The Third Woe of the seventh seal consists of seven plagues called bowl plagues or Vial Plagues.¹ The Vial Plagues are the third series of seven events in the Book of Revelation.² The seven seals are the first series of seven in the Revelation. Each seal represents one thousand years of the earth's temporal history.³ The seven trumpet angels are the second series of seven in the Revelation. They begin to sound their trumpets consecutively when the seventh seal is opened in Revelation chapter 8. Each trumpet initiates one of seven plagues in Revelation chapters 8 through 11.⁴ The seven Vial Plagues are the third series of seven in the Revelation. They are poured out quickly when the last and seventh trumpet angel sounds.⁵ These seven Vial Plagues are also called the Third Woe.⁶ John introduced the Third Woe in Revelation 11:15-19, but God doesn't prepare to pour out the Vial Plagues until Revelation chapter 15⁷ and then he does so in Revelation chapter 16.⁸ The complete details of the seven Vial Plagues are found in Revelation 16:1 through Revelation 20:3.

The seven trumpet plagues in Revelation chapters 8 to 11, are similar in many ways to the seven Vial Plagues of the Third Woe in Revelation chapter 16.⁹ The ten plagues of Egypt from the days of Moses foreshadow both.¹⁰ The seven trumpet plagues and seven Vial Plagues are both divided into one group of four plagues followed by one group of three.¹¹ The similarities between the seven trumpet plagues and the seven Vial Plagues have led some scholars to say that they both describe the same events from a different perspective.¹² They are not the same, however. The two groups of plagues differ materially in their timing. For example, the sixth trumpet plague called the Second Woe is Physical Armageddon and it lasts for seven years.¹³ The sixth Vial Plague is a brief, but preparatory time for Spiritual Armageddon when the earth will be cleansed of evil spirits.¹⁴ All seven Vial Plagues of the Third Woe occur after the seven trumpet plagues have sounded and the Vial Plagues occur in rapid succession‒most likely within a matter of days‒after the Second Woe ends.¹⁵

The intensity of the seven trumpet plagues and the seven Vial Plagues are also markedly different. The seven trumpet plagues impose limited judgments that are only partially destructive, while the judgments of the Seven Vial Plagues are totally destructive.¹⁶ The limited judgments of the first four trumpet plagues in Revelation 8:7-12 foreshadow the first four totally destructive Vial Plagues in Revelation 16:2-9.¹⁷ The destructive power of the first four trumpet plagues will be minor¹⁸ when compared to the utter devastation of the first four Vial Plagues.¹⁹ The Vial Plagues will destroy and burn all things telestial, including telestial-worthy people in great numbers.²⁰ The first four Vial Plagues incorporate the world number (4) four to symbolically express the worldwide scope of their destruction.²¹

The Vial Plagues of the Third Woe will occur at the time of Christ's Second Coming.²² Some scholars mistakenly believe the Vial Plagues describe events that happened during the time of the ancient Roman Empire and the Reformation.²³ Such views are inconsistent with John's chronological account. The Vial Plagues of the Third Woe occur after all mortal sons of perdition are first harvested at the end of the Second Woe in Revelation 14:18-20.²⁴ After that stage of destruction is complete, the Vial Plagues of the Third Woe will cleanse the earth and destroy all telestial survivors from the Second Woe (Physical Armageddon).²⁵ The Vial Plagues will literally cleanse the earth both physically and spiritually as described by John in Revelation chapter 16.²⁶ Some scholars mistakenly say his language is merely figurative.²⁷ It is not.

There are significant differences between the last three trumpet plagues and last three Vial Plagues.²⁸ This confirms that the trumpet plagues are not the same as the Vial Plagues. For example, during the fifth trumpet plague‒which is the First Woe in Revelation 9:1-12‒spirit sons of perdition are loosed on earth with great power to torment mankind with spiritual darkness.²⁹ During the fifth Vial Plague, the conditions are reversed. That is, the spirit tormentors of the fifth trumpet plague (First Woe) become the tormented during the Fifth Vial Plague as darkness pours out on the seat of the beast in Revelation 16:10-11.³⁰

The sixth trumpet plague‒which is the Second Woe in Revelation 9:13 to Revelation 11:14‒is the physical battle of Armageddon when mortal men and women are the combatants. This physical war will reach its climax when all mortal sons of perdition die like crushed grapes in the winepress of God's almighty wrath in Revelation 14:18-20.³¹ The sixth Vial Plague in Revelation 16:12-16, on the other hand, is a completely separate spiritual battle of Armageddon.³² This Spiritual Armageddon will occur as evil spirits gather to Armageddon to fight against Christ and his heavenly host of exalted kings from the east.³³ All evil spirits must be removed from the earth and bound during the Third Woe.³⁴ In this way, the earth will be cleansed of evil spirits before the coming millennium.³⁵ The preparation for this spiritual cleansing begins during the sixth Vial Plague and the earth will be literally cleansed of evil spirits during the seventh Vial Plague in Revelation 19:19-20 and in Revelation 20:1-3.

When John's vision progresses to the point of the seventh Vial Plague of the Third Woe in Revelation 16:17, the Lord abruptly declares, "It is Done."³⁶ However, the details of what is done follow in Revelation chapters 17 to 19, with the addition of a great deal of historical and contextual information.³⁷ John did the same thing at the end of the sixth trumpet plague (Second Woe) in Revelation 11:14. In that verse an angelic voice announced: "The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly."³⁸ Even though the Third Woe was introduced at the end of Revelation chapter 11, the details of the Third Woe aren't given until Revelation chapter 15‒after three flashback chapters of historical and contextual information in Revelation chapters 12 through 14.³⁹