CHAPTER 16

(A.D. 96)

THE FIRST VIAL

¹And I heard a great voice out of the Temple saying to the seven Angels (this is the great Chapter of the Bible, the word occurring 11 times), Go your ways, and pour out the Vials of the Wrath of God upon the earth. (This refers to the kingdom of the Antichrist, and not to the entirety of the Earth. That kingdom will be comprised of North Africa, the Middle East, and much of Europe [Dan. 7:7].)

²And the first (Angel) went, and poured out his Vial upon the earth (constitutes the first plague); 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. (This proves that these plagues will be poured out only on the kingdom of the beast.)

THE SECOND VIAL

³And the second Angel poured out his Vial upon the sea (the Mediterranean); and it became as the blood of a dead man(pertains to the entire Mediterranean Sea; the blood of a dead man is almost black, and is coagulated): and every living soul died in the sea (should have been translated living creatures; therefore, every person on ships in the Mediterranean will die, along with all fish).

THE THIRD VIAL

⁴And the third Angel poured out his Vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters (speaks of all underground rivers as well; in other words, all the water throughout the kingdom of the beast is poisoned); and they became blood. (This is not to be explained away as being merely symbolic. This will actually happen.)

⁵And I heard the Angel of the waters say (in the Book of Revelation, we find that a great variety of Ministries are assigned to Angels; this Angel is the Angel of the waters), You are Righteous, O Lord (proclaims the fact that what the Lord is doing is Righteous; in fact, everything He does is Righteous!), which are, and was, and shall be (refers to the fact that God doesnt change), because you have judged thus (proclaims the fact that God would be unrighteous if He didnt Judge accordingly).

⁶For they have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets (refers to those who will be murdered by the Antichrist during the time of the Great Tribulation because of their allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ), and you have given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. (This proclaims the fact that the beast worshipers are getting their just desserts.)

⁷And I heard another out of the Altar say (should have been translated, and I heard the Altar say, referring to those who have been murdered by the Antichrist and are asking for vengeance [6:9-11]), Even so, Lord God Almighty, True and Righteous are your Judgments. (This proclaims the fact that the prayers of those at the Altar who cry for vengeance are about to be answered.)

THE FOURTH VIAL

⁸And the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the sun (refers to that which is totally beyond the scope of man); and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. (Adds to the boils, and, as well, exacerbates the problem of the water shortage. Evidently, the sun at that time will pour out more heat on the Earth than ever before. As well, it seems this plague will also be confined to the generalized area of the Antichrist. If that is the case, the Lord will have to stop the heat from effecting other parts of the globe.)

⁹And men were scorched with great heat (as the next Verse states, this is done only in the geographical area of the Antichrist), and blas phemed the Name of God, which has power over these plagues (those in the geographical area of the Antichrist will know that God is doing this, but yet will continue to blaspheme His Name): and they repented not to give Him Glory. (This tells us something about the hearts of men. It is seldom that miracles bring men to Repentance. Repentance must come from the heart and stem from Faith, which must ever have Christ and the Cross as its Object.)

THE FIFTH VIAL

¹⁰And the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the seat of the beast (specifies that its coverage area is the seat of the beast; the core of this could refer to Jerusalem, which is now the religious headquarters of the Antichrist); and his kingdom was full of darkness (these plagues are possible to Faith, though not to reason); and they gnawed their tongues for pain (refers to the boils described in Verse 2),

¹¹And blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores (they blamed God for their situation, even though He plainly told them not to take the mark of the beast [14:10]), and repented not of their deeds. (This presents the fact that the heart of man is so incurably corrupt that even the fiercest Judgments fail to affect its attitude, spirit, or conduct.)

THE SIXTH VIAL

¹²And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up (refers to preparations for the coming Battle of Armageddon), that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared (actually says in the Greek, the kings of the sun-rising; this will, no doubt, include the armies of China and Japan, plus others which will join the Antichrist in the coming Battle of Armageddon).

THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS

¹³And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs (while John saw these demon spirits in his vision, they will be invisible to all others; these invisible creatures are functioning presently on Earth, even as they have since the Fall, and there is only one power that affects them, and that is the Name of Jesus [Mk. 16:17])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. (This concerns the fact that this ungodly trio connives to secure the help of other nations regarding the coming battle of Armageddon.)

¹⁴For they are the spirits of devils (refers to a flood of demon spirits working in conjunction with the three unclean spirits), working miracles (which will probably be done through the false prophet and others; proclaims the fact that all miracles are not necessarily from God), 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. (As is obvious here, there are nations the Antichrist doesnt control, whose help he will seek. But while he thinks all of this is his plan, God Almighty is actually orchestrating all events. The Antichrist will think to destroy Israel, but God will in fact destroy him.)

¹⁵Behold, I come as a thief (refers to the fact that the Antichrist has been so successful with his propaganda that very few in the world of that time will actually be expecting Christ to return). Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments (points to those on Earth who worship and serve the Lamb, and that they must be constantly vigilant lest their loyalty to Him be diverted through Satanic deception [Mat. 24:43; I Thess. 5:2-4]), lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. (This refers to being naked to the Judgment of God, and suffering the consequences at the Second Coming, or even before that event.)

¹⁶And He gathered them together (the pronoun He refers to God) into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (This refers to a literal place where a literal battle will be fought. It is the Mount of Megiddo overlooking the plain of Megiddo west of the Mount, and apparently including the Plain of Esdraelon, i.e., Valley of Megiddo.)

THE SEVENTH VIAL

¹⁷And the seventh Angel poured out his Vial into the air (this is the last Judgment; it signifies an earthquake such as the world has not previously known, which will effect not only particular cities, but also entire nations); and there came a great voice out of the Temple of Heaven, from the Throne, saying, It is done. (The mighty Voice that shouted Finished from the Cross will now shout Finished from the Throne.)

¹⁸And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings (the Divine purpose in Grace was finished at the Cross; here the Divine purpose in wrath is finished; this Vial Judgment could well take place simultaneously with the Second Coming); and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great (presents the last cataclysmic upheaval).

¹⁹And the great city was divided into three parts (refers to Jerusalem), and the cities of the nations fell (refers to the Middle East, and possibly parts of Europe as well): and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. (This earthquake, the greatest of them all, will center on Babylon and will completely destroy the city that is scheduled to be rebuilt at this present time [2003]. The first organized rebellion against God began at Babylon, and it will end at Babylon [Gen. 11:1-9].)

²⁰And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found (pertains to the colossal magnitude of this earthquake).

²¹And there fell upon men a great hail out of Heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent (about 100 pounds; one can well imagine the damage that such would cause): and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (Once again, those in the kingdom of the beast will know that this plague is from God, but instead of repenting, they will continue to blaspheme Him.)