Daily Devotional, Year 3 – November 5 (Revelation 16:17-21: “The Seventh Plague: Cry ‘Uncle’?”)
By admin On February 17th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 3 – November 5
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Revelation 16:17-21:
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“The Seventh Plague: Cry ‘Uncle’?”
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“And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air;
and there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven,
from the throne, saying, It is done…
and there was a great earthquake,
such as was not since men were upon the earth,
so mighty an earthquake, and so great…
and great Babylon came in remembrance before God,
to give unto her the cup of the wine
of the fierceness of His wrath…
And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven,
every stone about the weight of a talent:
and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail;
for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
Revelation 16:17-21
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When you were a child, did you ever hear the expression, “Are you ready to cry, ‘Uncle’?” Of course, this was a common saying among children to let their opponent know, “I’ve had enough! I can’t take it anymore!”
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Yes, whether engaging in a wrestling match, or some other means of inflicting pain on another kid, the universal ‘white flag’ was to cry, “Uncle!”.
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One of the more believable speculations of the origin of this saying is from “American Speech” in 1980: that “Uncle in this expression is surely a folk etymology, and the Irish original of the word is ‘anacol’ … ‘act of protecting; deliverance; mercy, quarter, safety’”.
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THE PLAGUES ON EGYPT
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Now just what does this have to do with Bible prophecy?
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Well, let’s just take a moment to recall what happened in Egypt as God was pouring out His plagues upon Pharaoh and his Egyptian citizenry, just prior to the great Exodus out of that country by God’s people.
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Plague of Hail – Wikimedia – Creative Commons 4.0 License
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GOD’S PEOPLE FINALLY LET GO
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Remember how Pharaoh reacted after each plague? At first, he was ready to cry out, “Uncle! I’ve had enough!” But before long Pharaoh’s heart hardened and he relented on his promise to let God’s people go.
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But finally, upon receiving the last and final plague, he actually let God’s people go.
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Now, as we read of this Exodus account, we are reminded of another set of plagues to be poured out in the Book of Revelation.
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Israel’s Escape From Egypt Through Red Sea – Wikimedia – US Public Domain
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THE PLAGUES ON EGYPT WERE A TYPE & FORE-SHADOW OF THE PLAGUES OF REVELATION 16
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There are distinct similarities between those plagues poured out on ancient Egypt, and the plagues to be poured out in these last days.
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And just listen to the reaction by those who receive of these apocalyptic plagues, soon to be poured out… “And the fifth angel poured out his vial…and they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds.” Revelation 16:10, 11
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Well, this particular plague caused a lot of pain, but obviously, it was not enough for the recipients to cry “Uncle! I’ve had enough!” And of course, this is just one of seven plagues to be poured out.
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The Great Day of His Wrath – John Martin – 1853 – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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“LET MY PEOPLE GO”
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The plagues poured out in Revelation 16 are similar to those poured out upon the Egyptians in the Book of Exodus. But what was the purpose of pouring out those plagues. Listen to God as He speaks to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron…“Else, if thou refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:” Exodus 10:4
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This was the promise of plagues and was repeated with the various other plagues.
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But the point is, these plagues were to cause Pharaoh to finally allow God’s people to leave Egypt to serve God alone, no longer held in bondage to slavery. Likewise, the plagues prophesied in Revelation are to drive Satan (the true King of Egypt) out of the hearts of God’s people, allowing His people to serve God and God alone!
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And so, this whole nonsense, that all the torment and plagues mentioned in Revelation are for the mere sake of causing fallen Mankind to suffer, is a product of unsanctified theologians (which there are many today, mostly reading one-another’s books!).
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Tissot – The Plague of Locusts – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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PLAGUES IN TODAY’S SOCIETIES
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Now of course, the Book of Revelation is a highly spiritual Book. And so, being greatly written in allegorical language, it is very difficult to know exactly what these seven plagues will be.
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Nevertheless, as one surveys the world landscape, there is a very dramatic, and yes, even a seemingly apocalyptic series of events happening right now on a number of different fronts throughout the various societies of the world. In other words, in the various areas of life, social, political, and religious, troubling events seem to be escalating, both in frequency as well as in intensity.
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Revelation – www.pri.org – courtesy www.pre.org
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TERRORISM NOW AN EVERYDAY OCCURRENCE
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For instance, just think about all the violence now occurring by religious groups!
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Think about all the bombings, beheadings and terrorism now occurring!
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The cruelty of these heinous acts, all in the name of their religion are unthinkable!
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ISIL – Execution of man – September 2014 – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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THE GROWING HATRED IN THE POLITICAL WORLD
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Or what about the ongoing and ever-increasing battle now occurring in the world of politics!
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Yes, the two dominate political factions are warring with an ever-growing venomous hatred toward one-another!
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CRAZINESS IN PUBLIC RESTROOMS
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Or in society, who could ever have imagined that public buildings would now be forced to allow men to use the women’s room and visa-versa?!
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Or that laws would be enacted to eliminate gender pronouns?!
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Or mutilating children’s genitals in the vain and insane effort to change their gender?!
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Unisex bathroom pictogram – cropped image – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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SOCIETY’S MORALS IN FREE-FALL
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And what about the rapidly declining moral standards?
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Each year moral standards keep plunging to new lows!
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Burning Man 2013 Photo chapel – cropped and altered image – wikimedia – creative commons license
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DRUG AND SLAVE TRADES
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And the increasing illegal drug trade?
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And the increasing slave trade?
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Kidnapping – Abduction – Hostage exercise – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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SCHOOLS NO LONGER A SAFE-HAVEN
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Or the public schools now promoting various ideologies and lifestyles which were once condemned by society as destructive!
