I’m teaching 6 Bible studies on Revelation in Q1 of 2023, and this week is #5! Our topic: Why I Do Not Believe “The Rapture” Is a Biblical Doctrine.

Yeah baby. You know you’re curious. 6:30 PM TOMORROW (3/1), with dinner beforehand. Families, bring your kids! (As always, livestream available.)

REVELATION 16:1-7

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say,
”Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was,
for you brought these judgments.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”
7 And I heard the altar saying,
“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
true and just are your judgments!”

There are 3 sets of 7 judgments in Revelation, and each one is a further ex- planation of the one before, though they are each about the same thing: the judgments from God that precede the Second Coming. Each way of talking about the 7 judgments is meant to show a different aspect of God’s judgment.

Today, we read of the beginning of the final series of 7 judgments: the 7 bowls.

Each of these bowls pours out a plague on the earth, just like the plagues of Egypt so many centuries before.

In the previous two series of 7 judgments (the seals and the trumpets) there has been a pause between #6 and #7 in which John tells us about the church.

Here, there is no pause, but just a message from Jesus: “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”

The reason there is no pause is because it’s now time for the end to come. The church has been testifying to the truth, and at this point it’s too late to repent. Look at what happens at the 7th bowl:

“they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.”

If these plagues—coupled with the church’s message—won’t cause people to repent, then nothing will.