Study Audio Download

Rev 16:10-16 The 5th and 6th Vials, Part 2

[Study Aired March 28, 2025]

Rev 16:10  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,
Rev 16:11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Rev 16:12  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.
Rev 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
Rev 16:14  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Rev 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Rev 16:16  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

We concluded our last study pointing out how the sixth trumpet and the sixth vial are both concerned with the great river Euphrates.

In the sixth  trumpet we are told that the great river Euphrates is the prison of four angels whose work is “to slay a third part of men”:

Rev 9:13  And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
Rev 9:14  Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
Rev 9:15  And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

As is always the case, the phrase “the third part”, reveals to us that the process of judgment is leading up to the work of the Lord which “fills up of the wrath of God” in our lives. This “filling up” of God’s wrath we are specifically told is a “great and marvellous” work of the Lord. It is the filling up of the wrath of God:

Rev 15:1  And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

What we must constantly remind ourselves is that this “great and marvellous” work is the painful process of our judgment at the hand of our God via His “seven angels” in this present time.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1Pe 4:18  And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
1Pe 4:19  Wherefore let them that suffer [in “this present time” (Rom 8:18)] according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

The excruciating pain of both the fifth and the sixth vials is associated with the darkness created by the smoke that arises out of the bottomless pit, signifying the lies which are associated with both the fifth and the sixth trumpets:

Rev 11:18  And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

What “the time of the dead, that they should be judged” signifies is our old man who is being destroyed by the brightness of the coming of the Truth of the doctrines of Christ into our lives. That revelation of the mind of Christ is our judgment which is now on the house of God:

1Pe 4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. If it begins with us first what will it be like in the end for those who do not obey the good news of God?
1Pe 4:18 If the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinners appear?

The three angels of Revelation 14 signify the process of judgment the Lord is working in our lives as He destroys our old man and his kingdom founded on the lies of Babylon. These are the words of the first angel:

Rev 14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The third angel with the third vial poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters causing them to become blood. The great river Euphrates would certainly be one of those “rivers and fountains of waters” and this is what the angels with the third vial says about the fact that the waters are becoming blood in our lives:

Rev 16:5  And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
Rev 16:6  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

We demonstrated earlier how our faithfulness to the lies of Babylon is signified as drinking the blood of all the saints and prophets from Abel to Zacharias.

Luk 11:49  Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:
Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

“This generation” is the generation reading these words.

The events of the sixth vial are called “The spirits of devils working miracles” coming “out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet”, and they are the very doctrines and spirits coming out of the mouths of the false prophets of 1 John 4 of whom we are instructed to “believe not” and to “try the spirits to see whether they are of God.” These are the doctrines we all have believed and to which we have all subscribed, and from which we must all, by the scorching heat of the Sun, repent and destroy.

1Jn 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit [doctrine], but try the spirits [doctrines] whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

These are the very doctrines to which we cling so fiercely that they “gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” It is at our “Armageddon” that we are finally stripped of all those things we have up to now been incapable of relinquishing. Armageddon is our old man’s ‘Waterloo’. It is at this point that the seventh vial is poured out upon us and the wrath of God is being filled up within the kingdom and throne of our beast. It is now that “the seven plagues of the seven angels is fulfilled [and] the mystery of God is finished.”

Rev 10:7  But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.

These seven vials are “the voice of the seventh angel when He shall begin to sound.” When we come to see the lies of Babylon, we are “drying up the great river Euphrates”, which flows through and nourishes Babylon. The Sun of Righteousness arises in the east, and the east is the Biblical symbol for the rising light of understanding and of Truth, which will enter into Babylon via her dried-up Euphrates river bed, and destroy her with all of her oppressive lies and false doctrines, which have been used by our God (Jer 29:4 below) to prepare us for the destruction of our old man.

The holy spirit here is alluding to one of the most famous military actions of all time, where Cyrus the Great diverted the waters of the Euphrates and entered the great city of Babylon by night while Belshazzar the Babylonian was partying. He took the city without a fight and slew Belshazzar that very same night.

Here is that story in Daniel 5. It is the Biblical shadow of the fall of our Babylon, and the destruction of our Babylonian kings who rule us and want to keep us in Babylon.

Dan 5:21  And he [Nebuchadnezzar] was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
Dan 5:22  And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
Dan 5:23  But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
Dan 5:24  Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
Dan 5:25  And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
Dan 5:26  This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Dan 5:27  TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Dan 5:28  PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Dan 5:29  Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Dan 5:30  In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain [“Armageddon”, or ‘Waterloo’].
Dan 5:31  And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Summary

So what is all of this? Is this all something we need to avoid at all cost? Absolutely not! This is “the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him to show to His servants things which simply must come to pass.”

