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Why is it necessary to show that God judges perfectly?

SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE

antichrist last seven years The previous article concluded that the Purpose of the Plagues is not to punish, but to demonstrate that God’s judgments are perfect:

The people with the mark of the beast are the modern Pharisees. In name, they are Christians, but the plagues will show that they are hardened beyond repentance.

The people with the seal of God will be a persecuted minority, but the plagues will also show that they would rather die than to be unfaithful to their Creator.

The current article provides context to these conclusions:

HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE FOR SIN TO ARISE IN THE FIRST PLACE?

How was it possible for sin to arise if God is almighty and good?

God is love and wants us to love Him in return, but that requires freedom. For that reason, He creates intelligent beings with the freedom to love or to hate Him. Sin comes from this freedom. We can take great comfort in the fact that God did not exterminate the first sinner as soon as he had the first evil thoughts for it shows that our freedom is real. He protects our freedom, even if it costs Him the life of His only begotten Son.

WHY DID GOD ALLOW SIN TO DEVELOP FURTHER?

Why did He allow sin to develop to the level of cruelty and suffering we see around us today?

- - Firstly, by accusing God’s elect, Satan, by implication, accuses God of unfair judgment.
  - Secondly, Satan’s ways did not appear to be evil at first.

If God destroyed Satan before his accusations were refuted and the true nature of rebellion was revealed, the intelligent creatures would have concluded that Satan’s accusations are true.

As stated, the purpose of the plagues is not to punish, but to reveal the truth. More specifically, the purpose of the plagues is to demonstrate that it is not God who kills sinners, but that separation from Him NATURALLY causes degeneration and eventually destruction. To disconnect yourself from the Almighty is to disconnect yourself from life itself, for God is the life of the universe and of every living being. The purpose of the plaques is to show what happens when the world is disconnected from its Creator. It will self-destruct.

WHY DO ANGELS DOUBT GOD’S JUDGMENTS?

As stated, even the heavenly beings that remain loyal to God were unable to prove conclusively that God’s judgments are always perfect. To understand this, we need to understand how sin developed.

Sin originated in Satan; before the world was created. He was the most beautiful and most talented being ever created (cf. Ezekiel 18:13) but he wanted to be adored equal to God (Isa 14:13, 14). Satan is the master accuser (Rev 12:10). He covered his motives under a cloak of lies. Due to his brilliant attacks on the perfection of God’s judgments, he succeeded to lead a very large portion of the perfect angels away from God (Rev 12:7). Not even the loyal angels are sure that God always judges perfectly. Therefore, even the loyal angels need answers.

GOD IS NOT THE JUDGE.

Obviously, God wants to make an end of sin as soon as possible. Why does He allow sin to continue?

Freedom is freedom without fear of punishment. If we fear that God will punish us if we sin, then we are not completely free. God will eventually destroy evil and all beings that have become permanently committed to evil, but it will not be a punishment for past evil deeds. He will destroy evil to protect the future safety and happiness of the universe.

But the destruction of evil will only be to the benefit of the universe when God’s angels and people agree that the destruction of evildoers is the only option. If unanswered questions remain, if a lingering doubt with respect to God’s goodness remains, that doubt can become the seed in the future eternities for another rebellion. Only when all questions with respect to the nature and consequences of evil have been answered, to the satisfaction of God’s intelligent creatures, can God safely eliminate the destructive forces from the universe. God, therefore, is not the judge.

– END OF SUMMARY –

THE PURPOSE OF THE PLAGUES
IS TO DEMONSTRATE.

The previous article concluded that the Purpose of the Plagues is not to punish, but to demonstrate that God’s judgments are perfect:

The people with the mark of the beast are the modern Pharisees. In name, they are Christians, but the plagues will show that they are hardened beyond repentance. Even under the most severe circumstances, they will not repent. Therefore the only solution is eternal death.

The people with the seal of God will be a persecuted minority, but the plagues will also show that they would rather die than to be unfaithful to God by submitting to the image of the beast, and, therefore, are worthy of eternal life.

