And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
The voice from the altar affirms that the judgments God pours out in the plagues are true and righteous and just and right. It belongs to the pouring out of the seven last plagues, when vial after vial of wrath falls upon the inhabitants of the earth amid trumpet soundings and the final gathering for Armageddon. Those plagues cannot fall until Jesus finishes His interceding work in the most holy place, lays aside His priestly garments, steps out from between the Father and man, and mercy’s invitation ceases. They come as God’s wrath upon a godless world that has exceeded the bounds of grace, made void His law, trampled His Sabbath, and worshiped the beast and its image. Because the storm is gathering and the bolts are soon to fall, now is the time to get ready, to be sanctified through the truth and hid with Christ until the desolation is overpast.
Setting in the Plagues
This verse is part of the prophecies in Revelation 12-18, which are being fulfilled. It belongs to the account of the seven last plagues, in which vial after vial of God's wrath is poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth. In that same sequence trumpet after trumpet is sounded, and the battle of Armageddon is fought with all the world on one side or the other. These scenes of stupendous interest are right upon us and are sure indications of the presence of Him who has directed in every aggressive movement, who has accompanied the march of His cause through all the ages, and who has pledged to be with His people in all their conflicts to the end of the world. He will vindicate His truth and cause it to triumph, supplying His faithful ones with motives and power of purpose, hope and courage and valor in increased activity as the time is at hand.
Evil angels unite their powers with evil men with centuries of experience in deception and battle and will not yield the last great final contest without a desperate struggle, so faith and courage will fail unless sustained by the power of God, the grace and power of the Holy Ghost, with all awake as wise virgins having oil in vessels with lamps while the Captain of the Lord's host stands at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle. The pouring of the vials brings terrible scenes that will take place as signs of Christ's coming. Pestilence, famine and death come upon the inhabitants of the earth, with armies mustering for battle, men's hearts failing them for fear, the earth moved out of its place, the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, and the waves roaring and troubled. The seven last plagues are foreshadowed by the plagues on Egypt and Israel's deliverance from bondage, for as the Egyptian plagues came just before and during Israel's deliverance, the last plagues fall on the wicked just before and during the saints' deliverance.
The plagues cannot come until Jesus finishes His interceding work for Israel in the most holy place, decides every case either for salvation or destruction, lays off His priestly attire and bell and pomegranate garment, clothes Himself with garments of vengeance, steps out from between the Father and man, and God keeps silence no longer. The four angels hold the four winds until that sanctuary work is done and let go afterward, when the High Priest stands up and the seven last plagues are poured out. They are not part of the crucifixion or His continuing intercession in the heavenly sanctuary, but come in the future day of wrath after His priestly work is finished and before the resurrection and the second advent, when He puts on garments of vengeance and executes judgment and God's wrath on the living wicked is brought to its full measure. The anger of the nations, the wrath of God in the plagues, and the time to judge the dead are separate events one following the other; the nations are now getting angry, but Michael has not yet stood up and the time of trouble such as never was has not yet commenced.
The plagues fall after Jesus ends His priestly work and mercy's invitation ceases, so those who rejected salvation then face the consequences of their choice, too late to obtain cleansing or an intercessor. They are future judgments to fall upon the living, so that of those alive in 1856 some would die beforehand, some would live to be subjects of those plagues, and some would live through them to be translated to heaven alive at the second coming of Christ without seeing death. Before the plagues are poured out, honest people will leave the fallen churches and join the remnant. During the plagues the wicked blame the saints for bringing God's judgments upon them and think the plagues will be stayed by ridding them from the earth, so a decree goes forth to slay them.
The saints cry day and night for deliverance in Jacob's trouble until God delivers them by His voice, when the 144,000 triumph with faces lighted up with the glory of God. The seven last plagues thus follow the completion of Jesus' work in the sanctuary and the release of the four winds, enraging the wicked against the righteous whom they think must be destroyed to stay the plagues.
