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We invite you to pray with us:
Our Father,
We will now study the last vial, in which we will witness the final outcome of the great conflict between good and evil.
Please help us to always remember the valuable message of hope You want to give Your children who, during the pouring out of the seven last plagues, will eagerly wait on the earth for Your great deliverance.
In Jesus we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 16:17
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air.
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Ephesians 2:1,2
[You] were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.
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The seventh vial of God’s wrath is poured out «into the air», which indicates that this last judgment will strike not only unrepentant men, but also their leader, «the prince of the power of the air», Satan.
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Revelation 16:1,17
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 on the earth.» (...)
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!»
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While the seventh angel is pouring out the last vial, a voice utters the words «It is done!».
This confirms that the seventh vial will put an end to the pouring out of God’s wrath on the wicked.
Coming from the temple, this voice is the same as the one which ordered the pouring out of the seven vials.
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Revelation 21:6
It is done!
I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely.
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John 19:30
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, «It is finished!»
And He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.
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The cry «It is done!», repeated later by Jesus when the New Jerusalem is presented, also echoes the words «It is finished!», which Christ said on the cross when He triumphantly completed the great work which grants us salvation.
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Revelation 16:18
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were on the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
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Isaiah 29:6
You shall be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.
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The seventh vial will come with an extraordinary bursting out of the forces of nature, which will fill impenitent men with indescribable fear.
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Revelation 11:15,18
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! (...)
The nations were angry, and Your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should give reward to Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Your name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.»
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The parallel between the trumpets and vials is still present. In this case it is even identical.
Indeed, since these prophetic series both end with Jesus’ return, the seventh trumpet and the seventh vial describe exactly the same event.
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Revelation 16:19
And the great city was divided into three parts.
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Revelation 18:10,21
«Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is your judgment come.» (...)
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying,
«Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.»
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The seventh vial will shake «the great city», Babylon, and bring about its complete destruction.
Now, what does its division into three parts mean?
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Revelation 19:11,14,19
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse.
And He that sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. (...)
And the armies which were in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (...)
And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.
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To answer this question, let’s remember that, at the end of the sixth vial, the nations were gathered together by the satanic trinity, in order to make war against Jesus, with all His angels, at the time of His return.
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Revelation 19:20
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that worked miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
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At the seventh vial, Jesus will return with power and glory, causing the fall of Babylon, the great religio-political apostate coalition.
He will then break the satanic trinity leading Babylon, splitting up the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. This is how Babylon will be «divided into three parts» (Revelation 16:19).
The ultimate end of the beast and the false prophet will be total destruction.
But what will happen to Satan, the great dragon?
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Revelation 20:1,2
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.
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Satan will be bound, that is, rendered harmless, for a period of a thousand years.
The precise events taking place during these thousand years, a period also called «Millennium», will be the subject of a future lesson.
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Revelation 20:7,10
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. (...)
And the devil that deceived [the nations] was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are.
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After this period of a thousand years, Satan will meet the same fate as his two allies in the unholy trinity, the beast and the false prophet: a complete and definitive destruction.
We will study these events in detail in our lesson on the Millennium.
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Revelation 16:19
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 to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.
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Revelation 14:8
Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
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The nations, which drank the wine of Babylon, will also be struck by the effects of the seventh vial of God’s wrath, and they will fall too.
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The nations will also drink the cup of the wine of God’s wrath:
«For thus said the Lord God of Israel to me; Take the wine cup of this fury at My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it, (...) all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the face of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
Therefore you shall say to them, “Thus said the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink you, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.”
And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at your hand to drink, then shall you say to them, “Thus said the Lord of hosts; You shall certainly drink! (...) For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth.” (...)
And the slain of the Lord shall be at that Day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the ground.» (Jeremiah 25:15,26-29,33)
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The seventh vial will be devastating for the unrepentant nations:
«For the indignation of the Lord is on all nations, and His fury on all their armies: He has utterly destroyed them, He has delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.» (Isaiah 34:2-4)
«Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; (...) “Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about.” Thither cause Your mighty ones to come down, O Lord. “Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.”» (Joel 3:9,11-13)
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Revelation 17:16
And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
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At the end of the sixth vial, the nations had already realized that they would not be able to overcome Jesus.
Furious at having being deceived by Babylon, they had already begun to destroy her.
But now, as they witness the glorious return of Jesus Christ and the terrible upheavals in nature, what is their reaction?
