Chapter Sixteen
The Seven Vials: The Pouring Out of the Seven Vials - The Fall of Papal Rome
We will see the seven vials of God’s wrath poured out against Rome in this chapter.
It is interesting to note that the effect of the first three vials will
be spoken of in similar ways to the first three trumpets. The first will affect the earth, the second
the sea, and the third the rivers just as the trumpets did.
16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
The time has now come for the wrath of God to be poured out upon the beast. This has been talked about for quite some
time now. We have even been given hints
and highlights of it in previous chapters.
But now the time has come, Rome must fall for good.
The angels are instructed by a “great voice out of the temple” to
go and pour out the vials they were given upon the earth. Of course the entire earth is not meant to
suffer from these plagues, just the beast and his followers. The great voice came from the temple where
God dwells, and was His voice pronouncing the final judgment against Rome.
16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there
fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast,
and upon them which worshipped his image.
When the first vial was poured out we can see that its effect was restricted to
the beast and his followers. “There
fell a noisome and grievous sore upon” the followers of the beast. This indicates a very painful experience but
one which is not fatal. This is
referring to the French Revolution which we saw back in chapter eleven. We saw there the devastating effect that it
had on the Catholics. The most powerful
nation in the world turned against Rome. The following
passage shows the great impact the French Revolution had upon the future of the
entire Western world.
“The American Revolution helped to spark the French
Revolution of 1789, which proved to be the most violent and far-reaching of all
the liberal upheavals. Not only did the
French Revolution advance liberal ideals; it brought drastic changes in the
legal, social, and economic order of France, the largest and most populous country in western
Europe. The struggle
was intensified by the passionate opposition of privileged groups at home and
by the intervention of foreign powers. Even
more than the English or American Revolutions, it was a watershed in the flow
of Western history. As Tocqueville later
wrote, ‘The French Revolution had no territory of its own; indeed, its effect
was to efface, in a way, all older frontiers.
It brought men together, divided them, in spite of law, traditions,
character, and language—turning enemies sometimes into compatriots and kinsmen
into strangers...’ Not until the Russian
Revolution of 1917 was an uprising to have such an impact on the Western world.”
Note
also how the following passage describes conditions in the West after the
French Revolution. It is a far cry from
the centuries when the Catholics dominated Europe.
“Roman Catholicism, however, was to find political
liberalism inassimilable, and from the French Revolution into the twentieth
century the Roman Catholic lands have been
generally divided by a profound antagonism which has dominated their political
and cultural development.”
Little
more than these general comments needs to be made here since the whole affair
was dealt with at great length back in chapter eleven. This was, from the Catholic perspective, a
devastating blow. However, it probably
would not, in and of itself, have been fatal.
But there are six more vials yet to be poured out. In the end Rome will not escape God’s wrath.
16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as
the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
This verse contains very dramatic wording, but it should not alarm us. The sea will not literally turn to blood,
this is just God’s way of informing us that the next area of battle will be on
the seas. Much like what we saw with the
second trumpet, when we saw the Vandals become the rulers of the Mediterranean Sea, and eventually go on to sack Rome. Now we need to
examine world history in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,
and attempt to find some major naval conflict that would have a bearing on the
papacy.
We saw back in chapter eleven that Napoleon did not share the same view of the
Catholics as did the revolutionary French government. He adopted a more conciliatory attitude, at
least for a while. The following passage
serves to show why he behaved as he did.
“Napoleon now indicated a startling turn of policy. He expressed his desire for reconciliation
with the pope, and his conviction that the Roman religion was the only one to
lay firm the foundations of government. The
papacy quickly responded and the negotiations were promptly undertaken which
were to result in the Concordat of 1801.
Napoleon’s policy signified no conversion to Christianity. He was personally a voltairian, with no
belief in any of the historical religions.
But he had a shrewd eye for the political purposes of religion. A year or two before in Egypt, while he was caught up in his romantic dream of
carving out an empire in Asia and Africa, he had flirted with Islam. He agreed with Henry IV that Paris was worth a mass: ‘Would not the dominion of the
East, perhaps the subjection of the whole of Asia,
be worth a turban and a pair of slippers?’”
Napoleon
was a prime example of someone who had the mark of the beast in his right hand. He did not believe the Catholic doctrine, but
it was convenient for him to go along with the papacy for his own personal
political gain. Now that we have
established the attitude of Napoleon, and therefore France, toward the Catholic Church, we can begin to understand this verse. The papacy had been stabbed in the back
during the French Revolution, but now it seemed that all was forgiven and France had returned to the pope’s side. The pope moved very quickly to make-up with France. He needed
their support in an ever more chaotic and turbulent world.
France and Britain were the two great world powers of that era of time. They had been at war off and on for centuries. France, along with her ally Spain, was the last hope for Catholicism to regain its
dominance of the European continent. Britain was sternly anti-Catholic. In fact the
sentiment was such that “Catholics could not vote or hold public office” in Britain. Britain had broken with the Catholics centuries before and
had set up their own church, the Church of England,
with the king of England as its head.
The conflict between France and Britain was not limited to land battles. Both sides possessed large and powerful
navies with the France-Spain alliance having a slightly larger force. But superior leadership, namely in the person
of the famous admiral, Horatio Nelson, allowed the British to achieve control
of the seas. There were numerous
engagements between the respective navies, but the decisive blow was struck off
the coast of Trafalgar, Spain.
“Admiral Horatio Nelson’s British fleet defeated a
combined French and Spanish fleet there on October 21, 1805, in one of the greatest naval battles in history. The victory gave England undisputed control of the sea.
...Napoleon’s admiral, Villeneuve,...decided to attack the British fleet with a
French and Spanish fleet. His fleet
outnumbered Nelson’s, 33 ships to 27. But
Nelson surprised the enemy by having his ships cut through the French battle
line. The British fleet did not lose a
ship in the battle, but it destroyed or captured over half the French and
Spanish ships.”
Thus
another severe blow was struck at the Catholic powers as the
second vial was poured out upon the sea.
The pope must have been devastated.
He had just regained the friendship of France and then they are defeated by Britain, the pope’s long-time nemesis.
16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains
of waters; and they became blood.
The third vial was poured out upon the rivers, which means its effect is to be
over a large area of the land, just as the third trumpet had been. By the time of the French Revolution, the
temporal holdings of the pope were extensive.
But nearly all of these lands, and the accompanying temporal authority
that went with them, were taken away by the French.
“The first papal lands were granted in 754 A.D. by the
king of the Franks Pepin the Short to Pope Stephen III. Additions were made by gifts and purchases
until the papal states included nearly the whole of central Italy. Papal control
reached its height late in the twelfth century under Innocent III. The acquisitions of the papacy were for the
most part retained until 1797, when French forces under Napoléon Bonaparte,
later Napoleon I, Emperor of France, seized much of the territory.”
