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0 The seven vials of God's wrath (Revelation 14-16)

Episode 307: The seven vials of God's wrath

Revelation 14-16

Only 144,000 will be saved (and they'll all be male virgins)

14 1 I saw a lamb standing on mount Zion, with 144,000 who had his father's name written on their foreheads.

2 They sang a new song, which no one could learn, but the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth.

3 They were those who were not defiled with women, because they were virgins.

The 144,000 virgin men with God's name on their foreheads

Three angels fly by with dark messages

6-7 I saw an angel fly by, saying,

Fear God. It's time for God's judgment.

8 I saw another angel say,

Babylon the great has fallen, because she made all the nations drink the wine of her fornication.

9-10 Another angel said with a loud voice,

Whoever worships the beast and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, will drink the wine of God's wrath, and be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the lamb and angels.

11 The smoke of their torment will ascend forever.

Jesus and an angel kill trillions with their sickles

14 I saw someone who looked like the Son of man sitting on a white cloud, with a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

15 An angel came by and said,

Thrust in your sickle because the harvest on earth is ripe.

16 And he thrust in his sickle on the earth.

17 Another angel with a sickle came out of the temple in heaven.

18 And another angel said to the one with the sickle,

Thrust in your sharp sickle because the grapes are ripe.

19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20 And blood came out of the winepress as high as the horse bridles into a pool that was 1600 furlongs wide.

The blood came up to the horse bridles

Seven angels with seven plagues (full of the wrath of God)

15 1 I saw another sign in heaven: seven angels with seven plagues, filled with the wrath of God.

2 And I saw those who had defeated the beast standing on a sea of glass, with harps of God.

3 They sang the song of Moses, saying,

Oh God, you are so great.

4 Who isn't afraid of you?

6 Seven angels came out of the temple, with seven plagues.

7 One of the four beasts gave the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God.

The seven vials of God's wrath

16 1 I heard a loud voice coming from the temple that said to the seven angels,

Pour out the vials of God's wrath on the earth.

2 The first angel poured his vial on the earth.

And ugly and painful sores plagued those with the mark of the beast.

The first vial: Painful sores

3 The second angel poured his vial on the sea.

And it became the blood of a dead man, killing everything in the sea.

The second vial: Sea turns to blood

4 The third angel poured his vial on the rivers. And they too became blood.

The third vial: Rivers turn to blood

5 I heard the angel say,

You are righteous, Lord, for doing this.

6 They shed the blood of saints and prophets, so you gave them blood to drink.

7 And I heard someone else say,

You are righteous and your judgments are true.

8 The fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun to give it power to burn people with fire.

9 The sun burned the people, and they blasphemed God, but they didn't repent or give God glory.

The fourth vial: Sunburn

10 The fifth angel poured out his vial, and the people gnawed their tongues in pain.

11 And they blasphemed God, because of their pain. But they didn't repent.

The fifth vial: Tongue-gnawing pain

12 The sixth angel poured out his vial, and the Euphrates River dried up.

The sixth vial: Euphrates River dries up

13 I saw three frog-like unclean spirits come out of the mouths of a dragon, beast, and false prophet.

14 They are the spirits of miracle-working devils, who gather kings to fight on God's great day.

Demons and frogs come out of the mouths of a dragon, beast, and false prophet

15 (I will come like a thief. Keep your clothes on, or you might have to walk naked, and everyone will see your shame.)

16 He gathered the armies together at a place called Armageddon.

17 The seventh angel poured out his vial, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, saying, "It is done."

18 There were voices, thunder, lightning, and an earthquake.

20 All the islands ran away, and the mountains couldn't be found.

21 Giant hailstones weighing one talent fell on people.

And they blasphemed God for sending the hail.

Seventh vial: Giant hailstones

A few more words about this episode

And blood came out of the winepress as high as the horse bridles into a pool that was 1600 furlongs wide. (14:20)
A furlong is about 200 meters, so this would be a pool of blood 320 kilometers wide with a height of 2 meters or so. If the pool was circular in shape, it would have a volume of 190 cubic kilometers. Since the human body contains about 5 liters, this pool would require the blood of 32 trillion people.
He gathered the armies together at a place called Armageddon. (16:16)
This is the only verse in the New Testament that the word Armageddon occurs. It refers to a hill in northern Israel named Megiddo. Several battles were said to occur here in the Hebrew scriptures. (e.g., Judges 5:19, 2 Kings 23:29-30)
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