Today we’ll explore the first three vials of wrath that were poured out in Revelation 16.
I’ll be speaking from a fulfilled eschatology perspective and I’ll be referring to the works of first century historian Flavius Josephus.
Revelation 16
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.
By Revelation 16 the seven seals have been loosed, the seven trumpets have sounded and the seven vials of wrath are about to be poured out.
Vial 1
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 worshiped his image.
This vial causes grievous sores.
We’ll consider a few possibilities of what this means.
If we look at Deuteronomy 28 we find a list of curses.
Those who disobeyed God’s commandments were cursed with boils, like the boils that came upon Egypt.
Deut. 28
15…if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do -- all his commandments..
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
Almost the exact same phraseology is found in Isaiah concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah 1
1 The vision of Isaiah…which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem…
4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers…
6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores…
Josephus wrote that Jerusalem sat in the centre of Judea, like the head of a body. Thus inflammation spread from the head to the entire body.
WOJ 3.3.5
5…. The city Jerusalem is situated in the very middle…the royal city Jerusalem…presided over all the neighbouring country, as the head does over the body.
WOJ 4.7.2
2… Now as it is in a human body, if the principal part be inflamed, all the members are subject to the same distemper; so by means of the sedition and disorder that was in the metropolis, had the wicked men that were in the country opportunity to ravage the same…
In this case inflammation is a metaphor for the disorder that was going on in Jerusalem and Judea in the lead up to 70AD when the city was destroyed by Titus and his Roman army.
Another thing to consider is that during this same period, the Zealots (an extreme political faction that sought independence from Rome) were murdering anyone who tried to escape Jerusalem and were leaving their dead bodies to putrify in the sun. You can imagine how this could cause the spread of disease.
WOJ 4.6.3
3… these zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity, as not to bestow a burial, either on those slain in the city, or on those that lay along the roads; but as if they had made an agreement to cancel both the laws of their country, and the laws of nature…they left the dead bodies to putrify under the sun…
Vial 2 and 3
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.
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
In 67AD Vespasian began a military campaign in Galilee, a zealot stronghold. By 68AD he and Placidus had worked their way down towards Judea.
The people fled to Jericho but could not pass the Jordan River, Josephus wrote that 15000 were killed on it’s banks, others leaped into the water. Their bodies floated down the Jordan, into the dead sea. Hence the river and sea were filled with blood.
WOJ 4.7.3-5
5 …So they got in great numbers together, and fled to Jericho…But Placidus…followed them; and slew all that he overtook, as far as Jordan. And when he had driven the whole multitude to the river side, where they were stopped by the current…he put his soldiers in array over against them…They then extended themselves a very great way along the banks of the river; and sustained the darts that were thrown at them…fifteen thousand of them were slain…
6 Jordan could not be passed over by reason of the dead bodies that were in it; but because the lake Asphaltitis was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river.
This reminds me of the first plague that came upon Egypt, when waster was turned to blood (Ex. 7:17).
Vial 4
Revelation 16
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.
This vial could refer to how Vespasian burnt everything in his path as per “scorched earth policy”, a military strategy of burning or destroying crops and other resources.
WOJ 3.4.1
By this means he provoked the Romans to treat the country according to the law of war; nor did the Romans, out of the anger they bore at this attempt, leave off, either by night or by day, burning the places in the plain…
In around 68AD Rebel leader Simon bar Giora and his followers were destroying everything in their wake. Josephus likened them to locusts. They burnt some places as well.
WOJ 4.9.7
Thence did Simon make his progress over all Idumea: and did not only ravage the cities and villages, but lay waste the whole country…he was of a barbarous disposition, and bore great anger at this nation. By which means it came to pass that Idumea was greatly depopulated. And as one may see all the woods behind despoiled of their leaves by locusts, after they have been there, so was there nothing left behind Simon’s army, but a desert. Some places they burnt down: some they utterly demolished…
However the “fire” could also be a reference to what was going on inside Jerusalem. There was a civil war raging, in which competing factions burnt each others food supply. This is what led to the terrible starvation that happened during the Roman siege.
WOJ 5.1.4
… John…set on fire those houses that were full of corn, and of all other provisions. (4) The same thing was done by Simon…destroying what the city had laid up against the siege…. almost all that corn was burnt, which would have been sufficient for a siege of many years.
Vial 5
Revelation 16
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.
What was the “seat of the beast”? It cannot have been Rome. God was using Rome as a tool to execute his judgement upon Jerusalem.
I think the “seat of the beast” is a reference to Jerusalem.
In 69AD Rebel leader Simon bar Giora was invited into the city with his army to get rid of tyrannical zealot leader John Gischala. Simon bar Giora then arrogantly “took possession” of Jerusalem.
