Chapter 1: The Bowls Poured Out

 

The stage has finally been set for the overthrow of Babylon. The judgment of Babylon and the subsequent healing of the nations both come after the temple in heaven is opened. Seven angels are released, bringing the final seven “plagues” upon the beast systems. The last verse in Revelation 15 introduces us to these seven angels. Revelation 15:8 says,

⁸ And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

A similar situation occurred twice before. The first was when the glory of God filled the Tabernacle of Moses. Exodus 40:34, 35 says,

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

The second occasion was when the glory of God filled Solomon’s temple. 2 Chron. 7:1, 2 says,

¹ Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the house. ² And the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.

This is repeated in 1 Kings 8:10, 11 with no new information. It appears that the priests were able to minister in the temple after the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles were completed. But since the glory of God seemed to interrupt the temple activity, they decided to keep a second week of Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:65). No doubt this second week was observed in a more “normal” manner insofar as temple rituals were concerned.

The prohibition against entering the temple is repeated, then, in Rev. 15:8, in terms of the overcomers entering the temple in heaven. But this time we are given a brief explanation. Those destined to enter the temple in heaven would have to wait “until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.” The original reason under Moses and Solomon was that the “glory” had filled the temple.

So in some manner, the “glory” is an equivalent to the “seven plagues.” The glory of God always overwhelms the flesh, for it is also revealed as the fire of God and the baptism of fire. Such “fire” kills the flesh, and only those whose flesh is already dead are able to survive in the presence of His glory.

The seven plagues are directed against the rulers of Babylon who stand in opposition to the will of God. But the overcomers too are unable to enter the temple in heaven until this work is completed. For them, it is necessary to keep the law of Sonship in Exodus 22:29, 30 and wait until the eighth day to be presented to God.

The Loud Voice

Revelation 16:1 says,

¹ And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth.”

The voice is really telling us that the time has come to overthrow Babylon by fulfilling the feast of Tabernacles. It takes longer than a single week to overthrow such a mighty city, so we might expect this to be fulfilled in a longer “week” than just seven literal days. So let us step back and look at the broad context of this chapter.

Revelation 14 took us to the end of the “seven times” of beast dominion (2014-2017). The beast from the sea had sole dominion for 1,260 years starting 529-534 and ending 1789-1794. This beast was then “killed” in 1798 and then came back to life in 1804, making an alliance with the beast from the earth that was rising at the same time. John does not tell us how long these allied forces would continue their dominion, but we may presume that their time would end when the overall “seven times” ends. This is prophecy regarding the beast systems.

The Transition

Meanwhile, the time of the seven churches extends for a period of 40 Jubilees (33 to 1993), with the Laodicean “captivity” church era taking up the final portion of the reign of “Saul” from 1914 to 1993. We then began a transition period from Saul to David, based on the pattern seen in 2 Sam. 5:5,

⁵ At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

This 7½ year transition was fulfilled from May 30, 1993 until Nov. 30, 2000. It began on Pentecost of 1993, the anniversary of the fulfillment of Pentecost in Acts 2. On this anniversary, my wife and I went to a conference in Nashville, TN to present ourselves (hearts) as Pentecostal offerings on behalf of all overcomers. We asked God for the baptism of fire (the Holy Spirit) to “bake” our leavened bread (Lev. 23:17) in order to make us acceptable living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).

This and other events marked the start of the 7½ year transition from Saul to David. We were shown by the prophetic word that the overcomers as a whole, representing “David,” had been given their first installment of spiritual authority. The church under Pentecost had failed to bring righteousness into the earth, and so this mandate was passed to the overcomers with a Tabernacles anointing.

Shortly after “Saul” died in May 1993, God instructed us to engage in the Jubilee Prayer Campaign from Nov. 21-29, 1993, which was the 46^th anniversary of the time in 1947 when the United Nations debated the Palestinian Resolution. We were shown from Dan. 4:32 that this would actually be a seven-year time of spiritual warfare, ending Nov. 29, 2000. All of this warfare was accomplished by the limited authority given to us, much like David’s limited authority in Hebron.

Our warfare, then, would reach its climax on Nov. 29, 2000, which was the day before the 7½ year transition was due to end. The coincidence of these two dates, November 29 and 30 in the year 2000, was remarkable.

