Revelation 16:1-7

(Rev 16:1 KJV)
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.

Now comes the final seven plagues which are being dispatched with a loud voice. There is no guessing as to what the mission of these seven angels are. Each one has been given a specific vial and each one is to affect the entire earth in different manners. This final set of judgments are the conclusive ones to dominate the earth. The first set of judgments affected one fourth of the earth and the second set of judgments affected one third of the earth which means the judgments were limited in scope but now the final set of judgments are upon the whole earth and this time there will be no unbeliever who will escape. This final set of judgments will culminate in the battle of Armageddon which is not a literal tank battle in Israel but is the final battle between God and Satan. Let me just state here that God does not have to battle Satan because He can just throw him into hell but the battle between God and Satan must take place because God has a purpose for this battle and until that purpose is completed, the battle will rage.

(Rev 16:2 KJV)
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.

The time has now come for the answer to the prayer of Jeremiah.

(Jer 10:25 KJV) Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.

God now begins to pour out His fury upon all the nations of the world and upon them which have eaten up Jacob. In other words, those nations which have persecuted the body of believers which resulted in many martyrs. These nations are now being judged. In the first of the vial judgments, the result is noisome and grievous sores are coming upon those who belonged to Satan. The word “noisome” may also be translated “evil.” In Job 2:7, Job was smitten with boils from Satan.

(Job 2:7 KJV) So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

The Hebrew word for boils may also allude to cancerous sores. It is interesting to note that cancer cases are increasing all over the world.

(Exo 9:9-11 KJV) 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.

The first vial judgment has a relation to the plague of boils which hit the Egyptians. If you notice in that everyone had the boils and no one was spared this torment. The word “blain” carries with it the meaning of “belch forth or bubble.” This means that these festering sores were unsightly and painful, especially if they would bubble bringing up puss. Now this first vial judgment does not necessarily mean that everyone in the world, except believers are going to walk around with bubbling boils.

However, the first vial judgment will exude a torment. This torment will also be some type of psychological or spiritual torment. One of the great torments that anyone on earth can have is to be spiritually confounded. (2 Tim 3:7 KJV) Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. There are millions today who believe they have found the truth, yet are totally confounded. Spiritual uncertainty can plague a mind.

(Rev 16:3 KJV)
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.

The second vial judgment is almost a direct parallel of the second trumpet judgment. (Revelation 8:8-9) This judgment also parallels the first judgment upon Egypt which was when the waters were turned to blood. In the second trumpet judgment we read that one third of the sea became blood which means that judgment had come upon the kingdom of Satan partially. Now in this second vial, we see that this is a furthering of the second trumpet judgment. It now goes from one third to the entire earth. The mountain that burned in the second trumpet judgment will now mean that the entire kingdom of Satan has finally been judged. When God will judge the kingdom of Satan in its entirety, all who are members of this evil kingdom will become dead. That is, they will face the second death for eternity. We can also see in this verse that the seas became as blood of a dead man. The sea is water and the true Gospel is the water of life but dead water is the dead, false gospel which cannot save and that results in the followers of false religion being cast into an eternal hell.

(Rev 16:4 KJV)
And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

The third vial judgment is parallel with that of the third trumpet judgment. (Rev. 8:10-11) As in the third trumpet judgment, the waters were made bitter so people could not drink of them but those who had died from the poisoning. In our day, there is a serious concern for having clean drinking water and the supply seems to be shrinking world wide. While thirst may be a legitimate plague and can happen anywhere at anytime, what is in view here is that which is akin to the third trumpet. (John 7:38 KJV) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. The pure water of the Gospel will flow out of every true believer but in the Revelation verse we are seeing that the rivers and fountains will turn to blood, which means that there is going to be an intensifying of false gospels and teachings worldwide. Those false teachings are going to be responsible for the eternal deaths of billions. The unsaved world hates the true Gospel so God will intensify their false belief systems so they will think they are living in truth. (2 Th 2:11-12 KJV) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: {12} That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

A similar principle is found in the Old Testament when Ahab was looking for confirmation of his alliance with Jehoshaphat and his war. Micaiah had seen a vision of the Lord and even told Ahab that God was going to send a lying spirit to put into the mouths of all the false prophets. This principle is alive and well as we see in Revelation 16:4 that all the fountains and rivers became as the blood of dead men which means a dead, lying false gospel.

(1 Ki 22:19-23 KJV) And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. {20} And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. {21} And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. {22} And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. {23} Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

(Rev 16:5 KJV)
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.

John hears the angel of the water now interject a justification for this terrible plague. The kingdom of Satan which for so long persecuted the church of God, is now being requited for their hatred. Maybe this is a coming physical plague of thirst since the judgment is against those who dwell upon the earth. The Lord is righteous to bring any judgment against the kingdom of Satan which He desires. This is the only place in Scripture where the angel of the waters is mentioned. Other angels mentioned are those who have power over the winds (Rev. 7:1) and over fire (Rev. 14:18).

(Rev 16:6 KJV)
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

The unbelieving world, no matter at what time in history, is and has been responsible for the murder of God’s children. The kingdom of Satan has been at war continually with the Kingdom of God. Since they have shed the blood of the saints and the prophets of God, God is now giving them blood to drink, which means that they will be paying for their deeds with their own lives and their own spiritual lives which will end them up in eternal hell. The last part of the verse, “for they are worthy” is teaching us that those whom God is judging by taking their life are worthy to receive that penalty. Just as they felt the believers were worthy to be killed because of their stand for truth, now God is taking their lives because they are worthy to be judged for their crimes against Christians.

(Rev 16:7 KJV)
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Here is another approbation coming from the altar, which may be the voice of the martyrs stating that God’s judgment upon these unbelievers are true and righteous. This means basically that the punishment fits the crime. As the unbelieving world had no problems taking the lives of the true believers because they thought they were right and just in doing it, especially in countries where laws were passed to restrict Christian activity, now God is not restricting His judgment upon these killers of His children.