"Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and amazing are your deeds,
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways,
O King of the nations!
4 Who will not fear, O Lord,
and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, 6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes round their chests. 7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives for ever and ever, 8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished."
Revelation 15:1-8
It will be noticed that the vials bear a marked similarity to the earlier trumpet-judgments which, as we saw, referred to the entire age of grace. It would seem therefore that these vials also span the whole of Church history. Just as the trumpets expressed God's reaction to the persecution of His people, so the vials express His further reaction when men refuse to repent. The trumpets warn; and when the warnings are unheeded, the final judgments of God inevitably follow. These judgments are final, not in the sense that they constitute the Last Judgment (how could they apply to the whole age if this were so?), but in the sense that they represent the chastisement of God (as distinct from His warning) upon sin. The nemesis that came upon Hitler and Hitlerite Germany in 1945 was a judgment and punishment of God in this respect - not His last judgment indeed, for that will come assuredly at the last Day - but the final downfall of an iniquitous system brought about by the retribution of God. It is a solemn and sobering fact that the trumpets of warning are very generally followed by vials of wrath - both in the history of nations and in the lives of individuals - just because nations and men alike are so unwilling to repent of sin. The oft-repeated phrase 'neither repented they' (cf. 9:20, 21; 16:9, 11) expresses only too plainly the tragic perversity of the human heart. It is all very well for sensitive (or sentimental) spirits to react in distaste or horror against the very idea of judgment by a God of love, but what alternative is left Him, when men heed neither the overtures of His love nor the solemn warnings he gives them. For those who in spite of all He can do still refuse to repent, there is nothing left but judgment! Surely this must be seen to be logical and inevitable.