The Seven Vials of God’s Wrath

Temple Baptist Church - 8-15-2021

Revelation 16:1-9

 

A.  We are now through with the Parenthetical Chapters that are prophetic of what will transpire in the last 3 ½ years of Jacob’s Trouble.  Now we see how the second half begins and ends.  It will begin and end with the pouring out of the seven vials of God’s wrath.

 

B.  When I think of wrath, which is anger put into motion, I think of a “boiling point.”  Water, at standard barometric pressure, boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.  When water boils, it begins to roll as the hottest water rises to the top while the cooler water falls to the bottom of a pan.  The more that you heat the water, the faster that it boils.  Eventually, the water will tend to “boil over” as the heat expands.  We have learned to place a wooden spoon on top of a pan of liquid that is being heated to keep it from boiling over. 

 

C.  In chapter 16, we find God’s wrath as it “boils over” and is poured out on the earth and its inhabitants.  Once again, I am so thankful that I will not be on earth when this takes place.  The first 4 of these vials are like the first four trumpet judgments: the first upon the earth, the second upon the sea, the third upon waters, and the fourth upon the sun.  Most of these plagues line up with those placed upon Egypt in the Book of Exodus but, here in Revelation, they are not lifted.  In Egypt, a plague came then was, for the most part, lifted before the next one came.  Here, they are

 

D.  Verse 1.  The order is given.  The seven angels are now told to “go your ways” which means that each of the seven vials will be both different and differently poured out.  “Pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”  The first four vials of God’s wrath are progressive and building because they are not removed.

 

E.  Verse 2.  The First Vial falls upon the earth but is directed upon those who have taken the “mark of the beast” and “which worshipped his image.”  A “noisome grievous sore” fell upon them, probably in the form of an ulcer.  Noisome – injurious or harmful.  Grievous – extremely painful.  This reminds me of the “sores” that Satan inflicted upon Job.

 

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines:

 

1. Noisome—Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; destructive; pestilence, injurious, offensive to the smell or other senses; disgusting.

 

2. Grievous— Afflictive; painful; hard to be borne, causing grief or sorrow, distressing, atrocious, hurtful, destructive.

 

F.  The direction of this vial shows the seriousness of both accepting the mark of the beast along with worshipping the image.  These are the people who have completely “bought in” to the wickedness, anti-God political order of Antichrist.

 

G.  Verse 3.  The Second Vial is now poured out upon the sea.  The sea becomes as the “blood of a dead man.”  Coagulated, putrid, stinking blood.  This vial directly affects the ecology of the earth as our seas (oceans and seas) are vital to the welfare of the earth.  The seas are important for different reasons. 

 

Seas are important to our water cycle.  Polluted waters flow to the sea where the brine (salt water) is vital to water purification, taking the pollutants to the bottom while the cleaner water rises to the top for evaporation and return inland in the form of rain. 

 

We also get much in the way of minerals out of the oceans which will be lost. 

 

Then, “every soul” in the water dies, affecting our food supply.  All forms of sea life will be gone.

 

H.  Verse 4-7.  The Third Vial is poured out upon all sources of fresh drinking water.  Not only will our rain be affected but all drinking water become blood as they did in the plagues placed upon Egypt because of Pharoah’s rejection of God. 

 

Exodus 5:2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

 

Mankind can go for a long time without food but not very long without water.  This means that they will have to drink the blood.

 

This is declared to be a righteous judgment from a righteous LORD.  These people are declared worthy because they have shed the blood of both saints and prophets.  In the Tribulation Period, martyrdom is a continual “cleansing” of the earth of the presence of anyone who names the name of Christ.

 

Martyrdom began in Genesis, chapter 4, continues to this day, and will continue until God ultimately intervenes.

 

J.  In verse 7, we once again hear the voice of a martyred saint under the altar as they did in Revelation, chapter 6.

 

Revelation 6:9-10  And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:  (10)  And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

 

K.  Verse 8-9.  The Fourth Vial.  The sun, our source of light, warmth, comfort, along with health benefits—us used to scorch men.  Scorch – to burn the skin so as to turn its color and bring about great pain.  All of us have had a bad sunburn and remember the excruciating pain along with the dying and peeling of the epidermis. 

 

L.  I have always found verse 9 interesting in a morbid way.  As men are scorched with the sun, they continue to blaspheme the name of God and be non-repentant in their hearts.  Hardship does not always cause men to turn to God.  Most of the time, it causes men to blame God for their circumstance when their own sin and rebellion brought upon them. 

 

l.  God will not always be longsuffering, full of grace and mercy.  Proverbs 29:1  He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.