Combined, these demonstrations will show that God’s judgment, as to who will live and who will die, is perfect.

HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE FOR SIN TO ARISE?

Why did sin arise in the first place? How was it possible for sin to develop?

God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). He is light, and in Him, there is no darkness (1 John 1:5). His government is based on unconditional love. He loves all His creatures. He loved them so much that He was willing to give His only begotten Son to die for them (John 3:16).

Love requires freedom – God also wants us to love Him in return (Matt 22:37-38), but that requires freedom. The only obedience that He desires is obedience that results from love. Obedience that is FORCED or based on FEAR, even in the slightest degree, is no obedience at all. Real love is freely given.

Humans have free choice – For that reason, God creates intelligent beings with the freedom to love or to hate Him. He could have created robots, programmed to always say ‘I love you’, but He chose to create free intelligent creatures, with the ability to curse Him.

Sin arose from this freedom. Freedom creates the potential for evil; to hurt and even kill.

WHY DID GOD NOT ELIMINATE
THE FIRST SINNER?

The above explains why the first evil came to exist, but why did God not exterminate the first sinner (Satan) as soon as he had the first evil thoughts? God could have erased any memory of Satan from our minds, for He is Almighty.

However, if He would do that, our freedom would not be real. Since He did not do that, we know that God regards our freedom very high. We can take great comfort in the fact that God did allow Satan to continue for it shows that, although God is Almighty, and although every thought and every action depend on His supporting power, He protects our freedom, even if it costs Him the life of His only begotten Son.

WHY DID GOD ALLOW SIN TO DEVELOP?

Why did God allow sin to develop to the level of cruelty and suffering we see around us today? Why did He not put an end to evil a long time ago?

In the Bible, we often that Satan accuses God’s people, for example in the cases of Job (Job 1:9, 10) and Joshua (Zech 3:1). Revelation, therefore, refers to Satan as the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10). Since he specifically accuses God’s people, rather than his own followers, Satan, by implication, accuses God of applying grace where grace is not justified.

God had condemned Satan and his angels to the lake of fire (Matt 25:41). To defend himself and his followers, Satan attempts to convince the universe that God judges arbitrarily and that He is severe on those who do not receive grace.

Furthermore, Satan has myriads of angels on his side (Rev 12:7). This implies that Satan claimed that his rebellion against God will be to the benefit of all God’s creatures; that his strategies will elevate their existence and happiness. Satan’s ways did not appear to be evil at first.

Obviously, God wants to make an end of sin as soon as possible. But if God destroys Satan his accusations against God were refuted and the true nature of rebellion was revealed, doubt over God’s goodness will linger, even with His loyal angels. God had to allow sin to develop to demonstrate the real nature and consequences of evil.

SEPARATION FROM GOD KILLS.

God is our life. All the energy and all the wisdom that created all things came OUT OF God. He also continually upholds everything by His power (Heb 1:3; Col 1:17). He is not somewhere out there, while we carry on down here. He is, rather, continually upholding every aspect of His creation; even Satan himself. For that reason, it would conceptually not be wrong to say that only God exists and that we are part of Him. We must not underestimate the meaning of the fact that God is Almighty. He really can do anything, and our existence, from second to second, depends fully on Him. Therefore, to reject God is to reject life itself, for God is the life of the universe and of every living being.

Satan disconnected himself from the Source of life. That is the cause of the degeneration which we currently endure on this planet. The purpose of the plaques is to demonstrate that it is not God who destroys, but that separation from God destroys.

THE WORLD WILL SELF-DESTRUCT.

The plagues will show what happens when the world is disconnected from God. It will self-destruct:

We see evidence of this in Rev 17:16, where the beast, which always carried the woman, will tear her apart.

Further support for this idea comes from the reference to the “Gog and Magog” in Rev 20:8, which brings with it the words of God against the “Gog of the land of Magog” (Ezek. 38:1) that they will be “a great assembly and a mighty army,” but “every man’s sword will be against his brother” (Ezek 38:15, 21).