“The General of the Army in Italy was Bonaparte.
When he won his notable successes against Sardinia and Austria in 1796, the Directory instructed him to take the
city of Rome and despoil the Pope.
The papal court called for terms.
The Directory required, however, not merely an indemnity, but an
explicit retraction of all the violent expressions in bulls and briefs about
the Revolution. This Pius VI could not
agree to, and he broke the truce by appealing to Austria to attack the French.
Napoleon at once moved further into the papal states and set even more
stringent terms. By these France took the better half of the papal states and a large
indemnity. This seizure of the papal
lands was the beginning of the end of the Temporal Power, an ending which was
to be the focus of Roman Catholic interest
throughout the nineteenth century.”
The
loss of most of his territory was a great blow to the pope, since he knew that
much of his power was tied to his wealth and possessions. And even beyond that, the prestige of the
papacy received a major blow here. An
enemy was able to march right into the pope’s “back yard” and do as he pleased. Despite his self-proclaimed power and
authority, the pope was powerless to impede the advancing enemy. The vicar of Christ seemed to have
been abandoned by the very One he claimed to represent. And despite his loudest pleas for help, none
of his remaining supporters were strong enough to save him. This is very reminiscent of the latter days
of the Roman Empire when the Goths, Vandals and Huns were able to pretty
much do as they pleased when they invaded Italy, something that would have been unthinkable only a
few decades earlier. It was the most
powerful sign of the weakness and vulnerability of the Empire. The same is true here. Napoleon’s ability to march right into Italy and force the pope to give up much of his land was a
severe blow to the prestige of the papacy.
No longer was the papacy seen as a great towering figure that was to be
feared and obeyed.
16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
“The angel of the waters” is the angel of the territory affected by the
third vial, which the water represents. Having
seen the successful attack on the temporal holdings of the papacy the angel
praises God for accomplishing this righteous and just deed. “Thou art righteous” shows that this
was a good thing which God did to the power of the Catholic Church. It was
something that they deserved and had brought upon themselves because of their
abominable conduct. They had lived
wickedly and had tried to annihilate God’s true servants from the face of the
earth. God’s eternal nature is alluded
to by the words “O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be.” There never has been even a single moment
when God did not exist, and there never will be.
16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast
given them blood to drink; for they are worthy
The angel continues to praise God for His judgment of the papacy, and to
discuss some of the evil deeds performed by the Catholics, which caused them to
be deserving of God’s wrath. They have “shed
the blood of saints and prophets.” We
simply have no idea how many of God’s people were slain by the Catholics over
the time they reigned supreme. But God
knows every single one, and is now returning the shed blood of His saints upon
the heads of those who were guilty of their murders.
Twice recently we have seen mention made of the “patience of the saints”
(Revelation 13:10, 14:12).
They were patient for century after
century as God continued to allow the Catholics to enjoy supremacy. They waited patiently as more and more of their
number was cut down by the barbarous Catholics.
But the time for vengeance has finally come. God has now begun to repay Rome for her corruption and wickedness. “Thou hast given them blood to drink,”
shows that God was laying a heavy hand of judgment upon them, and that many
were going to lose their lives. He was
taking vengeance according to Exodus 21:23-25.
“And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning,
wound for wound, stripe for stripe. All
of this and more had certainly been earned by Rome because of their evil treatment of God’s people. As our verse says, “for they are worthy.”
16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty,
true and righteous are thy judgments.
John now hears
another voice which he places as coming from the altar. In chapter six John saw “under the altar
the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony
which they held.” So the voice here
is likely that of a man who has been redeemed from the earth. He is speaking on behalf of all those who
have been sacrificed on the altars of Catholicism. He joins with the angel in praising the works
of judgment God has brought against Rome.
The phrase “even so” in this verse comes from the Greek word “nai”
which is defined by Strong’s as “a primary particle of strong affirmation;
yes:-even so, surely, truth, verily, yea, yes.” This shows
that this man was in full agreement with the comments just made by the angel. He also was rejoicing to finally see judgment
taken against the great persecutor of God’s people. “True and righteous are thy judgments”
shows again that God was doing the right thing.
He was only giving the Catholics what they deserved. They had brought all of this upon themselves.
16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was
given unto him to scorch men with fire.
We can quickly discern that the target of God’s wrath here is not the sun which
our planet orbits. If it were then all
men would suffer, not just those who are deserving of it. We have seen the sun mentioned before and
have identified it as representing some great source of power or authority. Here the great power which is suffering the
wrath of God is the papacy. The sun
represents the pope himself. The
following passages illustrate how two successive popes were imprisoned and
otherwise humiliated.
“Now came another riot in Rome, in which a general of the French embassy was killed. The Directory was infuriated and the French
army marched on Rome. With this
support in the offing, a group of Roman radicals proclaimed the abolition of
the pope-king and the reign of liberty and equality. They set up a tree of liberty on the Capitol
and invited Pius to abdicate and recognize the ‘Roman Republic.’ He refused. They
occupied the Vatican and in October 1798 gave him forty-eight hours to get
out of Rome. So the Pope
left and a Te Deum was sung in St. Peter’s over the deposition, at which
some of the cardinals assisted. The pope
made his way north into exile, dying in Valence in 1799. In
the civil registry of the French Republic his death was noticed as follows: ‘Citizen John Braschi. Trade pontiff.’
The conclave to elect his successor was held in Austrian territory (Venice) and at Austrian expense. While Bonaparte was away on his Egyptian
expedition, the Austrians had occupied the papal states, and now wished for a
new pope who would accept this situation.
On the eve of the meetings, however, General Bonaparte returned to France and seized power in a virtual military dictatorship,
the so-called ‘Consulate.’ Realizing that Napoleon might be the power to deal
with, rather than Austria, the cardinals at length chose a ‘religious’ pope
with a pro-French reputation, Pius VII. And
before the new Pope had gotten back to Rome, Napoleon had in fact entered Italy and won the battle of Morengo.”
The
previous passage left out a couple of very important details concerning the
fate of Pius VI, which this next one gives us.
“In 1798 the armies of the Directory created a
republic in Rome and the Pope (Pius VI, reigned 1775-1799), who had
been hostile to the Revolution, was carried to France, a prisoner, and within a
few months was dead.”
For
over a thousand years the true political power in Europe lay with the
popes in Rome. Now a pope
had been deposed by the citizens of Rome itself, and he then eventually died in a French
prison. Was this truly the same great
man who for centuries had been the center of all political, religious, social,
and economic life in Europe? The power and
prestige of the papacy had fallen to unbelievable depths in a period of just a
few years. To the people of the times it
was certainly a most astounding thing to behold.
