As strange as the judgments appear, these are actual events that happen on the earth just prior to the return of Jesus to set up the Kingdom of God on earth.
It is believed these vial judgments probably begin about 6 months before His coming. I believe the judgments span the last 6 months or so because their descriptions make it certain that each vial affects the world for some length of time.
Perhaps the reason that all these seven judgments occur in chapter 16 is because they all happen rapidly one after the other.
Illus: It is like a july 4th fire works, these seven judgments is the grand finally.
The gathering of all the world armies to Armageddon after the sixth vial would appear to take some time even with the help of Satan’s angels.
Rev. 16: 1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
The great voice out of the temple is the voice of Jesus serving as high priest in the temple. He tells the seven angels to go in the order they were assigned to go and pour out the wrath of God upon the earth.
Rev. 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.
The first vial is poured out and terrible sores come upon all who have taken the mark of the Beast and on those who have worshiped his image. The sores are believed to be ulcers or boils.
They are like what Egypt experienced in ancient days when God judged her.
Look at Exodus 9:8-9 And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt.
The sores will warn people who have not worshiped Satan and taken the mark of the beast to turn to the God of heaven.
Rev. 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
In the previous trumpet judgments, there was a similar judgment on a third of the earth. Now we see these things are taking place on the whole earth.
The second angel “poured out his vial upon the sea”, and it turns into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea dies.
“Second … vial … every living soul died in the sea”
This is reminiscent of the second trumpet (8:8-9), and of the first plague against Egypt (Exodus 7:20-25). However, this plague will be far more widespread. The water in the world’s oceans will become thick, dark, and coagulated, like the blood of a corpse. The death and decay of billions of sea creatures will only add to the misery of this judgment.
We have already seen that God will cause a third part of the sea to turn to blood during the 2nd trumpet, but this second bowl includes the entire sea. Imagine when all living creatures in the seas die. Think of the unbearable stench and the potential for disease.
“The “blood of a dead man” is coagulated and rotting. No evaporation for rain would be possible.
This judgment may well interfere with commercial shipping and send whole populations into confusion as people grope for an adequate supply of water, not to mention destroying what is left of the fish industry.
These vials, trumpets, and evil things happening are like the problems that came with the ten plagues on Egypt. In all cases, God brought them on to cause repentance. Just as Pharaoh repented not, these worshippers of the beast repented not. Many large cities have so much pollution today, that the water is bad.
Four of these seven judgments occurred literally in Egypt among the ten plagues and have never been accepted by credible Bible teachers as anything but literal.
Therefore, nothing new will be transpiring when God dries up the Euphrates River in order that the kings of the East may march over on dry ground.
If the plagues of Egypt were literal, and they certainly were, why should we not expect these awful judgments likewise to be literal?
Rev. 16:4-7 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
When the third angel pours out his vial all the fresh water on the earth will also be turned to blood. God is giving them blood to drink because they have slaughtered His saints and prophets.
These judgments are repayment for those that were slaughtered for their faith at the hands of “Babylon the Great” (chapter 18).
The angel that kept these martyred souls under the altar testifies that God’s judgments on these people on earth are deserving and just.
Rev. 16:8-9 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 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 fourth judgment should make it clear that these judgments are global in effect.
I have read a lot of speculation about what may bring the heat and it ranges from nuclear warfare to depleted ozone in the atmosphere.
However, the text plainly says that the vial will be poured out on the sun and not on the earth. No nation will escape the heat of the sun when it scorches all mankind with great heat. This is the real future global warming that man should worry about.
With all this, they still will not admit that the God of heaven is Almighty. They will blaspheme His name for these judgments and probably call Him the Devil.
Those that worship the Beast on earth really want Satan to be God, as do his fallen angels. Believing or wishing a lie is true does not make it true. There is only one Creator God and He is the one that dwells in heaven.
Rev. 16:10-11 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,11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds
When the fifth vial is poured out the kingdom of the Beast will be full of darkness. It will be a darkness that can be felt and they will gnaw their tongues for pain. There will be no light in the kingdom of the Beast because God will show the world that the Beast ruling the earth has no light in himself.