We have no need to be afraid of God. It is of sin that we must be afraid.

ANGELS NEED ANSWERS.

Many people think that sinless heavenly beings (including angels) do not need more information to understand that rebellion against God is bad. That, however, is not true. Revelation 5 symbolizes the uncertainty among the inhabitants of heaven, of whether God’s judgments are perfect, as a sealed book (See Book of Life). To understand why angels need answers, we need to understand a little about how sin developed.

THE ORIGIN OF EVIL

Sin existed before man was created, and was brought from heaven to earth by the Serpent of old (Gen 3; Rev 12:9).

Sin originated in Satan. God said of him: “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you” (Ezek 28:15).

Satan was (is?) the most beautiful being ever created (cf. Ezek 18:13). He was adored by all, but he wanted to be adored equal to God (Isa 14:13, 14). Logically, evil did not suddenly spring up in Satan one day; it developed slowly over a long period. Given how God deals with sinners on earth, we can safely assume that God warned Satan clearly and repeatedly of the consequences of the direction he was taking. But, eventually, Satan became fully committed to the path he chose.

EVEN LOYAL ANGELS WERE NOT SURE.

Sin did not remain only with Satan. He succeeded to lead many of the perfect angels away from God (Rev 12:7).

Satan is the master accuser (Rev 12:10). He is able to confuse anything that is clear. He did not openly admit his intentions, but covered his motives under a cloak of lies, masterfully flattering the angels when they agree with him but, when they disagree, accusing them of not willing to suffer for the goodwill of the universe. The angels did not understand what the end result of Satan’s strategies would be. Even the angels that remained loyal to God did not understand. Therefore, even the loyal angels need answers.

GOD IS NOT THE JUDGE

Freedom is without fear of punishment.

If we fear that God will punish us if we sin, then we are not completely free, and our obedience is forced. Therefore, God’s intelligent creatures are free to do whatever they wish, without fear of punishment! GOD WILL NOT PUNISH EVILDOERS.

God will eventually destroy evil and all beings that have become permanently committed to evil, but it will not be a punishment for past evil deeds. He will destroy evil to protect the future safety and happiness of the universe.

God knows and understands all things, and He knows what is best. But the destruction of evil will only be to the benefit of the universe when God’s angels and people agree that the destruction of evildoers is the only option. In particular, they must understand why He will destroy some of the people whom they love. If unanswered questions remain, if a lingering doubt with respect to God’s goodness remains, that doubt can become the seed in the future eternities for another rebellion. Only when all questions with respect to the nature and consequences of evil have been answered, to the satisfaction of God’s intelligent creatures, can God safely eliminate the destructive forces from the universe.

Sin will never again arise.

In the new heavens and new earth, which God will create, God’s intelligent beings will have the freedom to sin, but there will never again be any sin because all intelligent beings will understand what the end result of selfishness is. Then we will live in complete safety and trust in the wonderful, perfect new world which He will create:

“Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev 21:5).

That is the reason for the delay. Time is required to provide answers to Satan’s accusations against God. (See also, The book which not even God can open.)

God, therefore, is not the judge. For example:

In the judgment scene in Daniel, many thrones are set up, and the books were opened (Dan 7:9). It is therefore not only God that judges and God does not need books.

The judgment will be given to the saved (Rev 20:4).

CHRIST’S DEATH

Why did God not make an end to sin after Jesus won the victory on the cross? After all, according to the interpretation of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 by this website, one of the goals of Christ’s death was “to make an end of sins” (Dan 7:24). In support of this, in Rev 1:5 we read that Jesus Christ “released us from our sins by His blood.”

JESUS OVERCAME

There are many theories of the atonement (why Christ had to die). This website supports the view which the church held in the first few centuries, namely that Christ’s life and death was a battle between good and evil, and He overcame evil with good (see Why Christ had to die). Jesus’ death demonstrated God’s righteousness:

“Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood … This was to demonstrate His righteousness … so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:24-26)

In other words, Christ’s death demonstrated God’s righteousness. His death proves that God is just when He justifies sinners who have faith in Jesus Christ.