In the days of the Holy Roman
Empire the new emperors
always paid a visit to the pope, in Rome, for the official coronation ceremony. Napoleon had visions of himself one day
becoming the emperor of the whole of the European continent. But he knew that the support of the pope
would make this goal much easier to realize.
This was the basis for the favorable attitude that he demonstrated
toward the pope at first.
“Napoleon was an adventurer, a usurper; nothing could
give him such claim to legitimacy as religious support. And indeed, he was looking ahead to his own
establishment on the throne. Lafayette guessed shrewdly when he heard of how ‘the old fox’
had now become to Napoleon ‘the Most Holy Father.’ ‘Confess,’ he said, ‘you
want the little flask broken over your head.’”
“...Napoleon’s private plans ranged wider.
As he later put it, he felt called of God to be Emperor of Europe. The majority
of people in Spain, Italy, and South
Germany acknowledged the
Roman pope, who might thus be a very useful ‘lever.’ Napoleon admired the
quasi-political organization of the Roman Catholic Church as an
instrument of control.”
Napoleon’s
true attitude toward the pope can be seen in his crowning as emperor. Instead of traveling to Rome, as was traditional, Napoleon had the pope brought to
him. In the past every single emperor
had traveled to Rome to be crowned.
This was a way of acknowledging the pope’s superiority over the emperor. Napoleon’s decision in this matter was, in
itself, a slap in the face to the dignity of the pope. It also demonstrated how much his prestige
among the nations had already eroded. In
the past the pope would have simply refused to go. He knew the emperor needed him worse than he
needed the emperor. But now the
situation was reversed. The pope was
looking for any shred of credibility that might help him to rebuild his
shattered image. And being able to
anoint the emperor of Europe would certainly
be an important first step in regaining some measure of respect. But, unfortunately for the pope, things did
not turn out quite as he might have expected.
“...Napoleon had himself proclaimed as hereditary
emperor in 1804. By ‘emperor,’ however,
he meant more than ruler of France, as was indicated by his pilgrimage to the tomb of
Charlemagne. He persuaded Pius VII to
come and crown him, to the resentment of Hapsburg Francis and the scandal of
the royalist de Maistre. Even then,
however, Napoleon deprived the Pope of the symbolic honor of conferring the
crown on him, by taking it out of his hands and crowning himself.”
Notice
how Napoleon crowned himself, demonstrating his belief that he did not owe his
authority to the pope, as had always been the understanding during the days of
the Holy Roman Empire. Napoleon had
no real respect for the pope, he merely sought to use him for whatever good he
might be able to wring from him, and then toss him aside when he was through.
“The attitude of Napoleon towards the Church was masterful. He was himself a nominal Roman Catholic, but had very little religious faith. Yet he saw that a large proportion of his
subjects were loyal Roman Catholics and he regarded that Church as an
institution which must be recognized and used for his purposes. At his orders, the vacancy in the Papacy left
by the death of Pius VI was not immediately filled. However, in 1800 a conclave was held in Venice which elected a Benedictine monk, Chiaramonti, who took the title of Pius VII and
reigned through striking vicissitudes until 1823. Napoleon restored Rome to the Pope, but by no means all the Papal states. After long
negotiations, in 1801 the concordat of France was concluded between the Pope and Napoleon. Such of its confiscated lands as were in the
possession of the state were to be restored to the Church, bishops were to be
appointed by the Pope on nomination by the state, and while the lower clergy were appointed
by the bishops, the government could veto the episcopal choices. The clergy were to be paid by the state. To this concordat Napoleon added (1802) the
Organic Articles, but against the protest of the Pope. By them no Papal decrees were to be published
or synods held in France without the permission of the state.
At the same time Protestants were given religious freedom and their
ministers were to be paid by the government.
When he assumed the title of Emperor, harking back to the precedent of
Charlemagne, Napoleon had the Pope share in the coronation (1804). However, he treated that dignitary far more
cavalierly than Charlemagne had the Pontiffs of his day. Napoleon brought Pius VII to Paris for the ceremony, was anointed by him, and then
placed the crowns on his own head and the head of his empress.
Pius VII and Napoleon had a complete break.
The latter attempted to induce the Pontiff to abandon his neutrality in
the life and death struggle with England and to join the blockade against that power. The Pope refused. In 1808 Napoleon’s troops occupied Rome and in 1809 the Papal States were merged in the French Empire. Napoleon contemplated making Rome his second capital.
Pius VII retaliated by excommunicating Napoleon as ‘robber of the
patrimony of Peter.’ Napoleon countered
by having him imprisoned, eventually at Fountainbleau.”
The
following passage adds further details to the seizure of the Papal States and the imprisonment of the pope. After Napoleon realized that the pope was no
longer of any use to him he sought to dispose of him and to claim his
territory.
“Napoleon’s effort to control the whole continent,
moreover, brought him to absorbing the papal states like so many others. When Pius refused to close the ports of the
papal states to the British, Swedes, and Russians, French troops closed them. Then Civita Vecchia, the port of Rome itself, was seized.
Finally in 1809, the Papal
States were annexed entirely
and the pope’s temporal power brought to an end. Napoleon had been trying to push the Pope in
this direction, arguing that although he would recognize the pope’s spiritual
supremacy, in civil matters ‘I am your Emperor.’
When Pius replied to this French occupation by an excommunication, he was
spirited away to confinement in France. His one
weapon as a prisoner of Napoleon was to refuse to do any ecclesiastical acts,
in particular to refuse to institute the Emperor’s nominees to vacant episcopal
sees. For nearly five years (1809-1814)
the old man withstood the Emperor.”
We
can see from this that over a period of about fifteen years two popes were
imprisoned, one dying in captivity, and the majority of the territory possessed
by the papacy was taken away by force. Thus
a vial of God’s wrath has been poured out upon the pope himself. Much of his prestige and temporal authority
was lost to the sword of Napoleon.
“And power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.” The effect of this vial was not limited to
the pope, but all Catholics suffered from seeing their leader ridiculed and
imprisoned. Thus all men who had the
mark of the beast were figuratively scorched with fire.
16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God,
which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
“And men were scorched with great heat,” simply reiterates a point from
the previous verse. The angel possessing
the fourth vial was said to have power given unto him to “scorch men with
fire.” The scorching was a mental
one brought about by physical ravages imposed on the papacy by Napoleon. It is similar to how most Germans must have
felt as World War II drew to a close. Their
powerful and flamboyant leader had let them down. He was now dead, having committed suicide. Foreign armies were pouring onto German soil,
and the people were totally helpless. Certainly
this was a very agonizing time for the German people. The same was true for Catholics in the early
nineteenth century. They could feel the “heat”
from the events in France and Italy.
In response to the heat the Catholics were feeling, they “blasphemed” the name
of God. Blasphemy does not have to take
the form of direct statements against God.
