Plagues of God's Wrath

Listening to a well known preacher

On 4th of July, 2021, a well known preacher held a meeting at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee.

4500 people attended and they turned away 20,000 who wanted to come. They were expecting God to do something very quickly at that meeting. But he said, “Since then, as time has gone on, it looks like the enemy is winning and we are beginning to wonder, God, what are you up to? The only thing left that will change this world right now is a Glorious Church. How are you going to have a glorious Church in the last days? How will the glory of the latter house be greater than the former? How will all the miracles that everyone is talking about going to happen? How will all the prophecies be fulfilled that we have heard about? How are you going to do all these things?”

He went on to comment, “It seems like the enemies agenda is really beginning to take root across the earth and we are amazed at how fast it has happened. All wars, including both world wars, were restricted geographically to where they were fought but in all the history of mankind, we have never seen anything that geographically affected the entire earth all at once like what we have seen in the last two years. As we look at the world, it’s hard to find hope anywhere outside of the Church and it seems like we are running out of time ”

He commented further, “We know that something is coming that will change the world, but now we just don’t know how God is going to do it. But whatever He does, it will not be restricted to any man’s ministry. God is calling to a remnant across the entire planet right now and He is not concerned about how pure the movements or denominations are that they come from, He is concerned about their hearts.” He went on to say, “No one will be able to take credit for what God is about to do. When we get to heaven, we are going to find out that Jesus had a lot more sons than we had brothers. What God is going to do won’t be limited to one man’s ministry or to any movement.” He concluded with, “I’m not saying not to vote in the midterm election, but don’t look to that for your deliverer. It might get worse before it gets better. I can’t tell you how God is going to do it, I wish I could, but the Day of the Lord is coming upon the wicked. I cannot describe to you what that victory will look like, but the Church is not leaving here without being victorious”.

Can we know how God is going to do it?

Does the Bible explain what that day will look like?

To begin answering that, I want to begin with an experience that I had some years ago while teaching at a middle school here in Albuquerque. The district began a remodel of our library and it lasted for almost a year. The demolition part of the project was was dirty, noisy, and chaotic and when you looked in, you had to wear an hard hat. They had removed all the interior walls and the floor covering and the ceiling had also been removed; all that was left was a shell. Just looking at what they were doing, there was no way you could picture the remodel. You really couldn’t tell what that would look like without the blueprint.

God has left a blueprint of how He is going to remodel this world and like that remodel, it begins with the demolition of satan’t kingdom. We read about it in the Book of Revelation under the pouring out of the vials of God’s wrath. It happens during what the prophets of the Old Testament called the “Day of the Lord”. Demolition always comes before a remodel. The Day of the Lord is the demolition, the Millennium is the remodel, and God has a blueprint for both. The pouring out of the vials of God’s wrath gives us picture of the demolition. It reads like an autopsy report on satan’s kingdom. It reveals the sequence and timing of what is going to happen and how God is going to do it.

Two things about it however, that most people in the Church today do not understand, is that the Millennial remodel begins during the demolition. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ comes before the Millennium begins. It begins before and will be preceded by the catching away of the wicked from our world (parable of the wheat and the tares).

Let’s begin with a chart

Many charts have been made about the end times that have made it difficult to get a clear picture of all the prophecies about it. So, as I studied them, and to keep my own thinking straight, I had to make a charts of my own. During the process, I have had to edit them constantly to adjust what I was finding. What I discovered is that the prophecies about the last days are scattered throughout the Bible, like a mosaic, and I had to pull them together to form an accurate picture.

As I continued the process, especially in the Book of Revelation, my understanding of what I was seeing began to come into focus. The following chart is an example of what I discovered about the Day of the Lord.

The demolition of satan’s kingdom begins during what the prophets of the Old Testament referred to as the Day of the Lord. Notice that it occurs during the final two eras of the Church age (Day of the Lord labelled in blue ink).

The first half of the Day of the Lord is the tribulation era

It is represented by the 7 trumpets (Rev 8:1-11:19). Contrary to what most people believe, the tribulation era is not the wrath of God. That comes after the tribulation during the plagues era or the pouring out of the vials of God’s wrath. As such, the 7 trumpets represent the wrath of satan, not the wrath of God. We are currently in this tribulation era and what we are experiencing now is not the judgement of of God, it is the wrath of satan. He is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour because he knows that his time is short. During this time, he is trying convert as many people as he can to shake their fist at heaven by convincing them that what they are experiencing is being caused by God’s judgement. True to his character, he is blaming God for what he is doing. It’s a lie! When confronted with the tribulation of this world today, so many people in the Church are asking, what is God trying to teach me? They are asking the wrong question. What they should be asking is what is satan trying to teach them.

During this era, he is using his kingdom for two purposes: 1) To pour out his wrath on humanity and 2) To an attempt to take control of the entire world. Malachi prophesied what God had to say about this era:

Malachi 4:1-3 (CHV) For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But to you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, says the LORD of hosts.

