The Third Vial of Revelation
Revelation 16:4
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
When the third trumpet sounded, a great star from Heaven representing Attila the Hun “fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.”[1] Similarly, the third vial also targets the “rivers and fountains of waters.” Once again, the third vial echoes the corresponding third trumpet—a trend that will continue through the remaining vials. The second trumpet, third trumpet, and second vial were all fulfilled through the earth’s physical seas, rivers, and fountains of waters, so a reasonable assumption can be made that the third vial should also be taken to represent tangible waters.
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Elliott interpreted Revelation 16:4 as an expansion of the battles between the French Revolutionaries and the First Coalition armies into the rural areas of Europe, as the Rhine, Meuse, Danube, and Po River valleys all saw conflict and bloodshed.
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While there is sufficient evidence that the expansion of the Revolution battles represented the fulfillment of the vial, there is another, more specific event that adds additional credibility to this view. Between November 16, 1793, and February 27, 1794, several mass executions occurred in Nantes, France. On the orders of the French Revolutionary Jean-Baptiste Carrier, thousands of French men, women, and children suspected of supporting the Catholic monarchy were executed by forced drowning in the Loire River.[i] Not only had the Revolution’s battles expanded to the rural areas of France, but its assaults on the Catholic religion had also.
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The larger Vendée region of northwest France suffered around 175,000 executions for the perceived failure of its residents to support the Revolution. The principal targets of these executions were not only the Vendéean priests and nuns but also the Catholic laity who elevated faithfulness to their church above allegiance to the Revolution.[ii]
Revelation 16:5-7
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
In verses five through seven, after the third vial is poured out, an angel delivers a short commentary declaring that God is justified in judging the Catholics—those who “have shed the blood of saints and prophets.” When all the other vials simply document what John experienced in his vision, the placement of this monologue between the third and fourth vials seems to indicate that the fourth vial would bring a change in target.
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France’s Catholic laity and low-level clergy felt the pain of the first three vial judgments. The first vial spread atheism amongst the people. The second caused the deaths of many seamen in the French navy. The third vial brought the execution of many rural French clergymen and parishioners. The fourth vial would directly target the Papal States in Italy, shifting the wrath of God from individual Catholics in France to the church itself.
[1] Revelation 8:10-11 10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; 11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
[i] Loomis, Stanley. 1964. Paris in the Terror, 289. Philadelphia; New York: J.B. Lippincott Co.
[ii] Samuel, Henry. 2008. Vendée French call for revolution massacre to be termed ‘genocide’. December 26. Accessed September 18, 2023. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/3964724/Vende-French-call-for-revolution-massacre-to-be-termed-genocide.html.