The End Times as God Reveals Them Pt. 51 The First 6 Vials Poured out & Armageddon Looms Larger!

We are ready to look into Revelation 16. 

Romans 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

As we look into the final 7 judgments of God upon the world, I was reminded of Paul's words to believers. We are not to seek revenge on those who do wrong to us. We are to give that to the Lord and He will ultimately take care of it. What we see unfolding throughout the book of Revelation is this truth: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Holy God will be measuring out His wrath against all who are unholy, ungodly.

(Photo of valley of Megiddo where War of Armageddon will be fought)

The voice of God commands the 7 angels.

Revelation 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. 

We will see rapid progression toward the end of all prophecy as we move into this chapter. John heard a great voice. This is a loud, commanding voice like the sound of many waters speaking. The same commanding voice he heard in Revelation 1. This is the voice of God commanding His angels to go out and pour out the judgments contained in the seven vials. A vial is a broad, shallow bowl with a small spout for pouring. 

Also, please remember that these judgments come because of the 7th trumpet sounding back in Revelation 11. 

Psalm 29:3-9  The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4) The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5) The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6) He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. 7)  The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. 8) The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. 9) The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. 

The voice of the LORD is mentioned 7 times in this Psalm. Notice how powerful His voice is and what it does. It is compared with the thunderous sound of moving waters like Niagara Falls. His voice has power and is full of His majesty. The cedars of Lebanon were renowned for their strength and resistance to insects and disease yet the voice of God speaks and they shatter like toothpicks. The voice of the LORD makes the mountains quake and the wilderness shake. 

God's glorious, majestic and powerful voice will command the holy angels to act. It is fitting that the powerful voice of God will give an order to pour out the wrath of God on the earth. 

Finally, let me note that the seven vial judgments have much in common with the Egyptian plagues of Moses and the seven trumpet judgments. The main distinction is that the 7 trumpets were more limited impacting only a part of the world, whereas the vial judgments will impact the entire world. 

The 1st vial pours out terrible sores.

Revelation 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 worshipped his image. 

The first vial judgment will target all who worshipped the image of the Antichrist and all who took the mark of the beast. The words noisome and grievous mean that the sores will be injurious, destructive and very painful. The word "sore" refers to an open ulcerated wound that is filled with pus. 

This judgment is very similar to the plague of boils that God caused to afflict the Egyptians (Exodus 9:8-12). The Egyptians broke out in boils and blains that discharged pus and were so painful the Egyptians could not move around.  

The 2nd vial turns oceans into blood.

Revelation 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. 

When the second trumpet sounded 1/3 of the seas turned to blood. We will see that these judgments are going to come in rapid succession. The second angel will pour out the contents of his vial upon the earth. All seas and oceans are going to turn to blood and every living thing will die, including men and aquatic life. 

The 3rd vial turns all other water sources into blood.

Revelation 16:4  And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 

The third trumpet made 1/3 of the fresh water supply on earth turn bitter. This judgment targets all of the remaining sources of water by turning them into blood and rendering them undrinkable. These are powerful judgments that will impact every living thing on earth. In both of the judgments on earth's water supply, the text says they are turned to blood.

John is telling us what the judgments looked like to the best of his understanding and this will be gruesome. This judgment is very similar to the first plague God brought upon the Egyptians when the waters of the Nile River were turned to blood (Exodus 7:14-25).

God is justified in pouring out His wrath. 

Revelation 16:5-7  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. 

The angels which poured out the vials of wrath upon the waters declared the righteousness of God in carrying out judgment. Worshipers of Antichrist and those who took the mark of the beast killed the saints and prophets by shedding their blood. Therefore, it is fitting and just that God will give them blood to drink. 

John also heard a voice from the altar of God in heaven say that the judgments of the Lord God Almighty are righteous and true. We know that the souls of the tribulation martyrs are under the altar and that they have pleaded for God to avenge them (Revelation 6:9). It may well be their voices that John listened to. 

The 4th vial magnifies the sun's heat on the earth, burning men.

