The Seven Last Plagues Poured Out!

The Seven Last Plagues Poured Out!

The Seven Last Plagues Poured Out! is based on the book of Revelation, specifically Chapter 16. We will refer back to some of the verses listed below in Revelation 16, as well as other Bible references that help explain these concepts.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

17 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."

Revelation 16:1-21  KJV

“Go Your Ways, And Pour Out!”

In Revelation 15 the seven angels were given seven golden vials and the heavenly temple was closed. Revelation 16 opens with the command that tips them over: “Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

Everything in this chapter happens after probation has closed. That single fact explains why these plagues are unlike every judgment that has ever fallen on this world before.

“When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath threatened against those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark (Revelation 14:9, 10), will be poured out.”

Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 627

The First Plague: A Grievous Sore

Verse 2: “there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”

Notice immediately who receives it. Not everybody…only those who carry the mark. That qualifier governs the whole chapter, and we will come back to it.

If this sounds familiar, it should. God did this once before, to another empire that had enslaved His people and defied Him to His face:

"8 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.

9 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.

10 And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast.

11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians."

Exodus 9:8-11  KJV

The plagues on Egypt were a rehearsal. They followed the same pattern, in the same order of escalation, and for the same reason…to break the grip of an oppressor and deliver a captive people!

The Second And Third: The Waters Become Blood

The second vial turns the sea to “blood, as of a dead man”, and the third turns the rivers and fountains of water to blood. Every source of fresh water on the planet is ruined.

It is worth pausing on how total that is. A man can survive without food for weeks; he cannot survive without water for more than a few days. This is the point at which the world discovers that it cannot save itself with technology, money or political power.

Is That Fair? Heaven Answers!

Now watch what happens in verses 5 to 7, because it is one of the most important moments in the whole book. God does not simply act…He allows His justice to be examined.

The angel of the waters says: “Thou art righteous, O Lord, … because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” And then another voice answers out of the altar: “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

Two independent witnesses in heaven review the sentence and confirm it. The punishment fits the crime exactly…those who shed the blood of God’s people are given blood to drink. Nobody in the universe is left with an unanswered question about whether God was fair!

“By condemning the people of God to death, they have as truly incurred the guilt of their blood as if it had been shed by their hands.”

Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 627

The Fourth: Scorched With Great Heat

The fourth angel pours his vial on the sun, “and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.”

Then comes a detail that should stop every reader cold. Verse 9: “and they repented not to give him glory.”

Think about that! These are people suffering under the direct, undeniable judgment of God, who know exactly who is doing it…and they still will not repent. This is the proof that the close of probation changed nothing about their hearts. God did not shut a door on people who wanted in. He shut it on people who had already, permanently, decided to stay out.

The Fifth: Darkness On The Seat Of The Beast

The fifth vial is poured out specifically on “the seat of the beast”, and his kingdom is “full of darkness.”

Every other plague so far has struck the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun. This one strikes an institution. The power that claimed to be the light of the world, that claimed authority to change God’s law and demanded worship on its own terms, is publicly plunged into darkness in front of everybody who followed it.

And again, verse 11: “and repented not of their deeds.”

The Sixth: Euphrates Dried Up, And Armageddon

The sixth vial dries up the river Euphrates. In Revelation, waters are explained for us as “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues” (Revelation 17:15). Ancient Babylon fell on the night its river was diverted and the invading army marched up the dry riverbed. Spiritual Babylon falls the same way: the support of the multitudes who carried her simply drains away.

Then verses 13 and 14 show three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet…the same unholy trio, working by miracles, to gather the kings of the earth to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Notice how they work. Not by argument, but by miracle! If you have built your faith on wonders rather than on “the law and the testimony”, this is the moment that decision costs you everything.

“Behold, I Come As A Thief”

And right in the middle of the frogs and the gathering armies, verse 15 interrupts everything with the voice of Jesus Himself:

“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

It is the only blessing in the chapter, dropped into the darkest paragraph in the chapter. That is exactly like our God! Even here, with the vials emptying and the armies mustering, He turns aside to speak a word of encouragement to the people who are watching and keeping their garments.

The Seventh: “It Is Done!”

The seventh angel pours his vial into the air, and a great voice comes out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done.”

The last time a great voice said something like that, it was the Son of God on a cross saying “It is finished”…and that word secured our salvation. This word ends the controversy. Between those two declarations lies the entire history of God’s patience with this world.

Then comes the greatest earthquake in the history of the planet, the cities of the nations fall, every island flees, the mountains vanish, and hail about the weight of a talent falls out of heaven. And verse 21 closes the chapter the way verses 9 and 11 closed their sections: “and men blasphemed God.”

These Plagues Are Not Universal!

Now let us be careful and accurate, because this is where a lot of frightened preaching goes wrong.

“These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals.”

Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 628

The text itself says so. The first plague falls on “the men which had the mark of the beast”. The fifth falls on “the seat of the beast”. These are targeted judgments, not indiscriminate ones.

And here is the difference between these plagues and every judgment that has come before them:

“All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy.”

Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 628

The Righteous Are Not Exempt From Trouble…But They Are Kept

Let us not overstate the promise either. God’s people are not promised a comfortable seat while the world burns. They will be hated, hunted, cut off from buying and selling, and in many cases imprisoned. Revelation 15 already showed us they came through “the beast, and his image, and his mark”…you do not get victory over something you were never up against!

“The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation and suffer for want of food they will not be left to perish.”

Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 629

“While the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous and supply their wants.”

Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 629

That is the whole difference. Not exemption from trouble…preservation through it! The same God who fed Elijah by a brook that the drought had not yet touched, and by ravens that had no business feeding anybody, is perfectly able to keep His children alive in the worst hour this world will ever see.

And notice one last time when you have to settle this. Not during chapter 16. Chapter 15 already told us that the victory over the beast was won before the first vial was ever poured out.

The seven last plagues are not a warning to the people living through them. They are a warning to us…and we still have time!