Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #28 of Revelation, chapter 6, and we are continuing to look at Revelation 6:12:

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

We have been looking at this verse for several studies now and we have seen how God identified Judgment Day as a time of spiritual “darkness” because He has removed the Gospel Light from the world.  We have spent a considerable amount of time on this, so we are going to move on to the next statement in verse 12, where it says: “and the moon became as blood.”  This statement is rather familiar; we have read it before in the Bible, if you remember, back in the Book of Joel.  It says in Joel 2:31:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of JEHOVAH come.

This passage in Joel is quoted in the New Testament Book of Acts, in Acts 2:20:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:

These are the only places (that I am aware of) where we read of the moon being turned “into blood.”  In none of these passages does God tell us what that means.  What does it mean if the moon is turned “into blood”?  He just states it, matter-of-factly.  He did not tell us either what it meant that the “sun will be darkened,” and we had to search the Bible and then we realized that God is typified by the “sun” and He is the Light of the world, spiritually; so, if the sun is darkened, the Gospel light goes out on the earth; there is no more “light” of salvation.

We will have to do a similar search in attempting to allow the Bible to define these terms and to allow God to give us insight into what He means by this language of the moon being turned “into blood.”  The first thing that is helpful for us to keep in mind (and we did look at this earlier) is that the moon is a type and a figure of the Law of God or of the Word of God.  It is a picture of the Bible itself, as the Bible is God’s Law Book. 

Even though we do not find other Scripture that refers to the moon turning “into blood,” what happens if we think about the “type” and look for that kind of picture?  What I mean is this: since the moon represents the Word of God, the Bible, is there anything else that represents the Word of God, the Bible, which, perhaps, God has used and which contains similar language of that type and figure of being “turned into blood?”   The answer is, yes, there is; it so happens that the Bible does speak of something else being “turned to blood” and that is “water,”  the water of a river or the water of a sea – water that typifies the Gospel. 

Remember when the Lord Jesus was upon the cross and one of the Roman soldiers pierced His side and out flowed “blood and water.”  The blood pictured the atoning blood of Christ that would cover over the sins of His people.  It pictured his life that He gave for their sakes and the “water” represented the Gospel that would go forth, as a result.  But they are very similar in nature, so God speaks of the moon being “turned into blood,” but He also speaks of water being “turned into blood” in Exodus, chapter 7, in the days of deliverance of the Jews when God raised up Moses and commanded Moses to go to Pharaoh and pronounce the plagues that God would bring upon Egypt in order that Pharaoh let the people of Israel go.  We read in Exodus 7:17-18:

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.

Here, this is an historical occurrence.  This actually happened in time.  God did literally turn the waters of Egypt to “blood” and the Egyptians did loathe to drink of the water.

Then it says in Exodus 7:20-21:

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.

As a result of turning the river – the water of Egypt – to “blood,” the fish died and put forth a stink.  If you have ever had fish or gone into a market where they sell fish, you can smell the odor; they quickly stink when they are taken out of the water.  What do “fish” represent in the Bible?  Jesus said to His Apostles that He would make them “fishers of men.”  We know that when there was a great catch of fish in the Book of John (153 great fish), the fish typified the “great multitude” of sinners that God would bring forth to salvation during the time of the Great Tribulation. 

Fish represent “men.”   The water pictures life and it identifies with the Gospel of God.  Egypt is a type and figure of the world, so God is picturing the Gospel being “ruined” within the world and what will happen as a result is that “men” will die.  This is the spiritual picture that God is painting.  This is the consequence of the plague that He brought upon Egypt. 

We are working under the assumption (and I think it is a pretty good assumption) that when the moon, which represents the Word of God, is “turned to blood,” it would be synonymous to the water being “turned to blood,” because water can, likewise, represent the Word of God.  Remember how God talks of drawing “water” out of the well of salvation.  Well, this is our assumption, but let us turn to Isaiah 50:2:

Therefore, 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.

Now, here, it is not saying the water is turned to blood, but the water is dried up and, as a result, their fish stink and die for thirst.  Again, the fish represent “men.”  When there is no water – no Word of God – men die spiritually.

But notice the next verse in Isaiah 50:3:

I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.

Well, here, God is joining together the idea that at His rebuke the river is dried up and fish stink and die with the next verse that says that He clothed the heavens with blackness and makes sackcloth their covering.  Keep in mind the verse we are coming from in Revelation 6:12 that says that God clothed the sun with sackcloth of hair and there was blackness and He turned the moon to “blood.”  You see, it is a similar spiritual teaching – when water dries up or when water turns to “blood,” it is akin to the moon turning to “blood” or the sun being darkened.  They are teaching the same thing; they are teaching that the blessing of the true Gospel is gone and there is no salvation possible and, therefore, men will die.  They will not experience salvation at all. 

This is the picture that God is giving us and this is the picture, for instance, that we find in Revelation in a few places.  Let us start in Revelation 8:8-9:

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.