WHAT ELSE IS REQUIRED BEFORE
GOD CAN MAKE AN END OF SIN?

But if Christ’s death on the cross was all that was required to eradicate sin from the universe, God would not have allowed sin to continue there-after. Since evil and its consequences are still thriving 2000 years later, we must conclude that, to make a complete end to evil, God needs more than the cross.

That is explained by the Seven Seals of Revelation. Jesus has overcome to be regarded worthy to open the sealed book (Rev 5:5,9) but He is still breaking the seals. That means that He directs events on earth to reveal the perfection of God’s judgments through the deeds of people. The sixth seal has the signs of His return (Rev 6:12-15). In other words, Christ will return and God will execute His judgments as soon as the final seal is broken.

THE GOG AND MAGOG

As stated, the plagues will provide answers. But even after the plagues, unanswered questions will remain, for sinners will be resurrected at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:5). Then Satan will also be released from his prison (Rev 20:7). The purpose of the war of the Gog and Magog (Rev 20:8) is still the same, namely to provide answers to the questions raised by Satan. Only when all these questions have been answered, will the devil be exterminated in the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev 20:10).

FINAL CONCLUSIONS

It was possible for sin to arise, despite the fact that God is almighty and good, because God creates intelligent beings with the freedom to love or hate.

If God exterminated the first sinner, the intelligent creatures would have concluded that Satan’s accusations are true. God had to allow sin to develop further to reveal that separation from Him NATURALLY causes degeneration and eventually destruction.

Even some loyal angels doubt the perfection of God’s judgments because Satan masterly covered his true motives under a cloak of lies.

God is not the judge. He will only destroy evil and evildoers when God’s angels and people agree that that is the only option.

ARTICLES ON THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

Introduction
Revelation 15
First four plagues
Not interpreted individually
Overview – refuse to repent
Fifth Plague
The Throne of the Beast
The Mighty Angel of Revelation 18.
Conclusions
Sixth Plague
The Great River, the Euphrates, dries up.
The Kings from the East
Armageddon
Does “coming like a thief” support a secret rapture?
Why the Euphrates has to dry up
Summary & Conclusions
Seventh Plague
Purpose of the Plagues
To show that God judges perfectly
Why is it necessary to show that God’s judges perfectly?

For further reading on Revelation, Jon Paulien’s commentary is recommended. For general discussions of theology, I recommend Graham Maxwell, who you will find on the Pineknoll website.

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Why the Euphrates dries for the Kings from the East

Purpose

Why must the Euphrates dry up to prepare the way for the Kings from the East?

In the first verse of the sixth plague, the Euphrates River dries up to prepare the way for the Kings from the East (Rev 16:12). In Old Testament times, the Euphrates flowed through the ancient city of Babylon, supporting life in the city. As discussed in previous articles, Revelation uses Babylon and her river as symbols:

Old Testament Babylon becomes the harlot (Rev 17:2), symbolizing the false religious system(s) that has corrupted humanity for thousands of years. In the End Times, Babylon wears a Christian mask (See here).

The Euphrates symbolizes the people’s support for Babylon (cf. Rev 17:1, 15). In the End Time, the Euphrates represents support for false Christianity. (See here)

The Kings from the East symbolize Christ and His angels at His return (cf. Rev 19:16). (See here)

So, the question becomes:

Why must support for false Christianity dry up before Christ may return?

One option is that this is simply a leftover of what happened historically, when the literal Euphrates literally dried up to allow literal kings from the East (Cyrus and his troops) to conquer ancient literal Babylon, and that we do not have to read anything more into it.

On the other hand, since the following verses state that demon spirits gather the kings for “the great day,” an alternative interpretation is that,

1) Until the Euphrates (Babylon’s support) has dried up, the demon spirits cannot go out to gather the kings, and

2) Until the kings are gathered, the kings from the East cannot arrive.

