us the glory
of God filled the temple so that no man was able to enter. This is
intended to set forth the fact that these avenging judgments were for
the manifestation of the divine glory and that there was no access to
the throne of God nor to his mercy-seat to alter them or to stay their
execution. Such is the sublime scene presented to our view preparatory
to the pouring out of the seven last great plagues.

CHAPTER XVI.

And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven
angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God
upon the earth.

2. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which
had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his
image.

A great voice out of the temple, now filled with the glory of the divine
presence, commanded the seven angels to enter upon their mission. It
came, therefore, from God, who alone fixed the time for these judgments
to begin.

Before an intelligent explanation of these plagues can be given,
however, the following points must be made clear: 1. _Where_ the vials
were poured out. 2. _Upon whom_ they were emptied. 3. _Why_ they were
thus poured out. 4. _When_ they were fulfilled, or, rather, at what time
they began to be fulfilled. These points we will first briefly consider
in the order named, after which we will discuss the _nature_ of the
plagues and their individual application.

1. The place where these vials of wrath were poured out was "upon the
earth"; that is, the Apocalyptic earth, or that portion of the earth
made the special subject of Apocalyptic vision; namely, the territory of
the ten kingdoms. The last two vials, however, will be found to embrace
a larger territory.

2. They were poured out upon those "which had the mark of the beast, and
upon them which worshiped his image." It has already been shown that the
image made by the second beast of chapter 13 was the Protestant
ecclesiastical organizations; hence the "beast" here referred to, to
which the image was made, must signify the ecclesiastical hierarchy of
Rome, the original. So the plagues fell upon the adherents of both
organized Romanism and Protestantism in Europe.

3. The reason why the judgments of the first three vials especially
descended upon them was because "they had shed the blood of saints and
prophets." Verse 6. That Romanism was a fierce op