Ruthe's Secret Rosesl
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The Beasts and the Harvest Angels
In the visions that John saw, the beast that rose out of the sea, and the beast that came out of
the earth seem to merge into one. The second took on the authority of the first, and to act on
behalf of the first, who had been mortally wounded but came to life again.
The second is given power on behalf of the first beast to deceive the inhabitants of the
earth and to force them to worship the image, or idol, of the first beast. Those who refuse are
killed outright. Everyone is commanded to receive the mark of the beast or they can't sell or buy a
thing.
Many Bible scholars have concluded that the second beast is a human man, who is fully
possessed and indwelt of Satan, who is the first beast. This is the anti-Christ.
John's attention is drawn away again to the 144,000 who had been fearless missionaries on
earth, but who are at that point worshipping the Lamb in Heaven, singing their new song.
Then he sees an angel flying in mid-air over the earth and calling out the gospel with a
loud voice, reminding people to worship and trust God.
(Isn't that great? When there are no humans left or able to evangelize, God sends an angel!
Not that this should make us complacent).
A second angel follows crying out, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the
nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries!"
A third angel follows with a longer speech, warning that those who worship the beast or
accept his mark in their hand or forehead, will also drink the wine of God's fury." This angel
continues to describe hell, where there will be no end to their torment with burning sulphur. Those
who do believe God are to endure patiently; they will be rescued.
John looks up again, and there, seated on a white cloud is yet another angel, with a crown
of gold on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hands. He looks like the son of man, which tells us
this is the Christ as we've seen in other angel appearances throughout the Bible.
As soon as a loud voice from the temple in Heaven calls out to go harvest the earth, this
angel takes one swing over the earth with the sickle and the earth is harvested.
Another angel comes out of that temple with a sickle. Still another comes who has charge of
the fire on the altar, and calls out in a loud voice to harvest the grapes on earth and put them
into God's wine press of wrath. This second harvest then would not involve any God-fearing
believers.
However, there must be some people left on the earth, because in the next scene we find
seven angels with the last seven plagues for the earth.
You and I may have thought that those who do wicked things are getting away with it. These
prophecies remind us that when that wickedness reaches its zenith, God will deal with evil in a very
final, thorough way. All past evil will be dealt with too.
When the Heavens seem like cold brass to your prayers, it does not mean there is silence, or
nothing there. Revelation shows there is a lot going on up there! We need to trust God with utter
abandon, and patiently endure our small trials, for compared to what the evil people shall suffer -
we don't know what pain is!
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