The Bowls and the Climax

This flow traces the progression of the trumpet and bowl judgments toward Christ’s return and the defeat of the Beast.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Trumpets Begin

The Trumpets Begin Judgment from the altar An angel casts fire from the altar to the earth, after which thunder, lightning, and an earthquake accompany the trumpets’ preparation. The first trumpet brings hail and fire, beginning a sequence that damages the natural world. A widening crisis Later trumpets strike sea, waters, and heavenly lights. Shorey treats the sequence as the beginning of God’s wrath after the rapture.

The Abyss Opens

The Abyss Opens A tormenting force The fifth trumpet opens the Abyss and releases locust-like creatures that torment people without killing them. Their attack lasts five months and leaves their victims longing for death. A worsening warning Shorey emphasizes the duration and severity as evidence that the trumpet judgments are not a brief episode. The survivors nevertheless fail to repent in the account that follows.

The Euphrates Army

The Euphrates Army Release at the river Four bound angels are released at the Euphrates River, with an immense mounted force associated with the trumpet. The vision says a third of humanity is killed through the fire, smoke, and brimstone issuing from the horses. Scale and duration Shorey speculates that the stated preparation of the angels may imply a long conflict. The devastation makes the sixth trumpet a major escalation before the final bowls.

The Bowls Complete Wrath

The Bowls Complete Wrath The last plagues The Seven Bowls bring sores, bloodied waters, scorching heat, darkness, and the drying of the Euphrates River. Their judgments intensify the conflict and gather rulers toward Armageddon. An earthly catastrophe The final bowl produces a great earthquake and devastating hail as Babylon is remembered before God. Shorey reads the bowls as the completion of the wrath that the earlier trumpets began.

The Rider’s Victory

The Rider’s Victory Heaven opens Jesus Christ rides out on a white horse, followed by the armies of heaven in clean linen. The Beast and the kings of the earth assemble to fight against him. The Beast is defeated The Beast and False Prophet are captured and cast into the Lake of Fire, while the gathered armies are slain. The battle resolves the conflict between the world’s hostile rulers and the returning Christ.

After the seventh seal and the heavenly transition

At the fifth trumpet

At the sixth trumpet

After the seventh trumpet in Shorey’s arrangement

Immediately after the bowls are completed