REVELATION 16

Seven Last
Plagues
“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.”
Revelation 16:1.
Here we are shown the terrible
seven last plagues that will fall
on the wicked inhabitants of
this world who are determined
to destroy God’s waiting,
faithful children. Who is this
‘Great Voice’ that speaks here
from the Temple in Heaven? It
is God the Father; because at
this time Jesus has finished
His work of interceding for
mankind and probation is
closed.
When our High Priest has finished his work in the Sanctuary, he will stand
up, put on the garments of vengeance, and then the seven last plagues
will be poured out. The four angels hold the four winds until Jesus' work
was done in the Sanctuary, and then will come the seven last plagues.
#1
"And the first angel 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."
Revelation 16:2.

Can you imagine sores all over your

body! Notice, these gnawing, painful
sores will afflict only those who have
the mark of the beast and worship his
image.
#1
People by the thousands who have
received the "mark" for the purpose
of saving their jobs and comforts of
life now find that their comfort is
gone!
Instead of causing them to repent,
and pray to God for forgiveness,
these terrible sores only cause them
to "blaspheme God" and "gnaw their
tongues for pain." God knows that if
He gave them a million years more,
they wouldn't, change.
#1
Not everyone will get these awful
sores. Those who so lately have been
persecuted and mocked, are now
safe. Angels of God protect them.
They have loved and been obedient
to their Lord even unto death, and
now Jesus is very close to them.
Though they'll be sentenced to death,
God's people will not die. Jesus will
interpose to save them. While the
wicked are perishing with pestilence
and famine, God's people are
sheltered in the shadow of His hand.
#2 “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.”
Revelation 16:2

The second plague causes the

water of the oceans to change into
something that is like the blood of a
dead man. Those who have hated
God’s people have tried to shed
their blood, and now they are given
blood; more than they know what to
do with.
#3
“And the third angel poured
out his vial upon the rivers
and fountains of waters; and
they became blood.”
Revelation 16:4

The third plague causes the

rivers and fountains of water
to all become like blood. This
is interesting, as the angel
here says that this is only fair.
They deserve it, in other
words.
“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. For they have shed the blood
of saints and prophets, and thou
hast given them blood to drink; for
they are worthy. And I heard
another out of the altar say, Even
so, Lord God Almighty, true and
righteous are thy judgments.”
Revelation 16:5-7
All the beings of the universe as well
as the angels declare that they
deserve just what they are getting.
One voice is the angel from heaven
and the other voice comes from the
altar which represents the saved on
earth.
As terrible as these judgments are,
they are righteous! You see, God is not
an arbitrary tyrant. He moves ahead
with His judgments only as fast as his
created children are able to
understand them and approve of them.
 "And the fourth angel poured out
his vial upon the sun; and power
was given unto him to scorch men
with fire. And men were scorched
with great heat, and blasphemed
the name of God, which hath
#4 power over these plagues: and
they repented not to give Him
glory." Revelation 16:8,9.
The fourth plague causes the sun
to become so hot that it scorches
people! This is also a very fair
judgment because these people
are exalting sun-worship and
seeking to force all to worship the
Sun-day; so God gives them what
they want, lots of sun!
Many who have worked miracles and
done wonderful works, have trampled
on God's Sabbath and persecuted
those who honored it. They've felt
secure in God's favor. But now their
rage is great. Now their true character
is revealed. They “blaspheme God and
repent not.” This plague is perfectly
suited to the sin of the people. They
have honored the “day of the sun”
according to the traditions of men, and
now God gives them sun, plenty of it.
In that day, many will long for the
shelter of God’s mercy which they
have so long despised.
 God's people will be hiding in
desolate places, but He who
provided food for Elijah in the
wilderness will care for them.
While the wicked are dying from
the pestilence, angels will shield
God's faithful people and supply
their wants. God's promise is:
"When the poor and needy seek
water, and there is none, and their
tongue faileth for thirst, I the lord
will hear them, I the God of Israel
will not forsake them." Isaiah
33:15,16; 41:17.
#5
"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, and blasphemed the God of
heaven because of their pains and
their sores, and repented not of their
deeds." Revelation 16:10, 11.
The fifth brings dense darkness to
the seat of the Beast; his kingdom is
full of darkness. For centuries Rome
has poured out spiritual darkness
onto the world, now they find
themselves in actual darkness.
In choosing to honor the beast and receive
his "mark" instead of honoring God and His
"seal," the people have chosen darkness.
Now again, God gives them what they've
chosen.
Oh, if they had only responded to God's
great kindness. His arms have been
stretched out in love. Now it's too late, The
disobedient have decreed that those who
have received God's Seal cannot buy or
sell. Now they themselves are starving with
famine and groping in utter darkness. This
supernatural darkness is a fit symbol of the
gross darkness that has come upon the
minds of those who have turned away from
the light of truth.
 God's people are hiding in remote areas.
They've lost their jobs and homes, and fled for
their lives before insane men urged on by the
religious leaders and evil angels.
They've given up all for Christ. They've seen
the wicked perishing while angels of God
provided food for them. To the obedient God's
promise is given; "Bread shall be given him; his
waters shall be sure."
"A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten
thousand at thy right band; but it shall not come
nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked ...
there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any
plague come nigh thy dwelling." Psalms 91:3-
10.
 By the fifth plague, the whole
wicked world is really angry.
They've decided that those
who honor God's Sabbath of
the Bible are the cause of the
horrible convulsions of nature
and they determine to blot
them from the earth! The date
is set. When the clock strikes
midnight on a certain day,
God's obedient people will be
sentenced to death!
 #6

