Rev 16:1-11  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.  (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.  (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.  (4)  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.  (8)  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.  (10)  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.

It’s another beautiful day when Christ sits on the throne of your heart! If you are on your own throne, you are the one ruling your life and that means you are not submissive to the will of God, amen? Allowing God to rule in every area of your life is a continual, daily work in progress, I must admit. Yes, it is work. It takes dedication and a desire to give up our worldly desires and allow the Lord to replace those with His desires! It is then that you find sin less enticing and Christ’s love more enticing! The Christian is not sinless – but the Christian does sin less as he grows in Christ. This is the reason why I am so fervent in spreading the end time events and the Bible’s warnings about them. I want to put fire under you to give a spark your spirit! The Holy Spirit of God came down on the disciples as cloven tongues like as a fire (Acts 2:3). I find it interesting that God chose this phrase to describe the Holy Spirit’s appearance, don’t you? He puts a fire in our heart that gives us a love for the Lord like we never had before. Because of that love for Him, we desire to spread the good news about Jesus Christ and His salvation. If you’ve lost your flame and it is now just glowing embers, I pray that this blog will rekindle that fire and set it ablaze for the cause of Christ!

So on we go with our series on Revelation; we are entering the judgments of the Seven Vials of God’s Great Wrath. As you will see, these come quickly and some of the judgments are simultaneous with the others, as it is revealed to us with the first and fifth vials. Let’s unwrap each vial to see what’s in store for those remaining on earth:

  1. First vial – Ugly and painful sores break out on all who have the mark of the beast. We see later during the fifth vial that the pain from these sores was severe – so severe that the people literally chewed their tongues for pain! Can you think of a time when you were in that much pain? Moses performed a similar miracle with the sixth plague of boils in Exodus 9:8-12. However, during the Tribulation, all those who have the mark of the Beast (the Antichrist) will have these sores! Their sores will not be healed nor will they ever get saved. Revelation 19:20 plainly states that these people will be cast into the Lake of Fire. So who will repent then if they are all going to Hell? There will be unsaved people who will choose not to take the mark of the Beast. They will be people who recognize the Antichrist as a dictator and do not want to support him. These are the ones whose eyes will be opened concerning the Beast during the time where people are forced to take his mark.
  2. Second vial – The sea turns into blood and every living thing in the sea dies! I’m hypersensitive to smells so I can just imagine the stench as a result! We touched upon this on Day 21 and the consequences arising from this type of event. The exception to this plague is that now all the creatures in the seas will die, not just a third as we saw during the Second Trumpet! Now the whole world will be smelling the stench of death in its oceans. Not only this, but the whole world will be suffering from the repercussions of the loss of sea life, both in consumption as well as economically. No longer will fishermen have a job. No longer will merchants bring fish to market. Just as we saw a similar plague in Exodus 7:14-24, the Nile was the source of life for the Egyptians – it was one of their gods. But our God makes it clear that He is the source of life. Again, even so during the Tribulation, people will not see their need for God.
  3. Third vial – Rivers and streams become blood (fresh water) and drinking water will be polluted! Day 22 had the same plague but only one third of the fresh water was struck; that is not the case here. Now all the fresh waters on earth would be destroyed! No more fresh water fish; no more drinking water for the animals; no more fresh water seeping into the ground to nourish plants and trees living nearby. To top it off, no more drinking water! I find it interesting that Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 2:13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water as well as Jer 17:13  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. We also see that the Apostle John records in John 4:10  Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. As well as John 4:11  The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? And lastly, John says in John 7:38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Why does God do this? We read the answer in verse 6: “They have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. Some will surely claim that God is not fair but verse 6 says they are worthy of this punishment; and verse 7 tells us that “true and righteous are thy judgments”! God would not punish a person if that person’s heart was right with Him. But the sin of rebellion in God’s eyes is like the sin of witchcraft, which He condemns! (1Sam 15:23, 2Chron 33:6 [speaking of Manasseh], and Gal 5:19-21)
  4. Fourth vial – People will be scorched by the intense heat from the sun and blaspheme God because of it and still will not repent! We know the heat comes from the sun because this angel poured his vial upon the sun. It is quite possible that our ozone layer will thin out by then and, as a result, the sun’s rays will be more intense. Whatever the case may be, the end result is that people will get the worse sun burn they’ve ever had. The Greek word καυματίζω kaumatizo means “to burn up.” Could it be that those located closer to the equator will literally be burned up? Or is it possible that the sun is so intense that the sun burn’s effects are like being burned with fire? Infection sets into the burned skin and people will die as a result. I have a friend who was in the hospital for a long time because she played with matches. She received 4th degree burns on her arm and it took months of care and fighting against infections. Either way you look at this judgment, people’s skin will be hurting and burning. I’m sure my friend can relate to the pain these people will suffer. I’m thankful that the Lord used her to lead me to Him! As vain as people have become today in the year 2022, think how much more vain they will be during the Tribulation when sin abounds! Their vanity will diminish when they have sores and burnt skin. Not to be funny, but I’m sure selfies will not be as popular during those days.
  5. Fifth vial – Darkness comes on the seat of the Antichrist and his kingdom will be full of darkness. The Bible says that they will gnaw at their tongues for pain. The Greek work is: μασσάομαι masaomai which means: bite, gnaw or chew. I find that unusual, don’t you? I’ve been in pain because of childbirth but I have never chewed my own tongue! Surely this pain is more than I can imagine! To top it all, they blasphemed God for their pains and their sores. Evidently, the sores from the first vial are still with them! Therefore, we can assume that these judgments are not only quick but they overlap each other! Moses’ ninth plague was very similar to the darkness which will come during this vial. (Exodus 10:21-23) This was the last plague before death came to the Egyptians’ doors! What saved the Israelites from experiencing the same thing? They painted their doorposts with the blood of a lamb. If the angel of death saw the blood, he would pass over the house. This is the whole purpose of Passover! What a beautiful picture of Christ’s blood covering us! \o/ What’s to save those Christians during the Tribulation? Prior to salvation, the human heart is in darkness but these saints are marked with a seal of God and not that of the Antichrist! Should they be put to death, they are home with the Lord. If they survive the Tribulation, they will see the glorious appearance of the Lord’s Second Coming! Their Saviour’s blood covers them and they will not see the second death!

We will cover the Sixth Vial in our next post as it introduces the Battle of Armageddon. These last judgments are absolutely horrifying! I get goosebumps when I read this. I’m so thankful that I won’t be here to experience them! Aren’t you? Can you say the same, reader? Have you received Christ as your Saviour? If no, your sins are not covered by His sacrificial offering of Himself. You have not been redeemed by His blood. It is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!