Revelation 16:13-16

Revelation 16:13-16

And I saw three unclean spirits as frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  For they are spirits of demons while making signs.  These go out upon the kings upon the kings of the whole world together them into the battle of the great day of God the Almighty.  “Look!  I come as a thief.  Blessed is the one who keeps watch and who keeps their garments, in order that he should not walk around in nakedness and they should see his indecency.”  And he gathered them into the place – the one which is called Har-Meggidon in Hebrew.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Today we meet the three frogs.  These frogs are evil spirits coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.  Once more, John is playing off of his historical knowledge to set the context of this passage.  Frogs have always been seen as a sign of evil or the occult.  In Egypt, the frogs came out of the Nile during the Exodus story.  Throughout the history of the middle east, frogs were often seen as pets of those who could do magic.  We know that frogs are continually croaking, and even in the ancient world they were often a symbol for someone who was always talking but never said anything important.  What is John telling his audience?  The world – the great powers of the world – often has much to say, but it is usually of little importance.  When these frogs come out of the dragon, the beast, and the prophet we know that they are not to be trusted.

What has the world claimed to be important in your life but it is not?  How oes this become a deceptive or misleading voice?

Second Thought:

We don’t really know the identity of the false prophet as it is mentioned in this passage.  The best we can offer is that the false prophet is the second beast mentioned earlier when the first beast was brought to our attention.  What we can say for certain is that a prophet is one who brings God’s message to His contemporaries.  A false prophet, then, would be one who brings a message to the people that is not from God.  Whoever or whatever this false prophet is, we can be certain that their primary task is to lead people away from God.  They will fill the minds of the people with messages that hinder people from being able to hear the truth of God.

What messages in your life hinder your ability to hear God’s truth?  How do you fight such messages?  How do you even recognize such messages?

Third Thought:

We can see the effects of the false prophet as we close this passage.  The evil spirits go out into the world to bring the world against God in war.  It’s not enough to prevent people from hearing God, these evil spirits seek direct confrontation between God and the world.  This shows the source of their power.  Remember, Satan desires to disrupt our relationship with God.  He isn’t collecting followers for himself; He is looking to break our relationship with our creator.  This is exactly what is happening in this passage.  God’s relationship with humanity – the humanity that denies Him and His Son - is ultimately broken beyond repair as they come in aggression against God.

Do you see open aggression against God is the people around you?  Do you see open aggression against God on a global scale?  What do you typically do when you encounter aggression against God and His ways?

Passage for Tomorrow: Revelation 16:17-21