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Our Mission: Revelation 14:6-12
If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 86
The
Deep Darkness
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Welcome to this lesson! Let's pray together:
Our Lord,
The prophetic set of the seven bowls contains a message which does not aim only at
reporting the pouring out of Your judgments. These bowls also give us a serious warning,
so that we may prepare ourselves today for the return of Your Son.
Please continue to guide us, as we study the fifth bowl. In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 15:1; 16:1
Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven
angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. (...)
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels,
«Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.»
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After the close of probation, the wrath of God will reveal itself
by the pouring out of seven bowls, containing seven plagues which will strike unrepentant
men.
In this lesson, we will study the fifth bowl.
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Revelation 16:10,11
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the
beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of
the pain.
And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not
repent of their deeds.
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After the scorching sun of the fourth bowl, the wicked are struck
with deep darkness.
While still suffering from the effects of the four preceding bowls, they now have to
undergo the additional pain that is linked with the cold of darkness.
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Revelation 16:10,11
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the
beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of
the pain.
And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not
repent of their deeds.
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Revelation 16:9
And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
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The accumulation of these calamities and their harmful effects drives the wicked, who are unable to repent, to blaspheme God more and more.
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Zephaniah 1:14,15,17
The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens
quickly.
The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; there the mighty men shall cry out.
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and
desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. (...)
I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have
sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like
refuse.
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The darkness of the fifth bowl announces the imminence of Jesus' return.
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Deep darkness announces the imminence of Jesus Christ's return:
«I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and
fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.» (JOEL 2:30,31)
«What good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be
as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or as though he went into the house,
leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.» (AMOS 5:18,19)
«Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming, for it
is at hand: a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the
morning clouds spread over the mountains.» (JOEL 2:1,2)
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Revelation 16:10
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness.
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Revelation 13:2,3
And the dragon gave [the beast] his power, his throne, and great
authority. (...)
And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
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The fifth bowl strikes the throne of the beast, plunging his
entire kingdom into darkness.
Now, at the time of the pouring out of the bowls, the kingdom of the beast will be the
whole earth, «all the world».
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In the last hours of history, the beast will reign over the whole earth:
«And it was granted to [the beast] to make war with the saints
and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the
Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.» (REVELATION 13:7,8)
«And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but
they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and
they will give their power and authority to the beast.» (REVELATION 17:12,13)
«For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to
give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.» (REVELATION
17:17)
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Isaiah 47:5 (NIV)
Sit in silence, go into darkness, Daughter of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms.
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Revelation 18:21,23
Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down,
and shall not be found anymore. (...)
And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore.
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Associated with the beast, Babylon the great harlot, the «queen
of kingdoms», will also be plunged into darkness.
So the fifth bowl will strike the whole apostate religio-political coalition.
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Revelation 17:13
[The ten kings] will give their power and authority to the beast.
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Job 12:24,25
[The Lord] takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the
people of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.
They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them stagger like a drunken man.
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And the political rulers of the world, having given «their power and authority to the beast», will also be plunged into the utter darkness which will fall upon the earth and its inhabitants.
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Exodus 10:20-23
[Pharaoh] did not let the children of Israel go.
Then the Lord said to Moses, «Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be
darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt.»
So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness in all the
land of Egypt three days.
They did not see one another.
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Once again, the bowls of Revelation remind us of the plagues of
Egypt.
Like the bowls, which will not bring men to repentance, the plagues hardened the heart of
Pharaoh, and the land of Egypt was finally plunged into total darkness.
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Pharaoh and Egypt foreshadow the fate of Babylon in the last days:
«Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and say to him: (...)
"When I put out your light, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will
cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights
of the heavens I will make dark over you, and bring darkness upon your land," says
the Lord God.
"I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction among
the nations, into the countries which you have not known. Yes, I will make many peoples
astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My
sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment, every man for his own life, in the
day of your fall."» (EZEKIEL 32:2,7-10)
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Exodus 10:22,23
There was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.
They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days.
But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
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The plague of darkness in Egypt gives us a valuable piece of information: whereas the whole land of Egypt was plunged into impenetrable darkness, there was still light where the people of Israel were dwelling.
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Exodus 14:19,20
And the Angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved
and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel.
Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so
that the one did not come near the other all that night.
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After the people of Israel had come out of Egypt, God again used darkness to form a protective wall between His people - who still had light - and the Egyptians who were pursuing them.
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Psalm 91:5,6,9,10
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, (...) nor of the
pestilence that walks in darkness. (...)
Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your habitation, no
evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling.
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Psalm 112:4
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
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So, just like the other bowls, the fifth bowl won't strike God's people.
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Job 5:11-15
[God] sets on high those who are lowly, and those who mourn are
lifted to safety.
He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the cunning comes quickly
upon them.
They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope at noontime as in the night.
But He saves the needy from the sword, from the mouth of the mighty, and from their hand.
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The darkness of the fifth bowl will further accentuate the contrast between the faithful people of God and the wicked who want to kill them.
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The contrast between the children of light and the children of darkness:
«Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the
Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness
the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.»
