End Time Insights

Anyone who is under the Law of Moses is obligated to keep all its required deeds and rituals, and therefore, risks coming under its curse . In  Galatians , Paul responds to teachings from certain “ men from Jerusalem ” who are disrupting the churches by claiming that male Gentiles must be circumcised to “ complete ” their faith.  This group may also be promoting calendrical observances and the Levitical dietary regulations.

What identifies God’s people and determines membership in His covenant community is Jesus, especially the Messiah as revealed on the cross,  and nothing else!  This does  NOT  mean that the Law given at Sinai served no purpose, but it is not the basis for determining who is and who is not acquitted of sin by God. Right standing before Him is obtained “ through the faith OF Jesus Christ ,” and not “ from the works of the Law .”

The seventh “ bowl of wrath ” anticipates the fuller description of the destruction of “ Babylon ” in chapters 17 and 18. It echoes the Old Testament story of the plague of hail inflicted on Egypt at the word of Moses. Emptying the bowl “ on the air ” prepares for the “ great hail ” that will conclude this last “ plague ” and seal Babylon’s doom.

The first four bowls target the economic infrastructure necessary for commerce and the economic health of the  World Empire . Since the “ Beast from the sea ” caused the followers of the “ Lamb ” economic deprivation, so, now, the “ Beast ” and the “ inhabitants of the earth ” suffer economic loss.

The sixth trumpet unleashes the demonic horde from beyond the “Euphrates” to afflict the “inhabitants of the earth”  - Revelation 9:13-21.  The blowing of the “ sixth trumpet ” also marks the commencement of the “ second woe .” While the description of the “ plague ” unleashed by the trumpet only continues until the end of chapter 9, the “ second woe ” does not end until the sounding of the “ seventh trumpet ” that will culminate in the final judgment. Presumably, the “ sixth trumpet ” will conclude when the seventh angel blows his trumpet.

The fifth trumpet unleashes the first of “three woes,” and malevolent creatures began to ascend from the Abyss  – Revelation 8:13-9:12.  When the fifth angel blows his trumpet, John sees smoke “ ascending ” from the “ Abyss ,” a place ruled by an “ angel ” associated with “ destruction ,” and the “ Abyss ” becomes prominent in several subsequent visions. It is the source of entities hostile to the “ Lamb ” and his people, creatures that “ ascend ” to wreak havoc, sometimes on the “ inhabitants of the earth ,” but more often on the “ saints. ”