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And school systems (and society/government) believing they have totalitarian superiority over parental governance of their own children!
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Gay Parade – Jazz Jennings 2016 – cropped image – Wikipedia – Creative Commons License
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BANKRUPTCY OF NATIONS
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Or the growing insurmountable debt of various nations?
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When will this all insanity cause the economy to come crashing to the ground?!
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And what will rise up out of the ashes of this once great nation?
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Victor Dubreuil – Barrels on Money, c. 1897 – Wikipedia – Public Domain
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THE STAMPING OUT OF FREE SPEECH
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Or the growing movement to ban speech which is not considered “politically correct”?
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This is unthinkable in the very nation which was founded on the freedom of political and religious speech!
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Duct Tape Mouth – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-alike license
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AND WHAT ABOUT NATURAL CALAMITIES?
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Well, it just seems like the world is going crazy, or at very least, falling apart!
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And this doesn’t even take into account the seeming increase of various illnesses and diseases!
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Or the increase of natural calamities!
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Or the widening divisions between various people groups!
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Or the senseless murders reported in the daily news!
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Or the increasing racial tensions between various ethnicities: hatred of others merely for their skin-color, be it, “red and yellow, black, or white” (as that old children’s song once sang)!
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PEOPLE ARE FRIGHTENED AND BEWILDERED
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And considering all the pandemic craziness and all the terrifying events now occurring on a daily basis, it just seems as if we are living in the very time when the Judgments of God are being poured out upon Mankind!
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And all these horrible events are making a whole lot of people very afraid. “Why are all these awful things happening?” This is the perplexing question that many people are puzzling over!
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ARE THESE PART OF THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES?
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And so, the question that must be asked and considered is this: “Could it be that these things are somehow connected to the seven plagues spoken of in Revelation, Chapter 16?”
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Question Marks – At a loss – svg – Wikimedia Commons – Share-Alike License
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THEY ARE INDEED APOCALYPTIC!
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Well, whether or not these horrific events are a direct fulfillment of Revelation 16, they are definitely growing in frequency and in intensity!
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And they are very apocalyptic!
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DO WE FINALLY REPENT?
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And it is interesting to note that after the final plague is poured out, that there is no mention that the recipients of those plagues, “repented not”. Oh yes, it does say that, “men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Revelation 16:21
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But what is omitted in this plague are the words…“and they repented not”.
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Could it be that these recipients finally cried out “Uncle! I’ve had enough!” Yes, just as Pharaoh finally allowed God’s people to make their exodus out of ancient Egypt, it seems that in the coming plagues, the recipients may also finally give up as they realize the present world-system is a gigantic flop and failure!
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.Judgment Day – by sweet media – cropped image – Wikimedia –
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HAVE WE HAD ENOUGH YET?
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Well, things just keep getting worse and worse! And it indeed appears that if the current plagues, which Earth’s inhabitants are now suffering, continue to intensify, we just might see the suffering ones cry out, “Uncle! We’ve had enough!”
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Well, there is a whole lot of speculation going on in this devotional. But you must admit, Mankind is suffering more and more because of these various plagues which are just now falling upon us!
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Prayer – USMC – Wikimedia – US Govt. Public Domain
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REPENTANCE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS
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But the Good News is, that you and I do not have to wait for some mass public repentance to occur! No, there is no better time for an individual, be it man, woman, or child, to begin to cry out for God’s mercy and grace.
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Oh no, this will not stem the swelling tide of evil sweeping over the world. But by perseveringly pleading with God, His grace, mercy, and peace may just come down to stem the tide of evil in the life of any spiritually needy soul who cries out, not “Uncle!”, but rather, “Father! Save me!”
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Girl Praying – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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TO READ PART 2, CLICK HERE…
March 10 (Revelation 16:17-21: “The Seventh Plague: Cry ‘Uncle’?” CONTINUED)
Kids fighting – Sibling Conflict – Wikipedia – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Give me an undivided heart that loves to serve Thee…
Prayer for USA – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…July 30 (The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, Part 9: “Rapture-Ready, or Earthly-Entangled?”), or you can also read…July 13th (Time of Jacob’s Trouble, Part 1: Alone With God)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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COULD THERE BE A GREATER SIGN?”
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In the opening verse, “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Revelation 15:1, is a direct reference to the Signs In Heaven, which God is just now graciously revealing.
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Notice that this above verse says… “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous“.
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If ever there was a great and marvelous sign in Heaven, this 7 Star Constellation seems to be just that! And it is the easiest of all constellations to locate (excepting for those in the southernmost latitudes of the Earth who cannot see it). It seems to stand alone in the northern sky, outshining any other constellation in the night heavens!
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As for its significance, it is easy to see the message for which it was created to bring. It looks like a bowl. A giant bowl! And in the winter, it begins to slowly tip through the night, as if it is finally spilling out its contents upon the earth, as stated in Revelation… “And the first (angel) went, and poured out his vial upon the earth” Revelation 16:2.
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And so it is not hard to see the message which this constellation presents. In the summer it begins to slowly tip. But in winter it does fully appear to pour out its contents upon the Earth.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… The 7 Stars & The 7 Bowls of Wrath
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TOMORROW…
November 6 (Come Out of Her, My People! Part 54: “Did I Use Lightness?” CONTINUED)
Laughing – (cropped and color added) – Fotothek df roe neg – Wikimedia – Share-alike License
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20+ MINUTE AUDIO JEREMIAH STUDY
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.
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THIS IS STUDY #307 PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…
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Prophet Jeremiah – www.christianimagesource.com – Public Domain
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Click on image credit links below each photo, for licensing names, details, and tags, etc.. Most Images cropped & reduced in size.