Posted by Elana Janson on August 26, 2014 at 13:58:28:
In Reply to: Lethal Ebola Virus posted by Richard Smit on August 25, 2014 at 06:43:42:
In the last days there will be illness and plague. This is specifically revealed in Revelation, chapter16.
Those who have read my books and studied this website will know that certain chapters of the book Revelation start at a point in history and then proceed to the end time. Very broadly speaking in this way these chapters relate aspects of man’s existence and the consequences of man’s actions. In this way the individual chapters of Revelation can reveal a number of aspects that bring about the fall of man.
Revelation, chapter 16 is one of these chapters. This is the chapter on the casting of the seven vials. I do not want to go into too much detail but, once again broadly speaking the first four ‘vials’ of the wrath of God indicate punishment for transgressions by man through the ages. The last three vials relate to the end time.
Revelation 16:10-21King James Version (KJV)
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,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
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.
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.
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.
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.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
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.
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.
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.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
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.
The fifth vial
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,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
I understand the casting of this vial to be the general illness that befalls man in our time. Because many have turned away from faith and religion and do not believe that there is truth in the words of Scripture, they do not realise that illness is the result of sin and that God “has power over these plagues” (Revelation 16:9).
Therefore verse 11 they “blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”
The sixth vial
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.
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.
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.
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.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The sixth vial has to do with the gathering of the nations to Armageddon which I believe is happening at the present time. Take note here that at the present time conflict rages in the area of the waters of the Euphrates River! The Tigris River (the waters of Mosul dam) eventually runs into the Euphrates! (Rev 16:12 “the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates.)
The seventh vial
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.
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.
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.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
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.
Verse 17 The words ”out of the temple” indicate that the time of the “three and a half days” (the measurement of the "temple" in Revelation (Rev 11:1-2))of the second millennium after the coming of the Christ have come to an end.
Verse 18 likely indicates the great earthquake in Indonesia on 26 December 2004, but it could also indicate another great earthquake at the end of the “little season. This has still to be revealed.
Verse 19 mentions the “great city” which is the entire earth in the end time. “Divided into three parts could relate to conflict in the three sections of the earth. (In the understanding of Revelation the Book Revelation divides the earth into three sections – see Rev 8:7-13
The casting of the seventh vial deals with a final plague: verse 21. In a time of “great hail” it seems there is going to be a “plague”, “for the plague thereof was exceeding great”.
So where does the Ebola plague in Africa at the present time fit in?
As the deadly Ebola virus spreads in West Africa, religious leaders are claiming that “immoral acts” are responsible for the catastrophic outbreak. The statement released by the Christian leaders meeting at the Liberian Council of Churches unanimously declared: “God is angry with Liberia.” “Ebola is a plague. Liberians have to pray and seek God’s forgiveness over the corruption and immoral acts that continue to penetrate our society.” Their recommended solution to the disease ravaging the nation is that everyone should stay indoors for a three-day period of fasting and prayer. This action could possibly aid crushing the plague because at the time of the Black Death in Europe centuries ago the plague was contained by isolating infected areas and praying!
God through His Grace has given mankind medical expertise in the twenty-first century. Ebola fills us with anguish because we fear that we shall have no cure and some will perish. While the nations are praying we can only hope it is a temporary plague of the casting of the fifth vial and not the beginning of the plague of the casting of the seventh vial. So according to guidelines of Revelation repent of wrong deeds and do not stop praying!
Peace among nations at the present time may promote containment of the Ebola virus and medical science given time will likely have a vaccine. Where Revelation 16:9 says God, which has power over these plagues” and we believe Scripture: By the grace of God the deaths will be curbed.
Be not too at ease
I do not think that the signs of the casting of the seventh vial have at this point in time been fulfilled, but because the Return is going to be as a “thief”, that is unexpected - we should not be too at ease, because we are inclined to interpret the words of the casting of the seventh vial literally, when they also have a figurative meaning relating to other verses of Revelation and to Scripture which indicate to what degree man has already moved away from the commandments of God and how God is filled with wrath (verse 19).
The final plague of the verse 21 could indicate the inability of mankind to contain disease in a time of extreme weather and the result of global warming (verse 20 -21) – also great disruption within nations because of war - Armageddon. This remains to be revealed.