7 angels with 7 plagues, the last ones (Re chap. 15-16)
Re 15:115 And I saw in heaven another sign, great and wonderful, seven angels with seven plagues. These are the last ones, because by means of them the anger of God is brought to a finish.
This plagues seems to be the plagues upon Egyptian in Moses' days, but not necessarily views it as literal.
These are the expression of God's anger against wicked people and their system.
It is said "the last ones," and by it "the anger of God brought to a finish."
So these plagues come form God, not man-made.
The song of Moses
It was sung by the victors of the wild beast, and from its image and from the number of its name.The song depicts what is foretold in Isiah 2:1-4 and Micah 4:1-4.
Re 15:2-4
2 And I saw what seemed to be a glassy sea mingled with fire, and those who come off victorious from the wild beast and from its image and from the number of its name standing by the glassy sea, having harps of God. 3 And they are singing the song of Moses the slave of God and the song of the Lamb, saying:
"Great and wonderful are your works, YHWH God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity. 4 Who will not really fear you, YHWH, and glorify your name, because you alone are loyal? For >all the nations will come and worship before you, because your righteous decrees have been made manifest."
Mic 4:1-4
4 And it must occur in the final part of the days [that] the mountain of the house of YHWH will become firmly established above the top of the mountains, and it will certainly be lifted up above the hills; and to it peoples must stream. 2 And many nations will certainly go and say: "Come, YOU people, and let us go up to the mountain of YHWH and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Zion law will go forth, and the word of YHWH out of Jerusalem. 3 And he will certainly render judgment among many peoples, and set matters straight respecting mighty nations far away. And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. They will not lift up sword, nation against nation, neither will they learn war anymore. 4 And they will actually sit, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, and there will be no one making [them] tremble; for the very mouth of YHWH of armies has spoken [it].
This will be fulfilled after Armageddon, not now that the WTS mistakenly or intentionally applies to.
The 7 golden bowls - full of God's anger (chap. 15 - chap. 16)
Re 15:7-8
7 And one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls that were full of the anger of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 And the sanctuary became filled with smoke because of the glory of God and because of his power, and no one was able to enter into the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
The 1st into the earth
The 2nd into the sea
The 3rd into the rivers and the fountains of waters
The 4th upon the sun
The 5th upon the throne of the wild beast
The 6th upon the great river Euphrates
The 7th upon the air
Then what will happen accordingly?
The 1st | "a hurtful and malignant ulcer came to be upon the men that had the mark of the wild beast and that were worshiping its image." (Re 16:2) |
The 2nd | "every living soul died, [yes,] the things in the sea." (Re 16:3) |
The 3rd | "the rivers and the fountains of the waters became blood" "they poured out the blood of holy ones and of prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it." "Yes, YHWH God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judicial decisions." (Re 16:4-7) |
The 4th | "it (the sun) was granted to scorch the men with fire. 9 And the men were scorched with great heat, but they blasphemed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give glory to him." (Re 16:8) |
The 5th | "And its (the wild beast's) kingdom became darkened, and they began to gnaw their tongues for [their] pain, 11 but they blasphemed the God of heaven for their pains and for their ulcers, and they did not repent of their works." (Re 16:10-11) |
The 6th | its (the great river Euphrates') water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the rising of the sun." "13 And I saw three unclean inspired expressions [that looked] like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty." (Re 16:13-14) "15 "Look! I am coming as a thief. Happy is the one that stays awake and keeps his outer garments, that he may not walk naked and people look upon his shamefulness." 16 And they gathered them together to the place that is called in Hebrew Har-Ma·ged'on. (Re 16:15-16) |
The 7th | "At this a loud voice issued out of the sanctuary from the throne, saying: "It has come to pass!" 18 And lightnings and voices and thunders occurred, and a great earthquake occurred such as had not occurred since men came to be on the earth, so extensive an earthquake, so great. 19 And the great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and Babylon the Great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of the anger of his wrath. 20 Also, every island fled, and mountains were not found. 21 And a great hail with every stone about the weight of a talent descended out of heaven upon the men, and the men blasphemed God due to the plague of hail, because the plague of it was unusually great." (Re 16:17-21) |
According to the sequence of the plagues, the destruction of the Babylon the Great is unlikely the beginning of the great tribulation as the WTS teaches. Rather it appears to happen near the end of the great tribulation prior to the battle of the Armageddon.
