REVELATION
Chapter 16
"The Seven Vial Judgments"
INTRODUCTION:
1. The end of God's judgment is now very near.
2. The seven vials proceed out of the seven trumpets.
3. In time, the seven vials will be poured out very close to the end of the tribulation, possibly within days.
4. The "great voice" of the Lord commands another group of seven angels to begin the judgments.
5. The first four vials coincide with the first four plagues of Egypt.
I. THE CONSEQUENCES (vs.2-21)
A. The Discomfort of the Sores (v.2) cf. Ex. 9:8-11
1. The judgment is directed toward those who
a. Receive the "mark of the beast"
b. Worship the beast
c. Are of the world--Jews and Gentiles alike
2. The description of the sores
a. "Noisome and grievous" - lit: evil, foul, loathsome, malignant
b. The word for "sores" signifies an ulcer or wound. Cf. Lk. 16:21; Rev. 16:11
c. "The skin disease of boils was one of the ten plagues brought by the Lord on Egypt (Ex. 9:9-11). The Lord threatens boils if Israel will not obey Him." (Theol. Wordbook of the O.T.)
1) The context of Deut. 28 details curses upon Israel for disobedience.
2) This judgment seems to be a fulfillment of verses 22, 27, 35, and 60-62.
B. The Defilement of the Seas (v.3) cf. Ex. 7:17,18; Psa. 105:29
1. Literal blood
a. "Became AS the blood of a dead man"
b. The plague corresponds to human blood in appearance and awfulness.
2. Every living creature in the oceans dies of the pollution.
3. "So the billions, trillions, shoals of living creatures die; and come floating to the surface in horrible, rotting witness of the wickedness of men!" (W.R. Newell)
4. Both the "blood" and the plague are literal.
a. In Rev. 8:8,9 one-third of the seas were affected in the same way.
b. Here in Rev. 16:3 the whole of the oceans are affected.
c. "The cool breezes become a stench from the carcasses floating on the surface of the bloody water and lining the shore. Commerce is paralyzed. Human beings die like flies." (McGee)
C. The Dissolution of the Springs (vs. 4-7) cf. Ex. 7:19
1. The pouring out of the third vial is similar to the judgment of the third trumpet. (Rev. 8:10,11)
2. It is also literal, as was the plague upon Egypt. (Ex. 7:19)
3. While the third trumpet polluted one-third of the fresh water supplies of the earth, the third vial destroys the total supply of drinking water. (This is one reason to believe that the vial judgments will last but a short time at the very end of the tribulation, in that men can only live a very few days without water.)
4. The care of God's servants --"You need not be worried over God's own elect in that time: for He called water out of the flinty rock through forty years for His people, and He will not let His elect suffer from His hand." (W.R. Newell) cf. 12:14
5. The righteous Judge (v.5)
a. The judgment upon the waters and men is a just one.
b. God never does that which is not in accord with His holiness and righteousness. (Gen. 18:25; Dt. 32:4; Job 34:10)
1) Cf. God's judgment upon Sodom in Gen. 18:25.
2) Cf. God's judgment upon the wicked who are Christ-rejectors in Psa. 11:5-7; Psa. 98:9; Isa. 26:21; Heb. 9:27; Mt. 25:41.
3) Cf. God's judgment of the righteous in Psa. 58:11; I Cor. 4:5; II Cor. 5:10; Rom. 14:10.
6. The righteous judgment (v.6)
a. Because the tribulation world of wicked men have slain
1) The saints (Rev. 6:9)
2) The prophets (Rev. 11:7-9)
b. Because they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets they will be judged in kind in that they are given blood to drink. (cf. Gal. 6:7)
c. The righteousness of God's judgment is affirmed by those who had previously been slain and are seen as "under the altar." Translation: "And I heard the altar saying"; omit "another out of." (v.7)
D. The Devastation of the Sun (vs. 8,9)
1. The fourth vial brings forth intense heat from the sun. (Note Rev. 8:12 says that the sun will be dimmed, but does not say that its heat will decrease.)
2. This judgment again is aimed only at the wicked--"men" refers back to vs. 2,5,6.
3. It is a judgment predicted by the prophets of the O.T. cf. Dt. 32:22; Isa. 24:6; 42:25; Mal. 4:1
4. There is no refuge from it. (Psa. 19:4-6)
5. The suffering caused
a. Men are scorched by the sun's intense heat.
b. The waters will no longer be available to them for cooling (see vs.4-7).
6. The reaction of men to their suffering (v.9)
a. They blaspheme the name of God; they speak contemptuously of God and sacred things. (cf. Mt. 27:39; Mk. 15:29,30; Lk. 22:64,65)
b. They repent not--even the fires of hell itself do not cause men to repent. (cf. Lk. 16:23-31)
7. Though the wicked will suffer terribly as a result of this judgment, the saints will be miraculously preserved from it by the Lord. (cf. Psa. 121:4-8; Rev. 7:16)
E. The Destruction of the Seat (vs.10,11)
1. This vial is aimed at the destruction of the govern- ment of the Beast. (v.10)
a. "Seat" is "throne" (Gr.).
b. Also directed at the followers of the Beast--"they" (v.10)
2. The judgment brings darkness to the kingdom of the Beast.
a. "The result of the judgment is darkness, pain and the accumulated effect of the preceding judgment when sores were inflicted as in the first vial." (Walvoord)
b. Compare the like judgment of darkness over Egypt. (Ex. 10:21-23)
c. A darkness so thick it could be felt. (Ex. 10:21) (cf. Joel 2:2,10,31; 3:15; Isa. 60:2; Amos 5:18; Zeph. 1:15)
3. The result (v.11)
a. The gnawing ("biting", Gr.) of their tongues because of the pain from sores, thirst, starvation, darkness and stench from the previous vials
b. Again, they blaspheme and reject God's offer of grace. (v.11)
4. The protection of the saints (Ex. 10:23; 8:23)
F. The Drying of the Stream (vs.12-16)
1. The objective of the sixth vial is the Euphrates River --Should be taken as the literal river
a) "This is the only understanding of these words which will fit the context or the requirements of this series of prophecies." (Alford)
b) "This must mean a literal river." (Seiss)
c) Also, Larkin, Kelly, Govett, et al.
