Rev 16:1-21
1 And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth."
2 And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
3 And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.
4 And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous art Thou , who art and who wast, O Holy One, because Thou didst judge these things;
6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it."
7 And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."
8 And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues; and they did not repent, so as to give Him glory.
10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.
12 And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east.
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;
14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.")
16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done."
18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
19 And the great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found .
21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.
(NAS)

The 7 Last Plagues are to be taken literally. In most cases they are self-explanatory. The effects are literal. They are caused by God. The 7 Last Plagues fall only on those who have rejected Christ and have received the mark of the beast (see v.2). Also, the purpose of the 7 Last Plagues is to punish, not to warn. Note that the 7 Trumpets affected only a third of the land, seas, etc., but the 7 Last Plagues affect all of the land, seas, etc. "If any one worships the beast and his image...he also will drink the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger" (Rev. 14:9-10). "I saw...seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished"(Rev 15:1). The 7 Last Plagues are reminiscent of the ten plagues that God brought on Egypt at the time of the Exodus.

The 7 Last Plagues occur AFTER the close of probation. At this time it is too late for anyone to change his mind about accepting Christ. The two camps have been clearly divided. The saved are saved and the lost are lost. No one will switch sides at this point in time. The Bible highlights this point in verses 9 and 11 where it says that "men blasphemed God...and they did not repent of their deeds." The close of probation occurs when the last living individual makes the decision to stand with or against Jesus. It will pass without notice on the earth. No one will know that the final decisions have been rendered in the heavenly courts until the first plague falls.

The saved will experience "the time of Jacob’s trouble", or their own version of the great tribulation, at the same time that the wicked experience the 7 Last Plagues. The 7 Last Plagues are not the time of Jacob’s trouble for the saved - but the plagues do cause this tribulation. Satan will convince the wicked that the plagues falling on the world are a punishment because the other group refuses to acknowledge and worship him. Therefore, the wicked will issue a death decree against the righteous, believing that they will appease God’s wrath by purging the heretics from among them. The attacks of the wicked are part of what constitutes the time of Jacobs trouble for the righteous. The other piece is that the righteous will not feel all that righteous. They will search their hearts for any unconfessed sin. As they grow closer and closer to a Holy God, they become painfully aware of their own unrighteousness. During this time they will learn to trust wholly in the merits of Christ and the grace of God. God does not remove them from this time of trial, but carries them through it in order to strengthen their faith in Him. It is just like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three Hebrew boys who were thrown in the fiery furnace as described in Daniel 3. God did not remove them from the trial, He carried them through their fiery ordeal. He was with them in the furnace, and He used the fire of the furnace to burn their ropes and free them from their bondage. Likewise, God will allow His people to go through the great tribulation in order to purify their faith and to free them totally from their bondage to sin.

The death decree issued by the wicked will occur after the second plague. During the third plague, described in verse 4, the rivers are turned to blood. In verses 5 and 6, an angel says that this judgement was fair and righteous because the wicked had poured out the blood of the righteous. This occurred partly when many Christians were martyred during the fifth seal and the sixth trumpet. But this judgement is also a response to the death decree. Even though the decree had not yet been executed, the wicked were as guilty by making the decree as if the sentence had already been carried out. Therefore, the third plague was a response to the death decree issued after the second plague. Although this is not a strong conclusion at this point, we will see support for this idea when we look at a Biblical parallel - the story of Esther.

Joel 3 and the Sixth and Seventh Plagues

Note that the sixth plague is the battle of Armageddon. The wicked assemble together to hunt down the righteous and execute the sentence of the death decree. God, of course, intervenes and rescues His people. That is the seventh plague. Incidently, Joel describes this event very clearly as well. Look at the passage in Joel below and note the similarities in the language with that of the sixth and seventh plagues as well as the 6th seal. You should be able to start recognizing the patterns and to fit the pieces of the puzzle together at this point.

Joel 3:2, 12-17
2 I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.
12 Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.
13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness .
16 And the LORD roars from Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth tremble. But the LORD is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy, and strangers will pass through it no more.
(NAS)

Note that Jehoshaphat means "Jehova judges". Also note that the valley of decision in verse 14 is not a place for the people to make a decision, but for God to reveal His judgement decisions.

Please note most of all the second half of verse 16. "But the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stroghold to the sons of Israel." God will always be with His people and protect them. There will not be any Christian martyrs after the close of probation. There would be no point to their deaths. The only reason that God gives some the gift of martyrdom is for others to be converted by their witness of faith. After the close of probation, no one can change sides. No one will come to Christ after that time. Therefore there is no purpose in the death of a single one of God’s people. Those who are alive at the close of probation will live to see their Savior’s return.

