“Then I heard a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, “Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.” Revelation 16:1-2
The seven angels were given the seven bowls containing the final judgment. God gave the command to “Go pour out God’s wrath”. The seven bowls will be supernatural acts of God. The judgments will hit far too rapidly for any explanation other than they came from God Himself.
The seven bowl or vial judgments are the final judgments of the tribulation period. They will be the most severe judgments the world has ever seen. The seven bowls are described in this chapter, where they are specifically called “the seven bowls of God’s wrath”. Under the Antichrist, the wickedness of man has reached its peak, and it is met with God’s wrath against sin. The seven bowl judgments are called forth by the seventh trumpet. There is undoubtedly much similarity between the trumpet judgments and the judgments inflicted by the pouring out of the vials of the wrath of God. In both the trumpets and the vials, the first in the series deals with the earth, the second with the sea, the third with rivers and fountains of water, the fourth with the sun, the fifth with darkness, the sixth with the Euphrates River, and the seventh with lightnings, thunders, and a great earthquake. The principle is often overlooked, however, that similarities do not prove identity. A careful study of the seven vials as compared to the seven trumpets will reveal numerous differences.
The first angel pours out the first bowl on the land, “and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image”. This plague is targeted at those who have committed themselves to the Antichrist; tribulation saints will not be affected by these sores.
When God told me that I needed to write on Daniel and Revelation, I was not the most excited person about doing this. God has a way of leading us to do His will. These Bible Studies have opened up my mind to what is going on in our world. I study more about what is happening. I see that the world is preparing for the return of Jesus and makes me want to reach out more and win more to Jesus. The time is short. We need to work while there is light.