The Seven Vials

The Third Vial

Revelation 16:4 – And the third messenger did pour out his vial to the rivers, and to the fountains of the waters, and there came blood, and I heard the messenger of the waters, saying, ‘righteous, O Lord, art Thou, who art, and who wast, and who shalt be, because these things Thou didst judge, because blood of saints and prophets they did pour out, and blood to them Thou didst give to drink, for they are worthy;’ and I heard another out of the altar, saying, ‘Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous [are] Thy judgments.’ (YLT)

The third vial mentions the pouring out of blood of saints and prophets. Jesus also mentions this in Luke:

Luke 11:49-50 – because of this also the wisdom of God said: I will send them prophets, and apostles, and some of them they shall kill and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets, that is being poured forth from the foundation of the world, may be required from this generation; (YLT)

Both of these verses are referring to the blood of God’s people. In today’s world, the citizens of Israel are the best example of God’s people, although there are Christians worldwide. Between the years of 2000 and 2003, the state of Israel built a large extension of the Israeli West Bank barrier. This barrier divides Israel and Palestine and was about 470 miles upon completion. One of the main reasons for this barrier was to protect Israelites from Palestinian terrorism. On March 27, 2002, during Passover, a Palestinian suicide bomber at Park Hotel killed 30 people and injured another 140. This was just one of many attacks. Statistics show that Palestinian terrorism has significantly decreased after the barrier’s completion in fall 2003. Therefore, Palestinian terrorism was the third vial.

The Fourth Vial

Revelation 16:8-9 – And the fourth messenger did pour out his vial upon the sun, and there was given to him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and they did speak evil of the name of God, who hath authority over these plagues, and they did not reform – to give to Him glory. (YLT)

On November 4, 2003, the strongest solar flare ever recorded occurred. A solar flare is a sudden release of energy in the form of ions, x-rays, and UV radiation. This can cause power outages, disrupt radio communication, damage spacecraft electronics, and even destroy life on Earth. This is similar to a coronal mass ejection which I mentioned in a previous article. This solar flare was categorized as an X45, which is 45 x 10^-4 W/m². The second largest in history was only an X20. It is not a coincidence that this occurred in 2003. God was letting people know that the fourth vial occurred. But what significance does this vial have spiritually?

Revelation says that a group of people were given authority to harm others and speak evil in the name of God. This group of people is the United States in 2003 and 2004, under President Bush. During this time, the United States was at war with Iraq and used terrorism as an excuse for this war. Prisons such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Graib abused and tortured detainees. Bush even shut down the search for Osama bin Laden:

“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” – President Bush

He did this so that the war with the Middle East would continue. Many Christian Americans claimed this war was glorifying God. However, it just brought more hate instead of restoration. It was not until May 2, 2011 that Osama bin Laden was killed under President Obama.

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