Judgment · The seven last plagues; Armageddon

Revelation 15:1-16:21

John · ~95 AD · Status: Future · Confidence: 60%
“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. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.”
King James Version · the opening of the passage — the whole of it is condensed below
More than one movement in this entry

The seven last plagues — the bowls of God's wrath poured on the earth, sea, rivers, sun, the beast's throne, the Euphrates (Armageddon), and the air — completing God's judgment.

The prophecy, condensed

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. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 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. 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. 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 worshipped his image. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 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 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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. 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. 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.
Revelation 15:1-16:21 · King James Version · condensed from 819 words · every cut marked …
Commentary — not Scripture
It opens in worship and ends in hail. The victors over the beast stand on a sea of glass singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, the temple fills with smoke, and then seven vials are poured out to Armageddon. One verse sits oddly in the middle of the sixth vial - 'Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth' - a direct address to the reader, interrupting the vision.
Read the full prophecy — all 29 verses

15:1And 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.

15:2And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

15:3And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

15:4Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

15:5And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:

15:6And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.

15:7And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.

15:8And 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.

16:1And 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.

16:2And 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 worshipped his image.

16:3And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

16:4And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

16:5And 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.

16:6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

16:7And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

16:8And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.

16:9And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

16:10And 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,

16:11And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

16:12And 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.

16:13And 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.

16:14For 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.

16:15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

16:16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

16:17And 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.

16:18And 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.

16:19And 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.

16:20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

16:21And 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.

Fulfillment References

Exodus 7-12 Revelation 16:16 Revelation 8:1-9:21 Zephaniah 1:14-18

How Traditions Read This Prophecy

Apostolic (Oneness) Pentecostal'It is done' — the one God's wrath complete; the Lord who saved at the Exodus judges the unrepentant world.
JewishThe bowls reprise the plagues of Egypt — the LORD's final reckoning with a Pharaoh-like world.
CatholicThe completion of God's wrath, the 'seven last plagues' filling up judgment.
ProtestantThe final, unmixed outpouring of wrath, echoing the Exodus plagues and the trumpets, gathered at Armageddon.
OrthodoxThe fullness of divine judgment before the end.
DispensationalThe literal bowl-judgments at the climax of the future Tribulation.
AcademicThe bowls parallel the trumpets and the Exodus plagues; their relation (recapitulation vs. intensifying sequence) is central to the structure debate. 'Armageddon' (16:16) likely evokes Megiddo.

Scholarship & Sources

The bowls deliberately echo the Exodus plagues (Ex. 7-12) and parallel the trumpets, sharpening the recapitulation-vs-sequence debate. 'Armageddon' (Har-Magedon, 16:16) is usually linked to Megiddo (cf. Judg. 5; 2 Kings 23:29).

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