The Purpose of the Final Plagues
The Lord will allow the end-time plagues to take place so that Satan can demonstrate to the universe what a world that is completely under his power would be like. Before the second coming of Christ, God will finally permit Satan’s winds of strife to blow without restrain (Revelation 7:1).
The great tribulation will prove to the universe that nothing would change the characters of those still alive upon the earth. God’s people will trust Him during the worst conditions possible, and His enemies will rebel against Him no matter what.
Sometimes hardships and pain bring the sinners to repentance, but as the seven last plagues are being poured out, the wicked will reveal that there is no longer any goodness in them. “The fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory” (Revelation 16:9).
For “they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds” (Revelation 16:11). And “Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great” (Revelation 16:21).
God’s Protection on the Faithful
God will not allow the plagues to fall until He has sealed His faithful children for heaven. “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads” (Revelation 7:1-3).
The sealing of God’s people prepares them to stand through the fearful times of stress that will precede the second advent. As in ancient times, a seal on an object testified to its ownership, so the seal of God upon His people proclaims that He has recognized His faithful as His own (2 Timothy 2:19).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