The 7 trumpets blast (chap. 8 - chap. 11)
Both the 7 trumpets blast, and 7 bowls of the anger of God may describe the same events from different perspective.The 1st trumpet | there occurred a hail and fire mingled with blood, and it was hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees was burned up, and all the green vegetation was burned up. (Re 8:7) |
The 2nd trumpet | something like a great mountain burning with fire was hurled into the sea. And a third of the sea became blood; 9 and a third of the creatures that are in the sea which have souls died, and a third of the boats were wrecked. (Re 8:8) |
The 3rd trumpet | a great star burning as a lamp fell from heaven, and it fell upon a third of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters. 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third of the waters turned into wormwood, and many of the men died from the waters, because these had been made bitter. (Re 8:10-11) |
The 4th trumpet | a third of the sun was smitten and a third of the moon and a third of the stars, in order that a third of them might be darkened and the day might not have illumination for a third of it, and the night likewise. (Re 8: 12) |
The 5th trumpet | The 1st Woe hurt the men five months. (Re 9:10) |
The 6th trumpet | The 2nd Woe killed a third of the men, and the rest of the men did not repent (Re 9:18, 20), and also killed 7,000 persons by a great earthquake when the two witnesses were resurrected, and the rest became frightened and gave glory to God. (Re 11:13) |
The 7th trumpet | The 3rd Woe killed those ruining the earth. (Re 11:18) |
Comparing the "seven trumpet blasts" to the "seven golden bowls," it appears that 1/3 of humanity worships the Wild Beast. If that is the case, 2/3 of mankind would survive the great tribulation. It is a considerable number, and fits in with the great crowd no one can number who come out of the great tribulation in Re 7:9, 14. It is also interesting to recall that in Re 12: 1, the dragon's tail dragged 1/3 of the stars of heaven to rebel.
The judgment upon the great harlot (chap. 17)
Re 17:1-61 And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: "Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."
3 And he carried me away in [the power of the] spirit into a wilderness. And I caught sight of a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored wild beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns. 4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication. 5 And upon her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth." 6 And I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the holy ones and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
The WTS is one of the daughter of Her.
The worshipers of the wild beast are also in the Babylon the Great.
So I'm interested in seeing if the JW are led to be the worshiper of the wild beast, since the leaders of the WTS are the Zionist. And the Zionist would create false Messiah for their aim.
The scarlet-colored wild beast
Re 17:8-118 The wild beast that you saw was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend out of the abyss, and it is to go off into destruction. And when they see how the wild beast was, but is not, and yet will be present, those who dwell on the earth will wonder admiringly, but their names have not been written upon the scroll of life from the founding of the world.
9 "Here is where the intelligence that has wisdom comes in: The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. 10 And there are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while. 11 And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth [king], but springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction.
The seven world powers
1 Egypt
2 Assyria
3 Babylon
4 Persia
5 Greece
6 Rome
7 Anglo-America
8 springs from Anglo-America
Anglo-America world power would be as if slaughtered to death by the death-stroke of the great war in the beginning of the great tribulation, and comes again as the eighth king, then goes off into destruction.
It (Anglo-America world power) also seems to be the lamb like false prophet which is another wild beast ascending from the earth which makes the image of the first wild beast, whose death-stroke got healed and perform great signs and promote wild beast worship.
