Go to Homepage

Commentary Index

Introduction to the 16^th Chapter:

In order for the seven vials of wrath to be complete we must place the seven trumpets parallel to them. Each one of these trumpets and vials of wrath complement each other and make it clear what they are trying to convey. The seven trumpets and vials of wrath will begin to start with a signal. This signal is the earthquake that takes place at the time the Antichrist invades Israel, which is at the middle of the seven years of tribulation. From that time on these seven events will begin to occur and will end at the same time that the seventh seal, seventh trumpet and seventh vial of wrath happen. We will see this earthquake along with thunder and lightning at the time the seven angels get ready to blow their trumpets in chapter 8.

The way to look at these events is like this: There will only be seven events, not fourteen. The reasons that one account of these events is called the seven vials of wrath and the other is called the seven trumpets are this. As God is pouring out his wrath upon the Antichrist and his nations they become a warning, like a trumpet sounding the alarm that the end is coming. As each one of these get closer to the end everyone who is knowledgeable about the word of God will know it and warnings will become more intense as God’s people sound the alarm. Secondly they serve to punish the Antichrist and his people that hate Israel and God will bring about a series of punishments on them the same as he did with Egypt with the ten plagues. This however will only have seven plagues and the seventh plague will be the events that occur at the time of the Rapture followed by the battle of Armageddon.

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.
The angels are told in this vision to pour out their vials of wrath upon the earth, however as we read we begin to understand that this is not talking about the whole earth, but only the part of the earth that the Antichrist is given. He is only given a 1/4^th part of the earth. As each one of the these vials of wrath are poured out the events that happen during each pouring out will become an alarm or trumpet to sound the warning that the end is approaching fast.

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.
Remember that I have said that the seven trumpets and vials of wrath are the same events. When we place the first vial of wrath with this we get a much clearer picture of what is happening in this event.

This is what the second trumpet said in Rev. 8:

7: The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

It is easier to understand when we realize that this event only happens in the fourth part of the earth, or the ten nations that are under the rule of the Antichrist. The hail that is mingled with fire found in the first trumpet is like hot molten metal that falls on the people of the Antichrist who have the mark of the beast and worship the image of the Antichrist. This burning hail is the cause of the grievous sores on these people, as it falls on them it causes severe burns that turn into sores. This does not fall on the whole earth. The hail will cause all the grass and a third of the forest of the Antichrist nations to burn up.

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.
Compare this scripture with the second trumpet in the 8^th Chapter.

8: And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

9: And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

We must realize that this is happening to the Antichrist nations as another measure of God’s wrath for the terrible things that they are doing.

This is something that happens at sea, not all of the oceans of the world, but a particular sea such as the Mediterranean. There is something that causes an explosion so big that it looks like someone had thrown a giant mountain into the sea. Does this sound like a nuclear explosion to you? It does to me.

Picture this as a scenario: There is about to be a sea battle in which the number of the ships of the Antichrist only makes up a third in the total number of ships that there. All of his ships are destroyed by a huge explosion, which would mean that every living soul in the navy of the Antichrist is killed. The good ships are spared. You see the wrath of God is being poured out on the Antichrist and his nations, not the whole world.

4: And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
Angels and men are often referred to in the scriptures as being stars. In this particular case I believe that this star is an angel of wrath. He is on fire, burning like a torch. Once again we look at the third trumpet in the 8^th Chapter which will give us the rest of the clues that we need to understand this mystery.

10: And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;

11: And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

Notice the rivers and fountain of waters in the third trumpet become bitter. The reason they are made bitter is because they are turned to blood. Just as God turned the water in Egypt into blood, God is turning the water in the nations of the Antichrist into blood. There is a reason for this.

The angel that this star symbolizes is named Wormwood because like wormwood that is very bitter, God is bringing bitterness to the ten nations of the Antichrist. These verses from the third vial of wrath in Revelation 16^th Chapter explain the rest of this mystery.

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.
The Lord is only punishing the Antichrist and his nations for the slaughter of his people, not everyone in the whole world.

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.
By looking at the fourth trumpet in chapter 8 we see what seems to be an immediate contradiction. But when we understand the event we will realize what is happening.

