Revelation
CHAPTER -- XVI --
The Plagues Poured Out
(Excerpt from Daniel
and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911)
VERSE, 4. And the
third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and
they became blood. 5. And I heard the angel of the waters say,
Thou art righteous, 0 Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou
hast judged thus. 6. For they have shed the blood of saints and
prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God
Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
The Third Plague. -
Such is the description of the terrible retribution for the "blood of
saints" shed by violent hands, which will be given to those who have done,
or wish to do, such deeds. And though the horrors of that hour when the fountains
and rivers of water shall be like blood , cannot now be realized, the justice
of God will stand vindicated, and his judgments approved. Even the angels are
heard exclaiming,
p 689 -- Thou art
righteous, 0 Lord, because thou hast judged thus; for they have shed the blood
of saints and prophets. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy
judgments.
It may be asked how
the last generation of the wicked can be said to have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, since the last generation of saints are not to be slain. A
reference to Matt. 23:34, 35; 1 John 3:15, will explain.
Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets,
and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some
of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to
city:
Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar
1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer:
and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
These scriptures
show that guilt attaches to motive no less than to action; and no generation
ever formed a more determined purpose to devote the saints to indiscriminate
slaughter than the present generation will, not far in the future. (See chapter
12:17; 13:15.) In motive and purpose, they do shed the blood of saints and
prophets, and are every whit as guilty as if they were able to carry out their
wicked intentions.
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and
went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image
of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as
many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
It would seem that
none of the human family could long survive a continuance of a plague so
terrible as this. It must therefore be limited in its duration, as was the
similar one on Egypt. Ex. 7:17-21, 25.
Exo 7:17 Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know
that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon
the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
Exo 7:18 And the fish that is in the river shall die,
and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water
of the river.
Exo 7:19 And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto
Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon
their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their
pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood
throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of
stone.
Exo 7:20 And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD
commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the
river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the
waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
Exo 7:21 And the fish that was in the river died; and
the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river;
and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Exo 7:25 And seven days were fulfilled, after that the
LORD had smitten the river.
*******
Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old
time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the
judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry
with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:
but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
Mat 5:27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old
time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Mat 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on
a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
heart.
Truly, sin comes
from the heart. We CAN commit sin long before we take action to physically
commit that sin. We need a new heart and
we can only get that new heart from our Savior. We see our own wickedness and
realize how helpless we are to change our own hearts. We must yield our hearts
to our Savior so He can change our hearts. And we must yield DAILY.
This next plague,
the plague of river and fountains of water, given because of the guilt of those
who would kill God's people. All the plagues are a result of sins committed-
all of them. Not a single person who feels
the touch of a single plague will be guiltless.
I mentioned
yesterday the fact that the plague will not fall on everyone - those who
receive the first may not receive the second and so on.
*******
Here's something
from another study--
Are the plagues
universal??? No.
((MY INTERJECTION
HERE-
Read Rev. 16:1-11 --
they are poured out upon different places/people
Rev.
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. 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. 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. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the RIVERS AND
FOUNTAINS OF WATERS; and they became blood. 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. 6For they have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty,
true and righteous are thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel poured out
his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9And 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.
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,
11And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their
sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Upon earth.
Upon the sea.
Upon the rivers and
fountains of water.
Upon the seat of the
beast and his kingdom.
(Now if we take
earth to mean the entire globe, the entire planet there would be no need to say
that the another plague was poured out elsewhere. Why not just keep saying
earth if it is meant to be the entire planet and its population all at once?
They are being enacted not universally but here and there. To have all the
plagues effect everyone at once with the same affliction could any live? Why
would a plague be poured out upon a kingdom- singular- when we know there are
many kingdoms? The plagues will be poured out according to God's plan)
(((END INTERJECTION
BY ME AND BACK TO MY NOTES)))
SO.. if the first
plague isn't universal then... the mark of the beast ISN'T universal, right?
Right.
You can't have it
one without the other. If the plagues aren't universal, then the mark of the
beast isn't universal.
The first plague
very clearly falls on those that worship the IMAGE and HAD the mark.
Not WORSHIPPING THE
BEAST- but HIS IMAGE.. and because of worshipping His image the receive the
mark.
-Rev. 14:9 If any
man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or
in his hand, 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.
-Rev.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.
*******
It is obvious that
the plagues aren't universal. We need to think of these things, we need to know
and understand by the grace of God. All in the name of our Savior, Jesus
Christ! Please
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