Introduction

At this moment in history we are currently living between the plagues God sent on Egypt in the Book of Exodus and the future plagues He will divinely send at the end of the age. And with today's technology and communication capabilities, we have instant access to world events. Over the last several decades we have seen tragic plagues and natural disasters on never seen proportions. It is true that we as Christians can view all this as the consequences of a fallen universe and we are also right to say that God has allowed them. But we can't say He has directly caused them like He did in Egypt. Let's see what John has to say about the future plagues God will send and their affect on humanity.

(Revelation 8:1-12)

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. 3 Another angel, with a gold incense burner, came and stood at the altar. He was given a large amount of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the gold altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up in the presence of God from the angel’s hand. 5 The angel took the incense burner, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it to the earth; there were rumblings of thunder, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. 6 And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. 7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire, mixed with blood, were hurled to the earth. So a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain ablaze with fire was hurled into the sea. So a third of the sea became blood, 9 a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from heaven. It fell on a third of the rivers and springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. So, many of the people died from the waters, because they had been made bitter. 12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day was without light, and the night as well.

The majority of our society today is biblically illiterate, meaning they have no interaction or knowledge of the Bible other than what they hear other people say. But interestingly we often may hear a news commentator or witness to a disaster use the phrase "of Biblical proportions" while describing a pandemic or some other disaster. I wonder how they will describe the future plagues we have been presented with in this passage of Scripture this morning, when this all happens?

The ten plagues God sent on Egypt in (Exodus 7-12) was truly of a biblical proportion, but it also brought about the release of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. So too, John sees in (Revelation 8) a series of plagues that are just as ultimate in biblical proportion. John seems to be seeing these plagues as parallel to the plagues experienced in Egypt, except these in Revelation cover the entire world.

We must see these plagues as warnings. God wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Everyone is allowed an opportunity to repent and turn to God before it is too late. Both the plagues in Egypt and these future plagues resulted and will result in salvation and victory for God's people.