This could be explained as follows:

(a) Demon spirits have taken over God’s church. The Beast of Revelation is the Church of the Middle Ages (see here), which burned its opponents alive at the stake. Babylon, the driving force behind God’s enemies (Rev 17:3, 6), is described as “fallen” and as “a dwelling place of demons” (Rev 14:8; 18:2), but it is currently hidden in a Christian cloak.

(b) The drying up of the Euphrates is when God’s true people leave her when they realize, through the Loud Cry of the angel of Revelation 18 (see here), that Spiritual Babylon has become a place where demons dwell.

(c) When that Christian cloak is ripped off, Babylon (false Christianity) will reveal its true Satanic nature. Then Babylon will be able to gather the kings with explicit demonic powers and miracles, which the kings of the world will gladly accept because that is also the source of their power.

(d) Jesus Christ can only return after the true nature of the Church has been revealed. God has been delaying Christ’s return and the execution of His judgments until all understand that His judgments are perfect. When the true nature of mainstream Christianity has been revealed, Christ may return to execute God’s judgments. Show More

Babylon is the driving force behind the Beast.

This explanation uses the terms ‘Babylon’ and ‘the Beast’ more or less as synonyms, but there are two distinct concepts:

The Beast of Revelation 13 is a specific organization, originating at a specific time in history, namely, the Church of the Middle Ages. However, ‘the Beast’ is a much wider concept. The Beast of Rev 13 is one of the seven heads (phases or manifestations) of ‘the Beast.’ Each of the seven heads is one specific organization of a series of organizations over time. (See here)

Babylon, on the other hand, is the false religion that exists in all ages and is the driving force behind the Beast.

End-time Persecution

The plagues begin to fall while the end-time persecution of Revelation 13:15-16 still rages. To understand the drying up requires an understanding of that crisis:

The Sea Beast is the Church of the Middle Ages.

The Beast of Revelation is not directly involved in the end-time crisis. But it gives power to the Land Beast, which gives life to the Image of the Beast, which persecutes God’s end-time people (Rev 13:11-15) and puts the Mark of the Beast on its followers (Rev 13:16-17).

The Beast (from the sea – Rev 13:1) is the Church of the Middle Ages (See here). This is a foundational concept. Unless accepted, very little else in the article will make sense. Show More

The Land Beast is end-time false Christianity.

That persecution begins when a second beast comes “up out of the earth” (Rev 13:11). It “had two horns like a lamb” (v11), meaning it appears Christ-like. Therefore, the Land Beast is a Christian religious organization. Show More

But it “spoke as a dragon” (Rev 13:11), which is a symbol for Satan (Rev 12:9). Furthermore, it receives its authority from the Beast (Rev 13:12) and “deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform” (Rev 13:14). For these reasons, it is also called “the false prophet” (compare with Rev 16:13; 19:20). Therefore, the Land Beast symbolizes end-time false Christianity.

The Mark of the Beast is an orthodox doctrine..

The Mark of the Beast is some unbiblical (blasphemous) doctrine or practice for which the Beast (the Church of the Middle Ages) is particularly known but which is still used today by false Christianity as boundary marker to identify and persecute heretics. It is not something that will be developed in the end-time. (See here)

Therefore, the end-time persecution of Rev 13:11-18 is persecution by false Christianity of Christians who protest and preach against this orthodox but unscriptural doctrine of the church.

The Image of the Beast is the State.

The Image of the Beast is a replica of the Beast, namely of the system during the Middle Ages when the Church dominated civil government and persecuted “heretics” through the strong arm of the state (Rev 13:15; 14:13). (See here)

Seven Last Plagues

The following describes the events in the plagues before the Euphrates dries up:

The plagues begin when all people are marked.

