After the rapture: the seven cup trials

This third and final set of seven events is called Vial or Bowl Trials. These world-altering events occur during the second half of the Great Tribulation. One disturbing fact that I came across while reading about these judgments is the reaction of the unsaved to God despite His amazing display of His power. After witnessing the mind-blowing events unleashed on the world during the first three and a half years of the Great Tribulation, the surviving unbelievers are still raging against God.

The cup / bowl judgments are similar to the trumpet judgments with three fundamental exceptions.

1. The cup / bowl judgments focus on the whole of incredulous humanity taking on the mark of the beast.
2. These judgments are unleashed for the purpose of total devastation.
3. These lawsuits do not offer the opportunity for redemption. Anyone who takes the mark of the beast will be lost forever.

• Trial of the first jar / bowl Revelation 16: 2: And he was the first and poured out his bowl on the earth; and a malignant and pestilential ulcer fell on the men who had the mark of the beast and on those who worshiped his image. Painful sores or boils will appear on the bodies of human beings who have accepted the mark of the beast.
• Second jar / bowl judgment Revelation 16: 3: And the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea; and it became like the blood of the dead: and every living soul died in the sea. This judgment falls on the world’s oceans (the remaining two-thirds). I believe that the oceans will be stripped of their life-sustaining oxygen, resulting in the death of all living things in them. Imagine every living creature dying and floating on the surface of the oceans, rotting and causing an unbearable stench and with it disease. This will also further cripple the world’s water supply and perhaps wipe out what is left of the fishing industry.
• Third jar / bowl judgment Revelation 16: 4: And the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs; and they turned to blood. The world’s remaining water sources will be corrupted and turned to blood. Some will say that it is not a literal change of blood. However, it has happened before during the plagues that were unleashed on Egypt during the time of Moses. If it was not a leap for Jesus to turn water into wine, the conversion of water into blood should not be ruled out.
• Fourth jar / bowl judgment Revelation 16: 8 – 9: And the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun; and he was given power to burn men with fire. And men were burned with great heat and blasphemed against the name of God, who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent to give him glory. A heat wave of unimaginable proportions will hit the earth, burning people as if they were “set on fire.” This is just a taste of hell for the planet, as there is no water and there is an abundance of heat similar to that of fire. This also echoes Jesus’ description of hell in Luke 16: 23-24, where they will be without water to satisfy their thirst.
• Judgment of the fifth jar / bowl Revelation 16: 10-11: And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was filled with darkness; and they bit their tongues in pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds. Have you ever been in a place in total darkness for an extended period of time? I did it and it scared me. However, not in the sense that he was scared, but being in total darkness does something terrible to the senses. You can’t see anything at all. Combine that with an unquenchable thirst and scorching heat. No wonder men bite their tongues! It begins to resemble the description of hell itself; a total psychological and physical torment.
• Trial of the sixth jar / bowl Revelation 16:12: And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. This passage describes the setting of the Battle of Armageddon.
• Judgment of the seventh jar / bowl Revelation 16: 17-21: And the seventh angel poured out his cup into the air; and a great voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying: It is done. And there were voices, thunder and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not occurred since men were on the earth, such a strong and great earthquake. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and the great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give him the cup of the wine of the burning of his wrath. And all the islands fled, and the mountains were not found. And a great hail fell from heaven on men, each stone the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail; because his plague was very great. This is the worst of all God’s judgments. The biggest earthquake in the history of the world will occur after God proclaims “It’s over!” Babylon, the capital of the world will become three and all the cities of the world will be razed. The mountains will flatten out and the islands will disappear. Island nations like the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and places like Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, and Cuba will cease to exist. The landscape of the world will be exposed. There will be no hiding place for the rest of the beast worshipers, no caves, no buildings … nothing. Then the worst storm in human history will be unleashed. Hail weighing approximately 75 pounds (one talent) will fall from the sky. This is where terminal velocity comes into play. The terminal velocity is called the maximum constant velocity reached by a body falling through the atmosphere under the pull of gravity. Without doing the algebra here, the terminal velocity of an object weighing 75 pounds falling through the atmosphere is 370 miles per hour! Imagine, if you can, the total demolition that occurs when these objects reach the bare surface of the earth. Consider the wind speed required to create and sustain hail of this magnitude. Wind speed has been calculated at about 3,170 miles per hour! There is no doubt that this will be a storm like no other in history.