We covered last week what the angel of the waters called out in the midst of

the destructive justice poured out in the third bowl. As the waters of the

world were turned to blood and every living creature in the sea dying, the

angel of the waters, in perfection, in heaven, calls out, “You are righteous,

O Lord.” And then John hears another call out from the altar in the midst of

judgment upon the earth saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and

righteous are Your judgments!”

This is a theme throughout the book of Revelation. The four living creatures,

the twenty-four elders, the saints, the angels, the host of heaven, in the midst

of great destruction upon the earth deployed by God Himself, even so,

true and righteous, fair and perfect…, everything You are doing.

The point and principal is that God is a just God. True and right in all that He

does. Perfect and without blemish in every action He takes. Many times in

our lives we will find that hard to receive. Or maybe that’s just me. Because

many times things are difficult for us, unfair in our opinion, in light of the

circumstance, unfair for us and for others… And yet God operates at a level

higher than my understanding, higher than my temporal subjective

perspective, and truly God’s ways are past finding out. Romans 11:33 says,

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How

unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!”

And so, things happen. Bad things happen to good people. We witness and

live through great atrocities and hardships, and all the while, by faith that

believes God over sight, the Christian conclusion that resonates with

heaven, even so, true and righteous are Your ways, God…

So, with that, before we dive back into our study in Revelation 16, I want to

address a few topics, a few questions that I have gotten repeatedly over the

years. The first is, what about those that have not heard the gospel? What

about those that have never heard of Jesus Christ? What happens to them

when they die?

It's a great question. And a very poor answer is, “well everyone has heard.”

Not so. There are those without the ability physically to hear. Well then, they

hear through sign language, not so. Lazy answer, in fact. There are those

who have mental impairments. Not able to hear, speak, communicate in any

way… Let’s not be lazy, let’s be Biblical!

Turn with me if you will to Romans Chapter 2. Look at verses 5 – 16. “In

accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring

up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous

judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”

eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory,

honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey

the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and

anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the

Greek; but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to

the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For

as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as

many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers

of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be

justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things

in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who

show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also

bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else

excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus

Christ, according to my gospel.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that we are made in a specific way with, let me read

the verse, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put

eternity in their hearts…” God has given each person a principled compass.

An indicator of good and an implicatory of what is bad, what is wrong. Some

call it conscience, that is to humanize it too far, it is eternity written on the

very heart, the code of a person. And so, what about those that have never

heard. Have no knowledge of Jesus Christ. The Gospel never heard, known,

understood? The answer is the common theme throughout the Bible. God is

just. True and righteous are His judgments and with Him there is no

partiality.

There are those that are uncommunicative due to mental condition or

circumstance. That have never said a word and seemingly never understood a

word. Can God speak to them in a way only they would/could understand?

Of course He can. Romans 2 is authoritative and conclusive. Preach the

Gospel and if you have heard, you have the ability to respond, you are

responsible. And if you have not heard, Romans 2 is authoritative and

conclusive. God will be, and everyone given the evidence in His presence

will one day agree, He is just.

So do you need to receive Jesus as Your Lord and Savior. Confess with your

mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from

the dead? YOU sure do. Because you have heard. Altar calls, the prayer of

repentance, the Sinner’s prayer, these are all quite modern practices and not

explicitly found in the Bible. They are the modern churches rightful

application of Romans 10:9…, and, for those that have not heard, Romans 2

is the authority, not the opinion or judgment of man.

Let’s hit one more topic. What about babies? They could fit into the

application of Romans 2 as well…, children that have not reached the “age

of accountability.” Nowhere is that phrase found in the Bible…, by the way.

What about a child that is very very young that dies…, what happens to

them? Again, God is just. Holy and righteous in all His ways…

We get a little help from Paul. 1 Corinthians 7:14 is the single substantive

scripture on the topic, on this question. Paul writes, speaking of the condition

of the home, “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the

unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would

be unclean, but now they are holy.” If we were to answer the question purely

based upon scripture, and not based upon human sentiment or opinion, we’d

say God is just, and will be just to the deceased child, in accordance with

Romans 2. And if that child has at least one believing parent, we could be

sure. That is the sola scriptura answer to the question about what we call,

“the age of accountability.”

Back to the scene in Revelation 16…

Revelation Chapter 16 Verse 12

 The river Euphrates is significant in the Bible. It is mentioned 25 times

and serves as one of the original borders of the land promised to

Abraham and here we see it dried up so that the way of the kings from

the east, or literally, the kings of the land of the rising sun, might be

prepared. Prepared for what? For them to come… For the eastern

countries like China and North Korea to bring their million-man armies

to fight against the Lord at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

We’ll see that in just a moment.

