Revelation 16

CHAPTER 16THEME: Pouring out the seven bowlsThe seven angels pouring out the seven bowls of God’s wrath upon the earth is the theme of this chapter. Also, it includes the interlude between the sixth and seventh bowls. Chapter 15 was the prelude to this chapter and is organically connected with it. It is worth repeating that the bowls of wrath contain the direct judgment of God upon the world; they do not proceed from either man’s misdoings or Satan’s machinations. They are poured out during the reign of the Beast. They cover a very brief period of time, comparatively speaking. There is a definite similarity between the judgments in this chapter and God’s judgments upon Egypt through Moses.

Revelation 16:1

PREPARATION FOR FINAL JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATIONThe first verse of this chapter speaks of the message the great voice gives the seven angels. As usual, I’ll give the literal translation of the Greek text throughout this chapter. And I heard a great voice out of the sanctuary (temple) saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. Let me remind you that the Lord Jesus Christ is still in full charge. Remember that way back in chapter 5 the Lord Jesus was the only One found worthy to open the seven-sealed book, and His opening of the seals ushered in this entire series of sevens. He is in command to the end of this book. He is the One who is marching to victory. The power and the glory and the majesty belong to Him.

This is His judgment upon a Christ-rejecting world. The Father has committed all judgment unto Him. Christ is the One who gives the command that sends out these seven angels with the final judgments. There is no longer a delay, no longer an interval or intermission. The hour has come. The order is given, and the seven angels execute the command. It is difficult for man, even Christians, to believe that God is going to pour out His wrath on a rebellious and God-hating world and destroy this civilization. But, my friend, everything you see today is under the judgment of God. When Mrs. McGee and I first came to Southern California, we almost thought that we had entered the Millennium. Those were the good old days before the great population came, before we had smog and heavy traffic. I still love California, but it is not like it was then. Every Monday we would take the day off and go to see some of the sights. We would drive to the beach, to the mountains, or to the desert.

One evening as we were driving down Wilshire Boulevard, a very attractive street, all around us we could see liquor signs and the world of glamour designed to satiate the demands of the flesh. I was reminded of what the Lord Jesus said to the apostles when they came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple, how beautiful they were. He said to them, “See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Mat_24:2). They were amazed that He would make a statement like that. And I said to my wife, “All of this beauty and glamour that we are seeing is going to pass away. It is under the judgment of God.

It all is going up in smoke someday.” Believe me, we need to make our investments in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. Perhaps you are saying, “But I have gilt-edged investments and bonds in a safety deposit box.” Yes, but you are still going to lose them because you are going to leave them. You are going to release your hand in death. You are going to turn them loose and move out. This world in which we are living is under the judgment of God. It is hard for even believers to accept that fact. After almost a century of insipid preaching from America’s pulpits, the average man believes that God is all sweetness and light and would not discipline or punish anyone. Well, this Book of Revelation tells a different story!

Revelation 16:2

POURING OUT OF THE FIRST BOWL And the first went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became (there broke out) a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the wild beast, and that worshiped his image. Vincent writes in his Word Studies in the New Testament, “Each angel, as his turn comes, withdraws from the heavenly scene.” In other words, the angel leaves the place of the mercy seat in heaven and executes judgment. He leaves heaven and pours a judgment bowl of wrath upon the earth. The first bowl of judgment is quite interesting. It looks as though God is engaged in germ warfare upon the followers of Antichrist. Scripture states that the life of the flesh is in the blood, and also death is in the blood. These putrifying sores are worse than leprosy or cancer. As man discovers a remedy for one disease, another that is more frightful appears. These are judgments of God by which He reveals physically what man is morallyutterly corrupt. The first bowl of wrath compares to the sixth plague in Egypt and is the same type of sore or “boil” (see Exo_9:8-12). It is interesting to note that Moses predicted coming judgment upon Israel similar to this. It has not as yet been fulfilled. This prediction is found in the Book of Deuteronomy: “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee” (Deu_28:15). Now here is a list of them: “The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed” (Deu_28:27). These diseases are incurable, according to Deu_28:35: “The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.” These are predictions of Moses. Now here in the Book of Revelation, the “noisome and grievous sore” is for those who received the mark of the Beast. As we have already seen, those who did not receive the mark have been in a bad way also. They have not been able to buy or sell. If a man has a starving family, I’m not going to blame him for breaking into a market to get food for them. It has been a desperate time for those who have refused the mark. But now, at the end of the Great Tribulation, those who have the mark and have enjoyed all the privileges it brought are going to be judged by God. May I add a personal comment here: I have always felt that my first bout with cancer was a judgment from God. I still feel the same way today. The fact that God healed me is a sign that He forgave me, and He has given me my greatest ministry since then. I am rejoicing in that. But during the Great Tribulation, God’s judgment of this terrible sorewhich is probably worse than cancerdoes not cause men to turn to God.

