Revelation 16:12
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
It is the sixth in the ordered sequence of the seven last plagues, the vials of God's wrath poured out one after another upon land and sea and air. They are future judgments upon the living wicked, poured out before the first resurrection and the second advent, and are not the final execution of judgment at the second death when the wicked are destroyed and all things are made new. They fall only after Christ finishes His priestly work in the most holy place and steps out from between the Father and man, when every case is decided and mercy ends and God's people are sealed. They fall upon those who worship the beast and its image and receive its mark and trample God's law and Sabbath, while only those sanctified through the truth and hid with Christ in God will stand. Therefore the call now is to get ready and receive the Holy Spirit before they fall, to study the symbolic prophecies with prayer and to discern the signs of the times so as not to receive them. What the drying of the Euphrates and the preparing of the way of the kings of the east specifically means is not explained, while those who held that the vial judgments are already appearing teach that small drops were already falling in destructive fires, earthquakes, accidents, storms, floods and pestilences as warnings of more terrible events to come.
Place Among Final Plagues
This is the sixth vial in the ordered sequence of the seven last plagues, the vials of God's wrath poured out one after another upon the inhabitants of the earth, upon land and sea and air. John witnessed them as a terrible scene and sign of Christ's coming.
These are future judgments on the living wicked, poured out before the first resurrection and the second advent. They are not the final execution of judgment, which takes place at the second death when the wicked are destroyed and all things are made new.
They fall only after Jesus finishes His priestly work in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and leaves it. He lays off His priestly attire and clothes Himself with the garments of vengeance, steps out from between the Father and man, and takes up the work of judgment, when every case is decided for salvation or destruction. The anger of the nations, the wrath of God in the plagues, and the time to judge the dead are separate events coming one after another, Michael had not yet stood up, and the four angels hold the four winds until that sanctuary work is done.
The sealing of God's people is completed and the time of mercy ends before they fall. The angel of mercy leaves the world before these seven last plagues soon to be poured out. Honest people have first been called out of the nominal Adventist and fallen churches.
The verse belongs to the prophecies of Revelation 12-18, which are being fulfilled.
The vial judgments are already appearing in limited form and are now falling, sweeping away costly structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven. Small drops and sprinklings were already falling in 1889 and 1890 in unusually destructive fires, earthquakes burying cities and villages, terrible railway accidents, tornadoes and floods including the Johnstown floods, vitiated air, cholera, diphtheria among children and other pestilences and upheavals of nature, when God has not restrained the powers of darkness from bringing disease and death. These limited disturbances are only faint representations and premonitory warnings of more terrible events to come in greater earthquakes, rending of the earth's crust, ruin of lordly palaces, sweeping away of wealth unjustly gained, and terrible shaking of the religious world. They have special meaning showing how fast the last great crisis is approaching.
With the other vials, its outpouring brings pestilence, famine, death and withering judgments that humble human pride so that kings and nobles as well as rich and poor bow before them. The plagues of Egypt and Israel's deliverance from bondage foreshadow this final deliverance just before and at the deliverance of the saints. The vial belongs to the last great final contest when every form of evil springs into intense activity and evil angels unite with evil men and the battle of Armageddon is fought.
The specific sense of the drying of the Euphrates and the preparing of the way of the kings of the east is not explained.
Warning and Call to Readiness
The sixth vial belongs to the dreadful wrath of God poured out without shelter or deliverance upon those who worship the beast and its image and receive its mark on forehead or hand. It falls upon those who have rejected His truth, upon a godless world where men have exceeded the bounds prescribed by God and are rushing on to outrun the limits of His grace, so that His interference must come to vindicate His honor and will not long delay. It is connected with disobedience to God's law and trampling of His Sabbath by accepting a spurious rest-day and breaking His covenant, for which reason He will not interfere to protect the property of transgressors.
Only those sanctified through the truth in the love of God, hid with Christ in God until the desolation is overpast, will stand when the bolts of God's wrath fall. The call now is to get ready and receive the Holy Ghost before the plagues fall, to be as wise virgins having oil in vessels with lamps, which is grace and the power of the Holy Ghost upon God's people. Many will come up to the falling of the plagues without a shelter and unready, and when they begin to fall they will wring their hands in distress when it is too late to prepare, and some then present would be subject to them.
The vial belongs to symbolic prophecies whose figures convey important truths, and those truths require close, prayerful study of God's word to know how to escape. Such study is necessary for choosing a course that avoids the coming plagues and for shaping conduct so as not to receive them. It shows the seriousness of breaking God's law and trampling on the Sabbath.
Those who fail to recognize the signs of the times in their generation, in this wicked and adulterous generation, are counted among those who perish under the vials of God's wrath. When the plagues come, sin, shame, sorrow and darkness are on every side, yet God still holds out the precious privilege of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, and sin for righteousness. His patience and mercy will not always wait, and when He begins to punish transgressors there will be no period of respite until the end. These judgments now appearing have special meaning showing how fast the last great crisis is approaching, calling for less time in strife and contention and more thought about that nearness, and those who claim they have no special meaning will soon be forced to understand what they now refuse to understand.
The plagues enrage the wicked against the righteous, who are blamed for bringing the judgments down and are thought to be the reason the plagues would be stayed if the earth were rid of them. This leads to a decree to kill the saints and to the time of Jacob's trouble, while Satan is permitted to work against God's people; the saints cry out for deliverance, and God delivers them.
The plague brings fearful agony and suffering upon the wicked and greatly enrages a great portion of them. The suffering causes parents and children and brothers and sisters to bitterly reproach each other for keeping one another from receiving the truth that would have saved from that awful hour. Those hindered by professing Christians who are not ready will reproach them when the plagues come, so that their hearts faint. The people turn upon their ministers with bitter hate for not warning them of that hour, for telling them all the world was to be converted and crying peace, peace to quiet every fear that was aroused, and for saying those who warned of it were fanatics and evil men who would ruin them. The ministers do not escape the wrath of God but suffer tenfold greater than their people, for the plagues bring judgment on false shepherds and hireling priests until God's purposes are complete, when they acknowledge that God loved the saints because they held fast to the truth and kept His commandments, and all the unrighteous are destroyed from the earth.
John witnessed the vials as a terrible scene and sign of Christ's coming, whose outpouring brings pestilence, famine and death upon the inhabitants of the earth. Their pouring brings scenes of stupendous interest right upon the world and gives sure indication of the presence of Christ who has directed every aggressive movement, has accompanied the march of His cause through all the ages, and stands at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle to vindicate His truth and cause it to triumph. God permits these judgments to come that the world may take heed and be warned, that professing Christians may be brought to their senses, and that sinners may be afraid and tremble before Him and be awakened to fear Him.