The Bowl Judgments (also called the Vial Judgments in the King James Version), as mentioned in Revelation chapter 16, took place within the last 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation in the Left Behind series and mostly affected those who have taken the mark of the Beast and have worshiped his image.
- The first Bowl Judgment was painful sores that appeared on those who have taken the mark of loyalty and worshipped Nicolae Carpathia's image. This happened around the time of Desecration and was shortly lifted prior to the air and land strike ordered by Carpathia upon those fleeing to Petra.
- Surgeon General of the Global Community, Consuela Conchita, said during a public service announcement during the plague of boils that they were unable to specifically diagnosis the pandemic affliction. She said that the boils and carbuncles of the plague are typically caused by acute staph infections, but attributed the current plague to some unknown bacterial strain. The plague is unaffected by conventional treatment with antibiotics. She does say (correctly) that they have ruled out any causal relationship between the sores and the methods used to administer the mark of loyalty. She does acknowledge that the sores only occur on those with the mark of loyalty, but says that the connection is entirely coincidental. Thus, the idiopathic and iatrogenic boils on those with the mark of loyalty has no obvious etiology. It can be said that the administration of the mark of loyalty does not cause the boils because the means of administrating the mark (the biochip, hypodermic injection, disinfectant, topical anesthetic, and a tattoo) are not typically associated with a dermatological malady from prior experience, and that there is no theoretical reason to expect boils to manifest after taking the mark. There are no known familiar causes present among those with the mark that would cause the boils, but if God is omnipotent, then through His power, can decree that the mark of loyalty be almost invariably associated with an outbreak of boils (with a notable exception discussed below) without having any of the usual causes for boils present.
- Chaim Rosenzweig in the persona of Micah told a frustrated Nicolae Carpathia that all of his workforce is incapacitated due to the plague of the boils, and if a given person is not, Carpathia might want to check the authenticity of their mark. However, Chang Wong did have an authentic mark of loyalty, but he did not receive it voluntarily as he got it when he was sedated as he tried to resist its imposition. He did not suffer from the plague of boils, aside from a small rash that he attributed to an insect bite or thought was psychosomatic. In order to maintain his cover as a Tribulation Force mole working with the Global Community Palace, Chang did feign that he was ill due to the plague of the boils and had manipulated electronic records to suggest that he was in the infirmary being treated for boils.
- The second Bowl Judgment turned all the seas into blood, causing all marine life in the waters to perish and affecting even the movement of ships on the sea. This happened in Desecration and The Remnant.
- In The Remnant, the subpotentate of the United South American States ecstatically reported to Carpathia in a video conference call that his forces were able to discover and detain dozens of people without the mark of loyalty. Carpathia expressed disappointment because his fellow subpotentates had reported that they captured hundreds or even thousands of people, but the South American subpotentate responded that his forces were so dependent on being supplied by ships that were hindered due to the plague of the bloody oceans.
- The third Bowl Judgment turned all the fresh water springs into blood, denying drinkable water to those who have taken the mark of loyalty and worshipped Carpathia's image, for God considered it just due to those who shed the blood of His saints. As a result, this caused deaths among the loyalists through dehydration. Those who had the seal of God on their foreheads, however, were able to get clean water from the bloody springs. The authors may have interpreted Revelation 7:16 as indicating that God has conferred immunity from the blood plagues and heat to the Great Multitude. This lasted for about a year or so in The Remnant.
- The fourth Bowl Judgment caused the sun to be scorching hot to those who have taken the mark of loyalty and worshiped Carpathia's image. This also resulted in the polar ice caps melting, causing tsunamis that wash rotting sea animal carcasses further inland. It seems that the heat affected everything, as exposed water boiled and animals also spontaneously combusted, as opposed to the destructive force of the heat only affecting unbelievers. Those with the seal of God only experienced higher-than-normal temperatures but were supernaturally immune to the destructive force of the heat. The plague allowed believers to travel in the daytime without fear of hostility from the Global Community. This lasted for about a year or so in The Remnant.
- The heat plague not only harmed the persons of unbelievers who were directly exposed to the sun, but also affected any flammable structure that is unoccupied by a believer. In Heat Wave, Vicki Byrne, Judd Thompson Jr., and Westin Jakes rescued a young believer named Howard. He was hiding with a group of believers in an Indiana library during the heat plague. Eventually, the Global Community and the Carpathianist locals took over the library because it was the only building for blocks that was still standing. The believers had to evacuate, but Howard did not leave the library with the group, so he was trapped in the library with the marked locals. When Judd investigated the building, he inferred that there was no GC in the building because the building would have burned down. After Howard was rescued from the hostile GC, the library's windows began to shatter, the roof started to buckle, and smoked billowed from it. As they drove away, screams can be heard from the library.
- The fifth Bowl Judgment blanketed New Babylon in thick darkness, causing those who have taken the mark of loyalty and worshiped Carpathia's image to be blinded and have painful sores from which there is no relief. Those with the seal of God had limited visibility, of approximately twenty feet, and their experience was like seeing a room lit by a low-powered chandelier. This lasted for about a year or so until New Babylon was destroyed in Armageddon.
- The sixth Bowl Judgment dried up the Euphrates River in order for "the kings of the east" to bring their armies to Armageddon for the battle against Jesus Christ. It also caused Satan, Carpathia, and Leon Fortunato to spew forth froglike spirits into three bodies that resembled Carpathia that would perform miracles to bring the armies of the world to Armageddon. This took place in Armageddon.
- The seventh Bowl Judgment took place during Jesus' glorious appearing, where there was not only a major earthquake that leveled all the mountains of the continents except for Jerusalem (which was elevated), but also 100-pound hailstones fell upon the Unity Army, squashing them. Prior to this taking place, a voice from heaven said, "It is done".
Images
A depiction of the Second and Third Bowl judgment.