December 16-22
REVELATION 13-16
Re 16:13, 14—How will the nations be gathered for “the war of the great day of God the Almighty”? (w09 2/15 4 ¶5)
16:13-16. “Unclean inspired expressions” symbolize demonic propaganda intended to ensure that the kings of the earth are not swayed by the pouring out of the seven bowls of God’s anger but instead are maneuvered into opposition to Jehovah.—Matt. 24:42, 44.
Re 16:21—What message will we no doubt declare just prior to the end of Satan’s world? (w15 7/15 16 ¶9)
9 This will not be the time to preach the “good news of the Kingdom.” That time will have passed. The time for “the end” will have come! (Matt. 24:14) No doubt God’s people will proclaim a hard-hitting judgment message. This may well involve a declaration announcing that Satan’s wicked world is about to come to its complete end. The Bible likens this message to hailstones when it says: “Great hailstones, each about the weight of a talent, fell from heaven on the people, and the people blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, for the plague was unusually great.”—Rev. 16:21.
What does this week’s Bible reading teach me about Jehovah?
Re 13:6: Jehovah’s name is very sacred to him and will punish those abuse it and at the end he will destroy all who do not know. At Le 24:16 we are told: ”So the abuser of Jehovah’s name should be put to death without fail.” Yes we are told at 2Th 1:8-9 they “. . . will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction.” May we never disrespect Jehovah name.
Re 14:6: Jehovah has a work for his faithful servants to preach to “all the inhabited earth for a witness.” (Mt 24:14) Yet because of Jehovah’s love and purpose he assigns his angels to help his servants to complete the preaching work. This should encourage us to preach because we are not alone; we have Jehovah on our side. (Ps 118:6; Isa 51:12; Ro 8:31)
Re 14:7: Jehovah should be fear because he bring “the hour of the judgment.” We need to recognize that Jehovah is the Universal Sovereign; we can honor him by willingly submitting to him, doing his will, and worshiping him the way he wants. (Pr 8:13; Mt 7:21-23; Jas 2:19-20
Re 14:9-10;15:7;16:1: Jehovah has anger especially toward those who worship the “wild beast and its image,” which are symbols of human rulership, which does not acknowledge Jehovah’s sovereignty. True servants know that God’s Kingdom has already been set up in heaven, that it will put an end to all human rulerships, and that it will stand forever. (Da 2:44)
Re 15:3-4: Jehovah is “the Almighty,” which means that Jehovah is more powerful than anyone else in the universe. And the title “King of eternity” means that he has always existed. (Ps 90:2) All his wonderful works of creation and dealings with mankind should encourage us to glorify his name and do his will.
Re 15:8: Jehovah has now assign the seven plagues that he will get rid of the wicked on the earth so it will be cleans, so the righteous will no longer be plague by their works of Satan’s standards that he has set on the earth. (Pr 2:22; Ps 104:35)
Re 16:4: Jehovah is the true fountain of life, for it truths will give everlasting life to those who listen and apply it into their lives. While wisdom of this world can only bring only bring everlasting death. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with Jehovah.” (Jer 2:13; 1Co 3:19;1:19; 2:6; Ps 36:9)
Re 16:5: Jehovah is call “the loyal One, because by destroying the wicked, Jehovah is displaying loyalty to his servants, many of whom have been persecuted to the point of death.
Re 16:7: Jehovah is a righteous God and so we can count on Jehovah judgments to be righteous. For there is nothing hidden from Jehovah’s eyes and see all the wrong the wicked do and see all the good his servants do, (Ec 12:13-14; Ga 6:7)
Re 16:14, 16: Jehovah has a plan to fulfil his prophecy of Da 2:44 of bring “end to all these kingdoms” of the earth. At Armageddon, God’s enemies will likewise perish, while those who love God will be saved.
What other spiritual gems have you discovered in this week’s Bible reading?
Re 13:1-4: A wild beast” symbolizing human governments ascends “out of the sea,” that is, from the turbulent masses of mankind. (Isa 17:12-13; Da 7:2-8, 17) This beast is created and empowered by Satan. A warning for us: not to put our trust in Satan world, which is doom for destruction. (1Jo 2:17; 5:19)
Re 13:7: We see that Satan is permitted to wage war with the holy ones for a short period of time, yet they and the great crowd must endure and have faith that Jehovah will rescue at his right time as he did with Job. (1Co 10:13; Mt 10:22)
Re 13:8: “The scroll of life of the Lamb,” is a figurative scroll containing only the names of those who rule with Jesus Christ in his heavenly Kingdom. It includes the names of anointed Christians still on earth, who have the hope of receiving life in heaven.
Re 13:9-10: Now we are in the Lord’s Day, God’s people must hold fast to Bible principles. There will be no final escape for unrepentant ones who worship the wild beast. We will need endurance with unshakable faith, in order to survive the persecutions and trials that lie ahead. (Heb 10:36-39; 11:6)
Re 13:16-17: Despite the hardships we may encounter in carrying out such everyday activities as ‘buying or selling,’ we should not allow ourselves to be pressured into letting the wild beast rule our lives. Accepting ‘the mark of the wild beast in our hand or upon our forehead’ would amount to permitting the wild beast to control our actions or affect our thinking.
Re 13:18: This wild beast has the number 666, denoting heightened imperfection. Understanding what the beast is helps us so that we neither follow it with admiration nor worship it as mankind in general does. (John 12:31; 15:19)
Re 14:1: The 144,000 having the name of Jesus’ Father symbolically written are sealed ones made known they are Jehovah’s witnesses, His slaves. Having Jesus’ name indicates that they acknowledge being owned by Jesus and are his prospective “bride,” “a new creation” serving God with heavenly life. (Re 21:2, 9)
Re 14:3: The 144,000 are the ones that are bought from the earth as firstfruits of the first resurrection, which the second death has no has no authority over them and “will be priests of God and of the Christ, and they will rule as kings with him for the 1,000 years.” (Re 21:6)
Re 14:6-7: The angelic proclamation teaches us that we should declare the good news of the established Kingdom of God with urgency. We should help our Bible students to develop a healthy fear of God and to give glory to Jehovah.
Re 14:8: Warning to stay clear of “Babylon the Great” if we do not want to be destroy with her. The apostles Paul and Peter warned that many would succumb and a great apostasy would result. (Acts 20:29-30; 2Pe 2:1-3) We need to remember that they don’t worship Jehovah, or preach and have many false teaching.
Re 14:14-20: When “the harvest of the earth,” will be time for the angel to hurl “into the great winepress of the anger of God” the gathering of “the vine of the earth.” That vine is Satan’s corrupt visible system of governments over mankind with its “clusters” of evil fruitage that will then be destroyed forever. We should be determined not to be influenced by the vine of the earth.
Re 16:2-3: There is a price to pay for those who accepting the mark of the beast. Unless they repent, this “hurtful” illness will be terminal, for it is Jehovah’s Day of Judgment. There is no neutral ground between being a part of the world’s system of things and serving Jehovah on the side of his Christ.(Lu 11:23; Jas 4:4)
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