True and Righteous Judgments
The voice out of the altar declares that the judgments poured out in the plagues are true and righteous, just and right, and the unfallen universe affirms them as such. The seven last plagues follow the completion of intercession and the release of the four winds, falling after priestly work ends and mercy's invitation ceases, when those who rejected salvation face the consequences too late for cleansing or an intercessor. His hand remains stretched out in wrath and justice until His purposes are complete, and the disasters, disease, and upheavals that are sprinklings of the vials are limited warnings of more terrible events to come. The suffering they bring is severe anguish upon the wicked, presented as the effect of God's wrath.
The plagues are God's wrath against the ungodly, including those who worship the beast and its image and receive its mark. They come upon a godless world when unrighteousness has swelled to a fearful pass, men have exceeded the bounds prescribed by God and are rushing beyond the limits of His grace, have made void His law and trampled it under foot while making human laws supreme, have transgressed His law, broken His covenant, and trampled upon His Sabbath while accepting a spurious rest day in its place, after centuries of despised goodness and forbearance when guilt has ripened for the sickle. The word declares these judgments and shows how to escape them.
God has been slow to anger and wonderful in forbearance, putting constraint upon His own attributes while keeping a reckoning of guilt, but He will not long delay and His interference must come to vindicate His honor and punish the inhabitants of the earth for iniquity. He will not interfere to protect the property of those who transgress His law, break His covenant, and trample upon His Sabbath. Awful calamities already falling by sea, with vessels hurled into eternity without a moment's warning, and by land, with fire consuming riches men have hoarded largely by oppression of the poor and sweeping away the most costly structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven, are the plagues beginning. They are only limited drops and sprinklings from the vials, faint previews of more severe judgments to come, which God permits while the powers of darkness spread deadly influences.
They carry special meaning that the last great crisis is approaching and the end of all things is at hand, permitted so that the world may take heed, professing Christians may be brought to their senses, and sinners may be afraid and tremble before Him. The plagues are dreadful with no deliverance for those who face them, falling on the wicked who have no shelter, on all rich and poor alike when human pride is brought low. Once punishment begins there is no period of respite until the end. Their effects bring fearful agony and rage, severe suffering and anguish: the wicked blame one another and the ministers who failed to warn them, those who hindered the warning work and stood in the way hear sinners' bitter reproaches and their hearts faint, and ministers who failed to warn suffer even more than the people.
The false shepherds suffer until God's hand stretched out in wrath and justice completes His purposes, acknowledge that God loves those who held fast to the truth and kept His commandments, and the unrighteous are destroyed from the earth. The seven last plagues are judgments on the living wicked but are not the final execution of judgment; that comes at the second death, when the wicked are destroyed and God makes all things new. Before the first advent, when refusal of God's law had become widespread and Satan's power seemed to grow, angels watched God's movements with intense interest and waited for their Commander's bidding to pour out the vials of wrath on a rebellious world. One word or sign would have destroyed the world, and the unfallen worlds would have said Amen that God was righteous to exterminate rebellion; instead God gave His Son to save rather than to condemn and destroy the world. Those who fail to recognize the signs of the times in this wicked and adulterous generation are among those who perish under the plagues poured from the vials of wrath.
Warning and Readiness
God's word declares these judgments and shows how to escape them. The chapter where this voice is heard is full of symbols and figures that require close, prayerful study. That study is given so that conduct may be shaped to avoid receiving the coming plagues.
The seven last plagues are soon to be poured out when the angel of mercy leaves a world filled with sin, shame, sorrow and darkness. The storm is gathering and the bolts of wrath are soon to fall, and when punishment of transgressors begins there will be no period of respite until the end. Many of God's own people are unready, and those who come up to that time without a shelter will wring their hands in distress when the plagues begin to fall, and then it will be too late to get ready. Now is therefore the time to get ready for Christ's coming and to receive the Holy Ghost. Only those sanctified through the truth in the love of God will stand, hid with Christ in God until the desolation is overpast.
Even now the precious privilege is still held out of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, and sin for righteousness, but patience and mercy will not always wait. Because the last great crisis is approaching so fast, the book of Revelation should be read from beginning to end, with less time spent in strife and contention. Those who claim that no special meaning attaches to these judgments will soon be forced to understand what they now choose not to understand.
