The Seven Vials

The Seventh Vial

Revelation 16:17-18 – And the seventh messenger did pour out his vial to the air, and there came forth a great voice from the sanctuary of the heave, from the throne, saying, ‘It hath come!’ and there came voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and a great earthquake came, such as came not since men came upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake – so great! (YLT)

Similarly to the seventh seal and the seventh trumpet, the seventh vial is not one period of time. It represents the final preparation before the Second Coming. The passage above refers to a great earthquake, but it is hard to know if this is talking about one earthquake in particular or a series of earthquakes. There are three recent earthquakes that come to mind:

1. December 26, 2004 – off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, magnitude of 9.1, resulted in a tsunami that hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand; killing over 220,000 people

2. January 24, 2010 – Leogane, Haiti, magnitude 7.0, 52 aftershocks, killed over 316,000 people, which is the largest death toll second only to an earthquake in China in 1556

3. March 11, 2011 – Honshu, Japan, magnitude 9.0, over 15,000 deaths, caused about 300 billion (USD) in damage, which is the most expensive natural disaster of all time

Revelation 16:19-21 – And it came – the great city – into three parts, and the cites of the nations did fall, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the wrath of His anger, and every island did flee away, and mountains were not found, and great hail (as of talent weight) doth come down out of the heave upon men, and men did speak evil of God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague is very great. (YLT)

This last passage simply talks about the final judgment of Babylon, which is anyone against God. This will be a time when Christians will witness to many people so they can learn the truth before the second coming. With all of these events, the second coming seems near, but no one can know the exact time.

Summary of the Seven Vials

1. Oct 21, 2000 – Oct 8, 2001 – destruction of the Twin Towers and drop of the Dow Jones Industrial Average

2. Oct 9, 2001 – Sep 27, 2002 – Father John J. Geoghan was found guilty of child molestation, followed by hundreds of other cases, truth of Catholic Church

3. Sep 28, 2002 – Oct 17, 2003 – Palestinian terrorism followed by Ariel Sharon increasing the building of the Israeli West Bank barrier

4. Oct 18, 2003 – Oct 6, 2004 – strongest solar flare ever recorded, Bush’s foreign policy

5. Oct 7, 2004 – Oct 24, 2005 – Rofecoxib (Vioxx), a deadly drug was withdrawn from the market

6. Oct 25, 2005 – Oct 13, 2006 – Hurricane Katrina, three frogs include Zionism, Evangelical Christianity, and Islam

7. No Time Period – great earthquake(s), spiritual preparation

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