The thought crossed my mind as I was approaching this study that in God’s plan for man there is a beginning a middle and an end. We need never wonder if this life and this world goes on aimlessly and without some sort of closure. Who would want to see the sinful existence of man in this world continue for eternity? Certainly not God.

In the beginning God created all things including man who was created perfect. That beginning was meant to be a relationship which would continue perfect into eternity, and yet man chose to rebel and sin against God. And so, for thousands of years in the middle part of man’s existence was to reveal God chose to reveal His redemptive plan for sinful man.

And during this time man was given the privilege of knowing God and having a relationship with Him through faith in the promises of God as man trusted the One who created all things.

But God has no intention of letting this "sinful" world be "the jewel" in His crown. He will restore all things including the relationship He established with Israel. And so, all of history is coming to a climax where God makes everything right and good and perfect according to His will and good pleasure.

In the beginning, after man’s sinful rebellion, God told Satan that He would crush him and destroy him. And we know this to have happened at the cross when our Lord Jesus dealt the fatal blow after defeating sin and death and giving us the victory through faith in Him.

And that victory would find its consummation in Satan never being able to have access to God’s people again, as he is ultimately cast into the lake of fire by God. These last days are the countdown to that time when God’s final curtain comes down on the world, to introduce the last act of His ultimate closing number; Paradise restored for eternity.

The last seven judgments we will look at this morning are the turning point in God’s complete and final victory over the curse sin has accomplished in this world. Many people have suggested that God could easily get rid of all sin and that there need not be a reason for suffering in this world.

But the fact of the matter is, this is what God is in the process of doing. And in His Sovereignty He is allowing the curse of sin to demonstrate to the world the horrendous results of man’s choice to rebel. God is the only One who can put an end to it. But, it must done according to His timetable.

No one can blame God for not intervening sooner, because by all rights God could allow sin to ultimately destroy mankind. After all, the wages of sin is death and left to run it’s course sin would be the final victor if it were not for the intervention of the Creator Himself. As it is, we know who has the victory and it is not death or Satan.

1CO 15:55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (Hosea 13:14)
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

People accuse God of not being loving and compassionate toward the world and yet there is nothing more compassionate and loving than to send your only begotten Son to fix man’s sinful problem once and for all, and do it by dying in our place and paying the debt we owe to God in full and then raising bodily from the dead to demonstrate the absolute power and authority of Jesus Christ.

That’s what this plan is all about. That’s what these judgments are all about. God has already shown His love and kindness toward mankind and yet mankind, because of the hardness of his heart, has rejected this gift, and so God gives man what He deserves if he doesn’t choose God’s free gift by faith in Christ; judgment and condemnation.

This seven year tribulation is just that, a time of great tribulation for the world to cause sinful men turn their eyes to God, not because God is an ogre but because He is making every effort to show mankind that he must turn to the Lord. And if that means bringing judgment, as He did in the days of Pharaoh, then He will do it.

And the judgments have been many and severe during this seven year period, especially the last 3 1/2 years. War has become the norm during this time. Economic collapse and famine are running rampant. Pestilence and death are everywhere. A third of the earth’s vegetation has been burned up, a third of the earth’s seas and the life in them has been destroyed, a third of the fresh waters of the earth have become poisonous, demonic activity has increased and a third of mankind has been killed.

If there were such beings as extra-terrestrials, this would not make good copy for a brochure to entice such beings to visit this planet during that time. But God has seven more judgments to bring before the end comes. And these will be the judgments we look at this morning.

These last seven judgments are known as the seven bowls or vials of God’s wrath. We read about them in Revelation 15 and 16.

REV 15:1 "I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues -last, because with them God's wrath is completed."

REV 16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."

The last three and half years of God’s wrath on mankind will probably seem like an eternity and yet in His mercy it is not designed to go on forever in this world. The down-side is that what seems like an eternity will be a foretaste of what rebellious man will suffer in the burning lake of fire forever.

REV 16:2 "The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image."

There are a lot of things that we can put up with in life, but it seems that when our health goes bad that there is nothing more distressing. And one of the reasons is because you can’t get away from it. It has wrapped itself around you in a way where you seem trapped.

When the kids are screaming and yelling you can always go to the next room. When the news seems to only be bad you can turn off the TV, but when you are personally suffering with pain, there’s nowhere to go, which is why drug abuse is so common among many who have chronic pain.

But, imagine the entire population of the world suffering this plague. We’re told that this plague is ugly and painful sores. The word ugly in the Greek is kakos which means, "of a bad nature". In other words, the very look of these sores will show themselves to be very bad. And the pain will certainly be bad.

