The first vial Revelation 16v2.
"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."
The days are desperate for all mankind. God has moved out of His temple, and His holiness is now exposed to a sinful world. Such is the rage and anger of God against man in rebellion that at the end of chapter 15 we saw "the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power." No one was able to approach, let alone enter the temple of God. This meant no longer any petition could be made to God on behalf of mankind, no prayer, no intercession; God is not receiving petitions on behalf of men, instead He is intent on pouring out His judgment. This situation will exist until the seven plagues of the seven angels are fulfilled. We are not sure of the time scale but this situation will persist at this time.
There are those who suggest that these seven vials are somewhat similar to the plagues in Egypt. The first vial relates to the sixth plague. The second and third vials relates to the first plague. The fifth vial relates to the ninth plague, the sixth vial to the second plague, and the seventh vial to the seventh plague. God is simulating His judgment upon Egypt, except it is now on a global scale. There are others who suggest that the seven vials are a a simulation of the horrors of Calvary such as bodily pain, death, blood letting, scorching heat, darkness, the involvement of all the kings of the earth, and finally the earthquakes. A deep study of this aspect would reveal that what God is about to pour on the world, He also poured upon His Son on the cross in His anger against sin. Believers should deeply ponder the afflictions of Christ in Psalm 22 and the gospel records.
Whatever the historical connections and partial fulfillment in the past, what is here is the full blown outpouring of God's wrath. He calls the first affliction "a noisome and grievous sore upon men" Noisome because the were screaming with pain; grievous because the affliction was very great. This is not the first time God has used bodily pain in the exercise of His sovereign government upon humanity.
- Exodus 9v8-12 - This is the occasion when God caused boils with blains to brake out on the bodies of all the people of Egypt. This was something that the magician of Egypt could not replicate.
- Deuteronomy 28v27&35 - This was the threat of God upon Israel if they broke His law. "The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt and with the emerods and with the scab and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed." again "the Lord shall smite thee in the knees and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head."
- Job 2v7 - Under the permissive will of God Satan was allowed to remove the health from Job and it says "he smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown."
- 1st Samuel 5v6 - When the Philistines took the ark of God into their presence it is recorded "the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and He destroyed them and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof."
God is capable of inflicting incurable and bodily pain upon human beings whom He has created , He has done it in the past he will do it again. Notice upon whom He brings this affliction, those who had followed the beast. Just as in Egypt when only the Egyptians were touched and not the people of Israel, even though the lived amongst them, so God will bring His judgment upon the rebels. This is a clinical and surgical affliction of bodily pain. This came upon those who had the mark of the beast (the political arm of the last world empire) and upon them which worshipped his image (the religious arm of the empire). This is just the first, and six more are to follow apparently in quick succession and with devastating force. The mercy of God upon rebellious humanity has come to an end. There is no mention of this grievous sore being healed or alleviated.
Amazon bookshelf George Neilly
No comments:
Post a Comment