The Last Plagues and the Wrath of God

Rethinking Revelation’s Apparent Retribution

Nietzsche called Revelation “that most obscene of all the written outbursts, which has revenge on its conscience.” Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morals (1918), p. 36.

“A veritable orgy of hatred, wrath, vindictiveness, and blind destructive fury that revels in fantastic images of terror breaks out and with blood and fire overwhelms a world which Christ had just endeavored to restore to the original state of innocence and loving communion with God.” Carl Jung, Answer to Job (2002), p. 97.

“I miss more than one thing in this book, and it makes me consider it to be neither apostolic nor prophetic… For me this is reason enough not to think highly of it: Christ is neither taught nor known in it.” Quoted in Hoffman, Luther und die Johannes-Apokalypse (1982), vol. 35, p. 398.

Zwingli and Calvin likewise rejected Revelation

Why do they reject Revelation? Because of the apparent violence in it.

Another reason is because Revelation often uses the passive instead of active voice.

Active versus Passive Voice

“Timmy was hit with a rock.”

We aren’t told who was the agent that caused the subject to be hit with the rock.

“Timmy was hit with the rock he threw in the air.”

The active agent is often hidden by the language, so we can only discern the source of suffering from context.

Let’s look at the context of the parallel Seals and Trumpets:

The Demonic Element in the 7 Seals

First four Seals = Four Horsemen

INSERT PICTURES OF EACH HORSEMAN

Parallel between four horsemen and Christ’s Olivet Discourse:

Matthew 24:4–9 (AV 1873)

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

1st Horse^

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

2nd Horse^

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

3rd Horse^

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

4th Horse^

God is not causing these tragedies, but He is permitting them. This is explicitly pointed out in the second Seal:

Revelation 6:4 (RSV)

4 And out came another horse, bright red; its rider was permitted [didōmi] to take peace from the earth, so that men should slay one another; and he was given [didōmi] a great sword.

John often used this word for “permitted” [didōmi] to describe “the divine permission granted to evil powers to carry out their nefarious work—the denizens of the abyss (ix. 1, 3, 5), the monster (xiii. 5, 7), and the false prophet (xiii. 14, 15)… It follows that all four riders represent evils which are not directly caused by the will of God, but only tolerated by his permission…” G.B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993), p. 81.

Martyrs under the altar in the fifth seal cry out because of lack of divine action. If the first four seals represent God’s work of vengeance against the wicked, why do those in the fifth seal ask why He has yet to avenge their blood (Rev. 6:10)?

The Demonic Element in the 7 Trumpets

5th Trumpet:

Revelation 8:13–9:1 (AV 1873)

13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound. 1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given [didōmi] the key of the bottomless pit.

Revelation 12:9 (AV 1873)

9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 12:12 (AV 1873)

12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

CHART COMPARING REV 9, 12; IS. 14

Clearly the fallen angel is the active cause of this Trumpet. And who is he referred to as?

Revelation 9:11 (AV 1873)

11 And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

Satan is the destroyer, but Christ is the restorer. RH Nov 26, 1895

6th Trumpet

Revelation 9:14–15 (AV 1873)

14 saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.

Revelation 9:19 (AV 1873)

19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

Revelation 9:20 (AV 1873)

20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:

According to the Bible, the destruction in these plagues is caused by the Destroyer and his followers!

Mixed Versus Unmixed Wrath

The Bowls of God’s Wrath

Revelation 16:1 (AV 1873)

1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Remember that we saw God’s wrath is giving the wicked up to reap what they sow.

Previously we saw that God’s wrath is manifested as Him forsaking, hiding His face, and withdrawing protection (Romans 1:18, 24, 27; Deut. 31:16–17; Ps. 78:58-62; 89:46; 106:40–42; Is. 54:7–8; Ezek. 22:31).

Seals and Trumpets = Wrath Mixed with Mercy

Seal:

Revelation 6:8 (AV 1873)

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Trumpet:

Revelation 8:7–8 (AV 1873)

7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;

Plague:

Revelation 16:3 (AV 1873)

3 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.

1/4 destroyed —> 1/3 destroyed —> all destroyed

This is the progression of God’s wrath.

When we just look at the waters affected, we see the same thing, but no waters touched in Seals.

The Demonic Element in the 7 Plagues

Comparison chart of Trumpets and Plagues

If Satan and his agents are the cause of destruction in the 7 Trumpets, who is the cause of destruction in the 7 Plagues?

Recall active versus passive voice

Need to look at these things in light of the life of Christ and the context.

1st Plague: Sores

Revelation 16:2 (AV 1873)

2 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.

Doesn’t say who caused this disease, but did Jesus every bring diseases with Him, or did He heal all manner of diseases?