Revelation Chapter 16 Verses 13 – 14

 John says these demons look like frogs, …odd. And these frogs are

spirits of demons, performing signs, and yet look, they go out of the

mouths of the unholy trinity. Here’s a takeaway, words are incredibly

powerful. Use them for good. And in the end of the end, people will be

so desperate, that the narrative of the enemy will be enough for them to

rally on him and gather to attempt to fight God!

 One moment on the fact that John sees frogs. Why not make them

something a little more practical or pleasant? (Bunnies, puppies,

butterflies, HA!) I suggest to you that Satan’s ways are a surprise to

some folks. Impractical and improbable to expect they are evil! He

can use money, jobs, opportunity, relationships, valid and justified

needs…we think he uses things that are plainly evil, frogs…frogs?

 Here’s the principal. The enemy can use anything he wants to destroy

you. He causes them to square up against God ALL MIGHTY!? Idiots!

And the only way to fight back is to know the Word of God and then to

DO IT in the moment!

Revelation Chapter 16 Verses 15 - 16

 Weird, odd again! Why would Jesus refer to Himself as a thief? Seems

strange. But it’s not. He’s encouraging us! Us today, right now,

reading His Word, seeing all of this horror and destruction. He’s

reminding us that at this point the church is long gone. Gone all the

way back in chapter 4 at the rapture prior to the start of the time of Great

Tribulation upon the earth.

 How can I know for sure? Where do I get that conclusion from? 1

Thessalonians 5:4 tells the church that this day will not come upon it,

you and I, as a thief. Yet here Jesus says, “I come as a thief.” Why?

Seems odd. Not really. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says that if you are sons

and daughters of the light, if you are His, have chosen Him, then God

did not appoint us to wrath but rather salvation through Jesus Christ.

 And so here, these folks left upon the earth, He comes as a thief. They

don’t expect Him. They don’t fear Him. They aren’t prepared!

Revelation Chapter 16 Verses 16 – 21

 For the third and final time, three times, John hears all people of the

earth curse God. This time because of the plague of hail which is

interesting because the Old Testament punishment for blasphemy was

stoning. Each one of these hail stones around 100 pounds!

 The entirety of the Bible is filled with stories, scenes, lessons,

history, context and characters that all tell one story. The Gospel of

Jesus Christ. And so, there are types, pointers, shadows, symbols,

parallels all of it…, as you go through each individually relevant

passage and as you study and learn the Word of God, connections pop

up everywhere giving you deeper understanding!

 God is methodically reversing and covering everything that

happened to Jesus at the cross, in these final judgments. The final

judgment paid in finality by Jesus, rejected…, so all of those things

being unwound and exacted upon the world…

 John 19:1 simply says, “So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.”

Scourging is the act of severe whipping as a brutal form of punishment

often used to force a confession. The scourge would have pieces of

metal or bone attached at the ends designed to cause deep wounds and

severe tearing of the skin. The first bowl judgment of the wrath of God

is the opening of the skin of those that have taken the mark and

worshipped the beast.

 The second and third bowl judgments are the turning the waters of the

world to blood. Water is the symbol of life. Life enabling, life

sustaining. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Life,” and Colossians

1:16b says, “All things were created through Him and for Him.” And

just as the blood of Life Himself was poured out for the sins of the

world, the sustaining element of life during the final judgment of the

earth is turned to blood!

 The fourth bowl is the judgment of fire. Fire is the great refiner, the

great purifier. And refinement in perfection, and purity in perfection

was undone as He hung on the cross for my sin, but now, refinement

and purity, justice returns and they blaspheme God for it…, just like

they did when Jesus was put on the cross.

 The fifth bowl, darkness and pain in the darkness. Matthew, Mark and

Luke all record that when Jesus was on the cross there was an

unnatural and unknown darkness over all the earth from the sixth hour

until the ninth hour. Only to be concluded with Jesus calling out, “My

God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” That darkness endured by

Jesus, the separation of the Father, now exacted upon the earth that

rejects Him…

 The sixth bowl, the Euphrates dries up… The center and source of all

life on the earth, preparing the way for the armies of the kings of the

earth to gather for final battle against God. The symbology is the heart

of Jesus pierced and felled by the spear of the Roman Soldier and in

that final blow, the source of living water dried and the veil separating

man from God torn apart. On one hand, no more separation from

God’s perfect love and acceptance and on the other hand pure

exposure to God’s righteous and final justice.

 And finally, the seventh bowl. Total victory for God, total defeat for

Satan. As Jesus cries “It is finished” in both scenes and the judgment is

poured out on the air who has her prince… And everything is gone…

 These final judgements happened once before and once before is an

option for us to accept. And the risk and reality is that the option of

having them happen once again remains…, yet ahead, at the end of the

age. Even so, understanding this a bit better, true and righteous are Your

judgments!!!