(tm)The seventh bowl
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And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of the heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of the heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (Revelation 16:17-21)
"It is done"! God has avenged Himself of the behavior of man on the earth. He has demonstrated His wrath: first in the pruning judgments of the great tribulation; and then in the plagues and catastrophes of the bowls of wrath.
The voices of God and His saints speak, and the voices of Satan and his followers speak. Thunder and lightning rock the heavens and the earth. It is the Day of Wrath—the Day of Vengeance of our God on all who despise His law and ways.
The most dreadful earthquake of all time will shake and rend the earth until the islands and the mountains remove from their places.
Notice the expression, "the great city." It is our point of view that the city mentioned here will be the center of Christianity, or possibly of the combined religions of the world. It appears it will be established at the original site of Babylon, as we stated previously. Shinar is the land in which the city of Babylon was located, the plain where the Tower of Babel was erected.
The ministry of the two witnesses of Revelation, Chapter Eleven, which we believe to be the ministry of the Lord and His saints, will result in the testimony of the Kingdom of God being given to every nation on earth (Matthew 24:14). We think the majority of the peoples of the earth will repent and be baptized because of the cataclysmic acts performed by the end-time witnesses.
The result of the conversion to Christianity of millions—perhaps billions—of earth’s population may be the establishing of Shinar as the religious capital of the world. The leaders of this center may be skillful enough to gather into one headquarters the Catholic and Protestant organizations, and perhaps the other principal religious groups as well.
It is possible that the religious capital of the world will be located in Rome. But Rome is associated so strongly with the Catholic Church that it seems a different location would be more appealing to the majority of the religious people of the world. The site of ancient Babylon might appeal to the eastern cultures and not be repugnant to the western religious leadership. Certainly a supremely powerful organization including various persuasions would have a problem choosing Rome as the new headquarters.
If we are correct, there will be two main types of leadership in the last days: first, the secular leadership, headed by Antichrist; second, the religious leadership, presided over by a supreme pope, or bishop. Although both of these are expressions of Satan they eventually will clash. The kings who follow Antichrist will destroy the Christian organization (Revelation 17:16,17). Then Antichrist will declare he alone is God (II Thessalonians 2:4).
When the "kings of the east" ride in triumphal procession on the bed of the Euphrates they will receive no opposition from Babylon because that city, along with the cities of the nations, will fall because of the massive earthquake.
In the days of the seventh angel, God will remember the sins of Babylon and will cause the great whore to drink the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.
Huge hailstones will fall from the heaven, killing people and destroying their property. These hailstones are from God’s arsenal and will prepare the way for the invasion of the earth by the Lord Jesus Christ and His army of saints.
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