these civil servants with absolute power. The book of Revelation predicts a future and a one-world-church-state that is now impossible to imagine. The Word of God is infallible. It predicts that Babylon is coming. Do not be deceived with its wine.

Larry Wilson

PS: I hope our readers will make copies of this study and pass them around. Hurry. People need to be introduced to this topic. A monstrous beast will soon come to life and what will we then be able to say?

*Note: This topic is covered in considerable detail in my book, The Seven Trumpets, Two Witnesses and Four Beasts. This information can be freely downloaded from http://www.wake-up.org/Revelation/RevTrumpets.pdf

**Note: For further discussion on the Full Cup Principle, please see Chapter 2 in my book, Warning! Revelation is about to be fulfilled or this information can be freely downloaded at http://www.wake-up.org/warnbook/WarnBook.htm

The Wake Up Report

Why Does God Put the Ark of the Covenant

on Display at the Seventh Trumpet?

January 2011

by Larry Wilson

Dear Robert:

Thank you for your letter. I am pleased to learn that you found the little book, Warning! Revelation is about to be Fulfilled, helpful and informative. I understand your objections to my assertion that God requires all mankind to rest from their labors on His seventh day Sabbath. I read the attachment that you kindly offered – written by the late C.I. Scofield (1843-1921) – explaining how grace nullifies mankind’s obligation to observe God’s law in general and His Sabbath in particular. As I wrote in the book, I believe the Ten Commandments are obligatory, but not for the purpose of salvation. Said another way, I believe tax laws are obligatory, but not for the purpose of citizenship.

I understand from your letter that you are 95% convinced that God’s grace has made God’s Sabbath rest obsolete. Since there appears to be a small opening in your thinking, may I exploit this opening with a few thoughts for your consideration? To be frank, I think Scofield overlooked a simple, but profound fact in his article. The Bible teaches that where there is no law, there is no penalty and no need for grace. (Romans 4:15; 5:13) Grace only becomes necessary after a transgression occurs. The purpose of grace is to escape the penalty which a violated law demands. Grace does not nullify a law. To nullify a law, it must be rescinded, and once rescinded, there is no penalty and no need of grace.

A few years ago I was conducting a seminar in Texas. One morning, I was driving on a county road, and as I entered a long curve, I crossed over the yellow line. I was driving about 35 miles per hour and I could see that no other cars were oncoming for half a mile. Because I often drive a large truck, making wide turns is customary. I didn’t realize my transgression until a police officer on a motorcycle pulled me over. I asked what I had done wrong and he told me. He then handed me a ticket for $200 and told me to stay on the right side of the yellow line. I mention this experience because it perfectly illustrates the topic at hand. There is a traffic law in Texas that forbids crossing over a yellow line, there was a violation (I crossed over the yellow line), there was a $200 penalty, and I suddenly found myself in need of grace.

Before I went to City Hall to pay the ticket, I learned that the city of Round Rock was short on revenue, and not surprisingly, there was no grace for my sin. I had to pay the penalty in full. Even if I had found grace, it would not have eliminated "the yellow-line law" because grace is limited to offsetting the penalty of a law. Scofield and many scholars since him have incorrectly concluded that God’s grace eliminates God’s laws. This is not the case. When God rescinds a law (as in the law of Moses), there is no further violation of that law because it does not exist anymore. More importantly, there is no need for grace from a penalty that no longer exists. Therefore, the need for grace indicates the presence of a penalty and a penalty indicates the presence of a law.

As you know, Robert, many Christians do not separate the laws of Moses from the Ten Commandments. They lump the laws together and abolish all of them at the cross. They improperly use Colossians 2:11-17 and Ephesians 2:14,15 to support the idea that God has set mankind free from His laws. Where there is no law, there is no transgression and where there is no transgression, there is no need for grace. When a person improperly uses a Bible text, he puts the Bible in a state of internal conflict. God’s Word is not full of cancellations. In other words, the Bible does not say one thing and then cancel that statement by saying something else that is contradictory. On the surface, some verses appear to be in conflict with other verses, but this apparent conflict evaporates when the whole truth on a matter is discovered. Truth is proven by the harmony that comes from the sum of its parts.

Ironically, many Christians will say the Ten Commandments were abolished at the cross and then they will immediately do an about face. They will say that nine of the Ten Commandments are obligatory because "they are restated in the New Testament." This foolish approach to the authority of the Ten Commandments hides a simple objective. It presumes to eliminate the obligation of the fourth commandment – even though Hebrews 4:4-10 specifically restates the necessity of observing God’s seventh day Sabbath.

Now that we have covered a few core issues, I have a question for you. For the sake of discussion, let us set aside the issues of law, penalty, and grace, and assume that Scofield is right in his conclusion that the Ten Commandments were abolished when Jesus died on the cross. With this thought in mind, please consider the following:

At the Seventh Trumpet

When the seventh trumpet sounds, a very unusual thing will take place. The book of Revelation says, "Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the Ark of his Covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm." (Revelation 11:19) Robert, why does God put the Ark of the Covenant on display at the seventh trumpet?

