The Plagues and Pestilence II

Where are we Today?

Matthew 24:7-10

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Lets not get distracted , the text gives the way marks. For the final breakdown. Nation shall rise against nations, famines, pestilence and earthquakes.

Nations against Nations.

In the south China sea while the whole world is distracted by the coronavirus, China and the USA are squaring off in the south pacific. The NYTimes have also observed an Australian warship also powering into the hot zone.People are already dying of starvation while famine continue to threaten South Sudan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, Kenya, Venezuela and many other countries.The Coronavirus isn’t showing any signs of slowing down soon. The pandemic rolls on.

And this my friends is just the beginning according to Mathew 24:8. Following that is the Execution of God’s faithful followers who decide to put obedience to his word above their lives and while that is going on many will cross the floor to rebel against God. We are right now located in earth's history at the beginning of sorrows. I hope we can see that. The coronavirus pandemic which is a pestilence according to our definition is a terrible tragedy but one that should not make us hopeless or cause us to despair because we knew before hand it was coming. We did not need Bill Gates to tell us that in 2015. He is not a prophet, not by a long shot.

So now that we have put the Coronavirus into its proper perspective, we can explore how we will be affected by the plagues. The Book of Revelation gives valuable information about the seven last plagues.

And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image. - Revelation 16:1-2

The seven Last Plagues

• Noisome and grievous sores
• Sea turned to blood
• Fresh water turned to blood
• Sun scorched men with fire
• Darkness on the Kingdom. of the beast
• Drying up of the Euphrates River
• Proclamation from God will cause Earthquake and Hail - Joel 3:16

The fact is, the plagues will fall on those who received the mark of the beast. We can therefore conclude that when the seven last plagues are falling, probation has already closed on the world.

We see a similar pattern in the old testament in that the first three plagues fell on both Goshen and Egypt, but the seven last plagues fell on Egypt alone.

These plagues are indeed grievous but we need not worry because we have been given every opportunity to avoid them. All we have to do is to be among God’s people, those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.

In part 3 we will bring it all together, and you will see clearly what God requires of us now...