WOJ 4.9
11…in order to overthrow John, they determined to admit Simon…The people also made joyful acclamations to him, as their saviour, and their preserver. But when he was come in, with his army, he took care to secure his own authority…
12. And thus did Simon get possession of Jerusalem, in the third year of the war, in the month Xanthicus [Nisan] [A.D. 69].
While Jerusalem is called the “holy city” throughout scripture, by this time there was nothing holy about it. It was a man-centred, man-ruled kingdom of darkness. It was like the bottomless pit without form or foundation.
Does this remind you of the plague of darkness that came upon Egypt?
Vial 6
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.
I’ll just start with this verse.
If we go back to Deuteronomy 28 we see that those who kept God’s commandments would be safe from their enemies. Those who disobeyed his commandments would be killed or taken captive by them.
Deuteronomy 28
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do -- all his commandments…
25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Throughout the bible, seas and rivers acted as barriers or boundary-lines. For example God promised Abraham that he and his seed would inherit Canaan, from the river of Egypt to the Great Euphrates river (Gen. 15:18).
The Euphrates drying up so the “kings of the east” could pass it, makes me think that the protective barrier was being removed. The Covenantal blessings were being taken away as God poured out Judgment upon Jerusalem and the surrounding areas.
Revelation 16
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.
These verses describe “the whole world” being gathered to Armageddon for “the battle of the great day of God almighty”.
First of all “the great day of God almighty” sounds like “the day of the Lord” mentioned in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures that was always a day of national judgement. In this case it was judgement coming upon Judah/Jerusalem.
In 68-69AD Simon bar Giora gathered an army of at least 40,000 men from across the country and brought them to Jerusalem.
WOJ 4.9
4…many of the men of power were corrupted by him: so that his army was no longer composed of slaves and robbers, but a great many of the populace were obedient to him as to their King…
7…he had forty thousand men that followed him…
In 69AD Titus also gathered his Roman army for the final assault upon the city.
WOJ 4.11.
5…Vespasian…sent his son Titus, with a select part of his army, to destroy Jerusalem…he (Titus) pitched his camp at Gaza. After which he came to Ascalon, and thence to Jamnia, and after that to Joppa, and from Joppa to Cesarea: having taken a resolution to gather all his other forces together at that place.
Armageddon, also called mount Megiddo, was the location of several battles throughout scripture (2 Kings 23:29-30 2 Chron. 35:20-24 Judges 4-5 1 Kings 9:15). It was a strategic location for battle because it was on a major trade and military route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Also it was a large flat area suitable for armies and chariots.
It was at Mount Megiddo that King Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Necho ll of Egypt. Many consider this to be the beginning of the end for Judah because Josiah, one of it’s last righteous Kings, led major religious reforms. After his death Judah returned to Idol worship and became internally unstable.
Armageddon may be used figuratively in Revelation 16 because of it’s long history of warfare.
Vial 7
Rev. 16
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.
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.
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.
There are two things I want to focus on here. First, “the great city was divided into three parts”.
I mentioned before how, in the lead up to the Roman siege, there was a civil war raging within Jerusalem.
By 69AD there were three main competing factions led by three people, Simon bar Giora, John Gischala and Eleazar ben Simon. These three people may also be the “frogs” mentioned in verse 13.
WOJ 5.1
1 When therefore Titus…came to Cesarea: having resolved to set his forces in order at that place, before he began the war…the sedition at Jerusalem was revived, and parted into three factions: and that one faction fought against the other…like a wild beast grown mad, which, for want of food from abroad, fell now upon eating its own flesh.
4. And now there were three treacherous factions in the city, the one parted from the other. Eleazar and his party…came against John…John…went out with zeal against Simon.
Verse 21 describes “great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent”. This may be a reference to the stones that Rome were catapulting into the city, once they began their final assault. These stones were white and weighed about a talent.
WOJ 5.6.3
Now the stones (15) that were cast were of the weight of a talent…they at first watched the coming of the stone: for it was of a white colour; and could therefore not only be perceived by the great noise it made, but could be seen also before it came by its brightness….the watchmen…cried out aloud, in their own country language, the stone cometh.
Another thing I want to mention is how when the 4th and 5th vial were poured out the people refused to repent.
This reminds me of Pharaoh’s stubborn refusal to release the Israelite slaves into the wilderness.
Revelation 16 depicts the second Exodus, by the end of which spiritual Israel was able to enter the spiritual “promised land” we see in Revelation 21&22.
The New Jerusalem, an everlasting, spiritual kingdom that we can access today, through Jesus Christ.
I hope this was thought provoking and brought clarity to your mind around the seven vials of wrath in Revelation 16.
Feel free to leave comments or send me an email at crystalriver053@gmail.com