The voice from the altar affirms that the judgments God pours out in the plagues are true and righteous and just and right. It belongs to the pouring out of the seven last plagues, when vial after vial of wrath falls upon the inhabitants of the earth amid trumpet soundings and the final gathering for Armageddon. Those plagues cannot fall until Jesus finishes His interceding work in the most holy place, lays aside His priestly garments, steps out from between the Father and man, and mercy’s invitation ceases. They come as God’s wrath upon a godless world that has exceeded the bounds of grace, made void His law, trampled His Sabbath, and worshiped the beast and its image. Because the storm is gathering and the bolts are soon to fall, now is the time to get ready, to be sanctified through the truth and hid with Christ until the desolation is overpast.
Setting in the Plagues
This verse is part of the prophecies in Revelation 12-18, which are being fulfilled. It belongs to the account of the seven last plagues, in which vial after vial of God's wrath is poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth. In that same sequence trumpet after trumpet is sounded, and the battle of Armageddon is fought with all the world on one side or the other. These scenes of stupendous interest are right upon us and are sure indications of the presence of Him who has directed in every aggressive movement, who has accompanied the march of His cause through all the ages, and who has pledged to be with His people in all their conflicts to the end of the world. He will vindicate His truth and cause it to triumph, supplying His faithful ones with motives and power of purpose, hope and courage and valor in increased activity as the time is at hand.
Evil angels unite their powers with evil men with centuries of experience in deception and battle and will not yield the last great final contest without a desperate struggle, so faith and courage will fail unless sustained by the power of God, the grace and power of the Holy Ghost, with all awake as wise virgins having oil in vessels with lamps while the Captain of the Lord's host stands at the head of the angels of heaven to direct the battle. The pouring of the vials brings terrible scenes that will take place as signs of Christ's coming. Pestilence, famine and death come upon the inhabitants of the earth, with armies mustering for battle, men's hearts failing them for fear, the earth moved out of its place, the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, and the waves roaring and troubled. The seven last plagues are foreshadowed by the plagues on Egypt and Israel's deliverance from bondage, for as the Egyptian plagues came just before and during Israel's deliverance, the last plagues fall on the wicked just before and during the saints' deliverance.
The plagues cannot come until Jesus finishes His interceding work for Israel in the most holy place, decides every case either for salvation or destruction, lays off His priestly attire and bell and pomegranate garment, clothes Himself with garments of vengeance, steps out from between the Father and man, and God keeps silence no longer. The four angels hold the four winds until that sanctuary work is done and let go afterward, when the High Priest stands up and the seven last plagues are poured out. They are not part of the crucifixion or His continuing intercession in the heavenly sanctuary, but come in the future day of wrath after His priestly work is finished and before the resurrection and the second advent, when He puts on garments of vengeance and executes judgment and God's wrath on the living wicked is brought to its full measure. The anger of the nations, the wrath of God in the plagues, and the time to judge the dead are separate events one following the other; the nations are now getting angry, but Michael has not yet stood up and the time of trouble such as never was has not yet commenced.
The plagues fall after Jesus ends His priestly work and mercy's invitation ceases, so those who rejected salvation then face the consequences of their choice, too late to obtain cleansing or an intercessor. They are future judgments to fall upon the living, so that of those alive in 1856 some would die beforehand, some would live to be subjects of those plagues, and some would live through them to be translated to heaven alive at the second coming of Christ without seeing death. Before the plagues are poured out, honest people will leave the fallen churches and join the remnant. During the plagues the wicked blame the saints for bringing God's judgments upon them and think the plagues will be stayed by ridding them from the earth, so a decree goes forth to slay them.
The saints cry day and night for deliverance in Jacob's trouble until God delivers them by His voice, when the 144,000 triumph with faces lighted up with the glory of God. The seven last plagues thus follow the completion of Jesus' work in the sanctuary and the release of the four winds, enraging the wicked against the righteous whom they think must be destroyed to stay the plagues.
