The Seven Vials – Part One

Throughout Scripture, God’s wrath is mentioned many times. Deuteronomy 29:23 tells us the Lord destroyed the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, “…which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:” As the Lord poured out the plagues on Egypt, preparing for the exodus of the Israelites, Psalm 78:49 tells us, “He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.” The Lord’s wrath “waxed hot” against the children of Israel in Exodus 32:10-11. His wrath was kindled against Israel in Numbers 11:33. These are specific examples of the Wrath of God upon mankind.

One would think having witnessed the judgments of God, men would fear the Lord, repent and align themselves with His Word to avoid His wrath.

However, the Bible tells us it is in man’s heart to do evil because judgment is not executed immediately. But, this will not always be the case.

Currently, the Lord is giving mankind a season to repent. However, the time is coming when those who do not renounce their wicked ways will face His judgment.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…,” (2 Peter 3:9-10).

The Bible prophesies, in the near future, God will pour out His wrath again—and He will be justified in doing so.

Prophesied Wrath of God

There are many synonymous terms used to describe the end time Wrath of God:

The Day of the Lord: “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it,” (Isaiah 13:9).

The Day of Wrath: “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” (Romans 2:5, NASB).

The Day of His Wrath: “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand,” (Revelation 6:17)?

The Great Winepress of the Wrath of God: “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God,” (Revelation 14:19).

Other passages provide clues to the events that will occur when the Wrath of God is poured out in the end time.

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O LORD God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth,” (Revelation 11:15-18).

This happens when the Seventh Trumpet sounds. Then, there is the Seven Vials account:

“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,” (Revelation 15:7).

From these passages, many questions arise when discussing this ominous prophecy. Will every person suffer when the Wrath of God is poured out? When will it occur and is it a global event?

To find these answers and more, we will look to the most detailed account of God’s Wrath, which is found in the Book of Revelation—The Seven Vials.

Satan’s Wrath Versus God’s Wrath

Before we analyze the Seven Vials, I want to clear up a common misconception. It has been taught that the Great Tribulation is the Wrath of God in the end time. However, Scripture clearly teaches that the Great Tribulation is the Wrath of Satan, not God.

In Revelation 12:7-8, we are told that Satan and his angels will launch a war against God and His angels. This will be Satan’s last–ditch effort to overthrow God before he himself is bound in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.

Satan will be defeated and his punishment for this ultimate rebellion will be his banishment from appearing in Heaven, and his confinement to the earth. Until this time, Satan enjoyed access to Heaven where he regularly accused God’s people. An example of this was when he appeared before God to accuse Job.

The casting down of Satan is described in Revelation 12:10.

Revelation 12:10, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

Satan’s confinement to the earth is recorded in verses 12-13:

Revelation 12:12-13, “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.”

We learn several things from this passage. When Satan is confined to the earth, he knows that he only has a short time left. He is filled with great wrath. He launches great persecution upon the earth and specifically against the woman. The woman is described earlier in the chapter as having a crown of 12 stars upon her head. The woman is Israel and the 12 stars are the 12 tribes of Israel.

Revelation 12:14 tells us what happens next: “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

Israel will be protected by two wings of a great eagle (the United States). She will fly into her place (the Promised Land) and she will be protected there all during the time of the Great Tribulation. We are also told the length of the Great Tribulation—three and one-half years (time, and times, and half a time).

When Satan tries to war against Jews in Israel proper and cannot, he will then resort to persecuting Jews and Christians around the world.

Revelation 12:17, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

This verse distinctly says that the dragon (Satan) will make war not just against the woman, which is Israel, but against the, “…remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Wherever the Antichrist and his world government has power, Jews and true Christians will be subjected to the persecutions of the Great Tribulation.

This passage leaves no doubt; the Great Tribulation is the Wrath of Satan not the Wrath of God. The Wrath of God will be poured out later at the Battle of Armageddon, which occurs at the end of the Great Tribulation.

How can we predict the timing of these events? To answer this question, one must understand the thesis and skeletal structure of the Book of Revelation.

The Revealing of Jesus Christ

The Book of Revelation is devoted to the revealing of Jesus Christ at His Second Coming.

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass,” (Revelation 1:1).

The word translated “revelation” is the Greek word “apokalypsis”, which means to reveal. The Book of Revelation is devoted to dramatizing and telling the story of how the Second Coming is going to happen. The Second Coming is the crowning moment of all human history. Jesus Christ will return to the earth to put down the thrones of men and establish the long-promised Kingdom of God.

Revelation gives at least four accounts of Christ’s Second Coming—all from different perspectives.

Structure of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is divided into three segments. John was told to:

“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter,” (Revelation 1:19).

Revelation, chapter one, is a vision that John saw. Chapters two and three are letters written to seven churches in existence 2,000 years ago. The prophetic portion of Revelation begins in chapter four, verse one.

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter,” (Revelation 4:1).

This is a major turning point that many people miss. It is a key area that has caused many to misinterpret the Book of Revelation.

Another very important thing to understand is that the future is described in four different ways through four major categories of events. These categories form a sort of skeletal structure for the Book of Revelation. They are: Seven Seals, Seven Thunders, Seven Trumpets and Seven Vials. Although the Seals, Trumpets and Vials are explained in some length, the thunders are not explained at all.

“And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not,” (Revelation 10:4).

God only allowed John to write what He wanted understood.

The structural elements of the Book of Revelation are revealed when you compare the Seals, Trumpets and Vials. The Seals are the long story ending with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ back to earth. The Trumpets are the shorter story ending at the same time. The Vials or Bowls, are the very short story ending at the same event.

Each of these structural elements begin at different times but they all end at the same time, proving conclusively the Book of Revelation is not written in chronological order.