"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.” Revelation 16:12
The sixth plague talks about the
dying up of a river. When real
Babylon was conquered, the river
that flowed through the city was
dried up so the soldiers came into
the city in the riverbed. So this
shows us that spiritual Babylon is
about to fall, as the ‘waters’, which
represent the people of the world
who support it, turn away from
supporting it, and start to fight
against it.

This prepares the way for Jesus

coming, represented as the ‘Kings of
the East’.
“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. For they are 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." Revelation 16:13-14
Always remember when you read the
prophecies that they do not follow
through in order like a story, the sixth
plague of course does follow the fifth,
but some things referred to here are
reaching a climax that began long
before. These two verses, although
they are mentioned in the time of the
sixth plague when they reach their
climax, they actually begin happening
long before that. They are happening
now, as Satan uses his miracles and
tricks to fool people into disobey God
and seeking to force everyone to also
disobey Him.
Notice these three symbols; The
Dragon; spiritualism; the Beast;
Papal Rome; the False Prophet;
Apostate Protestantism. Satan
gets them to join together and he
gets the kings and mighty men of
the earth to join in too, how? By
performing miracles and wonders
that get people believing the lies
he is telling them. Only people
who know and believe the Bible
will not be tricked!
“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his
garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.” Revelation 16:15

It is most interesting that Jesus inserts this warning thought here, during
this period of final events. When this time actually comes it is then too late
to get the Garment of Christ's Righteousness and put it on. If we are not to
be naked in that terrible day, and all the universe see our shame, we must
accept the garment now and co-operate with Jesus as He works to perfect
our characters to be like His.

If we think we are 'good enough' as 'good as the next guy' and our own
good works are enough to take us to heaven and we don't feel the need to
repent and plead with Jesus now to take all the sin out of our lives and
make us pure; then in that day, we will be exposed to all for what we are;
hypocrites!
“And he gathered them together into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue
Armageddon.” Revelation 16:16

