Revelation speaks of seven vial judgments from God during the tribulation. The vial judgments are the final seven judgments of twenty one judgments by God during the tribulation. They follow the seven seal judgments and the seven trumpet judgments. The vial judgments are incorrectly referred to as bowl judgments in the corrupt modern bibles. The tribulation is the seven year period just before the return of Jesus in his second coming. The tribulation is the time of punishment to bring the Jews to Jesus and punish the Gentile nations for their treatment of his chosen people. Only one third of the Jews will survive the tribulation and they will finally recognize Jesus is their Messiah. (Zechariah 13:8-9 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.) The vial judgments follow the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments. During the tribulation God will bring his wrath upon the earth and much of the world’s population will be destroyed.
Some of the vial judgments are similar to the trumpet judgments, but on a much grander scale. The first vial judgment will bring noisome (hurtful and destructive) and grievous sores upon all the men who have taken the mark of the beast. (Revelation 16:1-2 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.
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.) This is a direct judgment by God on all those who willingly have chosen to serve Satan rather than God by taking the mark of the beast and by worshipping the beast. God is showing in these judgments that he is greater than Satan and he alone is in control. Any people who have gotten saved during the tribulation will not be affected by this vial judgment. This is similar to the judgments by God on Egypt during the ten plagues given by God to Moses. A direct sore given by God will be much worse than any ever given by man.
The second vial judgment will cause the sea to turn into blood and will kill all life living in it. (Revelation 16:3 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.) This will be a severe judgment as much of man’s food comes from the sea as well as much commerce is done by travel on the sea. The ecological disaster from all of the dead animals and any people killed at this time will be tremendous. Dead animals and people will be all over the shores and the smell will be tremendous and noxious as decaying flesh begins. Many diseases will most likely start. This second vial judgment compares to the second trumpet judgment, but on a much grander scale. The second trumpet judgment will cause a third part of the sea to turn into blood with a third of life destroyed including ships, but the second vial judgment will turn all of the sea into blood and destroy all life. (Revelation 8:8-9 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.)
The third vial judgment will cause the rivers and fresh water to turn into blood. This is a major disaster as man needs fresh water to live. Jesus as the living water is rejected by the people of the world and therefore God is giving them what they want and deserve. They have rejected the living water, therefore God has given them dead water. This judgment will also bring an ecological disaster. Think how hard it is today to bring fresh water to victims following floods or hurricanes. Here the water is blood and undrinkable. (John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.) (Revelation 16:4-7 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
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 third trumpet judgment is similar to the third vial judgment, but again the vial judgment is much grander. The trumpet judgment destroys a third part of the rivers, but the vial judgment all of it. (Revelation 8:10-11 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.) Turning the rivers into blood is a reminder of the first plague against the Egyptians when the rivers where turned into blood by Moses at the power of God. (Exodus 7:14-25)
The fourth vial judgment will cause the sun to produce great heat and will scorch men. The sun represents a type of Jesus as Jesus is the light of the world and Jesus is showing how powerful his light can be for those who reject him. (John 8:12 ¶ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.) (Revelation 16:8-9 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.) Notice how people instead of repenting of their sins and calling on Jesus to save them and keep them from future judgments, instead blasphemy the name of God. This shows how much these people have rejected God and chosen Satan. We see some of this today. The fourth trumpet judgment is similar to the fourth vial judgment in that both affect the sun, though the trumpet judgment weakens the sun by having it not shine for a third part of the day as well as the moon and stars not shine for a third part of the night, whereas the vial judgment strengthens the sun. Notice how the moon is affected here as well as the moon represents Christians who are to reflect the light of Jesus just as the moon reflects the light of the sun. There are not many saved people living at this time, so there is not much light getting reflected. (Revelation 8:12-13 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.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!) The partial darkness of the fourth trumpet judgment is a reminder of the darkness brought about in the ninth plague against the Egyptians. (Exodus 10:21-23)
The fifth vial judgment will bring darkness upon the seat of the beast, most likely Rome, and on his kingdom. This will be a darkness so great that it will cause pain and agony. Rejection of the light of Jesus will bring great pain and suffering and an everlasting eternity in darkness in hell and the lake of fire. The darkness is symbolic of the spiritual darkness of the world and her rejection of Jesus and his light. The beast (antichrist) is also indwelt with Satan himself and his darkness. This darkness and the gnawing pain it will cause is again similar to the ninth plague against Egypt. (Revelation 16:10-11 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.) Notice how once again the people blasphemed God rather than admit their sin has caused their pain. The fifth trumpet judgment previously also brought darkness to the earth as the bottomless pit was opened and evil creatures belonging to Satan were released bringing their spiritual darkness to mankind. (Revelation 9:1-2 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.)
The sixth vial judgment will dry up the Euphrates river in preparation for the battle of Armageddon. Unclean spirits like frogs will come out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan), the beast (antichrist), and the false prophet. The dragon is Satan. (Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.) The frogs that come out of the mouths of this unholy Satanic trinity is a reminder of the second plague of Egypt and the land being overrun by frogs whom they worshipped. (See Exodus 8:1-15) (Revelation 16:12-16 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.
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.
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.
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.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.) The sixth trumpet judgment also deals with the Euphrates and bringing death to man. The trumpet judgment will release the four angels that are tied up and they will kill a third of the world population while the vial judgment will help bring about the battle of Armegeddon which will lead to much great bloodshed. (Revelation 9:13-15 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
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 seventh and final vial judgment as well as the final judgment of wrath poured upon people during the great tribulation will cause the greatest earthquake to ever hit the earth. Jerusalem will be divided into three parts and all of the world’s cities will be destroyed and every island will be gone. Imagine all of the great cities such as New York City, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and all of the other cities destroyed and gone. All of the islands will be gone including the Hawaiian Islands, Great Britain, the Philippines, and all the rest. This is all caused by this earthquake from God. Thunder, lightning and large hail will also fall. The hail will weigh around 75-100 pounds (34-45 kilograms) depending on the source of how much a talent weighs. Even at the low end, this hail will cause tremendous damage to anything hit by them. (Revelation 16:17-21 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.
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.
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.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
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.) This seventh vial judgment reminds us of the seventh plague of Egypt which brought thunder, lightning, and hail upon Egypt. (Exodus 9:13-35) The seventh trumpet judgment just as the seventh vial judgment brings an earthquake, lightning, thunder, and great hail. God has a pattern in his judgments from Egypt to the great tribulation. His wrath will be vindicated. (Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.)
The seven vial judgments will bring great death and destruction upon this earth to all of those who have rejected Jesus and chosen Satan. Choose Jesus today before it is too late and avoid the wrath of God and his vial judgments. If you are not saved see What must I do to be saved (be born again), have eternal life and go to heaven?