Revelation 16:3

POURING OUT OF THE SECOND BOWLThis plague is more severe than that of the second trumpet, where only one-third of the sea became blood. Here it is the total sea, and the blood is that of a dead man! Blood is the token of life. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood …” (Lev_17:11). The sea is a great reservoir of life. It is teeming with life, and the salty water is a cathartic for the filth of the earth. However, in this plague, blood is the token of death; the sea becomes a grave of death instead of a womb of life. The cool sea breezes become a stench from the carcasses floating on the surface of the bloody water and lining the shore. Commerce is paralyzed. Human beings died like flies. The first plague in Egypt was the turning of the waters of the Nile River into blood (see Exo_7:20-25). There is a striking similarity here. I wonder if we realize how much we are dependent upon God today? The light company, the gas company, the water company send us bills, but where did they get the light, the gas, and the water? It is obvious that these companies have something to do with getting these things to us, but God was the One who created the light and the gas and the water. Has God ever sent you a bill for the sunshine, for the water you drink, and the air you breathe? Have you paid Him? He has not sent His bill, and you would not be able to pay it if He did. God, who has been so gracious to a Christ-rejecting world, will at last judge all the earth. The angels pour out the bowls in the day of God’s wrath.

Revelation 16:4

POURING OUT OF THE THIRD BOWL And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters and it became (there came) blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, The Holy One, because thou didst judge these things. For they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and blood didst thou give them to drink; they are worthy. And I heard the altar saying, Yea, the Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. This plague, similar to that of the third trumpet, again is more severe. There, only one-third of the fresh water was affected, and here the total water supply of the earth will be cut off. This means destruction of human life on an unparelleled plane. “The angel of the waters” is the superintendent of God’s water department here on earth. This reveals another ministry of angels as it affects creation. They are in charge of the different physical departments of the universe. We have seen four angels who control the winds. This angel, who knows the whole story, now declares that God is right and holy in this act of judgment. My friend, whatever God does is righteous and holy. If you don’t agree with Him, it is too bad. You are wrong, not God. Imagine a little man standing up and saying, concerning the Creator, “I don’t think He is doing right.” I have a question for the person who would make a statement like that: “What are you going to do about it? In fact, what can you do about it?” If you are not in agreement with God, you had better get in agreement with Him. God is righteous in everything He does. “They shed the blood of saints and prophets, and blood didst thou give them to drink.” This is poetic justice with a vengeance. Those who take the sword will perish by the sword, and the shedding of blood leads to the shedding of blood. These who are being judged had made martyrs of God’s people, and now God is forcing them to drink blood for the righteous blood they spilled. “The altar saying” evidently refers back to the saints under the altar who had been praying for justice to be done: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (Rev_6:9-11). Here their prayer is answered. God was a long time getting to it, but now the time is come for answering their prayer.

Revelation 16:8

POURING OUT OF THE FOURTH BOWLOur Lord predicted signs in the sun during the Great Tribulation: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring” (Luk_21:25). The Old Testament had a great deal to say about judgment during the Great Tribulation period due to the excessive heat of the sun: “They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust” (Deu_32:24). Also the prophet Isaiah speaks of this: “Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left” (Isa_24:6). Also"Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart" (Isa_42:25). Back in the prophecy of Malachi we are told: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch” (Mal_4:1). To accomplish this, all that the Lord would have to do is to remove one or two blankets of atmosphere. Or He would need only to pull the earth a little closer to the sunnot muchand we would not be able to survive. It is this frightful period that Isaiah had in view when he wrote that the earth would be decimated. And our Lord said, “…Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved …” (Mat_24:22). Nevertheless, His own are preserved; “The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night” (Psa_121:6). Though this promise is quite meaningless to us today, it will be a great comfort to the believer during the Great Tribulation. “And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God.” In spite of all of this, instead of turning to God for mercy, they blaspheme His name. This reveals that the human heart is incurably wicked. No amount of punishment will purify it and change it. By the same token, the Great Tribulation is not for the purification of the church. Nowhere is it stated that the saints are being purified by the Great Tribulation. Rather, it is a judgment upon the earth.