Imagine the physical pain involved, but also consider the mental anguish of knowing that nothing you do will be able to soothe the pain. And believe me, people will be trying every imaginable remedy.

But like a previous plague, notice that not everyone will be suffering these horrendous sores all over their bodies, but only those who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. This means that those who did not receive the mark and those who have embraced Christ as Lord and Savior will not suffer these sores.

Again, this is similar to the 5th trumpet judgment we saw last week, which involved the locust beasts covering the earth tormenting mankind for five months.

REV 9:4 "They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads."

Only those who were not of the household of faith will suffer that plague, which means the rest of mankind will suffer.

REV 16:3 "The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died."

This is a continuation of the second trumpet judgment which destroyed a third of everything in the sea. Now God completes that judgment by destroying everything in the sea. There will be no source of food, no source of possible medicines derived from fish products, and the stench in those days, as all of these dead fish and animals come floating to the surface and the shores, will be indescribable. It will make "red tide" seem like Chanel #5.

REV 16:4 "The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood."

Like the previous bowl judgment this is a continuation of the third trumpet judgment which destroyed a third of the rivers and the life in those rivers. Here God completes this by destroying all the fresh water and all the life in those rivers and springs of water.

Keep in mind that no rain is falling in the last three and a half years because the heavens have been shut up due to the two witnesses calling on God to not allow it to rain during their ministry.

This third bowl judgment specifically mentions rivers and springs. It doesn’t mention lakes, but we would have to assume that they too will be effected by the drought as these poisonous rivers pour into them.

For those who may be wondering if these judgments are harsh and extreme the Scriptures answer that question.

REV 16:5 "Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged;
6 for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."
7 And I heard the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments."

There’s something interesting here that we don’t want to miss, because it puts into perspective who our Savior really is. The angel in charge of the waters identifies the One who puts these judgments into effect as the One who is and the One who was, the Holy One. This is almost identical to the language we find in the beginning of this Revelation.

REV 1:4 "John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

REV 4:8 "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

The One who was and who is and who is to come can only be Jesus Christ. And yet, notice that in each of these verses He is referred to as the Almighty, and the Lord God Almighty.

For those cults, like the Jehovah’s witnesses, the Mormons and others who deny that Jesus Christ is the one true God, they don’t understand who Christ is, nor His role in those days, because He is given the authority by the Father to judge everyone, as only God can judge.

JOH 5:22 "Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him."

ACT 17:31 "For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

1PE 4:5 "But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead."

Our Lord Jesus is the One judging the very world who rejected Him, and He continues to pour out these bowl judgments.

REV 16:8 "The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire.
9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him."

Last week we discussed the intense heat in these days of judgments, part of which is the result of a third of all vegetation being burned up. Vegetation is designed by God to help keep the planet cool as it absorbs a great deal of heat and then uses it to produce oxygen. This is known as photosynthesis.

But now our Lord turns up the heat literally as the angel pours out his bowl on the sun and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. These days people are talking about the ozone layer which is in the upper atmosphere and is essential in keeping out much of the ultra-violet light and heat from the sun. It kind of acts like a filter.

Imagine God removing that layer of protection all together. I don’t know about your electric bill, but I know ours is going to be high this month from the excessive heat which has been in the 90’s.

The A/C just never seems to want to quit. In those days very few people will be able to have any sort of air conditioning. With the collapse of the economy and the destruction of most of the infrastructures of society, it will be difficult at best to have most of the things we take for granted today. To venture outside in those days will be deadly as temperatures in the 100's will be the norm. Add to that that such heat will be igniting what vegetation is left and, as the Scriptures say, people will be scorched with fire.

How will these fires be put out? They won’t. They can’t. There is no water to put them out. All over the planet fires will be breaking out and the smoke and the debris will be in the atmosphere causing additional problems.

But instead of turning to God notice what their response is and notice that they are now fully aware of where these judgments are coming from.

REV 16:9 "They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him..."
10 "The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony
11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done."

The last people to usually be effected by any such disasters and hardships are those in power and authority. They are the ones who control most things. When you look at the poverty and the famines and the devastation in third world countries like Biafra of years gone by, or Somalia in more recent years, you’ll notice when they show the leaders in those countries, they’re still living in comfort.

They still have their palaces, their Mercedes Benz’s, their fine wines and foods and comforts of all sorts. But, God will one day take the most powerful authority in those days and reduce it to a quivering bowl of jelly. No one, including the most powerful will escape the judgments God has in store.