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

These seven last plagues of the wrath of God are the “great and marvellous” part of all “those things which are written” in this book which “must shortly come to pass” and be kept by all who read, hear and understand what they are reading. This is the patience and the faith of the saints, which is hidden behind the seven seals, which are upon the sayings of the prophecy of this book. Until that last seal is opened, this book is still sealed from our view, and we will weep with John because there is no one found worthy to take this book and open the seven seals upon it:

Rev 5:1  And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2  And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

It is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David”… it is Jesus Christ who opens the seven seals of this book. Since the seventh seal is the seven trumpets, this book will remain sealed until the seventh trumpet “begins to sound” in our lives. Until the Lord gives us eyes that see and ears that hear, the sayings of the prophecy of this book will remain sealed away from our view. Until the seventh trumpet begins to sound in our lives the “great and marvellous work” of the seven last plagues, which begin to finish the work of God in our lives, we will not be granted to begin to enter into the temple of God and enjoy the fellowship of our spiritual brother and His and our Father:

Isa 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 13:1  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev 13:2  And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev 13:3  And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
Rev 13:5  And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
Rev 13:6  And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

So it is good for us to “keep the things written herein”. It is good for the saints to be overcome by the beast within them. It is good for us to “live by every word” in this prophecy. It is good that our old man is “scorched by the heat of the Sun”, and it is “great and marvellous” in each of us for that old man to be “destroyed by the brightness of His coming”.

Mat 13:5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
Mat 13:6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Jas 1:11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. (ESV).

We must live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and these seven plagues of these seven angels ‘proceed out of the mouth of God.’ It was God Himself who instructed Israel to submit to and endure their Babylonian captivity, and it is while we are yet in the darkness which extends from the time before and continues through our time in Babylon, that the pain of these judgments is being worked within us. Darkness produces excruciating pain in us all, and the throne of our beast is afflicted with deep darkness which causes us to “gnaw our tongues for pain”, while we continue to defend those things in our lives which keep us connected to Babylon. It is all the work of God in our lives, and even the struggle to come out of her while we cling to her ways and her doctrines is all of God and for our good.

Jer 29:4  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
Jer 29:5  Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
Jer 29:6  Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
Jer 29:7  And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

We will drink of the cup of God’s wrath, and we will be carried away into Babylon, and it is in “seeking the peace” of that city and accepting its place and function in our development, that we will have peace. It is only in Babylon that we drink of the wine of the wrath of God which these seals, trumpets and vials all symbolize. All of the horrendous events described and “written herein” are ours, by God’s own commandment (1Co 3:21-22):

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

We easily accept that Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and life are ours, but we struggle to understand how ‘the world… death and things present and things to come’, are also ours.

We read it in Revelation 13:10, and we are told a second time, that all of this ”is the patience and faith of the saints” of God, and of those who “keep His commandments”:

Rev 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Rev 13:9  If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev 13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here [all of this] is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev 14:9  And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. [Is this a bad thing? Only in the sense that it is a necessary evil to bring about the destruction of the beast within, because we are told:]
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Is there any possible way to leapfrog these seven vials of God’s wrath? What is the doctrine of scripture? Will the Lord’s elect be raptured out of these persecutions and tribulations of the seven last plagues of the wrath of God? What is the answer of scripture:

Jer 25:27  Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.
Jer 25:28  And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink.
Jer 25:29  For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:30  Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words [“the things written therein”], and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.
Jer 25:31  A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.
Jer 25:32  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
Jer 25:33  And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
Jer 25:34  Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.
Jer 25:35  And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.
Jer 25:36  A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.
Jer 25:37  And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.[The seven last plagues which fill up his wrath (Rev 15:1)]
Jer 25:38  He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.

All orthodox churches which teach that they will not drink of the cup of God’s wrath, will do so. All of orthodox Christianity which teaches that they will be either raptured away before God’s wrath, or supernaturally given a “place of safety” to avoid having to keep the things written in this book will drink of His wrath. All who tell you that you have no part in these things written in this 16th chapter are “the shepherds who will have no way to flee” when their lies are exposed, and the waters of that great river are dried up, and all the wealth which had flowed into Babylon upon those waters begins to dry up. In other words, it will be demonstrated that these “shepherds” have been teaching that these things written in this prophecy are not “the patience and faith of the saints”, and those who read hear and keep these things are not blessed at all, but rather are cursed. Nevertheless the truth remains:

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Which things? The ones “written therein”, including this sixteenth chapter which fills up the wrath of God on our ungodliness and unrighteousness (Rom 1:18).

Fortunately, for a “blessed and holy” few, this is one of the things written therein which they will live by:

Rev 2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Next week, Lord willing, we will once again see how the seventh trumpet, which sounds in Revelation 11 corresponds with, and helps to explain for us, the meaning of the experience of the seventh vial:

Rev 16:17  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.
Rev 16:18  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.
Rev 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 unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Rev 16:20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Rev 16:21  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.