As we head into Revelation chapter 15, we still have one more woe to go. There are many differing opinions as to what the third woe may be. I think from here until the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ is nothing but one gigantic woe after another.
In verse 1 of chapter 15, John describes another vision. In this one, he sees seven angels who are holding the last seven plagues. These are known as the bowl judgments. In its own way, each is as horrific as the others are, as each will inflict utter torment upon all who do not look to Jesus as his or her savior. These judgments will wrap up the tribulation and usher in the final conflict between Jesus and Satan.
In verse two, John sees a sea of glass mingled with fire. Again, a sea is a multitude of people. In this context, the people have passed through the fire and have been made pure and holy. They have worshipped neither the antichrist nor his image and they have refused to take his mark, even though it cost their lives. Before God, they sing “the song of Moses” and make music to the Lord.
Verse 5 says that the tabernacle was opened and the seven angels came out. All of them are wearing pure, white clothing and they are wearing golden girdles signifying purity and authority.
As it says in verse eight, God is royally ticked by this point and He has every right to be. People everywhere are still refusing to repent. Rather than take responsibility for their sins, they continually cuss at God and blame Him for the horrors that they brought on themselves.
When we read Revelation chapter 16 and the rest of the chapters in the book, we can see that this train of horrors will be making no more stops. Like a snowball only grows larger the farther down the hill it rolls, these judgments will only become more dreadful as each one comes. If the final plagues do not cause mankind to repent, then I don’t know what will. Perhaps that is the reason why they have been doomed to perdition from birth, but that’s another subject for another book or article.
When God orders the first of the angels to pour his or her vial upon the earth, whoever is styling the mark of the beast will be covered with awful sores. These won’t just be simple pimples or boils, these things will be HORRENDOUS. They will be so painful and huge and so full of infection that the people who are afflicted with them will look like monsters.
Surely, you’ve seen someone affected with terrible acne and I’m sure you’ve noticed what their pimples look like with the pus coming out. Imagine something ten times bigger on their upper lip, their eyelid, oozing out of their nose, peeking out at you from underneath the hem on his or her pants, perhaps screaming for attention from just above the neckline of their shirt, maybe from just behind the ear a little…
By the way, if you think I’m overdoing it with the descriptions, just you wait and see! It’ll be even more gruesome than even I could ever envision.
When the second angel pours out his bowl, the seas will become pure blood, killing everything within them. If you thought that any of the other judgments were smelly, wait till this one comes along. Indeed, the entire planet will reek worse than rotten, overripe meat that’s been long since forgotten in the refrigerator.
The third angel dumps the contents of his vial causing the rest of the water to become blood. Even more sea life will die during this judgment. Along with them, people and other mammals will die of thirst because the world’s supply of drinking water will quickly become depleted.
The reason for the remaining waters being turned to blood is given in verse six where the angel of the water says that because the world has killed the saints, the world can have blood to drink.
The next judgment, mentioned in verse eight, is a beaut. On top of having no water to drink, the sun will literally scorch everyone. Because it says that they blasphemed the name of God and refused to repent, I’m relatively certain that this judgment will only pertain to the unsaved.
If the world hasn’t been driven mad by this point, the next plague just might send them over the edge for when their world is plunged into utter blackness, they’ll be in so much pain that they’ll literally be chewing on their tongues. Verse 11 tells us that though they still have the sores and even more pain to boot, they’ll refuse to repent.
The Euphrates River is affected by the next bowl judgment. The reason it will dry up is so that the kings of the east will have a way to meet with the rest of the army of the antichrist.
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