Those who receive the Mark of the Beast and refuse to come out of Babylon receive a DOUBLE PUNISHMENT.  Revelation 18:6  (6)  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. Revelation 6:15-17 (15)  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; (16)  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: (17)  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? ARE YOU READY TO HEAR THE REST OF THE STORY? Keep reading . . .  Jeremiah 16:16-18 (16)  Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. (17)  For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. (18)  And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable things.   Jeremiah 17:16-18 (16)  As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee. (17)  Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil. (18)  Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.   Trumpets and Plagues Affect the Same Localities but not at the same time                                             "All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final Judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy."- Great Controversy page 628.   What judgments are these? They are nothing else but the 7 trumpets! Revelation 9:20 specifically describes these trumpets as plagues.  1rst CUP Plagues Measured  out as 1/3 Judgments   First Trumpet   Second Trumpet   Third Trumpet   Fourth Trumpet   Fifth Trumpet   Sixth Trumpet   Seventh Trumpet       2nd CUP Judgments   without  measure   First Plague   Second Plague   Third Plague   Fourth Plague   Fifth Plague   Sixth Plague   Seventh Plague   Locality  Affected   The Earth   The Sea   Rivers, and fresh water sources   The Sun, moon stars   Babylon & her daughters   The Whole World The Air - Second Coming of Christ Trumpets Announce Final Judgment   Revelation 8:3-5 (3)  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. (4)  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.   Leviticus 16:12-13 (12)  And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil: (13)  And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:   Isaiah 6:5-11 (5)  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (6)  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: (7)  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. (8)  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. (9)  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. (10)  Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (11)  Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,   The above verse is a scene depicting the end of the world, the Day of Atonement, or cleansing of the Sanctuary. It shows the cleansing of sin, the seal of God by the coal touching the tongue. James said if you can tame your tongue you would be perfect. This verse mentions the abomination or at least the desolation caused by it, which is written in the book of Daniel and referred to by Christ in Matthew 24:15. (Click Image to Enlarge Photo)  "He (Satan) has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed friend’s. The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the tone, are reproduced with marvelous distinctness." "The spirits of devils personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring the most dangerous heresies will confront many. These visitants will appeal to our tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions. We must be prepared to withstand them with the Bible Truth that the dead know not anything and that they who thus appear are the spirits of devils.” - The Great Controversy pp. 552,560.  Demons will personate the dead during the time of the fifth trumpet       Luke 10:18-20        18  And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19  Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.   Notice the same language found in the time of the fifth trumpet.   Revelation 9:1-11 1  And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2  And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. 5  And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. 6  And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. 7  And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. 8  And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. 9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. 10  And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. 11  And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.   Here are the keys to understanding the symbolism of this prophecy   A star in Bible Prophecy represents an angel (Revelation 1:20) This angel who fell from heaven is Satan ( Luke 10:18) ·         His name “in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon” which are names for Satan. The “Bottomless Pit” represents death. (Romans 10:7; note – when you read this verse, remember that the word “deep” is the same word here translated as “bottomless pit.” These are symbolic locusts,  not literal locusts 1.       The locusts here have a king over them – (Revelation 9: 11) 2.       Literal locusts do not have a king over them (Proverbs 30:27)        These locusts that come up from the bottomless pit are demons 1.       The language of Luke 10:18-20 and that of the fifth trumpet are identical. The serpent’s scorpions and locusts in these two passages represent demons. 2.       Thus we have demons coming up from the dead, or personating those who are now dead. They will appear like men who are now dead, “their faces were as the faces of men.” (Verse 7). 3.       