This plague reminds me of the story of Job

Job 2:7 (AV 1873)

7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

Also reminds me of Miriam getting leprosy:

Numbers 12:9–10 (AV 1873)

9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them; and he departed. 10 And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

2nd Plague: Water to Blood

Revelation 16:3 AV 1873

3 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.

In the 2nd Trumpet, only 1/3 of the waters became blood (Rev. 8:8-9), but when God’s Spirit is removed from the earth all the waters turn to blood.

Is it possible mankind is helping to kill everything in the ocean?

The Bible does say that mankind is destroying the earth (Rev. 11:18).

“I want to tell you another thing. The vials of God’s wrath and the sprinkling of them are already coming. What is the matter that we do not discern it? It is because the light of truth does not affect the heart. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the world.” Ms1 - 1890.35

oil spills

PICS / VIDEOS OF BLEACHING OF THE CORAL REEF

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

In a 2016 study, Boris Worm and colleagues concluded that “the societal consequences of an ongoing erosion of [ocean] diversity [due to overfishing] that appears to be accelerating on a global scale… is of serious concern because it projects the global collapse of all taxa [species] currently fished by the mid-21st century.” Boris Worm, Edward B. Barbier, Nicola Beaumont, et. al. “Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services,” Science, vol. 314, no. 5800 (November 2016), p. 790.

Worm likewise observed that “exploitation has depleted large predatory fish communities worldwide by at least 90% over the past 50–100 years.” Ransom A. Myers and Boris Worm, “Extinction, survival or recovery of large predatory fishes,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, vol. 360, is. 1453 (January 2005), p. 13-20.

MORE FACTS ABOUT FISH DISAPPEARING IN OCEAN FROM OVERFISHING / AMOUNT CAUGHT TODAY VERSUS BACK IN THE DAY (pic)

3rd Plague: Water to Blood

Revelation 16:4 (AV 1873)

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

Who causes the source of life to be corrupted? Jesus the Restorer, or Satan the Destroyer?

Revelation 8:10–11 (AV 1873)

10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11 and the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

What is happening? Did Satan only destroy 1/3 of waters in this Trumpet, but God is showing that He is the bigger Destroyer by destroying all of the waters???

4th Plague: Sun Scorches Man

Revelation 16:8–9 (RSV)

8 The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch men with fire; 9 men were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.

Is God the One causing supernatural pain and suffering?

Luke 9:54–56 AV 1873

54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Is it possible that this will be caused by man?

Here is what this plague reminds me of:

Nuclear explosion

Global warming charts

Regardless of the cause, this plague does not lead men to give God glory, or speak well of Him.

If God had caused this destruction, why would they speak well of Him?

Even though this plague is probably man’s own fault, they blame it on God and slander His name/character.

Proverbs 19:3 (GNB)

3 Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the LORD.

Transition from First Four to Last Three Plagues

5th Plague: Darkness on the Seat of the Beast

Testimony of Sister White

“It is God that shields His creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer. But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah, and the Lord will do just what He has declared that He would—He will withdraw His blessings from the earth and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some, in order to further his own designs; and he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them. GC 589.2

Our only safety is in being wholly on the Lord’s side. We cannot with any safety give place to the enemy, for if we are found on the enemy’s side, we will perish with the wicked in the plagues the Lord shall allow Satan to create in the earth against men and against beasts. This terrible calamity in Johnstown and surrounding towns should cause fear and tremblind, but I fear that the impression will soon die away. Lt54 - 1889.22

God keeps a reckoning with the nations. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His notice. Those who work evil toward their fellow men, saying, How doth God know? will one day be called upon to meet long-deferred vengeance. In this age a more than common contempt is shown to God. Men have reached a point in insolence and disobedience which shows that their cup of iniquity is almost full. Many have well-nigh passed the boundary of mercy. Soon God will show that He is indeed the living God. He will say to the angels, “No longer combat Satan in his efforts to destroy. Let him work out his malignity upon the children of disobedience; for the cup of their iniquity is full. They have advanced from one degree of wickedness to another, adding daily to their lawlessness. I will no longer interfere to prevent the destroyer from doing his work.” RH, September 17, 1901 par. 8

I was shown that the judgments of God would not come directly out from the Lord upon them, but in this way: They place themselves beyond His protection. He warns, corrects, reproves, and points out the only path of safety; then if those who have been the objects of His special care will follow their own course independent of the Spirit of God, after repeated warnings, if they choose their own way, then He does not commission His angels to prevent Satan's decided attacks upon them. {14MR 3}

The last plagues are a revelation of what happens when Satan’s kingdom is operating in full-swing. Satan’s way of living naturally brings about death and destruction.

This is essential for all the universe to see in light of the Great Controversy.

If God were to supernaturally intervene and destroy the wicked by force, then the natural result of Satan’s leadership would be obscured in the Great Controversy.