Rev. 8: 12: And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

In the fourth trumpet we have a curse of darkness, in the fourth vial of wrath we have a curse of daylight. How could this possibly be the same event. This seems to be something that God has already done in the past. He causes the earth to stand still. This will cause one side of the earth to suffer from darkness and the other side of the earth will be suffering from heat. The hot side of this is going to be on the nations of the Antichrist. This is punishment on the Antichrist for the evil things that he is doing, but it will also serve as a wakeup call to the rest of world to repent and accept Jesus before it is too late.

It is interesting to know that when the sun is shining on one side of the world that it does not create half light and half darkness. The light from the sun will bounce off of the atmosphere and cause what we call twilight which accounts for why only a third part of the earth suffers from a curse of darkness. This will occur to the other side of the earth.

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.
The fifth vial of wrath is the same event as the fifth trumpet it is the first woe of the three woes that the angel has warned about.

1: And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.

2: And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.

3: And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

12: One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

The fifth vial of wrath is caused by an angel that has the key to the bottomless pit. When he opens the bottomless pit smoke will pour out of it and completely fill the nations of the Antichrist. It is similar to the plague of darkness in Egypt when God was delivering the children of Israel.

There will also be demonic locust released from the bottomless pit that will sting men for five months. This will be the reason for the pains and sores in verse 11. This scripture says that the people of the Antichrist do not repent of their deeds. There is a reason for this. When a person takes the mark of the beast it seals their fate, the same as blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will not draw someone to repentance that has blasphemed the Holy Spirit. So it is apparent that the mark of the beast is somehow blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The Muslims teach that Mohammed is the comforter that was to come who would lead them into all truth and righteousness. This teaching if believed, is blaspheming the Holy Spirit. So this is a likely possibility.

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.
This event is the same as the seventh trumpet, but is seen from a different view.

Rev. 9:14: Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.

15: And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

The four angels that are released from the Euphrates are to go to the four directions into all the earth, as they are four in number and a symbol of this. They are to go to the four directions in order to gather nations to come to counter the measure that the Antichrist is doing. This will lead to World War Three and 1/3 of mankind will die in the battles that are to come from this. It is possible that the 200 million people will make up all of the nations gathered to war against each other, or it could be the number that comes from the kings of the East. Some believe that this is China, while I believe that it is possible that it could be an alliance of several Eastern Nations, such as China, North Korea, Vietnam and others who make a joint army. This war will begin at the River Euphrates and escalate from there.

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.
The three unclean spirits that go out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet is a communication to other nations to seduce others to give the Antichrist re-enforcement to his army that will be located at the Euphrates River. He has been driven back to this position by the seven nations that are identified as the seven shepherds of Micah 5:5-6.

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.
Unclean spirits seek to live inside of men. The three unclean spirits that are like frogs are more than likely living in three different men who are ambassadors for the anti-Christ. The reason it says that they are like frogs are this: A frog will sit and croak and then it will leap and sit and croak. This demonstrates the characteristics of these ambassadors. They will fly from one nation to another to try and convince government leaders to help the anti-Christ it is like a frog leaping from one lily pad to another. Secondly when they land they go to croaking like frogs to help the anti-Christ by making many lying promises to the leaders of those nations. To the surprise of the anti-Christ these nations are convinced to help, so it appears to be miracles in the eyes of the nations of the anti-Christ. These nations will come to help him fight against Israel and the Allies who are fighting against the anti-Christ.

The miracles that are performed by them are not Jesus type miracles of healing and so forth. Although we do know that the false prophet himself will be able to call fire out of heaven the same as the two witnesses. They will never work healing and deliverance type miracles. Satan cannot cast out Satan, Jesus taught us this. The kind of miracles will come, no doubt in the form of a miraculous participation in help from those nations that he calls on to help him.

This is proof that the Antichrist will not rule over every human being on the face of the earth. If he was in charge he wouldn’t be forced to convince other nations to help him. He could simply command them to do so and they would because he would be in charge. But, this is not the case. He must convince them to help him. Besides this he is fighting a war against other nations. He will not be able to force the mark on all nations because they are fighting him. He would have to conquer in order to enforce the mark.