The word “blasphemy” is from the Greek word “blasphemeo,”
which Strong’s defines as “to vilify; specifically to speak impiously:-(speak)
blaspheme (-er, -mously, -my), defame, rail on, revile, speak evil.” One of the
meanings here is to speak impiously. This
means that one speaks without the proper reverence for God. The pope continued to do exactly this. Instead of repenting of his sins and
glorifying God, he continued to exalt himself.
“Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or
that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing
himself that he is God” (II Thessalonians 2:4). He refused to recognize that it was God who
was bringing about these disasters as a punishment. He continued to proclaim himself to be the vicar
of Christ.
16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat
of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their
tongues for pain,
The seat of the beast would be the place where he sits and rules from. The pope’s home will bear the blunt of the
fifth vial. During the Middle Ages the
papacy directly controlled most of central Italy. The popes
ruled this region just as any other king would, with Rome as the capital.
But this vial will cause the pope’s kingdom to become full of darkness. This shows a condition of despair and doom
from the pope’s perspective.
“From 756 to 1870 the popes had direct control of
several provinces and cities, including Rome, in central Italy. This area was
called the Papal States. Pepin the
Short, King of the Franks, had given part of the territory to Pope Stephen II. Pepin’s successor Charlemagne added to it. In return Pope Leo III crowned him emperor
and gave him the support of the Church in his campaign
for power in Western Europe. After the
Reformation, the political power of the pope gradually declined. In 1860, the Papal States became subject to Victor Emmanuel II, who became king
of Italy in 1861. Only
the land around Rome remained under Church control. In 1870, Victor Emmanuel took Rome by force and asked its citizens to vote on whether or
not the city should become the capital of a united Italy. The people
voted to accept the Italian monarchy. Thereupon
Pope Pius IX shut himself up in the Vatican and regarded himself as a prisoner.
The popes after him followed the same policy for nearly 60 years. Then an independent Papal State was created in 1929 through an agreement between Pius
XI and the Italian government. The
agreement was called the Treaty of the Lateran.”
The
extensive kingdom which the pope’s had ruled for centuries was suddenly gone. His temporal power was stripped away. Even the great Eternal city which had been
the main focus of political power in the West for over two millennia, and had been the seat of the papacy’s power for over
a thousand years was wrenched from her hands.
After the seizure of Rome and
its incorporation into the kingdom of Italy,
five successive popes over a period of fifty-nine years refused to leave the Vatican in protest over this action. This self-imposed imprisonment shows their
great distress at what had befallen them.
They behaved similarly to a spoiled child who was not allowed to have
his way. Their pride could hardly withstand
the events of the past eighty years, dating back to the beginning of the French
Revolution. They figuratively “gnawed
their tongues in pain.”
This also demonstrates the fact that they had no one to turn to. For the first time in a long time, there was
no one who was willing to come to their aid.
They had been forsaken by all of their former “partners in crime.” This is further evidence of the weak and
powerless condition of the papacy. In
past centuries many nations would have came running at the request of the pope. But now, in a vastly different world, his
pitiful cries hardly were noticed by most leaders.
This marks the official end of the papacy’s temporal power. We see that “his kingdom was full of
darkness.” Darkness signifies that
the sun has set on the papacy’s kingdom.
Her day of dominion is now over. This
language is similar to what was said when the fourth trumpet was sounded
marking the end of the western third of the Roman Empire. “And the
fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third
part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of
them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the
night likewise” (Revelation 8:12).
16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Again, as mentioned after the fourth vial, the pope continues to refuse to
repent and submit himself to God. His
pride and arrogance will not allow him to give up his unscriptural position and
humble himself before God. He continues
to blaspheme God by exalting himself above God.
He is suffering from pains and sores as a result of the five vials now
poured out upon his domain. He is not
dead, but he is definitely suffering from a great deal of pain. Despite his serious wounds and the
accompanying pain he remains stubborn and still is unwilling to yield to the
God of Heaven, but by now it matters little. The pope is no longer a major factor in world
affairs. He no longer dominates Christendom. His temporal
power has been broken for good.
These first five vials have shown us the end of the temporal power of the
papacy. The remaining two will take us
close to the end of the world, and will show us the final destruction of the
spiritual power of the papacy.
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.
The sixth vial causes the Euphrates River to dry up. The
obvious question is even if this river did dry up, who would if affect? Certainly the people in the immediate area
would be devastated by the loss of their water supply and the resulting food
and vegetation which it provides. But
outside of that area who would really be affected? Obviously this statement cannot be meant
literally. And this is only reasonable
since the effects of the first five vials have all been given in symbolic terms. We are seeing here a symbolic drying up of
this great river. The reason for this
river to be dried up is “that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared.” The actual river would
provide no real obstacle, so again we see that something symbolic is intended
here. The Euphrates River has long been the symbolic dividing line between the
East and the West.
“Historically, the [Euphrates] river is one of the most important in the world. For centuries the river formed the eastern
limit of Roman control, and during the supremacy of the Eastern Roman Empire, numerous towns and important centers of art and
literature flourished along its banks.”
Until
recently the world had basically always consisted of two separate spheres of
existence. While the Roman civilization,
and its legacy have ruled the Western world, there was another, almost
completely separate world in the East. Great
civilizations were built in such places as China and Japan. But except
for a small amount of trade there was little interaction between these two
alien worlds. But the need for raw
materials to fuel the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century caused
the European powers to venture into heretofore unknown lands.
“Colonial expansion by the European powers increased
as the Industrial Revolution continued. The
industrial nations needed such raw materials as copra and cotton for their
factories, and Africa and Asia had great quantities of these materials. These continents also provided vast markets
where the industrial nations could sell their manufactured goods, such as gins,
cloth, and iron. Chiefly for these two
reasons, the European powers—especially France and England—established many colonies in Africa
and Asia. During the
1800’s and early 1900’s, most of Africa and about a third of Asia
became European colonies.”
“The economic and military strength of Western nations—especially the European
countries—controlled most of Asia during the 1800’s.
In 1842, China agreed to British trade at five Chinese ports. Two years later, trade began between the United States and China. In 1854,
Matthew C. Perry, the leader of an American naval mission, signed a treaty that
opened Japan to limited trade with the U.S.”
From
these two passages we can see when and why the Euphrates began to “dry up” as far as being the symbolic barrier between East
and West. The two sides began to
interact as never before, and “the way of the kings of the east” was
prepared. This simply means that they
began to have an impact on the Western world for the first time. Up to this point our story has progressed
completely oblivious to what was going on in the East. Now this will no longer be possible. The world has gotten “smaller.” Improved methods of travel and communication
have greatly increased the rate of movement of people, goods and information. The East and West are now undeniably tied
together. In the twentieth century the
two world wars brought the world even closer together. It forced many nations, including the United States, to abandon isolationist policies. It promoted cooperation along military,
economic, political and other fronts. It
created an atmosphere which fostered the creation of such
political and military entities as NATO, the Warsaw Pact, OPEC, the United
Nations, and many others.