Revelation 15 represents a critical point in human history during that end-time persecution, when all people have made their decisions and all people have received either the Mark of the Beast or the Seal of God (Rev 7:1-3; 14:1). In other words, the eternal destiny of every person has been fixed. From this point forward, nobody will change sides (cf. Rev 16:9, 11). But, Christ still does not return. Instead, the plagues begin to fall, but only on the people with the Mark of the Beast (Rev 16:2, 10). (See here)

The Fifth Plague exposes false Christianity.

The Fifth Plague falls on “the throne of the beast” (Rev 16:10), a symbol of the Beast’s authority, which is Christian religious authority. (See here) The darkness in the Beast’s kingdom (Rev 16:10), meaning that it suffers humiliation before the people of the world, will be caused by the Loud Cry of Rev 18 (See here), which will make everybody aware that false Christianity “HAS BECOME a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit” (Rev 18:1-2). .

Therefore, God’s people will come out of Babylon.

The Loud Cry calls God’s people, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues” (Rev 18:4). Consequently, at the beginning of the sixth plague, God’s people come out of the organizations of false Christianity, symbolized as the drying up of the Euphrates (Rev 6:12). Show More

But those with the Mark of the Beast refuse to repent.

The fifth plague concludes with the words:

“They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds” (Rev 16:11, cf. 16:9).

Previously, the Christians with the Mark of the Beast believed that the Beast spoke for God. Now, they realize that they oppose God. But still, many do not come out of Babylon. They refuse to repent and continue to blaspheme God. They are hardened beyond repentance,

The Church partners with Spiritualism.

In the sixth plague, after the waters of the Euphrates dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the east (Rev 6:12), “spirits of demons” come from the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet (Rev 16:13). This will be a turning point in human history. Due to the onslaught of the first five plagues, the kingdom of false Christianity (the mainstream denominations) was darkened, and the Euphrates dried up, meaning that it has lost much influence and many supporters. But now the Church has received renewed power in the form of “spirits of demons, performing signs” (Rev 16:14), implying that God allows Satan direct control over the false Christianity. It has now joined forces with spiritualism.

The Church prepares the World to appose Christ when He returns.

The demons out of the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet, performing signs, go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. They gathered them together at Har-Magedon. (Rev 16:13, 14, 16) In other words, the mainstream church gathers the civil authorities of the World through Satanic miracles. The Beast-powers realize that Christ will return imminently, and they prepare the world to war against Him when He comes (Rev 16:16; 19:19). Armageddon is Christ’s return.

The Cosmic Crisis

Why the support for false Christianity must dry up before Christ may return must be understood in the cosmic context:

The War on Earth was caused by the War in Heaven.

The rebellion against God, which we experience on earth, actually began in heaven when a vast number of God’s holy angels joined Satan’s revolt against God (Gen 3:1, read with Rev 20:2; Rev 12:4, 7; Dan 10:13; Job 1:6). In other words, the war on earth is the outflow of a war between the angels of heaven (Rev 12:7). (See here)

Satan argues convincingly that God judges unfairly.

God condemned Satan and his angels to the pool of fire. To defend himself, Satan accused God of unfair judgment (cf. Rev 12:10). Due to Satan’s enormous intellect and knowledge of the evil committed by each and every person, he is able to show the horrible sins of God’s elect, like David who killed the husband of the woman he had an affair with.

On the other hand, the people with the Mark of the Beast are conservative Christians who persecute other Christians. They are Bible-believing, well-dressed, respectable, refined, and educated church-going Christians. They aim to live according to the Law of God. They struggle to put to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13). Still, God rejects them and sentences them to “the second death, the lake of fire” (Rev 20:14). Show More

This enables Satan to question God’s judgment (Rev 12:10), for it appears as if some of God’s elect, as identified in the Book of Life (Rev 13:8), have committed worse sins than some of the people with the Mark of the Beast.

Even God’s loyal angels are not sure that God judges perfectly.

Many even sinless heavenly beings are not sure whether God’s judgments are always perfect! God is able to see what is really in the heart of every person, but His intelligent creatures are not. For them, it is very difficult, sometimes impossible, to distinguish God’s people from other people, particularly considering Satan’s brilliant presentation of the sins of God’s elect. Show More

God wants all to trust His judgments.

