16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Revelation 16:16-21

And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Satan and his army of demons influence a vast number of the final generation to join them in making war against God. Armageddon is their final effort to resist God. Revelation 16:15-16 Their defiance fully demonstrates to the cosmos the depth of their depravity. Our God is almighty and their battle is nothing to Him. Total annihilation with the seventh plague is His response to their resistance.

The strange act of destruction through the plagues is not typical of a Creator God. Isaiah 28:21-22 However, Satan is holding God's people captive refusing to let them go. God will secure our freedom through necessary means. His people have been ransomed and we will be set free! There will be a millennial sabbatical for God's people after the seventh plague is poured out.

And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. The same voice that commanded the angels to pour out the plagues is the voice that declares the completion of God's strange act (plagues). Revelation 16:1 Each time God declares that He has finished His work, He punctuates it with a Sabbatical.

In the Garden of Eden at the end of the 6th day God finished His work and invited mankind to rest in His finished works. Genesis 1:31-2:3 When Christ was on the cross at the point of death, He declared that phase of His work to be finished, gave up the ghost and rested in the grave during the Sabbath. John 19:30-31 Each event demonstrates our invitation to rest in the works of God as opposed to our own self-righteousness which is as filthy rags.

The Son of the Living God placed Himself on the cross as a living sacrifice to fulfill the requirements of the law of sin and death. Jesus paid the full price and completed the work of redeeming humanity. We can not atone for ourselves; and MUST rest in His finished work. The grace of our God defines the vast difference between the Creator God and the god of this dark world.

Satan is selfish, self-centered and self-serving. He is also a liar, a murderer and a destroyer. The God that made us and died for us does everything on our behalf and then invites us to partake of the bounty. There is nothing He will not do for those that love Him. God made us in His image. Satan's biggest lie is that you can be like God if you do something worthy. The power of salvation is not completed through personal effort, but by the hand of God. Satan says you and I can be like the gods. The Heavenly Father says He made us in His image. We are not God, but we are already like Him.

If you feel that you can not come to the Father because He is not done with you yet, then know that Satan cackles with glee when you see yourself and fall into despair. God's vision of you is based upon your full potential and is driven by His predetermination. You can not be everything He is, but if you love Him you are already all He would have you be. He will do a good work in you, expect it. God has declared you to be good because He is good--rest in that!

There are two other times when God declares His work finished and punctuates it with a Sabbatical. They are both found in Revelation making a total of four times beginning at (1) creation, (2) Christ on the cross, (3) Christ at His second coming and culminating with the (4) recreation of the earth. We have already discussed creation and the cross. The third event is in Revelation 16:17 after the conclusion of His wrath. When He releases His people by displaying His wrath, our bondage is over and we have been set free. The righteous saints that witness the wrath of God and those that are dead in Christ ascend into the Heavens so we can spend 1,000 years resting in Heaven with Christ at His coming.

Our final Sabbatical is an eternal rest with the Lord at the recreation of the New Heaven and Earth. At the end of the 1,000 years God, Jesus, the saints and all the inhabitants of Heaven will move to the New Earth. Satan will rally the resurrected dead to wage war against God and try to take the New City Jerusalem. This is the battle of Gog and Magog resulting in the completion of the reign of sin. God's people will live in eternal peace. We will witness God as He recreates the world doing the work of a loving Father. Some people think resting equals inactivity and boredom. The rest God gives us is activity without molestation. We will plant vineyards and eat the fruit of it. We will build houses and live in them. Never again will we war, sorrow, hunger, fear, etc.

However, before we rest in the New Earth, God will destroy the works of man's hands. He will not recreate in the midst of our mess. The energy that is released at the presence of Christ in all His glory causes the mountains to fall and the islands to flee. The world will enter into chaos and all will be destroyed at His coming. All those that have entered into His rest today will not be dismayed or discouraged at the ravaging of the planet . They know the Creator can and will, in His own time, restore the pristine condition of the garden to the entire New Earth.

Satan wants to rule over this world. Therefore, Jesus will let him have it during the millennial reign. The earth will return to the abyss that God called it out of and will take Satan with it. Genesis 1:1; Revelation 20:1-3 Satan will reign on this old planet while those that rejected Christ through the ages are in the grave and those that received Him are in Heaven sharing in His glory. God will grant Satan his heart's desire. Satan will have full dominion of the earth during the thousand year reign; however, he will not have any subjects. Neither will he bask in the glory of the creation of God. Be careful what you covet!

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

Satan will repeatedly demonstrate to the entire universe that he is not fit to be king. Chaos and destruction are always the results of his reign, and he is powerless to fix it even if his heart desired it. Yet, he still persuades his subjects that are living at the coming of Christ to rise up and resist their savior during Armageddon in the sixth plague. It is in the sixth plague that Christ dries up the river Euphrates allowing men to cross over dry shod. Revelation 16:17-21

The pharaoh in Egypt came after God's people when they crossed over the water. Satan will do the same thing. He will rally the people of the earth to fight against God refusing to release the saints. God flooded pharaoh's army and He will completely annihilate Satan and his army of rebellious angels and sinners with the seventh plague. This destruction finalizes God's strange act. It is not His desire to destroy the works of His hands. However, the world will have it no other way.

Click on the link and learn more about the effects of the plagues upon the old harlot, Babylon.