Today, as we move along in our study of Revelation, we come to a pivotal chapter, the seven bowls of God’s wrath. This will be the last of the judgements upon the earth, will lead us into the battle of Armageddon, and will start us on the closing of the great tribulation and the closing of the entire book of Revelation. The seven bowls of wrath will be God’s last and by far most harsh acts upon an unbelieving, hard-hearted world. They in many ways resemble the plagues sent by God upon Egypt to free the Israelites back in Exodus. We saw the complete set up of the bowls back in chapter 15 so let’s jump right into chapter 16, the seven bowls of God’s wrath.
“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments, 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.13 And 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. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
16:1 – “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
We have very clear notice here that these instructions come from the temple in heaven. Jesus himself declares these judgments against a people that continue to reject Him. The bowls resemble what was used in the OT temple for worship and they were very shallow bowls. Similar bowls would have been used to pour blood upon the mercy seat of the ark of covenant. They were not merely trickled out but dumped out all at once. God’s wrath will come quickly as the bowls are dumped upon the world.
16:2 – “So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.”
The first bowl causes anyone who has decided to take the mark of the beast to develop painful, uncurable sores all over their body. It would hurt to walk, lay down, or even breathe. Ouch. This first bowl is very similar to the sixth plague in Egypt where God caused sores to inflict the people. But these will be much more intense. Agony day and night will befall anyone who has taken the mark of the beast and decided to follow the antichrist. Remember that you had to take to the mark to buy and sell anything. There will be many people here who took the mark so they could continue their easy way of life, but here they will pay dearly for abandoning Jesus Christ.
16:3 – “The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.”
This is similar to the first plague in Egypt where the Nile was turned to blood. It’s also similar to the second trumpet back in Revelation chapter 8 where a great mountain crashed into the sea and caused 1/3 of all sea creatures to die. But this time it’s much worse. The seas, ALL SEAS, turn to blood and ALL sea life dies. I think we take the seas for granted today. The salt water does a great deal to cleanse our land and the amount of food and nutrition from the sea is beyond abundant. All of that will be gone in an instant. The seas will be rendered useless to the world. Think a second about the aftermath. As every single fish, whale, shark, crustacean, squid, and octopus dies, it will create a floating cemetery of carcasses that will cover 71% of the world. I can only imagine the scene. Every beach in the world will no longer be a scenic picture, but it will be one of bloated, stinking death. The second plague will bring the world to its knees.
16:4-7 - “The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments, 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
If the second bowl brings the earth to its knees, the third will bring it fully prone. The third bowl is poured into all rivers and springs and turns them to blood, undrinkable blood. We as humans have a few basic needs for life. Air, water, food, and shelter. As you can see, God is denying these one by one to a world that not only continues to reject Him but blasphemes His name in choosing the antichrist over their Creator. The water, air and food of the land comes directly from Him and here He is taking them away in His righteous judgement.
Take a moment to notice here that the bowls are concurrent, that is, they are coming directly one after the other. They are being dumped out onto the world in quick concession. As soon as the sores strike, the seas die and then the water is as blood, gone, undrinkable. The timing is unmistakable, God is the reasoning and cause of these judgements.
The angel that dumps this bowl has something to say to the world as he pours. He delivers a message of judgment for the world to hear. Just as the world has killed believers for years during the great tribulation, desiring the blood of those that call upon God, they will now be forced to drink the blood they craved…or die. Next the angel declares something that seems odd, almost even out of context. In God’s complete judgement here, you will see a statement that is eerily free of His grace. God has given up on these hard hearted people and His judgement is righteous and absolute. “It is what they deserve!” (Rev 16:6b) They have sown evil and they will reap judgement for it. You reap what you sow indeed. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ” (Gal 6:7)
16:8-9 – “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”
The sun and its tremendous power upon life on this planet is immeasurable. But we take for granted the delicate balance that God holds it in. If the sun is moved farther away, the entire planet freezes and all life dies. But if it moves closer, well, we fry. Here either God moves it a bit closer or He removes a few layers of ozone and the result is REAL global warming. It will be a heat wave the likes that the world has never even dreamed of. It will scorch the people. And folks think about the timing of the bowls. The seas are gone and all fresh water is gone. On a hot day what do you desire more than anything? A nice big cold glass of water. And this desire will burn like your thirst as cold water will no longer exist. Death from thirst will be rampant during this time. It will be a terrible time.
But at least people during this intense suffering will now be willing to cry out to God for mercy and ask for Him to save them from this torture, right? Nope. “They cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.” (Rev 16:9) Wow. Just wow. God knows the heart of man and in these days, He is dealing with true unrepentant, flint-like hearts. Even in this pain and suffering they cry out to curse God. This seems like extreme behavior and it is. But folks, we are seeing this from people even today.
16:10-11 – “The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.”
Yet another thing we totally take for granted is taken away by God here, the sun. It warms our atmosphere to the perfect temperature, it grows our food and foliage thus creating oxygen for us to breathe, it regulates our atmosphere, and as it warms our skin it provides vitamin D. I could go on and on about the benefits of the sun that most today will never even think about. But on this day, the sun and its warm glow is taken away.
