Revelation 16

Revelation 16:1

J. The Seven Bowl Judgments (Chap. 16) 16:1, 2 A loud voice from the temple orders the seven angels to go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. These judgments are similar to the trumpet judgments in nature and sequence but they are greater in intensity. The first bowl causes foul and loathsome sores to break out on those who worshiped the beast and his image. 16:3 The second plague turns the waters of the sea to blood, like that of a dead man, and all marine life dies. 16:4 The third bowl causes all water sources to become blood. 16:5, 6 At this point, the angel of the waters defends the justice of God’s judgments. Men are only receiving the just recompense of their own sinful deeds. They had shed blood in abundance; now they are rewarded with blood to drink instead of water. It is their just due. 16:7 The altar probably symbolizes the souls of martyred saints (Rev_6:9). They had waited long and patiently for their persecutors to be punished. 16:8, 9 The fourth plague causes men to suffer severe sunburn or solar radiation. This does not, however, cause them to repent. Instead they curse God for sending this scorching heat on them. 16:10, 11 The fifth angel pours out his plague of darkness on the kingdom of the beast. This adds to men’s suffering because they are not able to travel for relief from the preceding afflictions. But it does not soften their hearts. They only become more settled in their hatred of God. 16:12 When the sixth bowl is poured out, the water of the Euphrates dries up, permitting the armies from the east to march toward the land of Israel. 16:13, 14 John sees three frog-like spirits issuing from the mouth of the dragon, … the beast and … the false prophet, Satan’s counterfeit trinity. These are demonic spirits, performing miracles to deceive the world’s rulers, and to lure them to a climactic battle on the great day of God Almighty. 16:15 At the mention of that battle, the Lord interjects a special blessing on the tribulation saints, those who are watching for His Return, and who have kept themselves pure from the idolatrous worship of that day. He will come to the unsaved as a thief, unexpectedly and causing loss. 16:16 The armies of the world will gather at a place called in Hebrew Armageddon (NKJV margin, Megiddo). This is commonly associated with the Plain of Esdraelon, with Megiddo on the southern rim. It is reported that Napoleon called it the cockpit of the world, that is, the ideal battlefield. 16:17 That this is the final bowl judgment is indicated by the seventh angel’s announcement, It is done! The wrath of God is finished as far as the Tribulation Period is concerned. 16:18 When the last bowl is poured out, there are violent convulsions of nature: explosions, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake of unprecedented proportions. 16:19 The great city of Babylon, divided into three parts, drinks the cup of God’s fury. He has not forgotten her idolatry, cruelty, and religious confusion. At this same time the cities of the nations are laid flat. 16:20 Every island and the mountains disappear as the earth reels. 16:21 One-hundred pound hailstones bombard the earth, but men blaspheme God rather than repent.