2. The reason for the drying
a) To prepare a way into the Middle East for the kings "from the rising of the sun" (Gr.).
b) "Against anyone travelling from the East to the West, the Euphrates interposes its broad barrier, difficult to be surmounted even by individuals, and much more by kings and their armies." (Seiss) (cf. Isa. 11:15; Zech. 10:11)
3. The drying of the Euphrates will allow the armies of the Asian nations to cross into Israel for the purpose of confrontation with the western confederation army. (cf. Dan. 11:44)
a. The kings of the East will rebel at the domination of the Western Confederacy.
b. Their movement into Israel will start the last great battle of the earth called Armageddon.
c. The East and the West will eventually join forces to fight against the Lord Jesus and His armies in order to prevent His Second Coming. (Rev. 19:19)
4. Verses 13-16 are parenthetical but form a commentary on the sixth vial judgment.
a. "Three unclean spirits" (v.13)
1) Not literal frogs; but like frogs.
2) They are demons ("devils", v.14) who are commissioned to gather the armies of the world to the last great battle of Armageddon. (v.14)
3) Their commission originates from Satan, the Beast and the False Prophet. (v.13)
b. The coming of Christ to take control of the earth and His kingdom (v.15)
1) He will come as a thief.
a/ He does not come as a thief to the church. (I Thess. 5:4)
b/ A thief is one that comes unexpectedly.
c/ He does come as a thief to an unbelieving world at the end of the tribulation.
d/ Believers of that age are instructed to be watchful for His return and ready for it.
1/ "Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments." (NASB)
2/ "When about to go to sleep one lays aside his garments; but when awake he keeps them. Now if something suddenly happens, such as the arrival of the Lord, one who is asleep does not readily get himself clothed, but he who is in a wakeful attitude is safe also in respect to his clothing." (Mauro) (Cf. the ten virgins: some were ready; some were not. Matt. 25:1-13)
3/ The garments also speak of the spotless character of those who remain faithful to Christ. (cf. Rev. 3:4)
4/ Those without garments reflect the defilement of their character in their rejection of Christ and their worship of the Beast.
2) Will be met with opposition from the world's forces. (Zech. 14:1-3; Rev. 19:11-19)
5. The place of the gathering of the world's armies (v.16)
a. The Mount of Megiddo, also called Armageddon and the Mount of Slaughter
b. An area fourteen miles wide and twenty miles long
c. In describing the valley which is before the Mount of Megiddo, Vincent's Word Studies: "Which has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in Palestine from the days of Nabuchod- nozer king of Assyria, unto the disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and anti-Christian Frenchmen; Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors of every nation that is under heaven, have pitched their tents on the plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the banners of their nation wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon."
d. In reality, the armies of the world will march up and down the whole length of Israel. (cf. Rev. 14:20)
e. The result of the battle
1) Confusion among the soldiers of the Beast due to semi-dark conditions (cf. Rev. 8:12; Zech. 14:13) and they will fight against themselves.
2) The Lord will destroy the armies of the wicked. (Zech. 12:9)
3) There will be terrible desolation upon the armies. (cf. Zech. 14:12; Rev. 14:20; 17:14; 19:15,16)
G. The Disturbance of the Shaking (vs. 17-21)
1. Here is the last and final judgment prior to the coming of Christ.
a. It is "poured upon (lit.) the air" signifying no particular geographic location, but world-wide.
b. "It is done" - in the perfect tense suggests an action accomplished.
2. The results of the seventh vial (vs. 18-21)
a. Earthquake (cf. Mt. 24:7; Rev. 6:12) - so powerful as to:
1) Divide Jerusalem into three sections (v.19)
2) Destroy the city of Babylon as both the com- mercial and religious center (v.19)
3) Crumble the great cities of the world (v.19)
4) Cause the islands of the sea to be dislodged from their moorings (v.20)
5) Flatten the mountains (v.20) (cf. Zech. 14:4,10)
b. Hailstones (v.21)
1) A world-wide hailstorm
2) The weight of a hailstone is one talent.
a) The Greek talent was 56 pounds.
b) The Hebrew talent was 114 pounds.
c) Walvoord suggests 100 pounds - "representing all that a man could carry".
d) The talent varied in weight throughout different periods of history. The variance seen in many Biblical encyclopedias was from 75-129 pounds! (cf. Ex. 9:22-26)
3) The hailstorm ends the tribulation.
II. THE CONDUCT (vs. 9-11,21)
A. Continued blasphemy (v.21)
B. Continued unrepentance
C. Compare the plague of hail on Egypt (Ex. 9:29-35)
1. Its purpose - to show God's rulership of the earth and nations (v.29)
2. Man's hardheartedness (v.30)
3. Man's unrepentance (v.34) -- "The Law required that the blasphemer should be stoned to death (Lev. 24:16), and here these blasphemers of the end time shall be stoned from heaven." (Larkin)
4. The believing Jews will be kept safe from the hailstones. (Ex. 9:26; Isa. 32:18,19)
D. "Men would not have the Savior's "It is finished" on Calvary; so they must have the awful "It is done!" from the Judge! Alas! Alas! Oh, that men today would hear and be warned to flee from the coming storm!" (W.R. Newell)