Revelation 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. 

The 4th vial is poured out upon the sun and must change it in some manner because its output increases and sends scorching heat to the earth. The word "scorched" means to be tortured by intense heat or to be severely burned. Those living on earth at that time will feel like they are burning in a fire.  This indicates that there is going to be a dramatic change in the earth's climate as the judgments from God take place. 

Notice, men who worship the beast and take his mark will stubbornly refuse to repent and instead will give themselves over to blaspheming the name of God. 

The 5th vial brings darkness and pain.

Revelation 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. 

The fifth trumpet brought darkness on the earth as demonic creatures were released from the abyss. The fifth vial will bring a palpable darkness into the world. The ninth plague God sent upon the Egyptians brought darkness and when the Egyptians sat down they did not move at all for three days (Exodus 10:21-29). 

This darkness will be much worse. It will impact the whole world because the kingdom of the Antichrist is the entire world. It will be so intense that people who have been burned by the unnatural heat from the sun will literally gnaw their tongues in pain. 

These people will remain unrepentant and this is the last time reference in Revelation speaks about their failure to repent and give God the glory due unto His name.  

The 6th vial prepares the way for the final world war.

Revelation 16:12  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. 

The sixth vial is poured out on the Euphrates River. Why this particular river? Because the Euphrates River is one of the borders of Israel that God gave. In that time the great river is going to be miraculously dried up. A vast army led by the kings of the east are going to march over the dry riverbed. 

One Bible scholar read more than 100 commentaries on this text and found that there were at least 50 different interpretations speculating who these kings of the east might be. Geographically, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and China are in the proximity of the area east of Israel.

It is no secret that China wants to become the world's superpower by surpassing the United States. Based upon the current geo-political status they will likely be the kings of the east that John saw. 

The Dragon prepares for war of Armageddon.

Revelation 16:13-16  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. 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. 16) And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 

John saw the curtain pulled back on the spirit or unseen world and what he saw was remarkable. This is a troubling yet clear example of spiritual wickedness in high places. 

First, John saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs. They move into action at the command of Satan, the Beast and the false prophet acting in unity as the unholy trinity. 

John called the frogs the spirits of devils and they are going to work some type of miracles as they seek to persuade all the kings of the earth. Their mission is gathering all of the world's armies together in a specific location.

This battle is going to be the climax of the End Times. God will bring all things to pass exactly as He said He would. 

There is a final warning to the world about the return of Jesus Christ as King of kings, Lord of lords and Judge of all.

Thoughts to Ponder...

We will look more at the war of Armageddon in our next post. It is worth noting that the valley of Megiddo has been the sight of more than 200 battles over a long period of time.

The last 3 1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week also known as the great tribulation period of 7 years, is going to be a terrible time for all who are alive. The seven seal judgments will begin, and the seven trumpets will sound and the seven vials will be poured out. All of this will happen rapidly.

Those who take the mark of the beast or worship his image will suffer the wrath of God for their sins. They will refuse to repent.

The End Times that we have studied together is where all things are headed. 

Why is there a push to open borders like the EU has? Consolidation of individual nations into larger region states prepare the world for the establishment of 10 kingdoms governed by 10 kings who will eventually pledge their allegiance to the AntiChrist. 

Why is there such a rush to do something about climate change? God has told us that energy output from the sun is going to increase to the point that men on earth will be scorched. It seems as if the spiritual wickedness in high places is doing what it can to somehow forestall what God says will happen. 

Why is there such a rush toward socialism/communism when it has failed wherever it has been tried? Such a political framework makes it easier to control people and force them to do what the leaders want them to do. Therefore, socialists will grab power, confiscate private property and make people dependent upon the government. 

Our world is in a mess and scripture tells us things will wax worse and worse in the latter days. This brings hope for the born again believer because we know the return of Christ at the rapture is very close.

Are you ready? Do you know where you will spend eternity if you die tonight? 

Jesus said you must be born again. I pray you will turn to Jesus Christ in repentant faith. 

Bob