Seven Last Plagues - Part 1

Revelation 15:1, “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Revelation 16:1, “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.”

There is a great deal of speculation in the world today about the future. Some are talking about World War III. Some are talking about hanging inhabited floats in space where they can land when they start out for the moon or other places. Others are wondering what the atomic bomb will do to this world, and they anticipate that after we have an atomic warfare, any men that might be left on the earth will be reduced to little weazley men about the size of a mouse. I say there is a great deal of speculation in the world today, and when we are studying about the plagues that are coming, we are not studying about speculation. We are studying about sure events that will take place. As we read in the inspired prophets of the Bible, we find that it is God’s plan that at the end of time, before Jesus comes, there will be seven terrible plagues that will come upon this world. These plagues are just as sure to come as the fact the sun rose this morning. They are predictions of prophecy; they will be fulfilled.

In our study today we shall answer three questions. These questions come as a result of our believing that the plagues will come. I am not the one who decides whether the plagues will come or not, that is not the problem. The plagues will come. Since we believe that the plagues will come, we have these three questions. When will they come? Upon whom will they fall? How may I prepare to escape them? Those are the questions we will ask, and we will seek answers for those questions from the Word of God.

Now, let us turn our attention to this first question. When will the plagues come? Will you write down these verses, please. We will read in Revelation again. Revelation 14:15: “And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” We are studying about the harvest time; and when the harvest comes, the angel will come and say, “Thrust in thy sickle, and reap.” There will be two that will reap. Jesus Christ will reap.

He is the first one with a sickle, then we will read verse 19 about an angel reaping, too. “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God.” That will take place in the harvest time. We find that the wine-press of the wrath of God was introduced by these seven last plagues. These seven last plagues constitute the beginning, the first stages, of this wrath of God that will be poured upon the world. Then the plagues will come in the harvest time. Now when will the harvest time come? Jesus says the “harvest is the end of the world.” Matthew 13:39. The last act in the harvest will be the coming of Jesus, because the coming of Jesus follows the events of the plagues. Therefore the plagues will come prior to the coming of Jesus. The plagues will come after the Spirit of God has been withdrawn from this world.

The same things will take place in the last days that took place in the days of Noah. If you read in the sixth chapter of Genesis, you will find these words: “My spirit shall not always strive with man.” Genesis 6:3. God warned the world for a period of 120 years, then He destroyed the inhabitants of the world by a flood. The Spirit of God was withdrawn when man filled his cup of iniquity and that has been how God has dealt with nation after nation down through the history of this world. When the Babylonians filled their cup of iniquity, God destroyed them, brought another nation on. When the Assyrians filled their cup of iniquity, God destroyed them and brought another one on.

So that is the way God deals with nations. He gives them an opportunity. He is long suffering and merciful; He gives them year after year, decade after decade to prove if they will accept Him or reject Him. But as they go on heaping up iniquity until their cup is full, then the Spirit of God will be withdrawn before the plagues fall; and when the Spirit of God is withdrawn from this world, probation will close. No one will be saved after God’s Spirit has been taken back; then the plagues will fall during the time known as the period from the close of probation to the coming of Christ.

Now, our next question, upon whom will they fall? Let us read about this first plague that will be poured out. Revelation 16:2: “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 worshiped his image.” This verse clearly answers this question for us. Upon whom will the plagues fall? Upon those who have what? The mark of the beast, or upon those who do what? Worship his image. If we study carefully the book of Revelation, we will find that there is a struggle going on between the Lamb of God and the beast power of this world. The Lamb of God is mentioned 26 times in the book of Revelation. He is mentioned first as a Lamb, and He is finally mentioned as a King of kings, Lord of lords, riding forth conquering and to conquer in the final struggle between Him and the power of Anti-Christ.