Revelation 16:10

POURING OUT OF THE FIFTH BOWL And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the wild beast; and his kingdom was darkened, and they chewed their tongues from their pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works. “The throne of the wild beast” makes it clear that the first Beast of chapter 13 is a man. He also represents a kingdom, as you cannot have a king without a kingdom. “His kingdom was darkened” indicates a strange darkness which might be called black light. We are familiar with that in our day. It will be a frightening thing. As the sun’s wattage is increased, it grows darker instead of lighter. The heat will be greater, but the light will be less. Note the similarity to the darkness of Egypt during the ninth plague (Exo_10:21-22). The Old Testament prophets had a great deal to say about this coming darkness: “For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee” (Isa_60:2). “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations…. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joe_2:1-2, Joe_2:31). In addition to these two prophets, Nahum mentions it. Amos mentions it, and Zephaniah mentions it. Now the apostle John is merely saying, “This Great Tribulation period is where these prophecies fit into the program of God.” And our Lord Himself confirmed it when He said, “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light” (Mar_13:24). “They chewed their tongues from their pain.” Just think of the intensity of the suffering that is caused by these bowl judgments! But they don’t turn men from their wickedness. There are two self-evident facts at this point: (1) God is righteous in pouring out the bowls of wrath. Let’s remember that. Jesus is the judge. He is in charge of handing out the punishment. (2) Yet mankind is not led to repentance through this suffering. The apostle Paul predicted this: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom_2:4-5). And here it isthe righteous judgment of God. And man continues to harden his heart and refuses to repent.

Revelation 16:12

POURING OUT OF THE SIXTH BOWL And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. The Euphrates is called “the great river” in the Bible just as the Mediterranean Sea is called “the great sea.” The prominence of the Euphrates River in the Word of God should not be overlooked. First mentioned in Genesis 2, it is designated over twenty-five times in the Bible. In the verse before us it is seen in connection with the sixth plague. As it was prominent in the first state of man on the earth, so it is featured in his last statethat of the Great Tribulation. It was the cradle of man’s civilization and obviously will be the grave of man’s civilization.

It was a border between East and West, eighteen hundred miles long, over half of it navigable. It was wide and deep, which made it difficult for an army to pass over it. Abraham was called a Hebrew, and some interpret that as meaning he came from the other side of the Euphrates. The Euphrates was the eastern border of the land God promised to Abraham. “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates” (Gen_15:18). It also became the eastern border of the Roman Empire. The Euphrates River will be miraculously dried up, thus erasing the border between East and West, so that the kings of the sunrising might come to the Battle of Armageddon. In the past Tamerlane came out of the East and swept across those plains with a tremendous horde, and Genghis Khan did the same thing. Those were just little previews of what is going to happen in the last days. After the Euphrates River is gone, the great hordes in the East that have never moved West will come in a great crusade to Palestine. The bulk of the world population is in the East, and having only a smattering of the gospel, they will choose Antichrist. The picture is frightful. Can anyone doubt, with the hundreds of millions pouring into Palestine, that the blood will be as deep as the horses’ bridles?

