PROP. II.
The seven Vials of wrath described in Chap 15 & 16 are the same with the Plagues or woes of the seven Trumpets in Chap 8, 9, 10, 11.

This will appear by the following comparison of each Vial with each Trumpet.

I. Chap 8. v 7. And the first Angel sounded & there followed hail & fire mingled with blood, & they were cast upon the earth, & the third part of the trees were burnt up & all green gras was burnt up. Chap 16. v 2. And the first Angel – poured out his Vial upon the earth, & there fell a noysome & grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast & upon them which worshiped his Image.

Here the hail & fire mingled with blood which were cast upon the earth answers to the Vial poured out upon the earth. And the trees & grass which were burnt up answer to the men which were infected with the noysom & grievous sore. ffor trees & grass in visions are used to signify men of high & low degree. Def     Yet it is to be noted that notwithstanding this external resemblance of this Trumpet & Vial their interpretation is somthing different.

II. Ch 8. v 8, 9. And the second Angel sounded, & as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the Sea & the third part of the Sea became blood. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, & the third part of the ships were destroyed. Ch 16.3. And the second Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sea, & it became as the blood of a dead man, & every living soul died in the sea.
<7>
III. Ch 8.10, 11. And the third Angel sounded & there fell a great starr from heaven burning as it were a Lamp, & it fell upon the third part of the rivers, & upon the fountains of waters. And the name of the Star is called Wormwood, & the third part of the waters became Wormwood, & many men died of the waters because they were made bitter Ch 16.4, 5, 6. And the third Angel poured out his Vial upon the Rivers & fountains of waters, & they became blood. And I heard the Angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, — For they have shed the blood of saints & Prophets & thou hast given them blood to drink.
IIII. Ch 8.12. And the fourth Angel sounded, & the third part of the sun was smitten. Ch 16.8. And the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sun.
V. Ch 9.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. And the fift Angel sounded, – & the Sun, & the Air were darkned by reason of the smoak of the Pit. And there came out of the Smoke Locusts – & it was commanded them that they should hurt – onely those men which have not the seale of God in their foreheads. — And their torment was as the torment of a Scorpion when he striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death & shall not find it. Ch 16.10, 11. And the fift Angel poured out his Vial on the seat of the Beast, & his kingdom was full of darkness, & they gnawed their tongues for pain, & blasphemed God, becaus of their pains & sores.

The parallelism of the second third & fourth Trumpet & Vial is manifest. And in this fift there is darkness in both cases; & the seat of the beast corresponds to the men which had not the mark of God in their foreheads; & the pains & sores to the stingings of Serpents with which men were exceedingly tormented but not killed.

VI. Ch. 9.13, 14, 16. And the sixt Angel sounded, & I heard a voicesaying – loos the four Angels which Ch 16.12. And the sixt Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Eu
<9>
are bound in the great River Euphrates. — And the number of the army of the horsmen were two hundred thousand thousand. phrates: and the water thereof was dryed up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

Here the four Angels bound at Euphrates with their Army manifestly answers to the kings of the East at the same river.

VII. Ch 10. 7. In the days of the voice of the seventh Angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God shall be finished. – Ch 11.15. And the seventh Angel sounded & there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord & of his Christ, & he shall reign for ever & ever. Ch 16.17 And the seventh Angel poured out his vial into the air & there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven from the Throne saying, It is done. Vers 14, This called the great day of God almighty. being the day of which our Saviour vers. 15 gives this warning, Behold I come as a Thief.

<11>

< insertion from p 8 >
Vers 19. And there were lightnings & voyces & thundrings & an Earthquake & great hail. — v 18. And the nations were angry. vers 18. And there were voices & thunders & lightnings; & there was a great earthquake v: 21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven — & men blasphemed God becaus of the Plague of the hail.
Vers 13 And the tenth part of the City fell.     Vers 18 And thy wrath is come & the time of the dead that they should be judged, & that thou shouldst — destroy them which corrupt the earth.Vers 19: And the cities of the nations great city was divided into three parts, & the cities of the nations fell, & great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

I have here put a parallelism between the falling of the tenth part of the city, & the falling of the cities of the nations, not as if they were the same, but because I take the former which concludes the sixt Trumpet to be an immediate fore-runner of the latter wherewith the seventh Vial begins.

And thus you see the agreement between the plagues of the seven vials & Trumpets is throughout very punctuall, so that I think there can be no doubting of their sameness |  coincidence. I may add that their Introductions also resemble one another. For the sealed saints with which the Prophesy of the Trumpets is introduced (ch 7.3) correspond to them that get the victory over the Beast <10> & over his Image &c with which the other Prophesy of the Vials is introduced ch 15.2 ffor the sealed saints were contemporary with the Beast as shall be shewed hereafter, & consequently were the same with those that got the victory over him. Also the Vision of offering incense at the Altar before the Angels began to sound, corresponds |  has some resemblance to the vision of the Temple appearing opened in heaven & filled with smoke from the glory of God, out of which the seven angels came to pour out the Vials. And lastly in that ye Vials are called the seven last Plagues they suit well with the Trumpets which are the plagues of the last Seale & inflicted on those wicked ages which the Prophets & Apostles considered as the last times.

© 2024 The Newton Project

Professor Rob Iliffe
Director, AHRC Newton Papers Project

Scott Mandelbrote,
Fellow & Perne librarian, Peterhouse, Cambridge

Faculty of History, George Street, Oxford, OX1 2RL - newtonproject@history.ox.ac.uk

Privacy Statement

  • University of Oxford
  • Arts and Humanities Research Council
  • JISC