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Revelation 16:20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
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Revelation 6:14,15
Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
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The seventh vial clearly refers to the scene of the sixth seal, helping us to understand that, at Jesus Christ’s return, impenitent men will be terrorized, filled with great fear.
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Confronted with the wrath of God, the wicked will be distraught and terrorized:
«[They] said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great Day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”» (Revelation 6:16,17)
«The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. (...) Howl you; for the Day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the Day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.» (Isaiah 13:1,6-9)
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Isaiah 24:16,18,21
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous.
But I said, «My leanness, my leanness, woe to me!» (...)
For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. (...)
And it shall come to pass in that Day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth.
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The nations will experience great distress at the pouring out of the seventh vial of God’s wrath.
God «shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high», that is, Satan and his fallen angels, and «the kings of the earth on the earth».
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Ezekiel 38:20,21
«All the men that are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence.
And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
And I will call for a sword against [Gog] throughout all My mountains,» said the Lord God.
«Every man’s sword shall be against his brother.»
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In great distress at this extraordinary explosion of the forces of nature, the wicked will come to kill one another, and «every man’s sword shall be against his brother».
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Haggai 2:21-23
«I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen.
And I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, every one by the sword of his brother.
In that Day,» said the Lord of hosts, «will I take you, O Zerubbabel, My servant, the son of Shealtiel,» said the Lord, «and will make you as a signet: for I have chosen you,» said the Lord of hosts.
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Before the glory of God annihilates unrepentant men, a lot of them will have already been killed, «every one by the sword of his brother».
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Judges 7:22
The three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host.
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2 Chronicles 20:22,23
And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. (...)
Every one helped to destroy another.
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In fact, God has often used the strategy of causing unrepentant men to kill one another, in order to save His people from the enemy’s attack.
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Revelation 16:21
And there fell on men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent.
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Revelation 11:15,19
And the seventh angel sounded. (...)
And there were lightning, and voices, and thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail.
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The seventh vial ends with a terrible shower of hail, «every stone about the weight of a talent», that is, about 65 pounds (30 kilograms).
Let’s note that the seventh trumpet too announces this final shower of hail.
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Exodus 9:23,24,26
And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along on the ground.
And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.
So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. (...)
Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.
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With this great shower of hail, the seventh vial also calls to mind the plagues of Egypt.
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Joshua 10:10,11
And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goes up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and to Makkedah.
And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven on them to Azekah, and they died.
They were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
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God has already used great hail to punish the oppressor of Israel...
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... and He will do it again, at the seventh vial, at Jesus’ return:
«Have you seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?» (Job 38:22,23)
«Therefore thus said the Lord God, “I will even rend it with a stormy wind in My fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in My anger, and great hailstones in My fury to consume it.”» (Ezekiel 13:13)
«The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing whip shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.» (Isaiah 28:17,18)
«The Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.» (Isaiah 30:30)
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Revelation 16:21
And there fell on 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.
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Isaiah 32:18,19
And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, when it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
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The hail won’t strike the faithful believers, but it will make the wicked blaspheme against God.
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Revelation 16:9
And [they] blasphemed the name of God, which has power over these plagues.
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Revelation 16:11
And [they] blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores.
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Revelation 16:21
And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail.
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Unrepentant men, struck by one plague after another, first blasphemed «the name of God», then «the God of heaven», and finally, directly facing His glorious presence, they blaspheme «God» Himself.
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Jesus’ victory over the nations will put an end to this sad spectacle:
«[The ten kings] shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings.» (Revelation 17:14)
«And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.» (Daniel 2:44)
«Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble [the king of the North]: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. (...) Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the Book.» (Daniel 11:44 to 12:1)
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Jeremiah 4:23-27
I beheld the earth, and, see, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, see, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
I beheld, and, see, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, see, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger.
For thus has the Lord said, «The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.»
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Following the seven vials, the earth won’t be completely destroyed.
The Millennium will begin, and afterward, God will completely restore His Creation.
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2 Peter 3:11-14
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening to the coming of the Day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.
Why, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
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May the apostle Peter’s precious advice help us to prepare ourselves for the seven vials.
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Let’s pray:
Our Lord,
The pouring out of the seventh vial, at the glorious coming of Your Son Jesus Christ, will be a Day of deliverance for Your faithful people, but a nightmare for unrepentant men.
Please give us all the love and zeal we need to warn the people around us, and to invite them to join Your people, so that they also may rejoice when this great deliverance comes, rather than have to drink the wine cup of Your wrath.
In the precious name of Jesus we pray.
Amen.
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