Although this vial was not aimed directly at the papacy it did certainly have
an affect on her. For centuries Europe was more or
less isolated from the rest of the world and the popes were able to exercise a
great deal of spiritual and temporal authority.
The inclusion of other nations into the scheme of things, especially
nations with paganistic religious beliefs that would not bow to Rome, simply made the papacy a smaller fish in a larger
pond. The nations of Europe
grew less and less interested in the antics of the pope. If he wanted to lock himself up in the Vatican for sixty years who really cared? There was a whole big world out there now,
and the Catholics owned an increasingly smaller piece of it.
16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out
of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the
mouth of the false prophet.
John now sees “three
unclean spirits like frogs” appear on the scene. These are not real frogs, but something that
has some characteristics in common with frogs.
Frogs are generally considered by most people to be hideous and
loathsome creatures. People’s distaste
for these creatures has even fostered the myth that touching one can give a
person warts. So we know we are looking
for something which is very distasteful and unpleasant.
We also see that these spirits come from the mouth of the dragon, beast, and
false prophet. Before we can hope to
identify the frogs we need to positively identity their sources. The dragon is of course the Devil as we have
now seen countless times in Revelation. The
beast is the Roman Catholic Church which we have
also seen numerous times. But who is the
false prophet? This term is thrown in
with the other two as if we should know what it means. It may not be apparent at first, but with a
little bit of thought we will be able to determine the identity of this person.
The false prophet is only mentioned in two places other than the current one. One occurrence is chapter twenty, verse ten,
but this passage does not seem to offer us any clues. The other passage, however, is a little more
helpful. “And the beast was taken,
and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped
his image. These both were cast alive
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20). They key
here is that we find the false prophet wrought miracles before the beast. This is not the first time we have seen such
a statement. Back in chapter thirteen we
found the exact same thing occurring. “And
he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the
earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly
wound was healed. And deceiveth them
that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to
do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that
they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did
live” (Revelation 13:12, 14).
All of this is in reference to the second beast encountered in chapter thirteen. The beast that had “two horns like a lamb,
and he spake as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11).
We identified this beast as the Holy Roman Empire back in chapter thirteen. So putting two and two together here we have
both the Holy Roman Empire and the false prophet performing miracles before the
beast. They are one and the same! But wait a minute, how could the Holy Roman Empire possibly be referred to as a prophet? First of all let us mention again that this
is a book of symbols. We should not be
looking for an actual prophet, but rather something which will fit the symbol of
a prophet.
Let us digress for a moment and discuss exactly what a prophet is. Put simply, a prophet is someone who speaks
for someone else. The definition in
Smith’s Bible Dictionary includes “one who speaks for another, especially one
who speaks for a god, and so interprets his will to man.” God has used
many prophets throughout history to accomplish different tasks. He used Moses to free His
people from bondage and lead them to the Promised Land. He used Daniel to receive visions of the
future. He used Jonah to preach
repentance to the Gentile city of Nineveh. He used John the Baptist to
prepare the way for His Son. But for all
these prophets and every other one He has used, regardless of the mission(s)
they were sent on, He ultimately had one purpose in mind. Every prophet’s job was to turn people to God. Whether it was through preaching repentance
and strict adherence to the Law, or whether it was in receiving visions of the
future. Each prophet, through his actions,
was meant to cause people to acknowledge God more fully.
What does this have to do with the relationship between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, if anything at all?
What did the papacy desire from the Holy Roman Empire, which, by the way, she started and maintained. By using this Empire as a secular arm, Rome sought to persuade, through various means, the people
of Europe to more
completely acknowledge the pope as the supreme head in all spiritual and
secular matters. Whether it was through
indoctrination, coercion, persecution, or whatever means necessary, the Holy Roman Empire definitely did a great deal for the cause of its
master, the papacy. It was during the
time of this Empire that the papacy enjoyed her greatest pinnacle of success. So in this sense the Holy Roman Empire certainly was a prophet of the papacy.
But after all of this wrangling over the false prophet we are still no closer
to identifying the three frogs than when we began. The next verse will give us the final clues
we need to unravel this mystery.
16:14 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.
The three unclean spirits which came forth from the mouth of the dragon, beast,
and false prophet, are here spoken of as spirits of devils. The dragon is Satan, and the other two are
agencies through which Satan operates against mankind. So we can see that this term is very
appropriate.
These spirits will also work “miracles.”
As with the beast in chapter thirteen, these will not be actual miracles. It will be things which will amaze and
astound people to the point that they will believe they have seen a miracle. But God, or His duly appointed
representatives, are the only ones capable of performing real miracles. So just like the beast in chapter thirteen,
these spirits will seem to be from God, although they are actually from Satan.
The spirits “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.” Obviously, whatever is to transpire here it
will have a worldwide effect. This
should be expected since the sixth vial showed us the coming together of the
East and West into one sphere of activity and influence. Somehow these three spirits will manage to
draw the nations of the world into a great conflict.
Now we need to identify the three unclean spirits and the great conflict which
they will bring about. The fifth vial
brought us in time to 1870. The logical
procedure now is to search world history after this time to find some great
world conflict which fits what we are looking for. The most notable event which we could
consider would be World Wars I & II.
This would certainly agree with the statement that “the kings of the
earth and of the whole world” would be involved.
The key question now must concern the three unclean spirits. Does this match anything connected with the
World Wars? In World War I there were
two sides the Central and Allied Powers.
The Allied Powers consisted of Britain, China, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States, and numerous smaller countries. The Central Powers consisted of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire at
the outset. Over a year after the
conflict began Bulgaria sided with the Central Powers, but in reality it made
little difference since Bulgaria was not a powerful military nation.
Even if we can say that there were three main nations on one side this does
nothing to prove that it matches what we see here in Revelation. The three unclean spirits are said to come
from the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Will Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire fit
these symbols? The Ottoman Empire is descended from the Turks who successfully attacked
Constantinople in A.D. 1453. They
followed the Islamic religion which we saw back in chapter nine. There the fifth trumpet revealed a godless
horde of Muslims who conquered the southern third of the Roman Empire. They were
pictured as coming from the bottomless pit where Satan dwells. Certainly then, we can say that the Ottoman Empire came from the dragon, who is Satan.
To say that a nation came from the beast is simply to say that the nation has a
very close relationship with the papacy and openly supports her. This can definitely be said of Austria-Hungary. Even today,
although they are separate countries there continues to be a close association
with the papacy.
“Austria and the pope have a concordat under which the Roman
Catholic Church in Austria receives financial support from the national
government. About 90 per cent of the
people are Roman Catholics.”