Revelation 16:13

INTERLUDE: KINGS OF INHABITED EARTH PROCEED TO HAR-MAGEDONNow between the sixth and seventh bowls of wrath is this interlude. (As I have pointed out, there is interlude, an hiatus, between the sixth and seventh features of each series of sevenwith the exception of the seven performers.) It is a break for the filling in of details. And I saw (coming) out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the wild beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, as it were frogs. For they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth upon the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of the God, the Almighty. This is Armageddon (more correctly spelled Har-Magedon). It is not to be a single battle but a war, the War of Armageddon. It will be triggered, I believe, by the coming down of Russia from the north sometime around the middle of the Tribulation period. The campaign extends the length of Palestine to the Valley of Jehoshaphat and the mountains of Edom. It will continue for approximately three and one-half years. It will be concluded by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven to establish His Kingdom. The Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in His wings. Here we are introduced to the trinity of hellSatan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet. They act in unison in forcing the nations of the world to march against Israel in an attempt to destroy God’s purposes on earth. God gave certain promises to Abraham and to those who would come after him. He made certain covenants with the Hebrew people, and those covenants are going to stand, just like Joh_3:16 stands for believers today. I want to say carefully and kindly that there is a system of theology abroad today that passes as conservative, but it takes the position that God is through with the nation Israel, that all of God’s covenants with Israel are negated, that God does not intend to make good any of His promises to Israelyet there are literally hundreds of them in the Old Testament. This theological system simply spiritualizes these promises, and the proponents do so with no scriptural grounds whatsoever. Origen, one of the early church fathers who came from North Africa, started this method of spiritualizing instead of literalizing the Scriptures. We need to remember that the Bible is a literal book. It is the purpose of Satan to destroy God’s covenants with Israel, and that is the reason Satan moves in and brings the whole world against this little nation. This will happen during the Great Tribulation. As the study of prophecy develops, it is my conviction that this spiritualization of prophecy, although presently accepted by a great many expositors, will become a heresy in the church. I may not be around to see it, but just remember that McGee said it would happen. Now let’s look at the tremendous scene before us. “As it were frogs.” The question is: Will they be literal frogs? Well, they were literal in Egypt, and they could be literal in this case, but I am willing to accept them as a symbol. Perhaps you are saying, “Wait a minute, McGee, I thought you didn’t accept a symbol unless it was clearly a symbol.” Yes, that is right, and notice that John says, “as it were frogs”; he doesn’t say they were frogs. It seems to me that John is always very careful to give us an accurate picture of what he sees. J. A. Seiss, in his book, The Apocalypse, Lectures on the Book of Revelation, comments on the frogs in a vivid manner: They are spirits; they are “unclean spirits;” they are “demon spirits;” they are sent forth into activity by the Dragon Trinity; they are the elect agents to awaken the world to the attempt to abolish God from the earth; and they are frog-like in that they come forth out of the pestiferous quagmires of the universe, do their work amid the world’s evening shadows, and creep, and croak, and fill the ears of the nations with their noisy demonstrations, till they set all the kings and armies of the whole earth in enthusiastic commotion for the final crushing out of the Lamb and all His powers. As in chapter 9, the seven Spirits of God and of Christ went forth into all the earth to make up and gather together into one holy fellowship the great congregation of the sanctified: so these spirits of hell go forth upon the kings and potentates of the world, to make up and gather together the grand army of the Devil’s worshippers. In our own day we have seen that the news media can become a propaganda agent to carry out the purposes of men who are in the background. The news media can brainwash the public. This is exactly what the trinity of evil will do. They will brainwash the nations of the world into marching against Israel. The Lord Jesus is the only One who can stop this. Israel’s help does not come from the North or the South or the East or the Westthat’s where their trouble is coming from. Their help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Revelation 16:15

“Behold, I come as a thief.” Christ will never come as a thief to the church: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1Th_5:4, italics mine). A thief is someone you shut out; you don’t welcome him. You don’t put a note on the door when you leave your house which says, “Mr. Thief, I left the back door open for you. The silver is on the third shelf; help yourself.” You never welcome a thief. You lock him out. Christ does not come as a thief to His church which is looking for Him. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit_2:13). The Lord Jesus Christ does come as a thief to the world at the end of the Great Tribulation, as the verse before us indicates. As we saw at the beginning of the Revelation, the whole earth will mourn because of Him. They don’t want Him to come. They would like to shut Him out from ever returning to the earth. “Blessed is he that …keepeth his garments.” What garments are these? Edersheim sheds light on this phrase by explaining that the captain of the temple made his rounds during the night to see if the guards were awake and alert. If one was found asleep, he was either beaten or his garments set on fire. I suppose it could be paraphrased, “Don’t lost your shirt. Be sure that you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.”

Revelation 16:16

This is the only occurrence of the word Armageddon in Scripture, although there are many references to it. It means “Mount of Megiddo.” It is a compound word made up of the Hebrew words Har, meaning “mountain,” and Megiddo, which is a mount in the plain of Esdraelon. I have been there several times. It is one of the most fertile valleys I have ever seen. I guess it is the most fertile valley in the world today. It is a place where many battles have been fought in the past. Vincent cites Clarke’s Travels regarding Megiddo in the plain of Esdraelon: …Which has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in Palestine from the days of Nabuchodonozor king of Assyria, unto the disastrous march of Napolean Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and anti-Christian Frenchmen; Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors of every nation that is under heaven, have pitched their tents on the plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the banners of their nation wet with the dews of Tabor and Hermon. “He gathered them together.” The “he” is possibly God Himself. Although Satan, Antichrist, and the False Prophet act in unison to force the nations of the world to march against Israel, they nevertheless fulfill the Word of God.