They will personate the dead saints, “they had hair as the hair of women,”-   (Verse 8), women in prophetic settings represent the church – (Jeremiah 4:6). 4.       Demons will personate our dead loved ones, they will be teaching the false doctrines of the fallen churches. “Teeth were as the teeth of lions” –verse 8. Lions represent both the devil and Babylon. 1 Peter 5:8; Daniel 7:4. “There is a strong inclination among Catholics who feel constrained to admit the genuineness of spirit-messages to assert that these are produced by the agency of the devil; that the message does not come from any departed friend, but from an evil spirit personating him. We know that Satan is capable of transforming himself into “an angel of light,” and he is presumably capable of transforming himself into the likeness of my Uncle John, of mimicking his voice and of reproducing his handwriting. If it be objected that the message contains high and lofty and even Christian sentiments, it may be replied that the evil spirit is deliberately adopting this role in order to deceive us and lead us on so as to ruin our souls.” - Donald Hole, Spiritualism and the Church 1929, pp. 65-67. Trumpets Announce the Close of Probation on the Church (ALL CHURCHES)   Revelation 8:5-6 (5)  And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. (6)  And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.   The incense represents the righteousness of Christ. It ascends with the prayers of those in the church (All Churches). This medium which makes our prayers acceptable to the God of Heaven is cast to the earth. In other words the prayers of the church members who break God’s Laws and receive the Mark of the Beast are no longer accepted or answered.   Proverbs 28:9 (9)  He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.   Psalms 66:18 (18)      If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:   Those who obey God will not be hurt by the plagues    Only those who receive the seal of God, by remaining loyal to all of God’s commandments including 7th day Sabbath observance will be safe during this time.    (Revelation 6:6)  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.   (Revelation 7:3)  Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.   (Revelation 9:4)  And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.   There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.  Psalms 91:10   During the final night in Egypt, the Hebrew’s were preserved from the most horrible of plagues. In fact not one plague affected the land of Goshen where the Hebrews lived (Exodus 8:22; 9:26; 12:27). In the same way those who are faithful to God’s commandments will be protected from the plagues of both the second and the third cup.   However during the time of the four winds there will be serious persecution.  There will be a death decree placed upon the Sabbath keepers. It will be believed by the world that these small numbers of people are the cause of all of earth’s woes. In an effort to please God, these men will put to death millions of Sabbath keepers. Only 144,000 will survive the death decree to live through the 7 last plagues.   But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold some sixty, some thirty.  Matthew 13:23   Only those who have the Seal of God, who bear fruit one hundredfold will live through the seven last plagues.   Probation has not closed on the world until the end of the sixth trumpet   And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Revelation 9:13   This is the voice of the High Priest. Probation has not closed yet. Michael has not yet stood up. The Altar of Incense was taken into the Holy of Holies one day of the year; The Day of Atonement. On that day the High Priest would minister in the Holy of Holies on behalf of Israel. The Voice that is heard is from the One whose name is the Word of God. It is Jesus Christ. He has not completed the cleansing of the sanctuary at this point. Probation closes on the world before the Seven Last Plagues are poured out.   Exodus 40:34-35 34  Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.   Moses is a type of Christ. Once the glory of God filled the temple He could not enter the temple.  In our day, when the glory of God fills the temple, Christ our High Priest will stand up, He will no longer be able to act as our mediator. The Angel will say, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Revelation 22:11   Before the Olympic Games begin marathon runners carry the torch a certain distance, then pass it on to the next runner , then to the next until it finally arrives at its destination. In the same way, the FOUR ANGELS have done their work, and it is time to pass on the torch to the destroying Angels, who hold the 7 last plagues.   Revelation 15:7-8 7  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. 8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.   Once the Mark or Seal of God is placed on the foreheads in Ezekiel 9 the destroying angels begin to do their work. There are 6 of them, because there are 6 plagues which precede the Second Coming. The Man in Linen or the 7 man of Ezekiel 9 & 10 is Christ, Christ himself pours out the seventh plague into the air by His Second Coming.  The Four Angels described in Ezekiel 1 are again mentioned in Ezekiel 10, just as they are re-introduced in Revelation 15 just before the Plagues.   Ezekiel 10:3-5 3  Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4  Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory. 5  And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.