Rev. 16:17-21 "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great."
We review where the vials of the wrath of God were poured out and the consequent effect:
1. The first vial was poured out upon the earth and the unregenerate and ignorant that worship the beast and his image manifest the depraved nature of man.
2. The second vial was poured out upon the sea and the sea of humanity all died under the condemnatory wrathful judgment of God and died in trespasses and sins.
3. The third vial was poured out upon the rivers and fountains of waters and there was a fountain flowing out from Adam and all died as a result of Adam's transgression.
4. The fourth vial was poured out upon the sun and the law brought condemnation upon all men.
5. The fifth vial was poured out upon the seat of the beast and revealed the total complete spiritual darkness of the kingdoms of men.
6. The sixth vial was poured out upon the great River Euphrates and revealed that sin was a violation or trespass against God's boundary for his people. We also saw that our great King Jesus come to defend and destroy the enemy that had violated that boundary and through his death to deliver his people to a righteous state before God.
The seventh vial is poured out upon the air. The air is used to represent spiritual things in the scripture. For instance, Satan is portrayed as "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." Also, "the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or where it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
When the sixth vial was poured out we see Jesus redeeming his people from their sins and in the process destroying all their enemies that would oppose their redemption (sin, death, hell, grave, Satan). This is a completed work and the question is asked in Rom. 8:33 "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Since all enemies have been destroyed and the lawful wrathful judgment of God has been satisfied, there is no longer any enemy that can hinder the eternal salvation of any of the elect. Thus the great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
However, there is still warfare for God's people. This warfare was illustrated when the seventh vial was poured out.
"And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." Just as there was when God established the law covenant with the children of Israel and there were voices, thunders, lightnings, and a great earthquake, we see the same sign signifying the bringing in of a new covenant of worship.
An earthquake changes the scenery. It rearranges geological features. It changes the weather and the environment. Therefore, with the coming of the new covenant of worship there was quite a rearrangement of what constituted acceptable worship. The Lord stated this to the Samaritan woman in John 4:19 "The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
"And the great city was divided into three parts." The great city is referring to great Babylon or as she is called in the 17th chapter, "Mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abomination of the earth." We will prove the identity of Babylon when we study chapter 17. Jerusalem under Judaism answers the description of Mystery Babylon. There were three false spiritual entities in Jerusalem at that time. These three were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians. The Pharisees were characterized with the spirit of self-righteousness or legalism. The Sadducees were characterized with the spirit of compromise and they would compromise with just about anything but the truth and legalism. The Herodians had the spirit of politics. Needless to say, these three spiritual entities are still rampant in the world today.
"And the cities of the nations fell." Acts 17:24 "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."
There was a time when God "winked at" the idolatrous worship of men in the Gentile nations. This is, however, no longer an acceptable form of worship. God has called on his people in every nation to repent of this idolatrous worship and to worship him in Spirit and in truth. Thus, the cities of the nations have fallen as far as their idolatrous worship being winked at anymore.
"And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath." This subject will be dealt with in Chapter 17, so we will postpone our look at this until we get to Chapter 17.
"And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." Islands are isolated landmasses and have isolated civilizations. Mountains were often associated with false or idolatrous worship. It is estimated that there are over 1,000 religious denominations in the United States alone. Each of them could be considered an isolated island of worship with their own creeds, beliefs, and practices. There is, however, only one acceptable form of worship and that is in Spirit and in truth. According to the word of God, God will accept only worship that is in Spirit and in truth. All other attempts at worship are considered vain worship. As we have already noted, God does not accept the mountains of idolatrous worship that he had previously winked at. Thus, the mountains are not found and the islands are fled away as far as acceptable worship is concerned.
"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." The plague of hail in the Old Testament destroyed the work of the Egyptians. Just as Cain had sought to bring the works of his own hands as an offering unto God to receive praise of God and was rejected, so the religious beliefs and exercises of men, designed to court or gain favor or praise from God are also rejected. For this, men blaspheme God. If you doubt this, simply try this experiment: quote the verse of scripture that says, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated" and see the reaction of those who rely on their works systems of salvation. If they say that they cannot believe that God would love one and hate the other, then they are blaspheming God.
