Revelation 15:7 – Revelation 16:21

The Seven Last Plagues
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Therefore:

The wicked will be destroyed because they are and clear and present dangerto the eternal universe and universal happiness, joy, peace of God’s children.

 

By the time the seven last plagues begin, all of the wicked will have committed the unpardonable sin and they will be demon possessed. Their decent into demonic possession is predictable: First, they will reject the first angel’s message. There is no love nor respect for their Creator. Second, they will join with the leaders of Babylon to avoid embarrassment, punishment and persecution. They love self more than truth. Last, they will submit to the authority of a glorious devil to avoid torture – only to suffer the seven last plagues from God in the end.

 

Ok, now that my justification for the Seven Last Plagues is completed, let’s examine the seven last plagues. Notice Revelation 15:1:

 

Revelation 15:1   I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues – last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.

 

The Great Tribulation is called “a time of wrath.”

 

Daniel 8:19   He said:   “I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end.”

 

Daniel 11:36   “The king [Lucifer] will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.”

 

                        A Time of Wrath

 

  /-----------------A----------------/---B-----/

    

A = Seven first plagues

B = Seven last plagues

 

There are two essential differences between the seven trumpets and the seven bowls. First, the seven trumpets are redemptive in nature whereas the seven bowls are totally destructive. People can repent and be saved during the seven trumpets; however, salvation will not be possible during the seven bowls because the door to salvation closes on the 1,260^th day of the Great Tribulation.

 

Second, the seven first plagues are called “seven trumpets” in the book of Revelation because these redemptive judgments are designed to shatter the religious paradigms of the world much like a military bugle shatters the silence of early dawn with Reveille. 

 

The seven first plagues will enable people to thoughtfully and intelligently consider the testimony of Jesus that will be spoken by the 144,000. On the other hand, the seven last plagues are called “seven bowls” because those receiving the mark of the beast will be forced to “drink” from God’s “medicine bowl.”  The bitter dregs of God’s wrath will be poured out of each bowl on the wicked.

 

The seven trumpets are redemptive in nature whereas the seven bowls are punitive in nature. God will force the wicked to suffer according to the Same/Same Rule. There will be no mercyfrom God when the seven bowls are poured out because the wicked chose to hurt God’s people and even worse, they willfully and knowingly rebelled against the law of love.

 

Consider this: There won’t be any “good hearted people” receiving the mark of the beast. Anyone who stands in rebellion against the plainest evidences of God’s truth and rejects His love doesn’t have a good heart.

 

Last, but not least.

 

When the seven bowls begin, the devil will be on Earth masquerading as Almighty God. The devil will sit on his throne claiming to be God, and billions of wicked people will believe that he is actually God.

 

After the 144,000 are taken to Heaven, the devil will urge his followers to hasten the destruction of God’s saints during the first four bowls. The devil will urge his followers to exterminate God’s saints saying, “these horrible judgments are curses from the devil.” How clever of Lucifer!

 

Billions of wicked people will believe that the devil is God and that the God of the saints and the 144,000 is the devil. Keep this twisted deception in mind as we examine the specific purpose and nature of each dreadful bowl.

 

Plague #1.   Revelation 16:2   The first angel went out and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.”

 

The first plague will be a plague of painful boils. Remember the boils that Lucifer put on Job? Remember those huge, tender, inflamed, puss oozing sores all over his body? God puts similar sores on every personwho receives the mark of the beast. These are two interesting ironies here.

 

First, many people will receive the mark of the beast thinking that they are avoiding further suffering, but the first bowl inflicts a painful suffering on them that is beyond description! In an effort to save their lives and escape persecution, millions will bow down confessing the devil is God and they will gladly receive the tattoo after he “spares” their life.

 

But, their expedient efforts to save self will be foolish because everyonewho worships “the devil and receives his mark” will have to drink the dregs of the first bowl! There will be no escape from the first bowl. Painful boils will befall those who thought they were escaping pain!

 

This brings me to the second irony.

 

When the first bowl is poured out on the wicked, they will be engaged in an intense campaign to find and kill the few saints of God who remain alive. The first bowl will only slow down their efforts. You would think that evil men and women, covered with boils from head to foot would give up the pursuit. But, they don’t. They have demonic hearts.

 

The irony is that what few saints they do find, they can’t harm. God does not allow His children to suffer at their hands after the seventh trumpet sounds. This is the deliverance promised in Daniel 12:1.

 

Plague #2.   Revelation 16:3   The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. 

 

The second bowl is a curse against the sea and the land. When the second bowl is poured out, everything living in the oceans of the world dies. Why would God pour out his wrath upon the oceans?

 

I can think of three reasons.

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