Revelation Chapter 9 Verses 13 – 14

 John hears a voice coming from the altar, most likely the altar of

incense, and the voice commands the angel that just sounded to release

the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates. This is no

doubt intriguing…, makes you not want to go swimming in the

Euphrates! HA! Or does it? Does this mean that in the physical river

Euphrates there are four angels bound? Not necessarily.

 Notice we are given the descriptor, “great,” which could mean that

this is the real river Euphrates, not the one we know and see. Just like

Babylon the Great as it is described and we will see later, is that

physically, worldly Babylon or modern day Iraq. Not necessarily. Just

like the Temple and Tabernacle were earthly copies of a heavenly

reality, this could also be that. And the Great Euphrates is the real

deal, the earthly Euphrates being a copy. The Great Babylon is the real

deal, the earthly Babylon being a copy.

 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, “We do not look at the things which are seen,

but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are

temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Also,

Hebrews 8:1-5, “Now this is the main point of the things we are

saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of

the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary

and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. For

every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices.

Therefore, it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are

priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy

and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed

when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you

make all things according to the pattern shown you on the

mountain.””

 I’m suggesting that this Great River Euphrates is a spiritual

dimensional reality to the physical we can swim in today. Perhaps

located at the same place but not in the physical but in the spiritual.

Have you ever walked into a room and just sensed something? What

you are sensing has nothing to do with the chairs or walls but

something in the spirit…

 As a Christian, you live, (or at least you ought to live), with a sense of

the reality of the realm of the spirit. That every action, interaction,

place, circumstance, situation, argument, relationship, there is a

spiritual side to everything… That’s what I’m talking about here and

where I would submit to you these angels are bound. And it totally

makes sense that it would be Euphrates!

 No doubt these are fallen angels or demons as they are bound and the

Euphrates is a place of great significance. The River Euphrates marks

the spot of original sin as Genesis 2:14 tells us that it bordered the

Garden of Eden. It marks the spot of the first murder as Adam and

Eve had no doubt settled near the exterior border of the Garden where

they had Cain and Abel. It marks the spot of the first revolt against

God, the first act of fake worship, the first war as it were, the first

dictatorship…all of these wrapped up in the sinful heart of Cain…and

also, it marked the first nation that was founded against God…,

Babylon.

Revelation Chapter 9 Verse 15

 (Hour, day, month, year…God has it all figured out!) From the

beginning until now, we have arrived at even the specific hour in

which this was all planned. God is that big. I rest in that. Even this

hour…He knew. Even this hour…matters. Nothing is left to chance in

the will of God…much is left to chance in the will of man…

 And notice, a third of mankind…killed by these demons. This is a

third of the remaining mankind. If you add this to the number already

killed since the Great Tribulation began you arrive at about 50% of all

mankind will be dead after the sixth trumpet. 4+ billion people killed

in a very short period of time…where are all the bodies?

Everywhere… No doubt the world is a gruesome scene… Truly the

world and all that is in it, in the spirit, is a gruesome scene today

already.

 I just want to make this statement…, this is not in any way making

God happy. Gleeful…none of that. Remember the cross. Jesus looked

as He was being crucified, dealing with the sting of betrayal from one

that had been with Him for years, looking on the people whose sin had

Him nailed to the cross, and His heart was…mercy. Forgive them. By

My blood, let grace come upon them, those that even reject and

despise Me. That is the heart of God. This, what we see here, is the

alternative…, which we all unfortunately have access to!

 Listen to this incredible promise as a result and reward of choosing to

trust the Lord over the things of this world! Deuteronomy 28:1-13,

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord

your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I

command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above

all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you

and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the

country. “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your

ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and

the offspring of your flocks. “Blessed shall be your basket and your

kneading bowl. “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed

shall you be when you go out. “The Lord will cause your enemies who

rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out

against you one way and flee before you seven ways. “The Lord will

command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which

you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord

your God is giving you. “The Lord will establish you as a holy people

to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the

commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all

peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the

Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will grant you

plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your

livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the

Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you His

good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season,

and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations,

but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not

the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the

commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today,

and are careful to observe them.”

 All of that is entirely up to me! My choice! God has already decreed

it, promised it, shown His faithfulness to His Word perfectly! And this

ties all the way to the Book of Revelation. How? Check this out…

 We find a phrase in Deuteronomy 30 that we find again (and only

again) in the Book of Revelation… Like a harkening back to an

original promise. Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and

death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and

your decedents may live!” This phrase, “I have set before you,”

shows up one more time in all of scripture and its Revelation 3:8, in

speaking to the churches, Jesus says, “I have set before you an open

door, and no one can shut it!”

 An open door of opportunity that at any time if you would turn to God

and choose to allow Him authority and trust in your life, then the

promises of Deuteronomy 28, the promise of mercy, grace, love,

guidance and wisdom and even success over this world is yours to

take in Jesus! And just how you walk through that open door, propped

open by the heart of God for you, we go back to Deuteronomy 30…

 Deuteronomy 30:20, “That you may love the Lord your God, that you

may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life

and the length of your days!”

 What we are seeing in the time of the Great Tribulation is the spiritual

consequence of rejecting Jesus manifesting fully in the physical!!