It is this gathering of all the powers of

earth together for the purpose of fighting
against God’s law and His people that is
called the ‘Battle of Armageddon’. There
have been many funny things taught
about this subject, but what it means is
this time when these powers seek to
force everybody to break God’s law. It is
not a particular place or a literal battle
between certain earthly nations.
The word "Armageddon" is made of two
Hebrew words "Har" and "Megidon." This
is not just some local battle fought in the
Valley of Megido as some have said. The
word "Har" means "mountain.” There is
no Mountain in Megido! ‘Armageddon’ is
a symbolic word Jesus uses to denote
the great universal battle, where the
wicked turn against God and His faithful
people.
This is a world-wide battle. America’s
national Sunday law has spread to all
the nations of the world, and a universal
law is passed to wipe the hated sect of
Sabbath keepers from the face of the
earth in one day. Satan has always
worked for this end, because he thinks
that if all of God’s faithful are wiped out,
then God has to let him keep planet
earth for his own kingdom. But this will
never happen.
The people of God, some still in
prison, some hidden in forests
and mountains still plead for
God's protection, while
companies of armed men,
hurried on by evil angels, are
preparing to execute the death
sentence. It's now, in the darkest
hour, that the God of Israel will
interpose to deliver His faithful
people.
 The date has
been set to strike
one stunning blow
that will wipe the
hated sect from
the face of the
earth. At midnight
the death decree
goes into effect. At
midnight, the
Mighty God of
heaven will
interpose to save
His people.
 "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. 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.
#7 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. And every island fled
away, and the mountains were not found. 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 was exceeding great."
Revelation 16:17-21.
Here we see that Great Babylon, made out of these three parts, which
Satan has worked so hard to bring together, quickly falls apart again and
all the parts fight against each other.
The seventh plague takes place as Jesus comes back to get His faithful
people. A terrible hailstorm with huge chunks of ice comes and smashes
all the proud cities of earth.
Babylon the Great - The Mother of Harlots has caused all nations to drink
of the wine of her mixture of Christian and sun-worshiping practices. Now
she drinks of the wine of the wrath of God. Satan's attempt to enforce the
death decree against God's people is the final climax in his king of
swindles. God steps in to save His people. And what a deliverance!
Everything in nature goes haywire. The
mountains shake like reeds in the wind.
The wicked are paralyzed with abject terror
and look with amazement upon the scene,
while the obedient watch with solemn joy at
the signs of their deliverance. Ragged
rocks are hurled in every direction. The sea
is lashed into fury. The earth heaves and
swells. Its surface is breaking apart.
Mountain chains sink. Islands disappear.
Wicked cities that have become like
Sodom are swallowed up by tidal waves.
Great hailstones, each "about the weight of
a talent" are wreaking havoc. A talent is
about 63 pounds. You can see that these,
like cannon balls, will beat the wicked cities
to a pulp.
 Splendid mansions erected by the rich with money embezzled
from the poor are dashed to pieces before their eyes. Prison
walls tumble down, and God's humble people, who have been held
in bondage for their faith are set free.
 It's impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who have
trampled on God's requirements. The enemies of God's law, from the
ministers down, have a new conception of what is truth. Too late, they see
the true nature of the counterfeit sabbath that the Roman church has
brought in and the shaky foundation they've been building on. Many now
see that they're lost. They've chosen the easy, popular way and have
received the mark of the beast. They've followed the religious leaders
instead of the plain word of God. They've been led to believe that the
majority couldn't be wrong. Now they turn on their ministers and bitterly
reproach them for their sorry state.
There appears in the sky
a cloud which betokens
the coming of the "King
of Kings and Lord of
Lords." In solemn
silence God's people
gaze upon it as it draws
nearer and nearer to the
earth.

Brighter and brighter it becomes, and more glorious, until it's

a great white cloud, its glory like consuming fire. Jesus rides
forth as a mighty conqueror. "And the armies which were in
heaven" follow Him. Revelation 19:11,14. The whole heaven
seems filled with dazzling forms "ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands."
No pen can describe it. No human mind is adequate to
imagine the fantastic and holy scene. As the living cloud
comes still nearer, every eye beholds the lovely
Jesus. There's no crown of thorns on that holy brow, but now
a crown of glory rests upon His sacred head. His face
outshines the dazzling brightness of the sun.
 The jokes have stopped. Cursing, lying lips are now silent. In
the middle of their terror the wicked hear the voices of God's
people joyfully exclaiming: "Lo this is our God; we have
waited for Him, and He will save us." Isaiah 25:9.
ARE YOU READY! ARE YOU SURE!
CONTINUED IN REVELATION 17