(ISAIAH 60:1,2)
«He will guard the feet of His saints, but the wicked shall be silent in darkness. For by
strength no man shall prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces; from
heaven He will thunder against them. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.» (1
SAMUEL 2:9,10)
«The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect
day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.»
(PROVERBS 4:18,19)
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Revelation 9:1,2
Then the fifth angel sounded.
And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. And to him was given the key to the
bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great
furnace.
And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.
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The parallel between the trumpets and the bowls is still present
here, since the fifth trumpet also brought about a darkening of the sun and the air.
But the parallel goes even farther than that...
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Revelation 9:3,4
Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. (...)
They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree,
but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
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In our lesson about the fifth trumpet, «The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit», we have seen
that this darkening symbolized the rejection of God by the nations, on behalf of
Materialism and Rationalism, which deprived the papacy of its power for 150 years, from
1798 to 1948.
But, like the darkness of the fifth bowl, this spiritual darkening didn't affect the
faithful believers.
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Jude verses 11 and 13
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run
greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. (...)
[These are] wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
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Following the pattern of the fifth trumpet, the fifth bowl also punishes the erroneous ways of the nations which rejected God and His light, preferring to adhere to attractive and pleasant beliefs and philosophical ideas which take them far from the path which leads to eternal life.
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Revelation 18:21,23
Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down,
and shall not be found anymore. (...)
And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. (...) For by your sorcery all the
nations were deceived.
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2 Peter 2:15,17
They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the
way of Balaam. (...)
These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, to whom the gloom of darkness
is reserved forever.
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Having rejected the light of God, men blindly accept the false teachings of Babylon, until the time when darkness suddenly descends upon her.
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Jeremiah 13:16
Give glory to the Lord your God before He causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death and makes it dense darkness.
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Romans 1:21
Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
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So, the darkness of the fifth bowl will cover unrepentant men who refuse to give glory to God.
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Micah 3:5,6
Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who make my people
stray: (...)
«Therefore you shall have night without vision, and you shall have darkness without
divination; the sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be dark for them.»
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Jeremiah 23:11,12
«For both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in My house I
have found their wickedness», says the Lord.
«Therefore their way shall be to them like slippery ways; in the darkness they shall be
driven on and fall in them.»
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The fifth bowl will also punish the spiritual shepherds who have been leading men astray.
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Isaiah 8:19-22
And when they say to you, «Seek those who are mediums and
wizards, who whisper and mutter», should not a people seek their God? Should they seek
the dead on behalf of the living?
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is
because there is no light in them.
And they will pass through it hard pressed and hungry; and it shall happen, when they are
hungry, that they will be enraged and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they
will be driven into darkness.
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So, the fifth bowl will punish those who abandon God and His teachings.
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Revelation 18:21,23,24
Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down,
and shall not be found anymore. (...)
And the light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore. (...) And in her was found the
blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.
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Job 15:30,31
[The wicked man] will not depart from darkness; the flame will
dry out his branches, and by the breath of His mouth he will go away.
Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, for futility will be his reward.
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The fifth bowl will also punish the dark and evil works of the wicked.
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Isaiah 5:20,30
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness
for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (...)
In that day they will roar against them like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land, behold, darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened by
the clouds.
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By refusing to know and put into practice the will of God, men sink into evil, and will soon be plunged into deep darkness.
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The wickedness of men will plunge them into extreme darkness:
«Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent
blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their
paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they
have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Therefore
justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there
is darkness! for brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the
blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as
dead men in desolate places. (...) For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and
our sins testify against us.» (ISAIAH 59:7-10,12)
«[The wicked man] does not believe that he will return from darkness, and he watches for
the sword. He wanders about for bread, saying, "Where is it?" He knows that a
day of darkness is ready at his hand. Trouble and anguish make him afraid; they overpower
him, like a king ready for battle. For he stretches out his hand against God, and acts
defiantly against the Almighty.» (JOB 15:22-25)
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John 8:12
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
«I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the
light of life.»
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John 12:46
I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
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Yet, men can avoid this total darkness, if they give their lives to Jesus, the Light of the world, today while there is still time to do so.
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By giving our lives to Jesus, we turn from darkness to light:
«I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the
Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and
an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.» (ACTS 26:17,18)
«(...) giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and
translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins.» (COLOSSIANS 1:12-14)
«But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light.» (1 PETER 2:9)
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John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
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2 Corinthians 4:3,4
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
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Unfortunately, a lot of people will reject God's call to salvation, and will rather choose the dark ways of Satan.
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2 Corinthians 11:14
Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
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Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
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Let's not be deceived.
Even if the ways of Satan seem to be as luminous as those of God, let's not forget that
Satan is the «ruler of the darkness of this age», and that his ways will ultimately lead
us to death.
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John 12:35,36
Then Jesus said to them,
«A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest
darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.»
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The darkness of the fifth bowl is at our gates.
Let's not delay our decision to accept Jesus, the Light of the world, as our Savior and
Lord of our life.
We must decide today, because tomorrow might be too late...
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Let's pray:
Our Father,
Jesus said: «Many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer
darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.» (Matthew 8:11,12)
Please always keep us close to Jesus, the only source of light, and make us Your children
of light, so that darkness may not overtake us.
In Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 86 is waiting for you!