Wednesday, March 13
Revelation 16:12 tells us that the purpose of the drying up of the Euphrates is to prepare the way for “the kings from the east” (NKJV). In the Old Testament, “the kings from the east” were Cyrus and his forces coming from the north, then approaching Babylon from the east (Isaiah 41:25). Their conquest of Babylon made the return of God’s people to their homeland possible (Isaiah 44:27-28). In the same way, the symbolic drying up of the Euphrates prepares the way for the coming of the kings from the east to provide deliverance to God’s end-time people.
The kings from the east in Revelation 16:12 are Christ and His army of heavenly angels. At His second coming, Jesus will appear with His angelic host, “clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14, NKJV), which is the dress of sinless angels (Revelation 15:6). Accompanied by the host of heaven, Christ will, as Revelation 17:14 shows, overcome the satanic forces that oppress His people (compare Matthew 24:30-31). This final conflict against Christ and His people leading up to the Second Coming is known as the battle of Armageddon.
Read Revelation 16:13-14. What is the role of the three unclean spirits in the preparation for the battle of Armageddon? How are they a satanic counterfeit of the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14? (See 1 Timothy 4:1).
Through the final events leading up to the close of probation, every human being will be led to choose on which of the two sides he or she will stand in the battle of Armageddon. As a prelude to this spiritual warfare, John sees three demonic spirits resembling frogs. Satan’s last attempt to deceive involves demonic, lying spirits.
The dragon (paganism and spiritualism), the sea beast (Roman Catholicism), and the false prophet (apostate Protestantism) unite under Satan’s command (Revelation 13:11-12). Satan enables the lamblike beast to perform miraculous signs (Revelation 13:13-17) that includes spiritualistic manifestations. These signs are part of Satan’s end-time deceptive strategy to persuade the world to follow him rather than the true God.
Blinded by their hatred of God and His truth, the leaders of the world readily believe Satan’s lies, which are cloaked in a pleasing religious guise (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). Ultimately, they will unite in the final battle leading to the end of this world.
