Revelation Chapter 16

Verse 2 continued, “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 worshiped his image.”

Question: Would the image have to be vitalized to be worshipped?

Response: The account does not so state. The image did not have to be vitalized, but it had to be formed before the plagues could be poured.

Some have been cooperating voluntarily for a long time with the beast and with its image at an early stage prior to the vitalization spoken of in Rev 13:15. At that time, still future, the image will exercise coercion against those who refuse to render homage. Although not speaking and acting with authority yet, the image is already formed. Otherwise, the plagues could not even begin to be poured until the image was vitalized. And in that case all seven plagues would still be future. Therefore, it becomes necessary to settle the matter.

Have plagues been poured or are they yet future?

This treatise supports, with conviction, the conclusion that plagues have already been poured.

If you recall in our opening segment, we pointed out that there are three typical viewpoints held among the brethren as to when the Seven Last Plagues are poured, with some believing 1) they are in the past, some believing 2) they are progressive and presently being poured out and still others believing 3) they are yet future. Although we don’t agree with the idea that they were all poured out in the past, as it is self-evident that the wrath of God is not finished (See Rev 15:1), nevertheless we don’t believe Brother Shallieu is suggesting here that the plagues were poured out long ago, but rather sometime after the formation of the image of the beast.

Verse 2 alone is not sufficient to understand, with precision, the time setting of the Revelation vision. From the account of the pouring of the first plague, it can be determined that the pouring had to be sometime after 1846, when the image of the beast was formed. Going back to the type further establishes that as the literal plagues were inflicted soon after the return of Moses to Egypt, so the symbolic plagues of Revelation 16 are poured after Jesus’ invisible return at his Second Advent in 1874.

In the type the deliverance of the Hebrew firstborn took place contemporaneously with the passing over of the destroying angel at midnight. In the antitype the deliverance of the spiritual firstborn occurs after the pouring of the seventh plague. In other words, the first plague was poured sometime shortly after 1874, and the last plague will be poured sometime before the spiritual future rapture (translation) of the last members of the true Church. Thus, the time frame begins to narrow down and come into better focus.

In Chapter 14, where the importance of the date 1878 is so graphically portrayed in various ways, a message goes forth (Verse 8) that Babylon is fallen from favor and its future destruction is irrevocable. Verses 9 to 11 of that same chapter indicate the torment to befall those who worship either the beast or its image—torment that takes place in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. Ever since 1878 the cry has gone forth, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her . . . plagues” (Rev. 18:4).

Would not the call to come out, with its implied threat, be fraudulent if no one living back there, at that time (over a century ago), could possibly partake of the plagues for failure to obey?

For centuries on Ash Wednesday many devotees have had a black mark placed on their foreheads. Thus, even outwardly the Lord furnished his people with clues earlier in the Gospel Age as to the false system of worship and the “mark of the beast.” In the Middle Ages Christians had difficulty understanding the higher, more intricate symbolism’s of the Apocalypse, but they did have reasonable access to the Gospels and epistles of the New Testament, from which they could glean important nuggets of truth. Although the time was not then due for deep doctrinal understanding, true saints on the whole were enabled to identify the Antichrist.

The following scriptural clues helped to alert many to the situation that existed.

We move on to the Second Plague in our next post.