The order of events in Revelation can be understood. There are three groups of seven events which are ordained to come upon the earth before the end of this age. They are designated by these terms: The Seven Seals, The Seven Trumpets, and The Seven Last Plagues. This month, we are looking at the final group of seven events: The Seven Last Plagues. What makes these last seven cataclysmic events different from the Seven Seals and Seven Trumpets is that they occur after the faithful saints are taken from earth by Jesus; that is, after the "rapture" of the faithful.

THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

The key phrase concerning these Last Plagues is "without mixture" (Rev.14:10). God's wrath is poured out upon men with no mercy mixed with it. The destruction is terrible; the suffering is indescribable. The Bible relates that these post-rapture events happen; it does not elaborate on them at all. Indeed, there is no need to do so, because these events do not affect the lives of the saints who are during this time in heaven with Jesus. Instead of Seals and Trumpets, these Seven Plagues are given to seven angels in Seven Vials, the vials containing the unmixed wrath of God.

When VIAL #1 is poured out upon the earth, horrible sores appear on the inhabitants of the earth who received the mark of the Beast.

When VIAL #2 is poured out on the sea, the sea became as a dead man's blood, and every living thing in the sea died.

When VIAL #3 is poured out on the earth's fresh water sources, the earth's fresh water became blood, and the angel who had authority over the waters rejoiced at the righteous judgments of God. He rejoiced, "They have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink, because they are worthy."

When VIAL #4 is poured out on the sun, it became much hotter, scorching the men of earth with unprecedented heat. In response, the men who remained on earth "blasphemed the name of God, Who has power over these plagues, and they repented not to give Him glory."

When VIAL #5 is poured out upon "the seat of the beast" his kingdom became full of darkness, "and men gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed God because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

When VIAL #6 was poured out upon the Euphrates River, it dried up, making a way "for the kings of the East". Three lying demons came out of the mouths of Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet, to go around the world, persuading the nations of earth to unite into one gigantic fighting force and to attack the nation of Israel. The place to which they gather is called Armageddon (the valley of Megiddo in present-day Israel).

When VIAL #7 is poured out into the air, a voice from the temple in heaven cried out, "It is done." There were voices, thunders, and lightnings, and at the same time, there was an earthquake such as mankind has never known. The earth underneath Jerusalem is fractured by the force of the earthquake, and the city itself is divided into three parts; all the cities of earth collapse; every island disappears beneath the seas; not one mountain remains standing; and hailstones as much as 150 pounds in weight pummel the planet. "And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceedingly great."

Here is a summary chart of the Seven Last Plagues, which God sends upon earth after He sends Jesus to catch the faithful remaining saints away to heavenly safety:

THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

CONTAINED IN THE SEVEN VIALS

REVELATION 16:1-21

None of these horrible plagues causes men to repent, and the Beast and his armies continue in their evil plans to annihilate all Israelis. They sweep through the state of Israel, overpowering the hapless little nation. One third of the inhabitants of the country are slain; some few are made slaves. Complete victory seems certain as the murderous hordes sack Jerusalem, pillaging everything as they go. But just as the Jews reach the point of hopelessness, Jesus appears in the sky, riding on a majestic white horse. With him are the saints whom he had caught up to heaven just before the Seven Last Plagues began. He has come to rescue the children of Abraham.

John describes the scene: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood; and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horse, clothed in fine linen, white and clean; and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. . . ."

When Jesus appeared in the sky with his saints, John noticed an angel standing in the sun, inviting the buzzards of the earth to the banquet of human flesh which God was about to offer to them. "Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God." The Beast and his army prepare to battle the King of kings and the Lord of lords, but both the Beast and the False Prophet are seized and cast alive into the Lake of Fire, and their armies are slaughtered by the Word of God which proceeds from the mouth of Jesus. According to John, blood from the slaughter ran five feet deep for two hundred miles. The buzzards glutted themselves on human remains, but according to Ezekiel, a special task force in Israel spent seven months gathering and burying dead bodies and body parts, for the birds could not possibly consume all the flesh that God had prepared for them to eat. The lives of sixteen per cent of the invading forces were spared, and Jesus begins his millennial rule on earth with his faithful saints. The Jews at last realize that Jesus is indeed the Messiah of Israel, and they gladly own him as their king. From Jerusalem he begins his thousand-year reign on the earth.