“The Seven Last Plagues and the Destruction of Babylon”
As we have discussed in our previous study entitled. “The Timing of the Seven Last Plagues”, which please see, there are three typical viewpoints held among the brethren with regards to the pouring out of the Seven Last Plagues, that is as to what they consist of and when precisely they are poured. A) The plagues are all past, B) The plagues are presently in the progress of being poured out, and/or C) The plagues are still yet future.
We believe that (B) is the correct thought, therefore, our primary source for this study will be taken from the “New Albany Notes on Revelation” as this is a shared opinion. Nevertheless, we will still include excerpts from other sources as we go along which might be deemed helpful and pertinent to our study.
Now before we attempt to interpret the seven last plagues it is first necessary that we take into consideration the fact that the book of Revelation depicts five distinctive accounts of the final and total destruction of Babylon, these five are found in Chapters 14-19, each of these accounts presents its own means or perspective of the destruction of Babylon.
The first of these is found in Rev 14:6-8, 19, and 20 and pertains to…
How the harvest work leads up to this destruction. Babylon is destroyed in the “wine press” picture.
The second is found in Rev 15:1-16:21 and pertains to…
How the various events (bowls full of plagues of wrath) lead up to its destruction, with Babylon finally destroyed in the “seventh plague” picture.
The third is found in Rev 17: 1-16 and pertains to…
How the world’s powers, both the governments and the people re-align themselves against Babylon leading up to its destruction. Babylon is destroyed, devoured and burned by the ten horns and a beast.
The fourth is found in Rev 18:4-24 and pertains to…
How the various political and economic entities deal with Babylon’s loss of prestige and power since 1914 leading up to its destruction. Babylon is destroyed in the “great millstone” picture.
The fifth and last is found in Rev 19:11-20 and pertains to…
How the Lord and his saints (the Church) cooperate in the “battle” which leads to the destruction of Babylon, in the end Babylon is destroyed by being cast alive into the lake of fire.
It is from the foregoing perspective that we present our view of the “seven last plagues” as various events, not as messages, the messages were presented in the “seven trumpets”. “It is also clear from church history that the messages presented by the angels in the trumpets were not heard (heeded to) by any accept the true church. If they were even heard at all by others, they were generally misunderstood, misinterpreted, and condemned.”
Now since the sevens trumpets did not convert the world nor destroy the old order it would be necessary for something else to force or re-focus these truths upon them, to bring about the destruction of the present order, and to make way for the new. Thus, we have the “bowls of wrath”.
Another IMPORTANT POINT to be made before we proceed is that we clearly distinguish between the “bowls of wrath” and the “plagues” themselves; they are not one in the same, although they are related, but are rather two separate items.
How do we know this?
Recall Rev 15:1 it is clearly stated that these angels were already in possession of the plagues (various truths, they are only dubbed “plagues” in the sense that they vex those who prefer error, to those who accept them they are blessings) now a little later in Verse 7 it is stated that one of the four creatures (one of the Father’s four attributes, in this instance Justice) gave the seven angels “the bowls of wrath”, thus something new, something which they did not previously possess (thus marking a distinction between the two).
So what are the “bowls of wrath”?
A “bowl” is a device used as the means to convey that which it contains. In this case these bowls are used to deliver the seven plagues or wrath of God upon the world and Babylon.
“The bowls are the media of delivery, specific EVENTS which are used to force truths to the attention of the old order. The thought is that justice has arranged for (given) the vehicles to deliver the plagues. Justice is retributive; In God’s arrangement it is often the natural result of things sown earlier.” The “plagues” apparently are IN the bowls; the event which forces the truth (the plague) on Babylon. Note also that the bowls also contain “wrath”. Thus, the bowls (events) are carriers of wrath in the form of forced truths (plagues, troubles, vexations) used for judgment.
Now it has been suggested that the Volumes (i.e., the “Studies in the Scriptures”, series) have been (and are being) used by the Lord in the destruction of Babylon, with this we are in agreement, this can be scripturally proven, however what particular part in this work they play is disputable.
The difficulty I have with the idea that the Volumes (i.e., the “Studies in the Scriptures”, series) represent the plagues is that these volumes for the most part only effected that part of orthodoxy who even took note of them. Even though they did have a wide publication at the time this does not guarantee that they were widely known or read by the world at large. Nevertheless, we do believe that the truths contained in the volumes were (and still are) a plague upon those who come into contact with them and who still cling to the errors of orthodoxy.
I suppose those who hold this view concerning the volumes ascribe the volumes as being the “bowls” or means of delivery of the plagues or wrath of God. This is a distinct possibility however the whole idea of the volumes being the plagues seems to me to limit God’s wrath to only that small percentage of Babylon who come into contact with them.
We will begin with the First Plague in our next post.
Return to Index
