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.
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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.
Other Articles
- I recommend Jon Paulien’s commentary on Revelation for further reading. For general theological discussions, I recommend Graham Maxwell, who you will find on the Pineknoll website.
“Defiled garments” (Rev 3:4), nakedness (Rev 3:17-18) or “clothed in purple and scarlet” (Rev 17:4; cf. 18:16) symbolize sin, while “white” or “clean” garments (Rev 3:4-5; 6:11; 19:8) symbolize the spiritual condition of the people who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). As a further example: