Revelation 16:1: 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.

The great voice in Revelation 16:1 is God the Father.¹ He speaks from out of the temple, which is his heavenly throne.² In this verse, the Father commissions the seven angels to carry out the last seven Vial Plagues of the Third Woe identified in Revelation chapter 15.³ Now, in Revelation chapter 16, he tells the seven angels to Go your ways.⁴ The seven angels immediately⁵ begin to pour out the seven Vial Plagues separately and consecutively,⁶ but very quickly,⁷ in their appointed order.⁸ The plagues will have a concurrent and cumulative effect so that all things will be in commotion at the same time.⁹

The Vial Plagues of the Third Woe contain the wrath of God¹⁰ that will be poured out without limitation¹¹ upon the earth.¹² This includes the entire earth and all corruptible things that are part of the earth.¹³ The Vial Plagues will produce the most deadly and intense plagues in the history of the earth including, by comparison, all previous plagues in the modern era.¹⁴ The Vial Plagues of the Third Woe will be literally fulfilled¹⁵ and they will culminate with Christ's final appearances of the Second Coming.¹⁶ The Second Coming is not a single event at one moment of time. It is a process or series of events that include the physical and spiritual cleansing of the earth in stages during the Savior's three separate appearances.¹⁷ The seventh and last Vial Plague will occur the same day‒or even in the same hour‒as Christ's final appearance to all the world at the Second Coming.¹⁸