I strongly encourage you to read through the whole book of Joel with these new perspectives in mind. Actually you should read through all of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the Minor Prophets. There is an incredible amount of support for the ideas of this paper in those prophetic books. You will probably notice other patterns that I have overlooked.

Esther - the Death Decree and the 7 Last Plagues

I mentioned before that there was a parallelism between the story of Esther and the death decree of the 7 Last plagues. Let me summarize the context of the story. King Ahasuerus (Artaxerces) deposed his former queen Vashti and replaced her with a Jewess named Esther. The king did not know that Esther was Jewish. Esther had an uncle, named Mordecai, who advised her regularly and who was a pious Jew. The king had an advisor named Haman. Haman grew to resent Mordecai because this man refused to bow down and pay homage to him. Haman discovered that this was because Mordecai was a Jew. Haman grew to distrust all Jews because they would refuse to bow to him. He told the king that the Jews were insurrectionists, and would not show loyalty to the crown. He urged the king to issue a death decree to exterminate the Jews. (Does this sound familiar so far?) Let’s read about this decree. Note particularly the date of its issue and the execution date.

Esth 3:8-14
8 Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the king's laws, so it is not in the king's interest to let them remain.
9 "If it is pleasing to the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed , and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who carry on the king's business, to put into the king's treasuries."
10 Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.
11 And the king said to Haman, "The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please."
12 Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king's satraps, to the governors who were over each province, and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.
13 And letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.
14 A copy of the edict to be issued as law in every province was published to all the peoples so that they should be ready for this day.
(NAS)

The date of the decree was the 13^th day of the first month. The execution date was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. According to the ideal Jewish calendar, each month had thirty days. From the date the decree was issued until the execution date was exactly 11 months or 330 days.

As the story goes on, Esther appeals to the king on behalf of her people and exposes the evil intent of Haman’s plot. The glory that was Haman’s was given to Mordecai. Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built to execute Mordecai. Now, the original decree could not be revoked. According to the laws of the Medes and the Persians, a royal edict could not be revoked. (See Dan. 6:12). Since the original edict could not be revoked, the king had Mordecai issue a second edict that gave the Jews the right to fight back against any who sought to do them harm. This second edict told the regional governors, in essence, that the king had changed his support to be in favor of the Jews and against their enemies. The might of the kingdom was, therefore, behind the Jews. The counter decree was issues on the 23 ^rd day of the third month. When the execution date of the first decree came, the enemies of the Jews attacked them. But the forces of the king stood up on the side of the Jews and they totally destroyed their enemies. When Satan and the wicked attempt to execute a death decree against the righteous during the time of the 7 Plagues, Jesus Himself will intervene to rescue His people. The death decree will fall on the wicked instead of the righteous when Jesus returns in the clouds.

We can lay the 330 days of the death decree in Esther over the 7 Last Plagues and begin to get a time frame for the last plagues and the death decree. I will show this in a diagram, but first there is one more Biblical parallel to consider in order to get a more complete picture. This is the account of the flood.

The Flood and the 7 Last Plagues

The flood is also a great parallel to the time after the close of probation. Jesus, Himself, draws our attention to this fact in his discourse on the signs of His return.

Matt 24:37-39
37 "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. (NAS)

This highlights the fact that the people were not even aware of the calamity that was coming upon them until it was too late. It wasn’t Noah’s fault. He had preached the coming flood for 120 years. The people could also not have helped but to see the immense ark that he was building in the middle of a dry land. The Bible at least hints at the possibility that it had never rained at all before that time. One reason that the people doubted Noah was because nothing like that had ever happened before. Let us not also make that same kind of mistake. God often has great things in mind that we do not expect. He told the prophet Habakkuk, "Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days-- you would not believe if you were told." Hab 1:5 (NAS).

Let’s look at the sequence of some of the events of the flood. Like in Esther, pay particular attention to the timelines.

Gen 7:1,4-5,7
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Enter the ark, you and all your household; for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
4 "For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made."
5 And Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.
7 Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood.

Gen 7:10-12
10 And it came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
12 And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights . (NAS)

Gen 7:15-17
15 So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.
16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him; and the LORD closed [the door] behind him .
17 Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days; and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. (NAS)

Gen 7:24
24 And the water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days . (NAS)

Gen 8:1-7
1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;
3 and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased.
4 And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat.
5 And the water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible .
6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;
7 and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth.
(NAS)

Gen 8:13-16
13 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth . Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up.
14 And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month , the earth was dry.
15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying,
16 "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. (NAS)

Let me summarize some of the significant times and events.

Diagram of Plagues, Esther, and Flood

Previous      Next
Table of Contents
Bible Truth Homepage