In 2 Sam. 5:5 we read that the original transition was marked by the locations of David’s capital city. He reigned 7½ years in Hebron, and then, toward the end of this time period, representatives from all the tribes of Israel came to crown him king of all Israel (2 Sam. 5:3). Only then did David conquer Jerusalem. It was his first accomplishment after receiving the full authority that God had promised him.

David’s pattern was repeated prophetically in the year 2000. At the feast of Tabernacles that year, which we held in Champaign, IL, we understood that the overcomers (representing “David”) were being crowned with the full authority promised to them. A month later, on Nov. 28-30, 2000, a prophetic meeting was called, in which God revealed that His purpose was to mark the time of David’s conquest of Jerusalem. It was time for him to moved his capital from Hebron to Jerusalem, and in like manner, on Nov. 30, 2000 we decreed that the capital of the Kingdom would be moved from the Old Jerusalem to the New.

The way it unfolded for us showed us that Nov. 29, 2000 was the time when the earthly Jerusalem was overthrown, and November 30 was the establishment of the New Jerusalem as the capital of the overcomers’ Tabernacles Kingdom. Most importantly, however, was the transfer of authority from the church (“Saul”) to the overcomers (“David”).

This marked the shift from Pentecost to Tabernacles as well, insofar as the mandate was concerned. Over a period of 40 Jubilees (or 1,960 years), Pentecost had proved itself to be inadequate in fulfilling its mandate to establish the Kingdom. So even as David replaced Saul, so also the overcomers, having a greater anointing through the feast of Tabernacles, replaced the church under Pentecost.

Overview of the Seven Bowls (2000-2006/2007 A.D.)

We were then led to pour out seven bowls of water and wine at each feast of Tabernacles from the year 2000 until the seventh bowl in 2006. This was based on Revelation 16, each year having a different purpose according to John’s revelation. During this time, we saw remarkable signs and wonders that proved that we were indeed being led by the Spirit.

Having learned that the ancient feast of Tabernacles saw both water and wine poured out on each of the seven days of Tabernacles, we too poured out both water and wine to symbolize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (water) and the overthrow of Babylon (wine). Our work was confirmed also by overlaying the eight miracle signs in the gospel of John, which prophesy of the eight days of Tabernacles.

The feast of Tabernacles was a seven-day feast, but there was a final “great day of the feast” where the people gathered in a holy convocation on the eighth day. Hence, the first seven miracle-signs occurred before Jesus’ death and resurrection, while the last sign occurred after His resurrection. These signs gave much meaning to our Tabernacles work from 2000-2006, with 2007 then representing the eighth day of Tabernacles.

The seven bowls of wine are the judgment side of prophecy, for they are “plagues” directed against Babylon. The seven bowls of water are the positive side of prophecy, for they signify the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which establishes the Kingdom of God in the earth. The water, then, is the drink offering poured out during the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles in the old temple.

In John’s gospel, each day of the feast of Tabernacles is depicted by a semeion, a miracle-sign that John presents in his gospel. There are eight signs in John’s gospel, one for each of the eight days of the feast of Tabernacles. Of these, the first seven were performed before the cross, while the eighth sign occurred after Christ’s resurrection.

The eight signs in John are as follows:

1. John 2:1-11 (at the marriage feast of Cana)

2. John 4:46-54 (the Nobleman’s son healed)

3. John 5:1-13 (The sick man at Bethesda healed)

4. John 6:4-15 (Feeding the 5,000)

5. John 6:16-21 (Walking on the water)

6. John 9:1-7 (The blind man healed)

7. John 11:1-44 (Lazarus raised from the dead)

8. John 21:3-11 (The 153 fish caught in the net)

The purpose of these “signs” was to manifest His glory (John 2:11). That is also the purpose of the feast of Tabernacles, which prophesies of the transformation of the saints to a glorified body. By linking these eight signs with the feast of Tabernacles, we see that the water that was poured out for seven days prophesied of the work of the Holy Spirit.

We were led to pour out bowls of water and wine from 2000-2006, believing that we were establishing prophetic decrees at the appointed times. The full story is far too long and complex to repeat here, but anyone can read the summary of events in my book, The Wars of the Lord: A Short History of Spiritual Warfare in Our Time.

