Even the non-religious know that the last Book of the Bible -- the Book of Revelation -- deals exclusively with end times events.
Let's take a look at one of them:
Revelation 16:12 -- "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." (emphasis mine)
This verse is part of the same chapter that talks about the Battle of Armageddon. You've heard of that, right? Now, here's the real world application that will knock the skeptic right out of you!
Historic Euphrates River Is Drying Up
Throughout the marshes, the reed gatherers, standing on land they once floated over, cry out to visitors in a passing boat. "Maaku mai!" they shout, holding up their rusty sickles. "There is no water!" Some officials worry that it could soon be half of what it is now. The shrinking of the Euphrates, a river so crucial to the birth of civilization that the Book of Revelation prophesied its drying up as a sign of the end, has decimated farms along its banks, left fishermen impoverished and depleted riverside towns as farmers flee to the cities looking for work.
What say the skeptics now? No matter which way you try to explain it, the simple fact of the matter is that it is happening just as it was predicted thousands of years ago. Incredible!
If Bible prophecy is true as you see it unfolding and being fulfilled before your very eyes, then shouldn't you take the time to look into the other things the Bible has to say about God, Jesus, and your role in all of this?
What are you waiting for? God's waiting for you to reach out to Him. He's doing everything He can to prove to you He's real. This is just one more in a long line of ignored attempts to reach you.
18 Comments:
The way has to be prepared for the kings of the east to cross for battle. Perfect timing - it's being fulfilled at the divinely appointed time, and in conjunction with all the other prophecy happening for our generation to witness! Skeptics take note...God never fails!
JRed, regarding your previous entry on plane crashes - just saw that there's been a couple of more plane crashes:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=8094835
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/865854.html
Here's another interesting news item I just saw. Dated July 13 coming out of Turkey. It has to do with the archaelogical dig in the ancient city of Laodicea. Not much to report about the article, but just the fact that that specific city is coming to light right now seems not to be a coincidence. The city of Laodicea is mentioned in Revelation 3 and is the last of the seven churches mentioned in the first 3 chapters of the book. It is the lukewarm church that Jesus says He will vomit out of His mouth because they are neither hot nor cold, and many believe it is representative of the church in existence at the time of Christ's return. Are we there yet?
Yes, the signs are adding up. The whole (verbal) revealing of the Ark of the Covenant's location (in Ethiopia) a couple weeks back was also interesting in that vein in that in the OT it was brought out as a precursor to war.
Re. plane crashes, small ones happen all the time. What I find fascinating though, is an Iranian plane crash that happened just yesterday:
An Iranian Tupolev passenger plane bound for Yerevan, Armenia, crashed Wednesday morning in Iran's northwest Qazvin province, killing all 168 people on board... crashed near Janat-Abad village at 11:45 a.m. (3:15 a.m. Eastern), 16 minutes after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.
Armenia, of course, is the site of the largest Islam-on-Christian genocide in a very long time and certainly in the last century. Tehran is to the southeast of Yerevan.
Even more interesting in light of what I wrote Sunday:
"...when Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple in Jerusalem in 168 BC, he gave the order on his birthday, (the 24th of Kislev, which spans Nov-Dec). The order was carried out and the temple desecrated the following day. The letters of BHO’s boyhood name (Barry Soetoro) add up to 168 in English."
BHO's birthday is August 4th. He shares it with the Socialistic-Caliphatilistic prime minister of Spain.
I saw this on the news that other day and the first thing that I thought of was "wow, this is in the Book of Revelations". Come Lord Jesus!
If the drying of the Euphrates is of the sixth angel during the Tribulation, then we must ask: are we not in the Tribulation NOW or is this just a preview and the river will soon fill. If we are not in the Tribulation, then the dry river will refill. If the sixth angel is now active, then where were the first five angels?
Here is a comment from a friend of mine Jim G. (Something to think about. (:)
Revelation 16:12-16 (New International Version)
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
While the current drying up may foreshadow what is to come, I don't think it is the beginning of what is spoken of in Revelation chapter 16.
