Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 16:17-21
16:17. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
16:18. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.
16:19. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.
16:20. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
16:21. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
The seventh bowl of the wrath of God is poured out into the air. The consequences are as follows:
The consequences of the great earthquake are as follows:
Exodus 9:24-25
9:24. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
9:25. And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field.
The fire mingled with the hail has happened in Egypt when the Israelites would out of Egypt. It will happen again when the church of God goes out of the world until the world and all of the contents are destroyed (Revelation 16:21).
2 Peter 3:10
3:10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
The spiritual meaning of the hail is the love that grows cold, very cold, even freezes.
The spiritual meaning of the fervent heat is the increasing lawlessness.
The love that grows cold and the lawlessness will abound, so men including the servants of God blaspheme God; even they have experienced the punishment of the fire mingled with the hail. They blaspheme God because there is no love anymore. If we also become rebellious against God, we will be destroyed in the punishment. Do not blaspheme! Do not blame at the righteous people, so we do not experience the punishment.
That is why we must keep the increasing love of God from now on up to the perfect love, so we are set free from the seventh bowl of the wrath of God.
There are three places to keep the love of God as follows:
God blesses us.
Revelation 16:17-21
16:17. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
16:18. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.
16:19. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.
16:20. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
16:21. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
The seventh bowl of the wrath of God is poured out into the air. The consequences are as follows:
- A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven. It means that God's punishments must be done.
- There were noises and thunderings and lightnings; there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake.
The consequences of the great earthquake are as follows:
- Babylon was divided into three parts.
- Every island fled away.
- The mountains were not found.
- The great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent, and men blasphemed God.
Exodus 9:24-25
9:24. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, so very heavy that there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
9:25. And the hail struck throughout the whole land of Egypt, all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail struck every herb of the field and broke every tree of the field.
The fire mingled with the hail has happened in Egypt when the Israelites would out of Egypt. It will happen again when the church of God goes out of the world until the world and all of the contents are destroyed (Revelation 16:21).
2 Peter 3:10
3:10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
The spiritual meaning of the hail is the love that grows cold, very cold, even freezes.
The spiritual meaning of the fervent heat is the increasing lawlessness.
The love that grows cold and the lawlessness will abound, so men including the servants of God blaspheme God; even they have experienced the punishment of the fire mingled with the hail. They blaspheme God because there is no love anymore. If we also become rebellious against God, we will be destroyed in the punishment. Do not blaspheme! Do not blame at the righteous people, so we do not experience the punishment.
That is why we must keep the increasing love of God from now on up to the perfect love, so we are set free from the seventh bowl of the wrath of God.
There are three places to keep the love of God as follows:
- The household.
Exodus 9:18-19
9:18. "Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause very heavy hail to rain down, such as has not been in Egypt since its founding until now.
9:19. "Therefore send now and gather your livestock and all that you have in the field, for the hail shall come down on every man and every animal which is found in the field and is not brought home; and they shall die." ' "
Outside of the household is just the arid wilderness.
The facts found in keeping the love of God in the household are as follows:- Confessing and forgiving one another. We must confess when we have fault, and we do not sin anymore. We also forgive others' sin and forget it. Thus the blood of Jesus washes our sin, so our household can experience God's love. We will have mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
28:13. He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
Confessing the sin is the shortest way to be helped by God. On the contrary, if we cover our sin, we will not experience God's love. We are dry spiritually, so we just blame and hate one another.
Consequently, we will not prosper. Our physical life is also dry. The problems of the marriage increase up to perdition forever. - We do our absolute obligation in the household.
The absolute obligation of a wife is that she submits to her husband whatever thing she has to sacrifice. Thus, she places her husband as the head. It is the same as placing Jesus as the head in her marriage. Jesus as the head is able to save the household. The saved marriage means no quarrel, infidelity, and divorcement. We become one in God.