And so, in this sixth bowl judgment God deals directly with the throne of the beast and his kingdom. He throws it into darkness which is another way of saying that it will be totally out of control and without direction and the ability to rule.

And keeping with the nature of the beast all involved will curse the God of heaven. Notice that no one is cursing Buddha, no one is cursing Mohammed, or Confucius. No one is cursing anyone but the One true God in heaven.

A similar phenomenon takes place even today. I’ve never heard anyone use the name of Buddha in vain, have you? Has anyone ever been on a construction site and heard anyone’s name being used other than Jesus Christ’s or God’s when it came to profanity?

Why is that? Because, whether people realize it or not, to take the name of the Lord God in vain, you must address the One true God. And this is precisely why using anyone else’s name doesn’t carry the same sting when you say it.

To shout out when you’ve hit your hand with a hammer, "Oh Buddha" or "Oh Emperor Hirohito" just doesn’t seem to cut it. But, the names of Jesus Christ and God have always been the names of choice precisely because He is the One true God, whose name is above all names.

REV 16:12 "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.
13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty."

If you were to look on a map or a globe you would notice that the river Euphrates runs from the Persian Gulf up through Iraq, Syria and Turkey. And so, the kings from the east could certainly include these countries as well as those east of this river which include all of Asia and Russia.

This sixth bowl judgment however, should not be limited to any particular army of any particular nation, because as we read in verse 14 the spirits of demons go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God Almighty.

Yes, there will be some major players in those days who will be better equipped to do battle, but the whole world at this point has come to the end of it’s rope and is more than willing to put an end to the plagues. But how do you combat God? How do you fight a spiritual battle with tanks and guns and explosives?

You can’t; anymore than Christians can combat the devil and his demons by any physical means alone. That’s why Paul tells us that our battles are ultimately spiritual in nature which means we must fight with spiritual weapons.

EPH 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

2CO 10:4 "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

And yet, the minds of sinful men will have been blinded to the truth and blinded to any reasonable solution to their spiritual problem in those days. But what’s interesting is where all of this is going. The world reasons that since God is the one we’re fighting let’s go to the one land where God’s people have traditionally resided. Israel.

By the way, it is around this time that the false religious system which is referred to as the Harlot of Mystery Babylon, will be destroyed by the beast, as well as the two witnesses who are put to death by the beast.

REV 17:15 "Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.
16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled."

REV 18:9 "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
10 Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!'

The two witnesses will come to the end of their 1,260 days of ministering the gospel to the world, (Rev.11:3), and will be killed in the streets of Jerusalem. For three and a half days they will lay in the streets as people celebrate by giving gifts to one another. But at the end of that three and a half days God will raise them to life.

REV 11:12 "Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13 At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven."

The end is about to come upon mankind, now that God’s two witnesses have been taken home and the 144,000 Jewish witnesses possibly have been martyred by this time.

REV 16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon."

There is a place in Israel where these forces will set up to besiege the nation of Israel. Interestingly enough it will not be in Jerusalem, but a place called Megiddo which in Hebrew is Armageddon.

In fact, Megiddo is located approximately 70 miles north of Jerusalem, which is not far from the site where Jesus grew up and spent a great deal of time, and that is Nazareth.

REV 16:17 "The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!"
18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.
19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.
21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible."

The end is now at hand. A great earthquake hits the heart of Jerusalem and splits it into three parts while the cities of the world collapse. God is about to do battle, and he prefaces this showdown with huge hailstones being poured out on all mankind, about 100 pounds each. Imagine the damage this will do and the lives lost. Where do you hide from 100 pound hailstones?

Keep in mind what this whole study has centered on. It’s the question which was raised in 2PET 3:4 "They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation."

Where is His coming? It’s now literally at the doorstep. And remember that when Jesus comes back all of His saints who were taken with Him at the rapture will be coming back with Him. In preparation for this day you and I in Christ will be part of an official inauguration with our Savior in what is called the wedding of the Lamb.

REV 19:6 "Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."

What is next? The actual physical return of Christ to this earth. And we’ll look into this next week. Are we excited? We should be, because all of the signs seem to be pointing to the preparation for the last seven years to come on to the scene very shortly which means that Christ could rapture us out of this world at any time.

What a glorious time to live and yet what a time of great responsibility as we warn the earth and encourage them to escape the judgment and separation from God as we give them the greatest news this world has ever known.

We’re soldiers for Christ. We’re an army with a mission. And the mission is people. Don’t ever forget, all of this is about people. People who need to know Christ and the love and forgiveness we find in Him alone. People for whom Christ died. What an awesome task. What an awesome privilege. Servants of the Most High God.