Hungary was taken over by the Communists in the 1940’s and
thereafter organized religion was discouraged.
But today about two-thirds of the people are still Roman Catholics. Clearly Austria-Hungary was a stronghold of Catholicism and can correctly be
said to have come from the beast.
The third nation is Germany. For this
entire scenario to fit, Germany must be connected with the false prophet, which is
the Holy Roman Empire.
“The Empire of the West (Holy Roman Empire), at first an unstable union of Germany and Italy and later a loose union of Germanic states, remained
in almost constant existence for more than 800 years.”
From
this we can clearly see that Germany definitely came from the Holy Roman Empire or the false prophet.
Then it seems that we have found the identification of three unclean
spirits in a great world conflict. But
what about World War II? It was an even
greater and bloodier conflict. Could
that be what is intended instead of World War I? In reality the second World War was merely a
continuation of the first. Many things
were left unsettled after World War I. Arbitrary
boundary lines were drawn by the victors to form new nations. The lines quite often crossed ethnic, racial,
and religious lines thereby separating people of similar backgrounds and forcing
together people of very diverse viewpoints.
This resulted in many people feeling angry and bitter about the
situation. It was a powder keg waiting
to go off, and within a few years it did.
At the end of World War II the Communists took over much of Eastern Europe and suppressed
most of the problems in that area. But
in our present day now that the Communist Empire has fallen many of these
smaller countries have picked up where World War II left off.
If we examine World War II we will find that, although some of the players had
changed sides, things were more or less the same. This time the Allies faced a coalition of
nations known as the Axis Powers. There
were some nine nations in this coalition, but only three were considered major
players. They were Germany, Italy and Japan.
We have already identified Germany as coming from the false prophet. Italy is the seat of the papacy and can easily be said to
come from the beast. Japan in paganistic
and can be said to come from the dragon.
In both cases the three nations went “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.”
The fact that the battle is called the great “day” does not mean that it is to
take place in a single twenth-four hour period.
In this verse day is from the Greek word “hemera”
which Strong’s defines as “day, i.e. (literally) the time space between dawn
and dark, or the whole twenty-four hours (but several days were usually reckoned
by the Jews as inclusive of
the parts of both extremes); figuratively a period (always defined more or less
clearly by the context):-age.” From this
definition we can see that the word day can mean a long period of time whose
length will be determined by the context.
I believe that there is one question left unanswered in all of this. What was the purpose in all of this occurring? I think it was Satan’s last gasp effort to
hold on to what he had. In the first war
he used an Islamic nation and two devoutly Catholic nations. In the second war he used a nation of pagans
and again two devoutly Catholic nations.
Had they been victorious it seems very likely that the papacy would have
regained a good deal of her prestige. Although
it probably would not have returned to its former glory, it certainly would
have fared better in a Europe dominated by
Catholic powers as opposed to the alternative.
This was the last and greatest confrontation between God and Satan. This is why it is referred to as “that
great day of God Almighty.” Never
before had the world seen any type of conflict which affected so many people
and saw so much destruction and death.
16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
It appears at first glance as if Christ is speaking
here of His second coming. The wording
is very similar to other passages that compare His return to the stealthful
approach of a thief. Not that Christ
will come with the intent of stealing as a thief does, but His return will be
quiet and without warning just like the approach of a thief. An example of this is I Thessalonians 5:2
which tells us that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” But this is not the only time this
terminology is used. “Remember
therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will
come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon
thee” (Revelation 3:3). This is part
of the letter written to the Church at Sardis. This letter
describes the Lord’s Church from around the year 1400 to 1793. The Lord promised here to bring judgment upon
the Catholics unless they repented and returned to the truth. He says He will come upon them as a thief. This is not speaking of His second coming,
but is symbolically speaking of His judgment against Rome. This judgment
was indeed brought about in a very swift and dramatic way. Within three years of the start of the French
Revolution the entire Catholic Empire was on
the verge of collapse. Surely no one
anticipated this sudden turn of events. It
came upon them as a thief in the night.
The wording in the present verse seems to indicate that we are not talking
about Christ’s second coming, but His judgment and punishment of
evil men and nations. He begins by
saying “I come as a thief.” This
does not have to mean that He will literally return to the earth. It can also mean that He will come to the
earth in that His presence will be felt on the earth in a very dramatic way by
those who are suffering His wrath.
“Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked.” This simply warns people to keep themselves
unspotted from the world, to keep their lives clean from sin. The reason for saying this is that there were
to be very troublous times in the future.
The World Wars were certainly traumatic for many people throughout the
world. And the “little season” during
which Satan will be loosed is now just around the corner. And unless people are very careful and wary
they will be led astray by Satan’s evil tactics. This will be discussed in detail in chapter twenty.
The real key to placing this verse in time is the very last phrase, “and
they see his shame.” During this
time the Lord is going to come and despoil men and nations. His judgment will bring them to shame in the
eyes of others. This parallels the
situation when God brought judgment against Israel because of
their sins. “Moreover I will make
thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the
sight of all that pass by. So it shall
be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations
that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and
in fury and in furious rebukes. I the
Lord have spoken it” (Ezekiel 5:14-5).
“All that pass by clap their hands at
thee; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Is this the city that men call The
perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?’” (Lamentations 2:15). Here the Lord said He was going to come and
punish Israel and the nations about them would see their disgrace
and shame. This is the same type of
thing spoken of here in Revelation. Men
are exhorted to be righteous unless they want to be partakers of God’s wrath
and laid to an open shame before the world.
If this had been talking about Christ’s second coming then no one would be shamed before
the rest of the world, since the world would be destroyed. “But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up” (II Peter 3:10). This shows us that the Lord is not talking
about His second coming here.
16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in
the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The “he” meant in this verse is the dragon. Satan will cause the world to be drawn to a
place referred to as “Armageddon.”
This is where the great battle spoken of in verse fourteen is to take
place. The term Armageddon comes from
the Greek word “Armageddon,”
which is defined by Strong’s as “of Hebrew origin [Hebrew 2022 and Hebrew
4023]; Armageddon (or Har-Megiddon), a symbolic name:-Armageddon.” The two Hebrew
words mentioned here are defined by Strong’s as follows: “Hebrew 2022. a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used
figuratively):-hill (country), mount (-ain), X promotion.” “Hebrew 4023. rendezvous; Megiddon or Megiddo, a place in Palestine.” From the above
definitions we see that Armageddon can be a symbolic name, and can mean
rendezvous. This again suggests the
notion that we are not actually looking for a physical battle at this location. The usage of this term is very similar to the
use of the word Gehenna by Christ. Gehenna is
from the Greek “geenna” which Strong’s defines as “valley of (the son of)
Hinnom; gehenna (or Ge-Hinnom), a valley of Jerusalem, used figuratively as a name for the place (or state)
of everlasting punishment:-hell.” Hinnom was a
valley located just outside Jerusalem
which was notorious for several things. Along
the eastern side of the Valley Solomon erected high places for the heathen
deity Molech. Ahaz and Manasseh made
their children ‘pass through the fire’ in this valley. Josiah scattered human bones and other
corruptions in the valley to put an end to these practices. After this time the sewage of Jerusalem was conducted into the valley to be carried away by
the brook Kidron. It was also the
principle garbage dump of Jerusalem. Since fresh fuel was added daily it burned
continuously, hence Christ’s reference to it as the place “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched” Mark 9:44). Because of
all the terrible things it was known for, it became associated with the place
of eternal punishment. Similarly
Har-Megiddo was known as a place of great battles.