Ephesians 5:22-24
5:22. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
5:23. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
5:24. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Getting married means that we are in the boat that sails to the haven. If God becomes the head in our marriage, we will never drown regardless of anything that happens. By the submission of a wife, Jesus' love will save the marriage. On the contrary, if a wife does not submit to her husband, the marriage will be broken because the husband does not become the head in the marriage, so Jesus cannot become the head too. The fact is that a wife likes to quarrel and grumble.
Proverbs 21:9
21:9. Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
For example, David fell into sin with Bathsheba when he saw her from the roof of the king's house.
If a wife does not submit to her husband, the household will be broken and destroyed. A wife must repair herself first, and then the husband. Why? Because Eve fell into transgression at Garden Eden, and then Adam.
Ephesians 5:25-27,29
5:25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
5:26. that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
5:27. that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
5:29. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.
The obligation of a husband is loving her wife as he loves himself and does not do bitterly toward her. As a wife must submit to her husband in all things, a husband must also love his wife whatever thing he has to sacrifice. Do not sacrifice others! Thus, a husband places himself as the head of her wife, and Jesus will become the head in the marriage.
If Jesus becomes the head in our marriage, He with His mercy will nourish, cherish, protect, and take care of our marriage in the warmth of God's love. God's mercy will help and perfect us.
A husband who does not love his wife as well as does bitterly toward her is the same as being without the right mind. He cannot become the head (the broken head), so the marriage will be brought to the atmosphere of tombs up to the hell forever.
Mark 5:5
5:5. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
Ephesians 6:1-3
6:1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
6:2. "Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:
6:3. "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."
The obligation of the children is obeying their parents. Do not force our own will to our parents! The obedient child will experience beauty, happiness, and glory in himself or his marriage. Be careful! A child can use all ways, so his parents follow his will. The parents must have firmness. If Adam had been firm to Eve, their marriage could have been saved.
If the children do not obey their parents, the 'Ichabod' will happen, namely there are no more beauty, happiness, and glory, but suffering and perdition. A child of the pastor must be obedient earnestly because he has double duty. He is not only a child of his parents, but also a child of a pastor in his ministry. If he becomes obedient, God will bless him doubly.
- Confessing and forgiving one another. We must confess when we have fault, and we do not sin anymore. We also forgive others' sin and forget it. Thus the blood of Jesus washes our sin, so our household can experience God's love. We will have mercy.
- Goshen. It refers to the shepherding.
Exodus 9:26
9:26. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no hail.
The physical sheepfold is the legitimate church organization. The spiritual sheepfold refers to the Holy Place, namely the perseverance in committing the three kinds of main service to God.
John 21:15,17
21:15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs."
21:17. He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep.
There is no God's love outside the sheepfold. It is like Peter's experience. But in the shepherding, we experience the purification continuously and deeper until we are grieved. We realize that we do not have God's love. We often deny God because we follow the lust of the flesh. We just result in the idle words (lie and gossip), the sinful deed that harms God and others, and the unclean sight up to the peak of sin. By the purification in the shepherding, we realize our condition, so we can confess our sin to God and others. As a result, we experience God's love. We will experience the spiritual growth in the love of God until the maturity. We can love God more than anything as well as love others as we love ourselves. We just speak and do the good thing until we can repay good for evil. We can surrender our whole life to God.
John 21:18-19
21:18. "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."
21:19. This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
We can stretch out our hand and surrender our whole life to God. Peter does not fear to die, but he willingly dies for God whatever the ways. We totally surrender to God whatever thing we have to sacrifice.
Isaiah 1:2-3
1:2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the LORD has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me;
1:3. The ox knows its owner And the donkey its master's crib; But Israel does not know, My people do not consider."
Being shepherded means that we just hear and obey the shepherding Word. We just eat the shepherding Word. There is crib in the sheepfold. The crib is the place to eat. If we can eat the spiritual food or the shepherding Word, God will surely provide our physical food.
The Gentiles (the donkey) must know and eat the shepherding Word. Otherwise, we will become the wild donkey (not being shepherded or being lost) even the onager. The wild donkey is not shepherded because of trusting the strange voice, gossip, and the false teaching more than the shepherd's voice. He feels that he is more righteous than others even God.