Now just to remind us, Revelation 8 is a chapter that details God’s judgment on the “third part,” repeatedly.  Again, and again, He speaks of the “third part” of this and the “third part” of that which is coming under His wrath and the “third part” identifies with the corporate church, where the true believers were found throughout the church age.  The third part identifies with true believers and, in turn, true believers identified with the church and, therefore, the corporate church, likewise, became identified with the “third part.”  Here, the “third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died.”  It is exactly the same as the fish in the river that died; they died because the river was turned to blood in Egypt.  When judgment began at the house of God, as the Great Tribulation got under way beginning on May 21, 1988, immediately the “waters” of the churches “turned to blood.”  A little further in this same chapter, God refers to the “sun, moon and stars” in Revelation 8:12:

And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

And, again, it is synonymous with the waters being “turned into blood” which was mentioned earlier.  It is teaching an identical truth – that the Gospel light is put out and the Gospel water is “turned to blood” or to judgment.  There is no more salvation.  As the Lord sends forth His people, they are likened to “fishermen,” fishing in the sea of this world where the wicked dwell; they are letting down their nets, which is the Gospel, the Word of God.  In that sea, God had His elect throughout the church age, but now the waters can no longer be fished.  Now there is no longer any creature that can be brought up alive; if you let down your nets in these “bloody waters,” you will only bring up dead fish.  There will be no deliverance of souls.  There is no more salvation within the churches.  That is what God is teaching.

God also tells us something we have not thought too much about, concerning the two witnesses, in Revelation 11:6:

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

Now we first need to understand who the “two witnesses” are.  The “two witnesses” are typified by Moses and Elijah.  Remember when the Lord was on the Mount of Transfiguration, two men appeared with him – Moses and Elijah.  Moses is a type of the Law of God.  God moved him to write the first five Books of the Bible known as the Law.  Elijah was a prophet and, therefore, he represents the “prophets,” and Moses and Elijah together represent “the law and the prophets,” which is a figure of speech to refer to the Word of God, the Bible.  These “two witnesses” are God’s representatives and the people of God identify with them because they carry forth the Word of God. 

The “two witnesses” had their testimony within the churches and congregations throughout the period of the church age, for 1,955 years, but then their testimony was finished, it says in Revelation 11, verse 7, as God removed His spirit from the midst of the churches and it ended the testimony of His word within the churches and congregations and their “water” was “turned to blood.”  It says in Revelation 11:6, “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood.”  God turned the “waters” of the churches to “blood,” as we saw in Revelation 8, with the judgment upon the sea of the “third part.”   You see, it is the Word of God, as we have learned these things, which turns the Gospel waters to “blood.”  God’s people were in the churches, gathering in the churches like everyone else.  Why did we stop?  We stopped because we are living at the time of the end and God opened up the Scriptures and He revealed to His people that the church age was over and it was time for the elect to depart out of the churches.  He also revealed that the Holy Spirit had abandoned the churches and that Satan had entered in. 

Now, what did this do to the Gospel waters of the churches?  This immediately turned the Gospel waters to “blood” and we realized there was no blessing of any kind within any congregation. You cannot have blessing without God’s Spirit and, of course, you cannot have blessing when Satan has taken his seat as the man of sin, and we had better get out!  There is no “water,” no pure truth, no faithful teaching any more and no blessing of God upon the Gospel proclaimed within the churches.  It was a ruination of the “water” of the Gospel.  That is what God’s Word did when He opened up His Word to reveal that the judgment had begun upon the churches and the congregations.  The “waters” would never be healed.  They would never be restored or returned to their pure condition, ever again, so we are not to go back to the churches for any reason at all.

Likewise, it was God’s Word, the Bible, which revealed that Judgment Day would occur on May 21, 2011 and by that time, God would have saved all of His elect and then He would shut the door of Heaven.  Remember, it says here in Revelation 11:6: “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy.”

It is referring to the testimony or witness of God through His Word and after the “two witnesses” were slain in the church, after three and a half days they “stood upon their feet,” (we would find if we continued reading in this chapter) and this is pointing to the time of the “latter rain” when God’s Word would begin to bring that pure water outside of the churches and congregations.  The “rain” would fall and wherever the rain fell, there would be life and God saved a “great multitude.”

Actually, we have a nice picture of that in Ezekiel, chapter 47, where God pictures the waters that go forth and a great number of fish are healed by the waters and live, as a result, pointing to all those that God saved during the “little season” of the Great Tribulation.

But there was a time period associated with the “latter rain.”  The “latter rain” would fall simultaneously with the Great Tribulation.  Once the Great Tribulation concluded, the “latter rain” would conclude, so the rain ceased to fall on May 21, 2011, as God had done His work of saving.  Now, once again, the Bible – the Word of God, the Scriptures and its witness – turns the “moon” or the Law of God, the Bible, to “blood.”   It is not just the “third part” of the waters, but now all of the waters (the entire Word of God) are not bringing forth life.  But now, as the Gospel is going into the world (if anyone is attempting to bring God’s Word in a saving way), it is only bringing waters that have been “turned to blood.”  We read in 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.

This is the condition of the Gospel inside the churches and outside of the churches, all over the world at this time, in the Day of Judgment.  For an unsaved sinner, there is no water to be found to drink, just as the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river – the waters became blood.  That is referring to the Word of God that once brought salvation to sinners, but now there is only condemnation; there is only judgment.  There is no more grace, no more mercy.  The mercy of God has already been extended or bestowed upon those on whom He would have mercy.  There is no further mercy possible for anyone else.