Chapter 16

Revelation 16

Six Bowls of Wrath

1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out on the earth the

seven bowls of the wrath of God."

Verse 1___We are now back to another cycle of judgment. The former cycles of judgment were chapters 5 through 8:1 and 8:2 through 11. The model for much of the bowls of anger is found in the Egyptian plagues (Ex. 9:10-11). The same can be said about the imagery of the 7 trumpets.

2So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

Verse 2___The content of the "first bowl brought humans terrible physical discomfort. This is much like Exodus 9:10-11. "And it became loathsome" has moral implications. This is evil__a sore, or scab of leprosy. The 6th plague of Exodus 9:8-12 had this effect.

3The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.

Verse 3________The 2nd and third bowls also share the imagery of Exodus 7:20-21. The content of the 2^nd bowl is like the content of the 3^rd trumpet (8:10-11). Notice, the first bowl was poured onto the earth and the 2^nd bowl was pour on the sea.

4Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.

5And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things;

6for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it."

7And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."

Verse 4___The 3^rd bowl was poured into man's water supply, “into the rivers and fountains of the waters; and it became blood.” Man has no water to drink. This equates to much human suffering. There was water but not water fit to drink.

Verse 5___Immediately following the first three bowls in verses 5-7___there is heard the voice of “the angel of waters.” God has now approved of this judgment. The angel declares that God is holy and everlasting “because you judged” (1^st aor. ind. active___God's act of judgment was singular and final) these things. God will not permit evil to persist indefinitely.

Verse 6___The angel continues the charges against humankind. Those who receive God's judgment deserve what they get! Why? Because they are responsible for the deaths of the saints and the prophets. This is all of those who are guilty of crimes against God's people. Remember Luke 13:34!

34"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it."

Verse 7___Here we have the “song of the Lamb” repeated from verse 4.

8The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.

9Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

Verse 8___ The 4^th bowl has no parallel in the Egyptian plagues but comes from Isaiah 49:8-10. This is a contrast between the destiny of the wicked and the just.

Verse 9____The great heat scorched mankind. Notice the instruments of torture. 1st, water is taken from man; and 2^nd man is subjected to fire. And what was the results of this punishment? Men became more degenerate and cursed the name of YHWH. They grew more hostile rather than penitent. They still refused to acknowledge God at work.

10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain,

11and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

Verse 10___We now return back to Exodus 10:21-22. The light for humanity is shut off. Try sitting in a dark room to test the psychological effects.

Verse 11__And again, repentance never entered these people's minds. They cursed God because of the punishment!

12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.

Armageddon

13And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs;

14for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, together them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

15("Behold, I am coming like a thief Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.")

16And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

Verse 12___The 6^th bowl is in the form of a prediction of the invasion of the diabolical barbarians from the east. “This bowl was poured out into the great Euphrates river; and its waters dried up, (a hina clause) in order that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun (from the East) might be prepared.” Invaders will cross the Eastern boundary of the Roman Empire (Babylon) and make war. The great natural barrier, the Euphrates is now gone. Nothing will hold back the hoards of Barbarians.

Verse 13___God's judgments bring forth a counter attack from the strategy room of hell. “Three unclean spirits” are sent forth by the unholy trinity (the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet). In near eastern thought the frog means absolute filth.

Verse 14___These “unclean spirits” are the “spirits of demons” (present, active participle, they continually worked signs) so that the kings of the earth make war on God. The forces of Satan have heard heaven's challenge to their control over the universe and the lives of men.

Verse 15___This verse reminds us of 1^st Thess. 5:2 where Paul makes the same claim. “Behold I come as a thief in the night.”

Verse 16___The decisive battle between righteousness and unrighteousness is about to open. The symbolic place of God's judgment is the valley of Megiddo (see Joel 3:1ff for the prediction of this great day of judgment.) The great battle ground of Palestine. The text gives the Hebrew “Har-Magedon.” This means the mountains of Megiddo. Some English translations contain an anglicized form of the word “Armageddon.”

The Hebrew consonant for our h was transcribed into Greek (via Septuagint), and Greek has no consonant for our h but uses the “rough breathing mark” for the h sound. So, when it is moved into English there is no way to pick up the “rough breathing mark” and it comes out sounding like an a.

The Battle of Armageddon happened about 3000 years ago. It was in the valley of Esdraelon that Ahaziah the king of Judah was slain by Jehu (II Kings 9:27). One of the most important battles fought in this valley and etched eternally on the Jewish mind was when Pharaoh Neco killed young king Josiah (II Kings 23:29). Israel gained victory over the Canaanites in this same valley and its memory is recored in the song of Deborah (Judges 5:1f).

Seventh Bowl of Wrath

17Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done."

18And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.

19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

21And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.

Verses 17-21___The 7^th bowl was reserved for the precious air which men breath. The “a great voice came out of the temple from the throne.” Notice that God is speaking directly. “It has occurred.” John declared in 15:1 that the time of the seven plagues finished or complete “the anger of God.” Thus, the 7^th bowl describes the completion of the wrath of God.

Babylon's fall was declared in 14:18; but here we have a description of the fall. The basic difference between the judgments of the trumpets and the bowls is the latter are more severe.