Revelation 16:17

POURING OUT OF THE SEVENTH BOWL And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and a great voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were lightnings, and voices and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. “The seventh poured out his bowl upon the air.” This is the last series of seven judgments before the coming of Christ, and this is the seventh and last of the last seven. In other words, we are right at the end of the Great Tribulation here. At this point the only One who could deliver these people and set up a righteous kingdom on earth and bring peace to the world is the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us keep our eyes on Christ through this. He is the judge now. “Upon the air” means in space, with no specific geographical location. The Lord Jesus Christ controls space. He is getting ready to come through space. “The temple” has been mentioned again and again and again. It has been mentioned with the bowls of wrath, the trumpets, and the seals; in fact, it has been mentioned with each series of judgments. However, the temple has been mentioned with the bowls of wrath six timesmore than with all the other judgments combinedand this is the last reference to it. There is no temple in the New Jerusalem, so this obviously has no reference to the church. Whether we like it or not, Israel will go through the Great Tribulation period. We know that the remnant, all 144,000 of them, will make it through; that is, they will be faithful until death.

And I do not know how many more there will be. We do know that a great company of Gentiles were sealed and that they are going to make it through the Great Tribulation also. Again let me repeat that the church is not a part of this scene. The church is not going through the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. God has two ways of saving people in the Great Tribulation period: first, saving them out of it by taking them out of the world, as He took Enoch before the judgment of the Flood; second, by saving them in it, as He preserved the life of Noah during the Flood. God will definitely save people during the days of the Great Tribulation, but the church will not be a part of that, for it will have been taken from the earth before the Tribulation begins. “A great voice came out of the temple, from the throne.” That voice is not identified for us, but I personally believe that it is the voice of none other than the Son of God. His message is recorded: “It is done.” This is the second time we have heard Him say this. When He was hanging upon the cross, He said, “It is finished"in Greek it is one word: Tetelestai, “It is done.” At that point in history redemption was wrought and salvation was finished for man. There is nothing man can contribute to his salvation; he must simply receive it by faith. You can have a finished redemption; but if you won’t accept it, there will be a judgment. For those who have refused God’s salvation, there is nothing they can do to escape the judgment of God.

It is done. No wonder the writer to the Hebrews wrote: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Heb_2:3). Christ is the judge, and the judgment of the Great Tribulation is now concluded. “It is done” is His announcement, and there is nothing ahead but judgment, the Great White Throne judgment. Lightnings, voices, and thunders were the solemn announcement in the beginning of the Great Tribulation that judgment was impending. “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God” (Rev_4:5). Now again at the conclusion of the Tribulation are voices and thunders and lightnings. “There was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth.” The Word of God makes it very clear that here at the end of the Great Tribulation period there is to be a horrendous earthquake which probably will shake the entire world.

Revelation 16:19

And the great city became (divided) into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the indignation of His wrath. And every island fled away, and mountains were not found. And great hail, as it were a talent weight, comes down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plagues of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great. This concludes the Great Tribulation period. There is a great earthquake, and it divides the “great city,” which is Jerusalem. The earthquake divides this city into three parts. Although the center of the earthquake is in Jerusalem, it is not confined to Jerusalem, because we are told that “the cities of the nations fell.” This tells us something of the extent and the vast destruction of the earthquake. “Babylon” is mentioned specifically again. It was mentioned in chapter 14, verse Rev_14:8, which says, “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” The next two chapters give us the details concerning Babylon. “Every island fled away” reveals that even the islands are shifted from one place to another by the earthquake. The final act of judgment is the hailstorm. The size of the hailstones is enormous"a talent weight.” The Greek talent was fifty-six pounds, and the Jewish talent was one hundred fourteen pounds. In Texas I can remember seeing hailstones as big as baseballs, but this beats the Texas story altogether. A very interesting hailstorm is recorded during the time of Joshua: “And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword” (Jos_10:11). According to the historian Josephus, the Roman catapults threw stones the weight of a talent, into Jerusalem in A.D. 70 when Titus leveled the city. The marvelous hailstorm ends the Great Tribulation period.