Notice that this verse says that he will gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. The Antichrist with his help will eventually force the seven nations that are fighting against him all the way back to Jerusalem in Israel. The tide is turning against the allies.

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.
Here Christ is warning everyone that he is about to come and that he will come as a thief. It is here that we hear his final warning that the Rapture is about to take place. Had the Rapture taken place at an earlier time he would not be able to say that he is coming back as a thief, to slip in and slip out. His coming as a thief is related to his passing over the earth, not coming down to the earth.

16: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
This is plain and simple. He has gathered many armies to Jerusalem. His intent is not to destroy all of the armies, but one in particular. The armies that are allied together with the Antichrist are the object of this gathering, because it is here in the valley of Megiddo, that he is going to destroy them.

The four angels and the three unclean spirits have gathered a multitude of armies to do battle over the city of Jerusalem. At this time a third of Jerusalem will go into captivity. The two witnesses will be killed and after three and a half days will resurrect to be seen by many people across the world. This will no doubt be seen because of satellite Television. There will be something else that will occur at this moment in time. It is the second woe.

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.
The term "It is done," is speaking of the end of time. This does not mean the end of the world or of time such as hours in the day or days, or weeks or years. But is speaking of the time to find salvation through repentance and faith to God. In the tenth chapter the great angel that had one foot on the land and the other on the sea took an oath before God saying that in the time of the seventh trumpet when he began to sound his trumpet that "time would be no more." That the "mystery of God would be finished." No one in the whole world will be able to find salvation from this point on, because the Church is being caught up at this very moment. He came as a thief, just as he said. While the eyes of the world are on the battle that is about to take place. Christ will come to rapture his Church and to take them to the marriage supper of the Lamb. This is the second woe, the third woe will be the return of the Lord and the saints at Armageddon.

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.
This is the same earthquake that we see in the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12, 14) and the one that occurs at the beginning of the sounding of the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:13). This earthquake is caused by the rapture of the Church. As the toes of the Saints leave the earth, the earth will erupt in a violent earthquake. This is the same earthquake that Isaiah spoke about that would shake the earth out of her place, which means out of orbit. God will have to reach out and place the earth back into orbit.

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.
The great city in this scripture is talking about Jerusalem, the earthquake will divide the city in three parts. Remember a third of Jerusalem has gone into captivity by the Antichrist. This earthquake will kill seven thousand of his people right in Jerusalem. God will make a way for others to escape when Jesus comes back with his armies out of heaven to defeat the Antichrist and his armies.

Babylon, the city of Rome and her harlot Church is brought into judgment at this time as well. God has saved his wrath for this city for many centuries. We will read more about her in the 17^th and 18^th chapters as we go along.

20: And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
In Revelation 6:14 which is happening in the sixth seal, it says," and every mountain and island were moved out of their places."
What I find very interesting about this is that this is further proof that the sixth seal, the seventh trumpet and the seventh vial of wrath are all one and the same. Think on this a moment. If the earthquake in the sixth seal happens before the middle of the tribulation and the earthquake in the seventh vial of wrath happens at the end, how is God going to do this. In the sixth seal the mountains and islands are destroyed by being moved out of their places. Mountains and islands are made of dirt and rock if you move them out of their places they are destroyed. That being the case is God going to rebuild the mountains and islands and then destroy them again 3 ½ years later? I don’t believe so. This happening is the same event that occurs at the end of the tribulation period.

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.
While the Church is in heaven eating the marriage supper of the Lamb, hail stones that weight up to hundred pounds is falling upon the earth. I don’t know about you, but I am glad that we are going to be gone when these events occur.

Instead of men repenting they will curse God. Two reasons for this, the Holy Spirit is not drawing souls to be saved in longer, because the time for that has come to an end. The other reason is because the nations of the Antichrist has taken the mark of the beast which is the same as blaspheming the Holy Ghost and they cannot repent as well.

The Seventh Trumpet gives us the rest of this story by telling us that the third woe has come. This is because Jesus Christ and the Saints from heaven have arrived.

Revelation 11:15: And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

16: And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

17: Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

18: And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

The only thing left to happen now is the thousand year of Christ. The age of the rule of man is over.

God Bless You
Tommie Spurgeon

Printer-Friendly version..