Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #3 of Revelation, chapter 16, and we are going to be reading Revelation 16:3-4:

And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

I will stop reading there. Once again, this is the going forth of the “seven messengers” of God who represent the true believers that are acting at the command of God to accomplish the will of God in pouring out the vials of the seven last plagues. It is not the beginning of the plague or the beginning of judgment upon the house of God. There is no way it could be the seven “last” plagues if it were picturing the judgment that began at the house of God. These are the final judgments of God upon the world; that is why God said in verse 1: “Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” It is the judgment on the entire world in the Day of Judgment and the “seven messengers” are the true believers, the body of Christ, that go forth to accomplish the will of God through the sharing of the Bible’s message.

The Bible itself has become “bitter water,” according to Revelation, chapter 10. It is now full of wrath, so when the true believers share what the Bible has to say it is just like pouring out a vial full of wrath. This is why the Lord is using this picture, because there is no more salvation.

It says in Revelation 16:3:

And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

The word “man” is not in the original text, so we could read this as, “It became as the blood of a dead one.” The turning of the waters to blood reminds us of the awful plague the Lord brought upon Egypt in the days of Moses. We read in Exodus 7:17-21:

Thus saith JEHOVAH, In this thou shalt know that I am JEHOVAH: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. And JEHOVAH spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as JEHOVAH commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

What a terrible judgment of God this was upon the Egyptians. Of course, water is a necessity for man and God smote their waters, the Nile River, and their streams, rivers and ponds and all the pools of water. The waters in Egypt turned to blood and this caused the fish to die and the river to stink. Of course, all the dead fish in the waters would increase that awful stinking savour to the smell of the Egyptians. In a way it reminds us of Lazarus when it was said, “He stinketh,” because he had been dead four days already. Revelation 16 says that the water turned to “blood as of a dead one.” It is giving forth a stinking savour and it causes the living creatures in the sea to die.

The same word that is translated as “stink” or “stank” in Exodus 7 is also used in Ecclesiastes 10:1:

Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.

The ointment of the apothecary was a precise blend or concoction and God gave specific instructions for the ingredients that were to be used in the ointment for service in the sacrifices. The ingredients were precise and even one alteration, like a dead fly, that might accidentally fall into the ointment of the apothecary changes the “mix” and makes it something other than the perfect ointment and, therefore, it is said to “send forth a stinking savour.” This pictures the Gospel of the Bible, which is to be “unaltered.” It is not to be changed or perverted. You know, the word “perverted” means to change something. The Gospel is not to be changed or turned from “grace” to “works.” It is the perfect Gospel ingredient that was designed by God and men are not to add a little bit of work or a little bit of their own ideas. As soon as they do, they turn that lovely aroma and that wonderful savour that ascends up to God and is pleasing to His nostrils into a “stinking savour.”

That is the idea with the waters of Egypt and the waters in Revelation 16, because we know that water typifies the Gospel. Egypt typifies the world and, therefore, the waters of Egypt are turned into blood. God says this in a couple of other places, like Psalm 78:43-44:

How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: And had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink.

It also speaks of this in Psalm 105:29:

He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.

So we have two things that happened once the waters turned to blood. The fish died and the Egyptians loathed to drink the waters of the river. They could not drink of this bloody water and all the waters of Egypt had been turned to blood. If you cannot drink water, you will die. This is the idea, as the water of the Gospel is now ruined; it is gone. It was the Gospel that flowed forth as “rivers of water,” and we remember the beautiful language we find in the Book of Isaiah, for example, where God turned the wilderness into “rivers of water.” He did this during the church age as He sent forth the Gospel into the nations of the world; there were streams and rivers of water. He did this, especially, in the second part of the Great Tribulation outside of the churches and congregations, as He sent forth the Latter Rain and the Gospel water was multiplied and sent forth to the nations of the world outside the churches. Truly, the Word of God and the knowledge of God covered the earth like the waters cover the sea. It was a tremendous outpouring of the Bible’s declarations concerning Judgment Day that went forth to warn the world that time was short and they must seek the Lord while He may be found, because the day (May 21, 2011) was quickly coming in which the door to heaven would shut and the Gospel water, which had been so readily available, would cease to flow; the Latter Rain would cease; the rivers would dry up and the water would no longer be found. The drying up of the rivers is just another way of looking at the same thing, if we look at Isaiah 50:2:

Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.