True and Righteous Judgments
The voice out of the altar declares that the judgments poured out in the plagues are true and righteous, just and right, and the unfallen universe affirms them as such. The seven last plagues follow the completion of intercession and the release of the four winds, falling after priestly work ends and mercy's invitation ceases, when those who rejected salvation face the consequences too late for cleansing or an intercessor. His hand remains stretched out in wrath and justice until His purposes are complete, and the disasters, disease, and upheavals that are sprinklings of the vials are limited warnings of more terrible events to come. The suffering they bring is severe anguish upon the wicked, presented as the effect of God's wrath.
The plagues are God's wrath against the ungodly, including those who worship the beast and its image and receive its mark. They come upon a godless world when unrighteousness has swelled to a fearful pass, men have exceeded the bounds prescribed by God and are rushing beyond the limits of His grace, have made void His law and trampled it under foot while making human laws supreme, have transgressed His law, broken His covenant, and trampled upon His Sabbath while accepting a spurious rest day in its place, after centuries of despised goodness and forbearance when guilt has ripened for the sickle. The word declares these judgments and shows how to escape them.
God has been slow to anger and wonderful in forbearance, putting constraint upon His own attributes while keeping a reckoning of guilt, but He will not long delay and His interference must come to vindicate His honor and punish the inhabitants of the earth for iniquity. He will not interfere to protect the property of those who transgress His law, break His covenant, and trample upon His Sabbath. Awful calamities already falling by sea, with vessels hurled into eternity without a moment's warning, and by land, with fire consuming riches men have hoarded largely by oppression of the poor and sweeping away the most costly structures as if by a breath of fire from heaven, are the plagues beginning. They are only limited drops and sprinklings from the vials, faint previews of more severe judgments to come, which God permits while the powers of darkness spread deadly influences.
They carry special meaning that the last great crisis is approaching and the end of all things is at hand, permitted so that the world may take heed, professing Christians may be brought to their senses, and sinners may be afraid and tremble before Him. The plagues are dreadful with no deliverance for those who face them, falling on the wicked who have no shelter, on all rich and poor alike when human pride is brought low. Once punishment begins there is no period of respite until the end. Their effects bring fearful agony and rage, severe suffering and anguish: the wicked blame one another and the ministers who failed to warn them, those who hindered the warning work and stood in the way hear sinners' bitter reproaches and their hearts faint, and ministers who failed to warn suffer even more than the people.
The false shepherds suffer until God's hand stretched out in wrath and justice completes His purposes, acknowledge that God loves those who held fast to the truth and kept His commandments, and the unrighteous are destroyed from the earth. The seven last plagues are judgments on the living wicked but are not the final execution of judgment; that comes at the second death, when the wicked are destroyed and God makes all things new. Before the first advent, when refusal of God's law had become widespread and Satan's power seemed to grow, angels watched God's movements with intense interest and waited for their Commander's bidding to pour out the vials of wrath on a rebellious world. One word or sign would have destroyed the world, and the unfallen worlds would have said Amen that God was righteous to exterminate rebellion; instead God gave His Son to save rather than to condemn and destroy the world. Those who fail to recognize the signs of the times in this wicked and adulterous generation are among those who perish under the plagues poured from the vials of wrath.
Warning and Readiness
God's word declares these judgments and shows how to escape them. The chapter where this voice is heard is full of symbols and figures that require close, prayerful study. That study is given so that conduct may be shaped to avoid receiving the coming plagues.
The seven last plagues are soon to be poured out when the angel of mercy leaves a world filled with sin, shame, sorrow and darkness. The storm is gathering and the bolts of wrath are soon to fall, and when punishment of transgressors begins there will be no period of respite until the end. Many of God's own people are unready, and those who come up to that time without a shelter will wring their hands in distress when the plagues begin to fall, and then it will be too late to get ready. Now is therefore the time to get ready for Christ's coming and to receive the Holy Ghost. Only those sanctified through the truth in the love of God will stand, hid with Christ in God until the desolation is overpast.
Even now the precious privilege is still held out of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, and sin for righteousness, but patience and mercy will not always wait. Because the last great crisis is approaching so fast, the book of Revelation should be read from beginning to end, with less time spent in strife and contention. Those who claim that no special meaning attaches to these judgments will soon be forced to understand what they now choose not to understand.