God wants all intelligent beings to trust Him fully. By faith, we live today; by faith, we will live in eternity. In particular, He wants all intelligent beings to trust His judgments perfectly. Therefore, He will allow this world to continue, even after the eternal destiny for each and every person has been decided, to show the universe that His judgments are perfect.

The Purpose of the Plagues is to show that God’s judgments are perfect.

The purpose of the plagues is to reveal what created beings are unable to see beneath the Christian façade: the true nature of the end-time Pharisees. Through the plagues, He will show God’s intelligent creatures throughout the universe that the people with the Mark of the Beast are truly set against God’s principles. Show More

The Church had adopted doctrines that reflect the views of man, not of God.

The religious leaders of Christ’s day were zealous for “the traditions of the elders” (Mark 7:3, cf. 8). These traditions were intended to prevent people from sinning but put the focus on outward behavior and ignore the more important matters of love, faith, and trust. These burdensome requirements reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men, rather than the character of the loving heavenly Father, and represented God as a tyrant. The traditions enabled the Pharises to judge other people according to their norms and, eventually, served to separate man from God.

The same applies to the church today. Consistent with the principles that govern their lives, the “Pharisees” of the church create a view of God as cruel, controlling, severe, and quick to judge. Based on this view of God, over many centuries, the church has developed doctrines that align more with our fallen nature than the character of the loving heavenly Father, such as:

God decides who must go to hell, irrespective of what people are or do.

Those whom He has condemned to hell, He will torment for all eternity.

Christ had to suffer to save others because God’s righteousness demands that somebody must suffer. Or worse, that Christ’s suffering appeased the wrath of God.

Like the Pharisees in Christ’s time, end-time Christian leaders will regard the orthodox church doctrines above the Bible, rule the church by fear, and condemn, marginalize, and persecute people who teach anything contrary to the orthodox teachings.

The mainstream Church of today is the continuation of the ancient heathen religion. It had adopted a Christian face, but its real nature is revealed by the doctrines it received from its mother, such as that man has an immortal soul.

The Plagues reveal their true nature.

The plagues will reveal the true nature of the people God has condemned to the second death, for, when the first five plagues show them that they really do not serve God, but Satan, and that they are persecuting God’s true people, they refuse to humble themselves and repent (Rev 16:9, 11).

On the contrary, when Satan sends “spirits of demons, performing signs” to gather the kings (Rev 16:14), due to their pride and the hardness of their hearts, they accept this new power with the full knowledge that this power is from Satan. They allow the miracle-working demon spirits to lead them against God. In this way, the plagues will show that they, similar to “the elders and the chief priests and the scribes” in Christ’s time, are fully committed to the principles of the god of this world (cf. 2 Cor 4:4). They “outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly … are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matt 23:27-28).

This will confirm God’s judgment of them. It will show that the end-time Pharisees have opened themselves to the powers of darkness to such a degree that the enemy could use them and they would think that they were being used by God.

This is the final test that is required before Jesus may return to the world He created. Jesus’ death was also a test. Lot’s torment was a test. Everything is tested because the crisis in the universe is about whether the judgments of the Almighty can be fully trusted.

The end-time plagues serve as a test and confirmation of God’s judgments in all ages. On Judgment Day, there will be many who have died in previous centuries who died in the same spiritual condition and demand:

“Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name?” (Matt 7:22)

And Jesus would answer:

“I never knew you; depart from me” (Matt 7:23).

In conclusion, the purpose of the plagues is to prove to all of God’s intelligent creatures throughout the universe that God’s judgment is right and perfect and that we, therefore, can look forward to spending eternity knowing that we can rely 100% on the Almighty.

Category: Book of Revelation

Why is it necessary to show that God judges perfectly?

SUMMARY OF THIS ARTICLE

HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE FOR SIN TO ARISE IN THE FIRST PLACE?