Welcome to Prophecy Q & A with Jimmy DeYoung!
This passage is giving me evidence that they will have an opportunity to repent, even though they have the mark of the beast.
Revelation 16:8-9 says, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.” This is the fourth vial judgment. There are only three more judgments after this. The judgment is intensifying on the people on earth, probably within the last six months of the Tribulation period and Christ’s return.
There are a total of 21 judgments in the Tribulation period. There are seven seal judgments (Revelation 6), seven trumpet judgments (Revelation 8, 9, 11), and seven vial judgments (Revelation 16).
The whole purpose of the judgments is to cause men and women on earth to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. This is part of the reason for the Tribulation period. The three reasons for the Tribulation period are:
- To bring the Gentiles to the end of their power and control over the Jews in the city of Jerusalem
- To bring an end to the Satanic trinity putting Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years and then into the Lake of Fire
- To turn the Jews and Gentiles to Jesus Christ.
The Jews may have taken the mark of the beast.
Revelation 16:9 says that they repented not, so they must have been able to repent and had the capability of turning to Christ. Revelation 16:11 is basically saying the same thing. How can you “not repent” if you can’t repent? If you are capable of rejecting what the Lord is doing and decide not to repent, you could only do that if you had the capability to repent.
Revelation 16:10 speaks of more judgment, “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain.” When you bite your tongue, it hurts. Imagine being in so much pain during this time that you would gnaw your tongue to relieve your pain.
Revelation 16:11, “And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” There are two verses in Revelation 16 that are saying that they will not repent but will blaspheme God. These people would have received the mark of the beast (Revelation 13).
In Revelation 13, the Antichrist and the False Prophet are trying to make the world worship Antichrist who sets up a false religion during the first half of the Tribulation period in Rome, Italy. He will destroy that along with the help of the European Union at the end of that time. Then the Antichrist goes to battle and sets up a one-world economic power base in order for him to succeed with having all of the merchants of the world join forces with him. He makes everyone else take an identification mark so that they can buy or sell. He has it all under control. Notice who takes the mark in Revelation 13:16, “And he (false prophet) causeth all (everyone), both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads.” Everyone on the earth at this time, at the midway point of the Tribulation period, must take the mark whether they want to or not.
Revelation 7:4-8 is the record of the 144,000 male virgin Jews who will go across the world, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Revelation 7:9 says that a multitude that no man can number of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, shall come to know Christ as Lord and Savior. There will be people saved during the Tribulation period. At the midway point, according to Jesus in Matthew 24 after the Abomination of Desolation of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Great Tribulation gets underway. This is the last three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation period. Intense judgment will be released. Satan and his evil angels will be thrown out of heaven down to the earth (Revelation 12:7-17), trying to wipe out mankind and particularly, the Jewish nation of Israel. They know that if they can wipe out the Jewish people, then God cannot keep His promises to the Jewish people.
In Revelation 7:13-14, “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” After the time that everyone receives the mark of the beast and starts to worship Satan, they will have an opportunity to get saved. They repented during the last half of the Tribulation period. They will come out of the Great Tribulation.
Has anyone worshiped Satan in our world today? Yes, they have. There are Satan worshipers who have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They repented and got saved. “Repent” means to do an about-face; they turn and go back the other way.
Taking the mark of the beast is not the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is rejecting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
The Bible teaches us in Revelation 14:9-12 of a vision of the future, and those who do not repent will burn in hell forever. Revelation 14 is made up of a number of visions. The 144,000 stands on the Mount of Olives with Jesus Christ. This is not happening at this time. It also talks of the Battle of Armageddon and how the blood will flow as high as the horse’s bridle; this is looking into the future. Those that receive the mark of the beast and worship him are cast into the Lake of Fire forever if they repent not. There is an opportunity for all to repent to come to know Christ.
There are some deadlines in our world today:
- If you die without Jesus Christ, that is a deadline. You’ll never have another opportunity to receive Christ.
- If you never receive Christ after hearing the gospel, understanding it, and rejecting it, II Thessalonians 2:8-12 says that those who reject Christ will believe the lie. This is in effect for before and after the rapture.
If they could “repent not,” they had to be able to repent, referring to just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Let’s work for everybody to get saved today and pray for our lost loved ones who may be going into the Tribulation period as the 144,000 male virgin Jews reach the world with the gospel.
Jimmy DeYoung was a prophecy teacher and journalist who travelled the country and the world educating the Body of Christ of the future events foretold in God’s prophetic Word. His goal was to equip Christians with the knowledge and understanding of what God’s Word says will happen someday soon, so that they can make better decisions today. Dr. DeYoung went home to be with his Savior on August 15, 2021.