The drying up of the Euphrates spoken of in Revelation caused by the pouring of of the 6th bowl. Other bowls must come first (assuming the order of bowls poured out in Revelation should be understood as a chronological order). So, I think it is premature to attribute the current situation to the 6th bowl.
The other reason I don't think it quite fits is the fact that an angel pours out this bowl of judgment. I don't expect it to be so gradual but it might be. Maybe the angel is holding the bowl over the Euphrates right now (just waiting for the Lord to say when) and some of the judgment is dripping into the Euphrates prematurely;-)
Just my thoughts. Surely, things are accelerating rapidly towards the Lord's return. No doubt about that
Isaiah 11:15-16
"The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt."
maybe God is preparing the river for Revelation 9:14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."
We are also missing that John views the martyrs, killed by the anti-christ, under the alter.
When I saw this Revelation came into mind but the timing is off. I think what is happening is we are being shown what is coming.
Time is short for certain but there seems so much left. The problem is that everything is beginning to pick up speed.
God bless
i believe we are in the tribulation now..this is another piece of evidence of that..we should not be frightened at all by it..the frustration of it all is convincing folks that it's for real and were not nuts..i'm a firm believer that Christ will protect all of us as this unfolds..their is no question in my mind about it..stay tuned and pray for all of us.
Joel Rosenburg wrote a little piece on it too:
July 16, 2009 EUPHRATES RIVER DRYING UP: New York Times notes connection to Book of Revelation and the End Times
I'm sorry everyone. I guess I need to pay closer attention to the words I'm using. I never meant to imply that I believe this prophecy was fulfilled because, as many have pointed out, the timing is obviously off. I simply meant to point out to the skeptics that this sort of thing can actually happen. I've had people in the past comment to the effect of, "Well, how the hell is a river like the Euphrates ever going to dry up? Do you really believe that's possible?" Yes, as a matter of fact I do, and this story proves it can happen. That was my point with this entry. Thanks to everyone for weighing in.
In Christ,
Jeff (JRed)
On second thought, I don't think that's a topic we've ever explored here in this forum -- those that believe we're already in the Tribulation since the early Church's first days. Perhaps I'll have to do that one day soon (look at the pros and cons of such a position).
Jeff (JRed)
"For those who believe no proof is necessary, for those who don't believe no proof is possible - Author... well I jus dun forgot-shucks;)
It is sure hawt here in the "fruit stand capital of Canada" -Keremeos- whoeeee !
At the Sixth PLAGUE the way is PREPARED for the soon coming battle of Armageddon, and the beast and kings and their armies are gathered together into "a place" for the battle (Re.16:16, Jer.51:36, Jer.51:49, Isa.63:2).
The Seven Last Plagues occur ATER the Seventh TRUMPET (1 Thess.4:16-17), the ascension, after the entire body of Christ is in heaven.
Patricia (© 2002) Bible Prophecy on the Web
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BibleProphecy
Some of the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad suggest that the Euphrates will dry up (drop off), revealing unknown treasures that will be the cause of strife and war.
* "Soon the river Euphrates will disclose the treasure [the mountain] of gold. So, whoever will be present at that time should not take anything of it." — Sahih Bukhari.
* The Prophet Muhammad said: "The Hour will not come to pass before the river Euphrates dries up to unveil the mountain of gold, for which people will fight. Ninety-nine out of one hundred will die [in the fighting], and every man among them will say: 'Perhaps I may be the only one to remain alive'." — Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim.
* The Prophet Muhammad said: "The Euphrates reveals the treasures within itself. Whoever sees it should not take anything from it".[5]
* "It [the Euphrates ] will uncover a mountain of gold [under it]." — Sunan Abi Da'ud.
today in Iraq you find people fishing gold out of the river
here is a youtube video link
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAF6uqaJw3o
2012
The Euphrates River is still flowing! Has not dried up....yet!
No One Knows of The End Time not even the Angels. So everyone Calm Down.
It seems to me that this drying up is more in line with Isaiah 11:15 "...with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals."
The Context of Isaiah 11 is the regathering of Israel and their status in the world community.
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