“The scene of the struggle of good and evil is
suggested by that battle-field, the plain of Esdraelon, which was famous for
two great victories, of Barak over the Canaanites and of Gideon over the
Midianites; and for two great disasters, the deaths of Saul and Josiah. Hence it signifies in Revelation a place of
great slaughter, the scene of a terrible retribution upon the wicked.”
We
are not looking for any particular battle located at Mount Megiddo, but are
seeing depicted for us the ultimate struggle between the forces of good and
evil, the struggle in which Satan and all of his evil cohorts will be defeated
with a great slaughter. This is of
course the legendary battle of Armageddon, the subject of much conversation and
debate in the past. It is not, as many
people presume it to be, a great armed conflict often referred to as “World War
III.” It is not some great battle that
is yet future, but World Wars I & II which are already past.
16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the
air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, It is done.
The final vial is now poured out in the air.
This is the culmination of God’s judgment against God’s enemies which
began way back in chapter five with the seven seals. When the seventh seal was opened it revealed
the seven trumpets. When the seventh
trumpet was blown it revealed the seven vials.
But now as the seventh vial is poured out it does not reveal another set
of seven. Rather the statement is made “It
is done.” This gives a sense of
finality. The final and decisive blow of
the judgment of Satan has been struck.
When
this vial was poured out “there came a great voice out of the temple of
heaven, from the throne.” Judging by
its point of origin, and the fact that it is called great, this seems to have
been the voice of God. He is pronouncing
the ultimate climax of His judgment against evil. Notice that this vial is poured out “into
the air.” We have previously seen
the earth, sea, and rivers mentioned. But
this is the first time anything has affected the air. We saw that the sixth vial dried up the Euphrates River, which signified the coming together of the East and
the West into one world. So when the
seventh vial is poured out it has the capacity to affect the entire world,
whereas all past judgments were limited to the Western world. Thus we see the term air being used which
denotes a worldwide impact for this vial of God’s wrath.
Since
this is the final blow God will strike against evil it must of necessity be a
decisive blow against Satan. This is
indicated by the fact that the vial is poured out into the air and Satan is
referred to as “the prince of the power
of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). This
final blow will be struck against the kingdoms of the world, the minions of the
“god of this world” (II Corinthians
4:4)
16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a
great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an
earthquake, and so great.
We have seen all of these phenomena previously.
They indicate unsettled and troublous times. When the sixth seal was opened in chapter six
bringing paganism in Rome to an end, a great earthquake was the first symbol
used to denote this tremendous event. This
shows the great “tremor” that went through the entire Empire as Constantinople replaced Rome as the capital.
You could say it was an “earthshaking” event. Of course the center of the quake was in Rome itself. In
chapter eleven the French Revolution is also spoken of as a great earthquake. But the earthquake in the present verse is
said to far exceed all past ones. In
both of the other cases just cited the effects were far reaching. Especially the French Revolution, which threw
the entire European continent into war and revolution. Every nation from the smallest to the greatest
was embroiled in the series of conflicts set off by the Revolution. But the situation mentioned here is to be
worse. Worse even than the fall of Rome or Constantinople. This will be,
as were these past earthquakes, very terrible from the perspective of the ones
affected by it. But I believe this event
will more closely parallel the French Revolution. I think it will be accompanied by worldwide
turmoil and chaos. Subsequent verses
seem to uphold this view.
I believe we have recently witnessed the pouring out of the seventh vial. While the eventual affects of this are yet to
be determined, it should be clear to anyone who is observant, that the world is
forever changed, and the biggest changes are still to come. I am speaking of course of the events of September 11,
2001. I do not believe we can simply brush this
aside as an isolated, although very tragic event, which will not ultimately
produce lasting change. To the contrary,
I believe history will show this to have been one of the most profound events
in human history. It will spark the
events outlined in the next two verses.
16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the
nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto
her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath
The “great city?” We are not
given any clues to identify what city this is talking about so we are reduced
to speculation. Jerusalem is one
possibility since it has long figured in the affairs of God’s people. Some suggest that Jerusalem would fit since it is already divided into three
parts: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim. But
we have not seen Jerusalem mentioned throughout the entire book of Revelation
thus far, even though we have been in that part of the world, and that tends to
cast some doubt on it being the city in question. Would God suddenly insert something new in
our story without giving us some clue to help us understand what He meant?
Rome is another candidate since it has been the center
piece of Revelation to this point. But
in reality it has not been the city of Rome which has been under consideration, but the political
and spiritual entities that it has given rise to.
There is also the possibility that He is not talking about a literal city at
all. So far we have seen the term city
applied to the Lord’s Church in chapter eleven,
France in chapter eleven, the Catholic Church in
chapter fourteen, and will see it applied to Heaven in chapter twenty-one. The only one that could possibly refer to an
actual city is the reference to France in chapter eleven.
It could be interpreted as meaning Paris only, where much of the activity was centered. That is a possibility, although I tend to
believe that the entire nation of France is the intended meaning of the term there. My point is that there is no occurrence of
the term city in Revelation where it is definitely used to mean a city. This is not surprising since we are dealing
with a book filled with symbolic language.
So if an actual city is meant in this case it is the only time in the
entire book where the word is so used.
What is the great city? When we look at
the world today what is the great power that stands above all others? The United States. With the fall
of the Soviet Empire the only legitimate power left is the U.S. Could the United States become the Disunited States? Whether or not this is what Revelation is
referring to I believe that America is destined to fall apart. We are headed that way too fast to escape it.
If America does break apart where will the splits occur? Ever since the Civil War there has been
constant animosity between the North and the South. The differences between the two regions
continues to grow rapidly. The South is
by nature generally much more conservative morally, religiously, politically,
and in many other ways. The majority of
people in the North probably favor abortion, feminism, gay rights, and numerous
other ungodly things. In contrast, the
majority of people in the South do not support these things. As these things become more of an issue in
the coming years the chasm between North and South will only widen. Finally, some state in the South may get
enough of it and secede again. Only this
time it will be amid widespread social and political chaos. This will give a climate where little if any
real resistance can be offered by the North, unlike the case in the nineteenth
century. In reality, these viewpoints
are not strictly North/South. They are
usually tied more closely to rural and urban lifestyles. But since the North is much more urban than
the South this is why you see the disparity between North and South.