An example of this type of darkness can be found in Exodus when God judged Egypt.
Look at Exodus 10:21-22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:
In Egypt, the darkness lasted three days; we are not told how long this darkness will last.
The people in the Beast’s kingdom living with sores, heat, thirst and darkness will not repent of following Satan as God, or of their sins. They will instead blaspheme the God of heaven.
With this plague of darkness God is graphically demonstrating to the people on the earth who have not yet worshiped the Beast or taken his mark what hell will be like for eternity if they do.
They must by their own free will call on the God of heaven for mercy and salvation and accept Jesus to be saved from Satan. If they did, God would have his angels protect them from the plagues yet to come. Yet, most left on earth will continue to believe the lie that Satan is God.
Rev. 16:12-14 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
When the sixth vial is poured out on the river Euphrates all the armies of the world are gathered together by the satanic trinity (Dragon, Beast, False Prophet) to the staging ground of Megiddo in Israel (Armageddon).
The Euphrates River that separates East from West will be dried up so that the armies of the east can walk to Israel.
Satanic angels will use lying signs and wonders to deceive and to gather all those who wish to fight against the God of heaven. They will reap the consequences of such a foolish and futile attempt to war against the real Creator.
Rev. 16-15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame
This is a HIATUS passage between the sixth and seventh vial that says that Jesus will come as a thief.
Some think it is referring back to the time of the pre-tribulation rapture but I do not.
Before the final battle takes place and while the Beast is gathering his forces, God will send his angels to gather all those who are looking for Him before the final vial is poured out.
Perhaps at this point, some descendants of Israel in the world still do not know that Jesus is Jehovah. Whatever the case, Isaiah speaks of the return of natural Israel in the last days in the following passage:
Rev. 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Armageddon is Megiddo in northern Israel; Megiddo will be the staging area for the armies of the Beast but this is not where the armies will be destroyed.
When Jesus destroys these armies, the blood of the armies will flow in this valley of Jehoshaphat (Rev 14:20).
The valley of Jehoshaphat will be a great valley that runs for about 185 miles on the east side of Israel. Much of it was created by the earthquake that opened this valley for the obedient in Jerusalem to flee to the mountains for divine protection.
The God of heaven will ask the kings of the earth and their armies to allow all descendants of natural Israel to return to the land that He appointed for them.
The nations will comply because they will fear judgment or will see an opportunity to kill all the Jews on earth at one location. However, as Egypt did in ancient days, after they let the sons of Israel go; they will harden their hearts and go after them to kill them.
God will judge all the world’s armies that come against Israel in this valley. They will receive total destruction, as did the armies of Pharaoh who came against Israel.
The actual destruction of this army is described in chapter 19 after John first tells about the deeds and destruction of “Mystery Babylon” in chapter 17 and “Babylon the Great” in chapter 18.
Rev. 16:17-21 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.
When the seventh angel pours out his vial in the atmosphere the greatest earthquake that ever was or that ever will take place on earth will occur. All the cities of the world will fall. All high mountain ranges will dissolve and all islands will be moved or disappear. Jerusalem will be divided into three parts at that time.
The mountain of the Lord will be raised as the highest point in the area or possibly the world.
This total changing of the earth’s crust will allow fulfillment of the prophecies that speak about the desert land being watered and being lush during the millennial reign.
Most deserts are caused by high mountain ranges. When the mountain ranges are dissolved most of the world will become fertile. This change of the crust will eliminate fault lines. There will be no major earthquakes during the millennium. There will also be more gentle wind patterns without the mountain ranges, meaning less severe storms. The earth will become a paradise.
The weight of the hailstones is about a talent. A talent was 3000 shekels - these hailstones weigh about 100 pounds each.
The hailstones will rain down all over the earth during this final plague before the second coming of Jesus. All this upheaval on earth comes about by a rock made without hands hitting the earth at Babylon.