The Lamb of God will have a seal that will be placed upon the forehead of His people. You can read about that seal in the seventh chapter of Revelation. Before the coming of Jesus every true child of God will receive the Seal of God, or the Seal of the Lamb of God, on his forehead. That is in prophecy. Those who finally go to heaven with Jesus will have the Seal of God. While God is placing His seal upon His people, we find that the devil, working through the beast and the image of the beast will be placing his seal upon his people, or his mark as it is spoken of in the book of Revelation; the Mark of the Beast. This prophecy says that when the seven last plagues are poured out, which constitute the wrath of God upon men before Jesus comes, will be poured upon those that have the mark of the beast and worship the image of the beast.

In other words, the pouring out of the plagues constitute God’s great judgment that will be visited upon those who have rebelled against Him and have followed the image of the beast and have received His mark. Then, I believe this tells us who will receive the plagues. Now the plagues are spoken of in the Bible as the un-mingled wrath of God. That means they will be un-mingled with mercy. Every time God has allowed some terrible judgment to come upon the world, that judgment has been mingled with mercy, but in this final time when God allows these things to come upon the world, they will be un-mingled with mercy. Then someone will say, “That gives me a picture of a God with a cruel heart. Why would He be so cruel as to pour out upon helpless humanity, plagues that will bring boils and blood to drink and scorching sun and darkness and confusion and deception of the devil? Why would God allow that? He must be a tyrant.”

No, friends, that would be the wrong conclusion to come to before we get a true picture of God. Just to take one chapter and one prophecy and say that it shows the character of God would not be true. We have to think of the other angles in the character of God, and I think of what He says to us in Matthew 11:28: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly.” You remember these words? He says His burden is easy. He says you will “find rest unto your souls.” Oh, there is the character of God pleading with men to come. He tells us how lovely it is to serve Him. The devil tells us it is a terrible yoke to serve Him. You will have a yoke of bondage upon you, you will have all kinds of crosses to bear.

It is true we will have a cross to bear, but Jesus says when we take that cross upon our shoulder, He will help us bear it. He says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” And again I hear the words of Jesus in Luke 11:9: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.” Knock upon what? Knock upon the door of God’s mercy. Knock upon the door of grace and say, “Lord be merciful to me a sinner. Forgive my sins and save me, and accept me.” And we will find all the arms of heaven thrown open to receive us into everlasting glory. Revelation 15 and 16 is not the only place that we find a picture of Jesus in the Bible and the way He deals with men.

The Bible is filled with the love of God and the mercy of God, but it also pictures God as a God of justice, and above all, it presents Him as a God that is trying to eradicate sin. He has warned us that those who hold onto sin will be destroyed. What does it say? Proverbs 13:15: “But the way of transgressors is hard.” Oh, God tells us sometimes that the way of the transgressor is hard. And He says, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11. God is trying to get them to turn to Him and live but He tells us in all His justice that if we do not turn it means death. He says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4. The way of the transgressor is hard.” So, all that is a part of the justice of God.

Why is there no mercy mingled with these plagues? Revelation 15:8 tells us why. “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.” There is coming a time when the temple in heaven will be closed and no man can enter, and what does that mean? Well, it means that there is coming a time when Christ will close His work in the sanctuary. He will finish His work and He will go out of it and there will be no more mediator in the sanctuary.

Jesus Christ will carry on His work of mediation until the close of probation, and then when the case of every soul has been settled, when everyone who will repent has repented, and those who have refused to repent go on in their sins, when that time comes, probation will close and then the work of Jesus Christ will be ended in the heavenly sanctuary and He will move out; and when Jesus moves out, no man can move in. The work of salvation is ended. The work of grace is over and then Jesus declares these fearful words in Revelation 22:11. Maybe I should start with the last phrase of the verse before. “For the time is at hand...”
I want to tell you that Jesus is going to settle the case of sin and the mercy of God won’t linger forever.

I want to say this today with all earnestness, because I know there are some that are waiting and they are saying, “Sometime, when it is convenient, I will make my peace with God.” God says, “For the time is at hand.” There will come a time when God’s great clock will strike the last. “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”