One example of stubble occurred recently:

(September 2, 2022) The CFO of Bed, Bath, and Beyond jumped to his death from the 18 floor of a Manhattan skyscraper while his wife was in the other room of their apartment. It happened just two days after the stock market value plummeted when the company announced a restructuring plan to close 150 of its roughly 900 stores and lay off 20 percent of its employees. Before this, he had been named in an August 23rd lawsuit accusing him of profiting from a previous insider “pump and dump” scheme to inflate the company's stock price. For example, after cashing in over one million dollars of his shares at an artificially inflated price of $30 a share, his stock plummeted to just $9 a share after the company announcement. He still owned over six million dollars in remaining stock but it was now worth 70% less.

The second half of the Day of the Lord is the plagues era

It is represented by the 7 vials of God’s wrath (Rev 16:1-21). The vials are called plagues:

Revelation 15:8 (KJV) 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.

They are describing what God will do to satan’s kingdom and they reveal the progressive sequence of what will happen. During this time, God’s wrath will come directly from Him and not through human agency. And it will begin on an unusual day:

Zechariah 14:6-8 (CHV) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day that shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem (Father’s House); half of them toward the former sea and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

It is this half of the Day of the Lord that will end with the demolition of satan’s kingdom. Isaiah prophesied about it:

Isaiah 13:6-8 (CHV) Howl; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: and they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners out of it.

During the second half, momentum now begins to shift. God now begins to pour out His wrath and everything that satan has been doing to the world will now flip and begin to happen to his kingdom.

When this happens, judgement will only fall on satan’s kingdom:

Revelation 16:2 (CHV) And the angel first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a festering and painful sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who worshipped his image.

It will not fall on His Church. In fact, the very reason that it will happen is to deliver our world out of the bondage of the last days. It will happen to destroy the works of satan.

God will have a glorious Church in the last days

Even though satan is marauding through the world right now, it is during this time that God will establish His Church:

Micah 4:1 (CHV) But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains and it shall be exalted above the hills and people shall flow to it.

This will begin even while satan is attempting to take over the world:

Daniel 2:44 (CHV) And in the days of these kings the God of heaven shall establish a kingdom, that shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

John saw the same thing in his vision on Patmos:

Revelation 17:12-14 (CHV) And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

Zechariah gives a prophecy about it:

Zechariah 9:14-17 (CHV) And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

As we are about to see, what satan is doing today will literally force him onto the battlefield here on earth where he will be defeated and locked into the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. In this article, I want to look at how this is going to happen during the 7 Plagues of God’s wrath. This is where we see how God is going to have a glorious Church in the last days.

Let’s take a look at another chart of the seven plagues:

These seven plagues are describing what God is going to do to satan’s kingdom. Up till now, the battle has been between the devil and the Church but from this point on, without the aid of human agency, God will open a second front in the battle with him directly.

The first three plagues

God will now judge satan’s kingdom for poisoning the truth during the tribulation era.

Beginning with the 1st plague, God is going to bring physical suffering upon those whom satan has been using in his kingdom (Rev. 16:2):

Revelation 16:2 (CHV) And the angel first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a festering and painful sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who worshipped his image.

With the 2nd plague, He is going to judge the source of their evil that now brings death upon them instead of their victims (Rev. 16:3):

Revelation 16:3 (CHV) 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.

The sea represents satan as the source of lies that were used by his servants to bring death to the truth during the tribulation era. Now, because of God’s judgement, the source will now cause them to die.

With the 3rd plague, deception will no longer flow through the earth (Rev. 16:4-7):

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

The rivers and fountains of waters represent all the ways that those in the media used to distribute those lies from the source, only now those ways will also bring death to them.

The next three plagues

God’s will now bring darkness to satan’s kingdom for poisoning the reality of the world.

With the 4th plague, they will be tormented with the truth (Re 16:8-9):

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

The lies they passed off as the light (their sun) during the tribulation, will now become the truth that will scorch them.

With the 5th plague, they will be cut off and isolated (Re 16:10-11):

Revelation 16:10 (CHV) 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.

Like the Borg, they will be cutoff from the collective.

With the 6th plague, they will be gathered to the final battle (Re 16:12-16):

Revelation 16:12,16 (CHV) And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared…And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

There is something very unique about the 7th plague

The 7th plague is the Battle of Armageddon

A few verses before introducing it we see something very strange:

Revelation 16:13-14 (CHV) And 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 (satan working through government and the media). For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, that go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

Notice, God is not the one making this happen

The limitations of satan’s kingdom are systemic. He is forced to work through the brick and mortar institutions of our world. The kings who control them are losing control. They simply can no longer make all the pieces fit together. Competition between world powers right now is at a breaking point. Because of this, the spirits of miracle working devils are gathering the kings of the earth to battle and he wants the world to believe that God is no where to be found. What is really happening is that they are being forced onto the battle field where God is waiting. Whatever else is happening, the kings of the earth are being moved into position.

The 7th plague describes this battle in detail

This plague is the only one of the 7 plagues that has five interludes. We need to take special note of this.