To appreciate the importance of the question, three facts need to be stated:

1. Unlike the laws written by Moses, the Ten Commandments were inscribed on two tablets of stone by God’s own finger and they are called "the covenant" or "the testimony." Consider these two texts: Moses said to Israel: "The Lord gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the Lord proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the Lord gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the Covenant." (Deuteronomy 9:11, insertion and emphasis mine) "When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18)

2. We find in Scripture that the Ten Commandments were placed in a special gold box called "the Ark of the Testimony" or "the Ark of the Covenant."

"He [Moses] took the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] and placed it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover over it. Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain and shielded the Ark of the Testimony, as the Lord commanded him." (Exodus 40:20,21) When the Israelites entered Canaan, they were told to stay back about a half mile from the Ark of the Covenant. Joshua said, "[Follow the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant] Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the Ark [of the Covenant]; do not go near it. . . . See, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the Earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. . . . Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea ) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground." (Joshua 3:4,11, 15-17, insertions and emphases mine)

3. Revelation 13:8 indicates that a great conflict over worship will occur during the Great Tribulation. The Bible predicts that all of the wicked will worship the beast, that is, the wicked will obey the laws of the beast. "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast – all whose names have not been written in the book of life. . . [and] all who refused to worship the image [of the beast were] to be killed." (Revelation 13:8,15, insertions and emphases mine) The biblical definition of worship is more inclusive than a religious meeting. Worship means obedient submission to God’s will. (John 4:23; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 11:7,8) For a stark contrast in what worship is and is not, please examine the story of Cain and Abel. (Genesis 4)

Summarizing

• God wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone with His own finger. The Ten Commandments are called "the covenant" or "the testimony."

• The golden box containing God’s covenant or testimony was called "the Ark of the Covenant" or "the Ark of the Testimony."

• The issue of obedient worship will separate the sheep (those obeying the laws of our Creator) from the goats (those obeying the laws of the beast) during the Great Tribulation.

Now that these facts have been reviewed, here again is the question: If the Ten Commandments were abolished (rescinded) at the cross and they are no longer obligatory, why does God open up the Heavenly temple and put the Ark of the Covenant on display at the seventh trumpet? Could it be that God wants to show a defiant world the ten laws they refused to obey, that is, the Sabbath they ridiculed, the Covenant they refused to accept?

Divine Origin

Man did not devise the Ten Commandments. The Creator of the Universe descended upon Mt. Sinai to personally give mankind His laws. The Ten Commandments are changeless (they were written in stone by the finger of God) because they are based on divine wisdom and authority. Obeying the commandments will bring many blessings, if we properly relate to them. On the other hand, if we reject the Ten Commandments, painful and unexpected consequences will be the result because they are the bedrock of happiness and well-being.

Bible history indicates that religious people become unhealthy when they improperly use the laws of God as a means to obtain salvation (legalism). The Jews deceived themselves into thinking they were righteous and special in God’s sight because they obeyed His laws. This toxic relationship with God’s laws is not limited to Jewish history. Church history indicates that Christians have also turned away from worshiping God by substituting traditions and manmade rules. Many Christians have improperly defined and exalted grace. The result is lawlessness. Notice that the Jews obeyed the law (legalism) and Christians abolished the law (lawlessness). Both actions have accomplished the same result! Both groups of people participate in idolatry. Idolatry occurs when the first commandment is broken. God’s law was not designed to save mankind and God’s grace was not designed to save mankind. On the contrary, the Ten Commandments were designed as a covenant and God’s grace is revealed by His willingness to forgive sinners. The key to salvation is through faith in God. (Ephesians 2:8,9) According to Hebrews 11, faith is our willingness to go, to be, and to do all that God commands (law). Because we cannot perfectly do everything that God requires, God provides grace from the penalty for sin when we seek forgiveness. When He sees that we are doing our best to honor and glorify Him, He is pleased to extend grace – but His grace does not nullify His law!

A Covenant

Many people ask, "How are the Ten Commandments a covenant?" A covenant is a promise. The Ten Commandments are called "the covenant" because they are a promise. The Ten Commandments reveal how a born again person wants to live and what a born again person wants to do. Because the power of sin lives within us (Romans 7:17), sinners cannot perfectly fulfill the demands of the Ten Commandments. Everyone has fallen short. (Romans 3:23) Of course, God understands the law of sin that operates within us and His grace is sufficient for all sinners who repent of wrong doing and put their faith in Him for salvation. Grace "by no means" nullifies God’s covenant! (Romans 3:31; 6:15) Sinners can have a healthy, growing relationship with God if they will study His laws and depend on the Lord for transforming power. A healthy relationship with God and His laws refines and ennobles every sinner because "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting (changing) the soul." (Psalm 19:7, insertion mine) And that is God’s promise.

Robert, my hope is that you will prayerfully consider what God’s Word has to say regarding this matter. Thank you again for your letter. May the Lord bless you in every possible way.

Larry Wilson