What will be the “third part” if this split actually does occur. The Midwest, except for
the highly industrialized states along the Great Lakes, generally shares many values with the South and likely would side
with the South in such a split. The West
would probably be the third piece of the puzzle. They, like the Northeast, have many liberal
tendencies. It might even be their
desire to remain united with the Northeast, but that would be difficult if the
midsection of the country seceded.
It was very interesting to note how the voting broke down by region during the 1992
presidential election. The general trend
was for the Northeast and the West to vote for Bill Clinton, while the South
and Midwest voted for George Bush. I feel this happened because morality was
made such and issue in this campaign. The
voters have let it be known where they stand on moral issues. This same general pattern has been seen in
the elections of 1996, 2000 and 2004, with the 2000 election being a very divisive issue for many people.
How could the events of September 11th possibly hasten the fall of America? The initial
reaction was toward patriotism and even respect for God. But the more long term change was to awaken
many people to what is really going on. For
decades the “silent majority” has watched as liberals have push for numerous
changes in the direction of this country that have moved us farther and farther
from God. Many of those who were
formerly silent are now making themselves heard. Political correctness is not playing as well
in a changed America. The problem
is, the government, and especially the courts, will still side with the
liberals. Ultimately, what the events of
September 11th have served to do is harden the resolve of both sides. This country is headed for internal conflict
on a scale not seen since the Civil War.
I do not expect a repeat of that tragic era, but I do look for a similar
secession of states.
“The cities of the nations fell” shows a time of great strife and chaos
throughout civilization. It is not that
something will happen to the cities to destroy them that will not also happen
elsewhere. Cities are considered to be
the strength of a nation. If the cities
fall this shows a complete breakdown of the entire nation. It is something we seem to be headed towards
today at a rapid pace. Our cities are
crumbling due to violent crime, drugs, gangs, poverty, corrupt government, and
other problems. Our entire society is
crumbling, but nowhere is it more visible than in the large cities.
“Great Babylon” is another name for the papacy. To say that Rome “came in remembrance before God” does not
imply that He had forgotten about them. It
simply means that He is now going to focus His wrath on them once again. The fact that the papacy is mentioned
separately from the “great city” here in this verse lends further
credence to the idea that they are two separate entities. It will be amid the worldwide chaos as
civilization breaks down and the United States breaks apart that the papacy will suffer further from
God’s wrath.
We
have recently seen the Catholic Church in America racked by scandal and accusations. Literally hundreds of priests have been
charged with sexual misconduct, the majority of this committed against
children! It is no secret that over the
years the Catholic priesthood has attracted a very large number of homosexual
men. Although the Church takes a public
stand against this abhorrent practice, they have nevertheless turned somewhat
of a blind eye to the problem among the priesthood. One reason is that so many of the superiors
are themselves sexual deviants. Another
is that they have had a difficult time recruiting priests and have found
themselves in a position to “take what they could get.” This whole situation is just further evidence
of the despicable nature of the beast.
And before it is over I believe the size and strength of the Catholic
Church in America will be greatly reduced.
At present the Catholic Church is desperately
struggling to hold what is left of its shattered Empire together. But there are mounting differences between
the pope and his subjects, especially in the developed nations. In the United States, for example, the people, priests, and even most
bishops tend to favor more liberal and modern views on issues than does Rome. It is only a
matter of time before such issues as abortion, birth control, women priests,
and others become very divisive among the Catholic ranks.
The break up of America could be a major blow to the papacy. The stronghold of Catholicism in this country
is in the Northeast. If that part of the
country is on its own, without a moderating influence from the South and Midwest, just how liberal would they become?
Perhaps so liberal that there could end up being a permanent split
between American Catholics and the papacy?
If so, this would be a tremendous blow to the pope. Ultimately something will happen that will
turn most of the pope’s subjects away from him.
Perhaps the aforementioned sex scandal is the beginning of the end.
16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were
not found.
Islands and mountains represent
nations and governments and powers of the world. When it says they fled away and were not
found it means that they have fallen. This
shows a period of great chaos and anarchy throughout the world. As mentioned previously our societies are
already quickly decaying and will soon reach the point where governments will
lose control.
We have recently seen the very surprising and unexpected fall of the Soviet
Empire. The United States is suffering from severe political, social, economic,
and moral crises. Unless dramatic steps
are taken we are soon to follow the Soviets into demise. I think we can look for the social and
economic systems of the entire world to utterly collapse in the not to distant
future. Currently it is only the threat
of intervention by the United States that keeps countries like North Korea, Iran, China and others from moving against their neighbors
militarily. If we are no longer a major
player in world affairs regional conflicts would soon engulf the entire world.
The
recent war in Iraq also sent a major political jolt through the world. It has further alienated an already hostile
Arab population. It also drove a major
wedge between the United States and many of its long time allies in Europe. No one who
pays attention to the world scene can doubt that the events of September 11th
made this conflict possible. The world
is becoming a more divided and dangerous place.
How will the struggle between Islam and the West play out. Might this be responsible for much of the
turmoil to come?
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.
This shows further the great despair of men during this period. Hail has been used before in Revelation to
show a great catastrophe. In chapter eight
we saw hail as one result of the first trumpet.
This was the first invasion of Rome by Alaric and the Goths. In chapter eleven, hail is mentioned as one
of the conditions immediately following the French Revolution. Both of these events were very disastrous and
far reaching in their effects. But the
one under consideration here is to be much worse. The stone is referring to the individual
pieces of hail. The size of the hail was
such that it weighed about one talent. The
weight of a talent varied with the substance being weighed. But for general items a talent was about 129 pounds
and six ounces. To achieve
this weight a hailstone would have to be nearly 20 inches across. Clearly this is not meant literally. The effect of this hail was so great that men
blasphemed God. Instead of repenting of
their evil deeds and submitting themselves to God, they continued to be
stubborn and resist God to their own destruction. Just as a rebellious child does not realize
that punishment is for his own good, these wicked men will not repent when God
punishes them.
What effect will the chaos brought on by the seventh vial have on the papacy? The Catholic Church needs some
measure of peace and stability in order to prosper since it is a political
organization as well as a religious one.
The Lord’s Church does not have this need. It can, and has, survived all sorts of
political and social upheavals throughout history. But the unsettled conditions of the world
will further weaken the power of Rome. This will be
the blow that finally breaks the spiritual power of the papacy and reduces her
to the point that she will be little more than another denomination. I believe most Catholic Churches around the
world will cease to bow to Rome.