There is a strange need that man has for light. He moves towards it, he craves it, he needs it deep in his soul. We were never meant to live in the dark and no one wants that. When we lived out in Maui it was always fun to see the tourist from the very cold, cloudy climates as they would hit the beach on the first day of their vacation. They would just plop down in the sun and revel in the warmth, the feel, the touch of the sun on their faces. There is no mistaking the deep love of the sun that God has given us.
Yet here, once again, we see that the unbelievers will harden their hearts even more towards God. They have uncurable, painful sores all over their body, no seas or fish for food, no fresh water, they’re suffering untold heat, and now they’re in total darkness. And yet they will not repent.
16:12-16 – “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.13 And 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. 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
The sixth bowl of judgement is not a plague upon man, but it is setting up the ultimate battle, the war of Armageddon. Their will be great armies from the East that will move into Israel to do battle with God. To do their best to strike down God’s people and ambitiously, God Himself. In order to do this a few geographical modifications will need to take place and we see one here. The Euphrates river will be dried up so that the armies can cross easily and quickly from the East. This is all part of God’s plan and He allows it, even makes it happen. The three unclean spirits are satan and his two minions, the political and the religious antichrist we looked at closely in chapter 13. The three of them make up an unholy trinity.
This is the only time the name Armageddon is used in the entire Bible. In Hebrew it is “Har-Magedon” which means Mount Megiddo. It refers to a region 60 miles north of Jerusalem. This is more than likely where the battles of Armageddon will be fought. It will not be a single battle but a war.
16:17-21 – “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.”
As the seventh bowl is dumped upon the air, we hear a loud voice call out from the temple saying, “it is done!” The voice is Jesus who continues to personally judge the world through His righteousness. The last time He said this was on the cross and here He is finishing yet another phase of His divine plan for His world. Thunder and lightning usher in the greatest earthquake the world has ever known. Folks, the Richter scale goes to 10 and the highest earthquake ever recorded was a 9.1...this one will be a 50. It will literally change the planet. “Every island fled and no mountains were to be found.” (Rev 16:20) This is not so much an earthquake as it is God rearranging the entire planet to fit His needs during His millennial reign. The very Earth will be shaken, modified, and changed. Every square inch, like never before.
The great city (Jerusalem, Rev 11:8) was split into three parts. This alteration will allow the city to meet the needs of Jesus during His millennial reign. This is not a judgement of destruction but an “enhancement.” The other cities will not be enhanced but destroyed. The cities of the nations fell and Babylon, the kingdom of satan, drained the cup of wine of God’s wrath. These cities were literally wiped from the face of the earth. Nothing left. No buildings, no people, no trace of life. “But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” (Matt 24:2)
In order to complete His plan, God also uses hailstones. Not just any hailstones but the likes of which have never been heard of. We have a standard of sizing hail today. Pea, quarter, golf ball, baseball, etc. The largest hailstone that has ever been recorded was a mere 2.25 pounds and fell in Bangladesh in 1986. These hail stones will be over 100 pounds. Folks that is downright scary. Recall that these will fall just after the great earthquake where all mountains will cease to exist. There will be no caves, no overhangs, no trees, no overpasses, no houses and no buildings. Where will people take shelter? They won’t. This will be a level of devastation that is hard for the human mind to process. We’re told they will fall from heaven and crush people.
But hey, at least after all of this devastation, destruction, and death, these people left on the earth will cry out to God to forgive them and save them from eminent, violent death, right? Nope. They not only deny God, reject God, and blaspheme God, but here in addition they curse God for the hailstones. This unbelieveably hard-hearted response gets three wows from me. Wow. Wow. Wow.
I will never understand the human heart. We are all built with a need to worship God. We should, I mean we were made by God in His own image. (Gen 1:27) God made us to worship Him. But why do we get so confused in what to worship? Man is ever in a search to fulfill his need to worship. Worship is whatever gets our attention and adoration and what we worship becomes our idol. Man worships himself, other people, power, position, work, education, family, material objects, money, accumulation, houses, cars, and of course false Gods. Anything that creates distance between us and God is an idol. The need to worship is always present but oh so misguided by so many.
I pray today that you know and worship the one true God. The God that made the world and all that is in it. The God that made you and me and everyone else that has ever existed. I pray that you know His Son Jesus Christ not as a man or a historical figure, but as what He truly is, a Savior to save all mankind from their sin. I pray that He is a personal Savior for you. Someone you call upon for strength, encouragement, and guidance as you find yourself in great need. I pray that you study the holy Word of God daily, gleaning from it the knowledge that will allow you to tread this world resting not in you limited wisdom, but God's unlimited wisdom. I pray that for you because it is the only way. The only way to truly experience peace, joy, goodness, and purpose as you walk this planet. The only way to pass from this planet into an eternity that is in the presence of Christ. The only way to avoid an eternity void of Him, an eternity of hell that is filled with torment, darkness and anguish. Call upon Jesus, He is ready to save sinners, it’s what He does.
God Bless you ~ Dan
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