“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 upon the earth.” – Rev. 16:1

Revelation chapter 16 continues what chapter 15 began and it seems likely that the vials of wrath are probably overlapping events described in chapters 12 and on. Just because John records them in a chronological order does not mean they happen chronologically, they may overlap.

The Vials as John saw them:

1.  “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.”
2. “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.”
3. “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.”
4. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.”
5. “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,”
6. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.”
7. “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. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.”

Even as these plagues fall upon the wicked, they do not repent but instead they revile God –

“For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.”

“And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.”

“And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”

“And there fell upon 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.”

Finally, the armies of Antichrist will gather at a place called Armageddon where they will face their final defeat from the armies of God. As Hitler and his armies are a picture of the Antichrist there will be one difference – there will be no innocents in the army of Antichrist – they have all rejected God and His forgiveness.

It is very likely that some of these vials of wrath are foreseen in the seals that were opened by Christ Jesus in chapters 6 and 7 as the fifth and sixth seals as broken. For example –

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; … and and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” – Rev 6:12-14

Do you wonder why men would not repent even as they see the end so clearly approaching? They  fell into the pitfall of lawlessness that Paul wrote about –

“ because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” – 2 Thes. 2:7-12

There is a good chance that this countdown to the end will begin this coming September 23, 2017. There is certainly not much time left to get right with God. Remember, you cannot choose when you will repent – you must respond when the Holy Spirit calls you. There is no guarantee He will call again. Remember the lesson of Esau –

“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.” – Hebrews 12:16,17