“ 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, 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: 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. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Revelation 14:9-12

What is the "Wrath of God"?

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”

Isaiah 59:2

“For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.”

Isaiah 54:7-8

There are many verses which teach us that God’s wrath is not an active state, but a passive state… If God hides His face from us and we no longer feel His protection and love we feel the void…

“Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.”

Psalms 30:7

When God’s face is hidden the time of trouble comes...

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

Galatians 6:7

Simply put this means that if we are mean to everyone we meet, we will eventually be alone and nobody will like us. We cannot give out hate and expect love in return. If you sow seeds of weeds, we can’t expect good things in return.

“God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown.”

The Great Controversy (GC 36.1)

God’s spirit is removed from the world and the destruction of the world comes because He does not hold back the destructive power of sin.

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

Revelation 18:4

Removal of God's Protection

After God has sealed His people and the destroyer has claimed his with the Mark of the Best, the seven last plagues will fall on spiritual Babylon and on all its inhabitants.

“All heaven had united with Jesus, as they heard the fearful words, “It is done. It is finished.” The plan of salvation had been accomplished, but few had chosen to accept it. And as mercy's sweet voice died away, fear and horror seized the wicked. With terrible distinctness they heard the words, “Too late! too late!””

Early Writings (EW 281.1)

When God's protection is removed, we see fearful events take place on earth.

“And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And 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. And 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.”

Revelation 15:5-7

Final Plagues

“These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals.”

The Great Controversy (GC 628.2)

First Plague

Those who refused God’s gift

“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.”

Revelation 16:2

These painful sores do not fall upon God’s people, but unto many of the inhabitants of the earth who have the mark of the beast. The “miracle working power” of the beast (Revelation 13:14) is helpless to heal its followers of this plague.

“And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away...”

Zechariah 14:12-13

Those who have fought against God and God’s people will be visited with great consequence...

Second Plague

The multitude doomed to die

“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.”

Revelation 16:2

This second plague kills every living thing in many of the seas and oceans of the world.

Third Plague

Those who persecuted God’s people

“And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.”

Revelation 16:4

The beast has “shed the blood of saints and prophets.” By worshiping the beast and receiving her mark, men become guilty of her crimes. They also prove themselves to be guilty of the same spirit which originated those crimes, supporting the death decree for God’s faithful people. Because the saints will not obey the end of time Sunday law, these evil men clamor for their blood—so God gives them “blood to drink.”

Hardened hearts

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

Revelation 16:8-9

“And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.”

Amos 8:3

In addition to the suffering caused by the extreme heat there will also be other effects. Many streams and rivers will be dried up:

“The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”

Joel 1:17-20

This causes the trees and grass to die, which creates a great famine.

“The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.”

Joel 1:10-12

Those who would deny God’s people the right to buy and sell the necessities of life are now starving and thirsty, but the bread and water of the righteous will be miraculously provided to them by God

“He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.”

Isaiah 33:15-16

“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”

Isaiah 41:17

“A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”

Psalm 91:7-8

Revealing the fraud

“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 blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”

Revelation 16:10-11

This plague is poured out on “the seat of the beast.” It fills “his kingdom” “full of darkness,” and causes “pain.” Those who worship the beast find that not only cannot protect them from these plagues, but that the beast itself smitten. The world has loved the darkness of error and hated the light of truth so God gives them darkness.

Those affected by these plagues “blaspheme” God “because of their pains and sores.” It is likely that these plagues are cumulative so that now they have sores, lack of water, scorching heat with drought and famine, and a painful darkness to deal with all at the same time.

I know that the papacy is none other than the kingdom of Babylon, and the violence of Nimrod the mighty hunter...” Martin Luther

Those who defy the true God

“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.”

Revelation 16:12

“The dragon” is Satan in the guise of modern spiritualism, pagan religions, and occult and the new age movement. Revelation 12:3-6. “The beast” is the Roman Catholic Church System revived and healed of its Protestant churches in the United States who influenced the government to make religious laws. Revelation 13:11-18. These three make up “the great city,” “Babylon,” which fights against God’s holy city and people.

The “Euphrates” river ran through the ancient city of Babylon; it was quite literally the life of the city. When the armies of Cyrus the Persian, under his General Darius, overthrew Babylon, they did so by digging channels to divert the water. The river “dried up” enough to allow them to march into the city along the riverbed and successfully attack through the inner river gates. They drying up of the Euphrates symbolizes a drying up of support for Babylon the Great.

The “kings of the east” are Jesus, the King of Kings, and the mighty host who accompany Him in battle.

The symbolic drying up of the Euphrates in Revelation 16:12 results in the collapse of Babylon in the end time. Because the Euphrates in Revelation represents the world’s civil, secular, and political powers giving their support to Babylon, the drying up of the Euphrates symbolizes the withdrawal of their support and their subsequent attack against Babylon, thereby causing its downfall. As the people of the world witness the upheaval in nature (Rev. 16:3-9), they turn to Babylon for protection. However, as the fifth plague strikes the seat of Babylon’s authority (Rev. 16:10-11), they see the futility of seeking help there. Feeling deceived, they turn against Babylon, causing her downfall (Rev. 17:16). Yet, as we have seen, their hearts remain hard against God and His people. As such, they become fertile soil for the final deception by which Satan will draw the world to unite against God’s people to wipe them off the face of the earth. ” Sabbath School Quarterly (2019)

Our Savior Returns

“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.”

Revelation 16:17

“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. 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.”

Revelation 16:18-19

From the “throne” of the “Temple of Heaven” “a great voice” is heard “saying, It is done.” The cup of human guilt has been filled up, the true character of the great city, Babylon, has been unmasked and God’s people have been delivered. Finally the seventh plague destroys the wicked.

When Jesus returns, the darkness is consumed by His light.

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming”

2 Thessalonians 2:8

But this is not the last time the Bible talks about the wicked.

What ultimately happens to the wicked?