Sunday
November 8
1. THE SIXTH PLAGUE
a. What will take place when the sixth angel pours out his vial? Who are those spirits that come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet? Revelation 16:12–14.
b. In what do Satan and his angels delight? Where will the “spirits of devils” gather the “kings of the earth” and people from the whole world? Joel 3:9–14; Revelation 14:20; 16:16.
“Satan delights in war, for it excites the worst passions of the soul and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to war against one another.”—The Great Controversy, p. 589.
“Four mighty angels hold back the powers of this earth till the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. The nations of the world are eager for conflict; but they are held in check by the angels. When this restraining power is removed, there will come a time of trouble and anguish. Deadly instruments of warfare will be invented. Vessels, with their living cargo, will be entombed in the great deep. All who have not the spirit of truth will unite under the leadership of satanic agencies. But they are to be kept under control till the time shall come for the great battle of Armageddon.”—Maranatha, p. 257.
Monday
November 9
2. THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON ENDS
a. What will happen to the wicked that are destroyed by the splendor of Jesus’ coming? Jeremiah 25:32, 33; Revelation 19:17, 18.
“Soon the dead and dying will be all around us. I saw that some will be so hardened, as to even make sport of the judgments of God. Then the slain of the Lord will be from one end of the earth, to the other; they will not be lamented, gathered, nor buried; but their ill savor will come up from the face of the whole earth. Those only who have the seal of the living God, will be sheltered from the storm of wrath that will soon fall on the heads of those who have rejected the truth.”—The Present Truth, September 1, 1849.
“The wicked had been destroyed, and their dead bodies were lying upon its surface. The wrath of God in the seven last plagues had been visited upon the inhabitants of the earth, causing them to gnaw their tongues from pain and to curse God.”—Early Writings, p. 289.
b. As the Lord revealed to John the last great conflict, what warning does He give us? Revelation 16:15; 22:12. When will the battle of Armageddon come to an end?
“After John’s description in Revelation 16 of that miracle-working power which was to gather the world to the last great conflict, the symbols are dropped, and the trumpet voice once more gives a certain sound. ‘Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame’ [Rev. 16:15]. After the transgression of Adam and Eve, they were naked, for the garment of light and security had departed from them. The world will have forgotten the admonition and warnings of God, as did the inhabitants of the Noetic world; as did also the dwellers in Sodom. They awoke with all their plans and inventions of iniquity; but suddenly the shower of fire came from heaven and consumed the godless inhabitants.”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, pp. 96, 97.
“The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. . . .
“The derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips are hushed into silence. The clash of arms, the tumult of battle, ‘with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood’ (Isaiah 9:5), is stilled.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 641, 642.
Tuesday
November 10
3. THE EARTHQUAKE AND HAILSTORM
a. What announcement comes from the throne of God when the seventh angel pours out his vial, and what occurs in nature? Revelation 16:17, 18.
“It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow in quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up and clash against each other. In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying: ‘It is done’ (Revelation 16:17).
“That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 636, 637.
b. What phenomena will be seen when the seventh plague is poured out? Amos 8:9; Revelation 16:20; Isaiah 24:19, 20. When the earthquake occurs, what key event takes place? Daniel 12:2.
“The sky opened and shut and was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot and cast out stones upon the land. And as God spoke the day and the hour of Jesus’ coming and delivered the everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn.”—Early Writings, pp. 285, 286.
“Graves are opened, and ‘many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth . . . awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt’ (Daniel 12:2). All who have died in the faith of the third angel’s message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God’s covenant of peace with those who have kept His law. ‘They also which pierced Him’ (Revelation 1:7), those that mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold Him in His glory and to see the honour placed upon the loyal and obedient.”—The Great Controversy, p. 637.
Wednesday
November 11
4. THE DOOM OF BABYLON
a. What will happen to mystic Babylon, the “mother of harlots” when it comes to God’s remembrance? Revelation 16:19.
“Babylon the great has come in remembrance before God, ‘to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.’ ”—The Great Controversy, p. 637.
“In the seventeenth of Revelation is foretold the destruction of all the churches who corrupt themselves by idolatrous devotion to the service of the papacy, those who have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. [Revelation 17:1–4 quoted.]
“Thus is represented the papal power, which with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, by outside attraction and gorgeous display, deceives all nations; promising them, as did Satan our first parents, all good to those who receive its mark, and all harm to those who oppose its fallacies.”—SDA Bible Commentary [E. G. White Comments], vol. 7, p. 983.
b. What is the great sin charged against Babylon, the “mother of harlots”? Revelation 17:3–6.
“The power that for so many centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is Rome. The purple and scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls, vividly picture the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty see of Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared ‘drunken with the blood of the saints’ as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful connection with ‘the kings of the earth.’ It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation.”—The Great Controversy, p. 382.
Thursday
November 12
5. “IT IS DONE”
a. What will be the culmination of the seventh plague? Revelation 16:21.
b. At the end of the seventh plague, what most important and glorious event will take place? Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7.
“Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now a ‘Man of Sorrows,’ to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 640, 641.
“Those who derided His claim to be the Son of God are speechless now. There is the haughty Herod who jeered at His royal title and bade the mocking soldiers crown Him king. There are the very men who with impious hands placed upon His form the purple robe, upon His sacred brow the thorny crown, and in His unresisting hand the mimic scepter, and bowed before Him in blasphemous mockery. The men who smote and spit upon the Prince of life now turn from His piercing gaze and seek to flee from the overpowering glory of His presence. Those who drove the nails through His hands and feet, the soldier who pierced His side, behold these marks with terror and remorse.”—Ibid., p. 643.
Friday
November 13
REVIEW AND THOUGHT QUESTIONS
a. Who will gather together the kings of the earth and of the whole world into one place?
b. When will the battle of Armageddon begin and end?
c. What important event takes place in the beginning of the seventh plague when God will say: “It is done”?
d. What is meant by “Babylon” and what will her reward be?
e. What glorious event closes the seven last plagues?