We can see the similar results that occur when you dry up a river; there is no water and the fish die and the “fish stinketh” and people cannot drink of the river any longer. It is the same thing when the water turns to blood. The fish die and the river gives forth a “stinking savour” and the people cannot drink. It accomplishes the same thing and both ideas point to the same truth: it is Judgment Day and the sending forth of the Gospel has ended; it is the end of God’s salvation plan and He is not using the Gospel to save sinners. The fish dying typifies this, because “fish” in the Bible represent men, spiritually. We read in Matthew 4:18-19:

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Jesus would make them fishers of men. How would He do that? He would give them His Word and qualify them to bring the Word of God and as they would do so, it would be as if they were “fishing,” spiritually. The Word of God would “catch” a sinner, one of God’s elect, and draw that individual. This is the language of the Bible: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” The Word would draw the person closer, just as a man reels in a fish, until he experiences the salvation of God. Then that person is safely caught in the net of God’s salvation through the Gospel. We read in Habakkuk where God uses this imagery, but in this case, He is referring to individuals that have false gospels. He says in Habakkuk 1:13-15:

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them? They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

It is the same principal, whether speaking of the true Gospel or a false gospel – everyone is casting their net into the “sea,” it seems. The “sea” is this world and mankind is the fish. Of course, there are multitudes of false gospels, so there are many more fishermen in “other gospels,” especially today when all the churches have become “another gospel” and no longer have the true Gospel of the Bible. So it is not only the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Pentecostals that have other gospels, but it is also the Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and so forth. They are all casting their nets into the sea. This was going on, especially during the Great Tribulation, and that is why God commanded His people to come out of the churches and get away from that situation and go out into the world. God made His children “fishers of men” out in the world. Yes, some of the churches ventured out to find disciples every so often, but, primarily, they focused on their own churches. But out in the world was where God was going to save the great multitude and the “great catch of fish” in John, chapter 21, typifies that great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation.

Anyway, now it is Judgment Day and the waters that were flowing forth abundantly in the world outside of the churches have also been affected by the judgment of God in the time of His wrath. The vials are poured out upon them as well and, therefore, any ministry that is outside of the churches and congregations that may have some understanding that the church age is over, but lack understanding that God has ended His salvation program and they are continuing to “fish” and they continue to believe the waters of salvation are still available, then God is striking their “water” as well. He is striking the gospels of those ministries just as He did when He brought judgment upon the churches and dried up the waters within the congregations. Remember, back in Revelation, chapter 8, God spoke of judgment on the “third part.” This was the spiritual judgment that began at the house of God and it impacted the “waters” of all churches everywherein the world. It says in Revelation 8:9:

And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. If you read this, you will see the judgment on the “third part” goes on, and on, and on, because it is revealing the judgment of God upon the churches, which identified with the “third part” where the true believers had been found throughout the church age. But now the time had come and the space given to them to repent was past and God is “visiting them” for their sins and holding them accountable and He ruined their gospel. That is why it says the “third part of the sea became blood” and the “third part of the creatures which were in the sea” died. It is not the entire world, as we find in Revelation, chapter 16, but it is judgment exclusively on the “third part,” the churches.

But now time has moved on and we have progressed in God’s timetable for this earth. We have gone through the Great Tribulation and the judgment on the “third part” of the waters is complete and they have been turned to blood. Then there came the transition day of May 21, 2011 and the abundance of water that had been found outside the churches has also been turned to blood.

You may be thinking of Family Radio and when I talked about ministries outside of the churches, it would include Family Radio. We have to acknowledge that God used Family Radio in an unparalleled way to get the Gospel out to the peoples of the world – to the nations outside of the churches. There was this tremendous sending forth of the Gospel and, therefore, there was a tremendous amount of Gospel waters going forth from the ministry of Family Radio. But that sort of Gospel declaration ended once God saved the great multitude – the purpose of the water was to bring life wherever it flowed. (You can read Ezekiel, chapter 47, to see that type of language.) Wherever the water flowed, life came and there was salvation.

But once God completed His work of saving the great multitude, then the Latter Rain ceased; the water flow stopped and now the Lord is saying that He is targeting those “waters” and turning them to blood. Then you cannot drink of them any more and the fish in the waters that are turned to blood die and they “stink.” It is all indicating that there is no more salvation. Tragically, when people think they are doing a good service and they think it is still their task to proclaim the Gospel for the purpose of giving water to a thirsty soul, all they can possibly do in a time like this is to give a cup of water that has been turned to blood and which no man can drink.