The seven bowls of water and wine were poured out at the following locations:

1. Champaign, IL (on the “earth”) October 22, 2000

2. Port Austin, MI (on the “sea,” Lake Huron) October 9, 2001

3. Fridley, MN (on the Mississippi “river”) September 27, 2002

4. Chandler, AZ (in the Valley of the “Sun”) October 17, 2003

5. Washington D.C. (on “the seat of the beast” at Scott Circle) October 6, 2004

6. Fruita, CO (on the “Euphrates River”) September 26, 2005

7. Babylon, NY (on “Mystery Babylon”) October 7, 2006

The seventh bowl of wine, was poured out in Babylon, NY, not at the feast of Tabernacles, but on the Day of Atonement. The following week, we drove to Reading, PA to hold our Tabernacles conference at the Abraham Lincoln hotel, signifying the freeing of Babylon’s slaves. There I rehearsed the progression of prophecy in regard to the seven bowls and told the people that we should expect to see the start of the collapse of the economic system within a year.

It was no surprise, then, when we began to hear of the subprime mortgage crisis that was reported in the mainstream media in June 2007. As the crisis deepened, it brought about the banking crisis of September 2008, triggering what is now known as “the Great Recession.”

While government propaganda tries to make it appear that all is well and that we have seen a “recovery,” the truth is that none of the underlying banking problems have been fixed. The banks were merely bailed out, so that they had sufficient money to continue the same practices that caused the original problems. The stock market was propped up artificially. Hence, the next collapse may be far greater.

The Rebuilt Temple

Another theme relevant to present-day prophecy is Haggai’s revelation about the glorification of the new temple. Recall that the glory left Solomon’s temple shortly before the Babylonians destroyed it. Jeremiah prophesied that the glory would depart from Jerusalem as it had departed from the tabernacle at “Shiloh” (Jer. 7:12, 13, 14) three centuries earlier. Ezekiel actually saw the glory depart from the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:4, 18; 11:23).

After the Babylonian captivity, many of the captives returned to rebuild Jerusalem and to build a second temple. Haggai prophesied during that time, encouraging them to rebuild. He then prophesied in Hag. 2:9,

⁹ “The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,” says the Lord of hosts, “and in this place I shall give peace,” declares the Lord of hosts.

Of course, that second temple was not nearly as glorious as “the former” temple of Solomon. Later, when King Herod dismantled the temple and rebuilt it during the time of Christ, he made it somewhat comparable to Solomon’s temple. However, the real issue was not about architecture, but about the glory of God. We know that the glory of God did not fill that second temple. Neither did it have the Ark of the Covenant, without which it would have been impossible for the glory to fill any earthly temple.

From a legal standpoint, God had forsaken Jerusalem as Shiloh. God’s presence left Shiloh when the Ark of God was taken by the Philistines, and this was marked by the birth of Ichabod, whose name means “the glory has departed” (1 Sam. 4:21, 22). In similar fashion, the Ark of God was removed by Jeremiah and never returned to Jerusalem (in spite of some reports of it being buried in Jerusalem).

The point is that Haggai’s prophecy was not fulfilled in that second temple, nor could it be. The temple that was to be glorified was one made of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:5), and “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone” (Eph. 2:20). This temple was glorified in a Pentecostal sense in Acts 2:4, but the church again lost the glory, along with the gifts of the Spirit when they stopped bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit.

Holy Spirit revivals brought the glory back in limited parcels and in limited locations thereafter during the Pentecostal Age. But since 1993, and more particularly since Nov. 30, 2000, the stage has been set for the return of the glory of God to fill a new temple in the Tabernacles Age.

The “seven times” law applies also to the desolation of the temple. The second temple was completed on March 15, 515 B.C. (Ezra 6:15). Haggai’s prophecy of temple glorification did not occur when the temple was dedicated at Tabernacles that year (Haggai 2:1). Instead, it was deferred for “seven times” (2,520 years) until October 2006.

It is significant that this 2,520-year cycle ended at the time that we poured out the seventh bowl in Babylon, NY on Oct. 7, 2006.