The onager refers to one who commits the sin of eating-drinking and marrying-giving in marriage. He will be used for the building of Babylon until he is destroyed forever.
John 10:5
10:5. "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
The shepherded sheep is the one who flees from the voice of strangers. Giving reaction to the voice of strangers means that one starts to be bound until he is really influenced. For example, Eve gave respond to the voice of snake, so she was influenced. Why does one give a respond? Because he often feels great and able to face the snake or Satan who comes with the strange voice or false teaching. Let us hear God only, namely the true shepherding Word.
John 10:4,3
10:4. "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
10:3. "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
The shepherding Word is the voice of God to us personally that calls us by name. It means that God knows us individually, and we also know God. God is the good Shepherd who gives His life for us. We do not need to doubt God. Let us hear and obey the voice of the Shepherd earnestly.
Hebrews 8:10-11
8:10. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
8:11. "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
The fact of knowing God is that we can hear the Word earnestly until the Word is put in our mind. Further, our heart is written with the Word, so it becomes faith in our heart. At last, our hand is written with the Word, so it is ingrained in us.
The conclusion is that we can know and be known by God by hearing and obeying the shepherding Word. We can know ourselves with all of our weakness. God's love is able to cover the sins. If the sin is purified, God's love will be increased in our life until we can love others and enemy. We just do the good thing. It is better for us to sacrifice than others do. By hearing and obeying the Word, we also know Satan with his tactics, so we will never fall.
1 Peter 4:8
4:8. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." - Our heart.
Romans 5:5
5:5. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our heartsby the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Holy Spirit pours out the love of God in our hearts, so we have the humility and gentleness. We can receive Holy Spirit and the good heart in the true water baptism.
1 Peter 3:20-21
3:20. who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
3:21. There is also an antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
In the true water baptism, our heart is changed by Holy Spirit, so the hard and disobedient hearts become gentle, obedient, and humble. The good heart is the place to receive God's love.
Matthew 11:28-30
11:28. "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
11:29. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
11:30. "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
We learn from Jesus on the cross.
The gentle heart is the one that can receive the Word no matter how hard it is until we can become obedient.
The lowly in heart means that one can confess his sin to God and others. Do not sin after being forgiven! The blood of Jesus will wash all of our sins, and Holy Spirit pours out the love of God in our heart.
The results are as follows:- The heart that has God's love is the peaceful one. We experience rest, so all things in our life become easy and light.
- Being strong and of good courage. It means that we do not get disappointed and desperate as well as leave God regardless of anything that happens. We keep trusting and hoping God.
- The obedient heart until the flesh does not speak anymore. We just totally surrender, trust, and commit ourselves to God. God's merciful hand is also stretched out for us.
John 21:18-19
21:18. "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."
21:19. This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."- The hand of God is stretched out to gather and hug us. It is the same as protecting and taking care of our life in the midst of the difficulties of the word until the time when the Antichrist reigns over the world.
Isaiah 40:11
40:11. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. - The hand of God carries us in His bosom. It means that all of our heavy burdens and problems have been borne by Jesus on the cross. He has finished all things even the impossible ones.
- The hand of God leads us to the throne of God in the New Jerusalem where there is no death.
Revelation 7:17
7:17. "for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
It means that God's hand is able to renew us up to there is no more death. We can become honest, obedient, and faithful until we receive the new name. The merciful hand of the Great Shepherd writes our new name at the Book of Life in the New Jerusalem. We are lifted up to the New Jerusalem when God comes a second time. There is no more tear. We are happy with God forever.
Revelation 2:17
2:17. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."'
- The hand of God is stretched out to gather and hug us. It is the same as protecting and taking care of our life in the midst of the difficulties of the word until the time when the Antichrist reigns over the world.
- The heart that has God's love is the peaceful one. We experience rest, so all things in our life become easy and light.
God blesses us.