The Seven Last Plagues

Because God loves mankind, he gives them warning after warning that he will judge their sin.  In Revelation 14, he warned that man’s rebellion will ultimately fail and that their army and power will be completely destroyed.  Just before he destroys them, he causes several more events that force people to choose whether they will serve God or not.  Mankind’s refusal to listen will bring God to the boiling point, as Revelation 15:1 tells us.  “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Even as people here on earth rebel against him, those who have followed Christ through the Tribulation are singing his praises, as described in Revelation 15;2-4.  “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.”

We are privileged to see a small example of the attitude of those who follow the Antichrist in American society today.  Like those who oppose Trump oppose everything he tries to do, Those who oppose Christ will reject every overture to reach out to them.  God will try again to get them to think about what is going on.  Revelation 15:5-16:1 describes preparations for God’s final efforts to get their attention.  “And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.  And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.  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.”

The first of the seven last plagues is some kind of skin disease, producing painful infections similar to boils, constantly oozing pus, according to Revelation 16:2.  “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.”   These afflict those who have the mark and worship the Antichrist. 

While an earlier plague had poisoned a third of the sea, turning it red, the second of these last plagues make the sea coagulate like the blood of a dead person, with the result that everything in the oceans will die, according to 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.”

One third of the fresh water had been polluted earlier, but now all the fresh water becomes like blood, because violence has been so widely accepted, as Revelation 16:4-7 describes.  “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.  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.” 

We have heard a lot about global warming in recent years.  In that day, God will cause the sun to give off more heat than normal, with the result that temperatures become far hotter than normal.  All the efforts to prevent Global warming will have no effect, according to Revelation 16:8-9.  “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 power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”  While it will be clear that only God could do this, people will refuse to repent, cursing God instead.   

The fifth plague will disrupt the power supply to the Antichrist’s capital, and block out the sunlight, yet the heat will continue. People will be doing anything they can to distract themselves from the pain of their skin infections and sunburns, as Revelation 16:10-11 describes.  “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.”  The cursing of God will only get worse as a result. 

The sixth angel will cause a drought that results in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers drying up, making it easy for the armies of Asia to attack Israel.  The drying of the Euphrates will leave Babylon without water, and forcing people to leave.  Satan will use the destruction of their religious center to Incite the people to attack Jerusalem and God’s people, as described in Revelation 16:12-16.  “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.  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 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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”

The darkness in his capital and the destruction of Babylon have stirred up Satan and the Antichrist’s anger and they are prepared to fight the Lord at the Armageddon, but there is still one plague to come, as Revelation 16:17-21 describes.  “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.  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 thereof was exceeding great.”

There will be greatest earthquake in human history.  It will destroy cities around the world, causing mountains to collapse like Mt St. Helens, and islands to disappear.  Babylon will be destroyed, and with the Euphrates dried up, they will be unable to put the fires out.  Along with the earthquake, there will be a huge hailstorm, with hailstones weighing as much as seventy pounds battering down buildings and killing people and livestock.  Blaming God, people will flock to Satan’s army in hopes of defeating him.  .