Re 13:11-18
11 And I saw another wild beast ascending out of the earth, and it had two horns (two powers like Anglo-America) like a lamb, but it began speaking as a dragon. 12 And it exercises all the authority of the first wild beast in its sight. And it makes the earth and those who dwell in it worship the first wild beast, whose death-stroke got healed. 13 And it performs great signs, so that it should even make fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the sight of mankind.
The structure of the beast changes from regional to global after going through the death-stroke at the beginning of the great tribulation. It will become one world government by consolidating regional authorities into one global government. For this reason, the united worship of the wild beast will be realized in the entire earth.
Re 17:12-14
12 "And the ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. 13 These have one thought, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast. 14 These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also, those called and chosen and faithful with him [will do so]."
Though the Babylon the great is still alive at that point, she will become an obstacle of the wild beast worship, then she will be attacked by the wild beast on which she is sitting. God will lead the wild beast to destroy her as the vengeance of her blood gilt.
Re 17:15-18
15 And he says to me: "The waters that you saw, where the harlot is sitting, mean peoples and crowds and nations and tongues. 16 And the ten horns that you saw, and the wild beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her devastated and naked, and will eat up her fleshy parts and will completely burn her with fire. 17 For God put [it] into their hearts to carry out his thought, even to carry out [their] one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished. 18 And the woman whom you saw means the great city that has a kingdom over the kings of the earth."
The time will come when all religious organizations registered with the state will be removed.
The End of the Babylon the Great (chap. 18)
Re 18:1-2, 41 After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, with great authority; and the earth was lighted up from his glory. 2 And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: "She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a lurking place of every unclean exhalation and a lurking place of every unclean and hated bird!
4 And I heard another voice out of heaven say: "Get out of her, my people, if YOU do not want to share with her in her sins, and if YOU do not want to receive part of her plagues.
See ➡ God's people in the Babylon the Great
Re 18:9-10, 15-19
9 "And the kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her, 10 while they stand at a distance because of their fear of her torment and say, 'Too bad, too bad, you great city, Babylon you strong city, because in one hour your judgment has arrived!'
15 "The traveling merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of [their] fear of her torment and will weep and mourn, 16 saying, 'Too bad, too bad-the great city, clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet, and richly adorned with gold ornament and precious stone and pearl, 17 because in one hour such great riches have been devastated!'
And every ship captain and every man that voyages anywhere, and sailors and all those who make a living by the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out as they looked at the smoke from the burning of her and said, 'What city is like the great city?' 19 And they threw dust upon their heads and cried out, weeping and mourning, and said, 'Too bad, too bad-the great city, in which all those having boats at sea became rich by reason of her costliness, because in one hour she has been devastated!'
The Babylon the great is said "the great city."
The end of the great city would be at the end of the great tribulation.
Re 16:17-21
17 And the seventh one poured out his bowl upon the air. At this a loud voice issued out of the sanctuary from the throne, saying: "It has come to pass!" 18 And lightnings and voices and thunders occurred, and a great earthquake occurred such as had not occurred since men came to be on the earth, so extensive an earthquake, so great. 19 And the great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and Babylon the Great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of the anger of his wrath. 20 Also, every island fled, and mountains were not found. 21 And a great hail with every stone about the weight of a talent descended out of heaven upon the men, and the men blasphemed God due to the plague of hail, because the plague of it was unusually great.
Re 18:20-21
20 "Be glad over her, O heaven, also YOU holy ones and YOU apostles and YOU prophets, because God has judicially exacted punishment for YOU from her!"
21 And a strong angel lifted up a stone like a great millstone and hurled it into the sea, saying: "Thus with a swift pitch will Babylon the great city be hurled down, and she will never be found again.
Re 18:22-24
22 And the sound of singers who accompany themselves on the harp and of musicians and of flutists and of trumpeters will never be heard in you again, and no craftsman of any trade will ever be found in you again, and no sound of a millstone will ever be heard in you again, 23 and no light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again;
because your traveling merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, for by your spiritistic practice all the nations were misled. 24 Yes, in her was found the blood of prophets and of holy ones and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth."
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