In today’s vision John sees the heavens open and “seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete… Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’” When the bowls are poured out, the following occurs:
1st bowl – “A foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.”
2nd bowl – The sea “became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.”
3rd bowl – The fresh waters became blood.
4th bowl – The sun scorched men with great heat “and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.”
5th bowl – The beast’s “kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.”
6th bowl – The Euphrates River “and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.”
7th bowl – “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth… And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.”
We end the reading with John’s visions of the fall of Babylon. “The term ‘Babylon’ refers to a religious-political system where the true God is excluded. The name Babylon goes back to Genesis 11 where the first organized, idolatrous religion system was established. Religious Babylon (probably centered in Rome) will be destroyed halfway through the Tribulation by The Antichrist and his followers, as they seek to establish only one religion in the world – the worship of Satan and The Antichrist (ch.17). Political Babylon (ch. 18) is probably centered in Jerusalem and refers to the center of The Antichrist’s empire. This will be destroyed by Christ at His second coming.” (An excerpt from Survey of the New Testament by Paul N. Benware)
Tomorrow Jesus has ultimate victory, and a new heaven and earth are created. Keep reading!
(Revelation 15:1-18:24)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 