Objectives in Studying this Chapter:
1) To observe what happens when the seven bowls of wrath are poured out
2) To note upon whom these bowls are poured out, and why
A Brief Introduction
We need to go back to chapter 15, just briefly, to set the stage for chapter 16, because chapter 15 dovetails very nicely into chapter 16.
I’m going to read part of chapter 15 and the entire of chapter 16. I’m going to read it from Dr. Hugo McCord’s translation. The reason that I’m going to do this is because I like some of the words that Dr. McCord has chosen here, and I think it will give us a very nice idea of the flow from 15 into 16 and then, also, see the continuity, the flow, of chapter 16. [NOTE: Dr. McCord was born June 11, 1911, and passed away May 14, 2004.]
A Reading of Revelation 15:1, 5-8; 6:1-21 (From Dr. Hugo McCord’s Translation of the New Testament)
15:1, 5-8: 1 “I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels with the seven final plagues to finish God’s wrath…5 After these things I looked, and the temple of the tent of the testimony was opened in heaven. 6 The seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple. They were clothed in pure, fine linen, and wore golden belts. 7 One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God Who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from the splendor and power of God, and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.”
16:1-21: 1 “And I heard a loud voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath upon the earth.’
2 “The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, bringing foul and angry sores on those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
3 “The second poured out his bowl on the sea, which became blood as from a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.
4 “The third poured out his bowl on the rivers and the water fountains; they became blood, 5 and I heard the angel of the waters saying,
‘You are righteous, Who is and Who was, the Holy One, because of these judgments,
6 for they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you gave them blood to drink, as they deserve.’
7 “I heard the altar say, ‘Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.’
8 “The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, which scorched people with fire. 9 Severely burned, they cursed the Name of God, Who has power over these plagues, but they did not change their hearts to give Him glory.
10 “The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, darkening his kingdom. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain and sores, 11 and cursed the God of heaven, but they did not change their hearts about their deeds.
12 “The sixth poured his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the road for the kings from the east. 13 I saw three vicious spirits like frogs, 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. 14 They are the spirits of demons performing miracles, who go out to the kings of the whole earth to assemble them for the war of the great day of God the Almighty.
15 [The Lord says,] ‘(Behold! I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his
garments, so that he will not walk naked and they see his shame.’)
16 “He brought them together at a place called in Hebrew Harmagedon.
17 “The seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice went out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ 18 There were lightnings and noises and thunders, and a severe earthquake such as had never been since man has been on the earth, so severe. 19 The great city 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 the fierceness of His anger. 20 Every island disappeared and no mountains were found. 21 Enormous hail, weighing a talent, fell from heaven on the people, and they cursed God because of the violent beating of the hail.”
That is the translation from Dr. Hugo McCord. He is a member of the body of Christ and has done an excellent job, I think, in translating the New Testament, and now he has translated a number of the Psalms, as a matter of fact.
Again, we look at chapter 15, and we see the continuity there. We’re introduced in chapter 15 to these seven angels who come out of the tabernacle in heaven. As we mentioned when we were studying chapter 15, this certainly is a reference to the tabernacle that the children of Israel used for the worship of God in the desert, and of course, there is a parallel there with the temple in Jerusalem.
The seven angels are coming out of this temple in the vision that John is seeing, and they are dressed in pure white linen [15:6]. That was the dress of the priests in the ancient tabernacle, wasn’t it? It’s also the dress of those in heaven and those at the resurrection of Christ, Mark 16:5 [“And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.”] and Matthew 28:3 [“His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.”].
We see that one of the four living creatures gives to the seven angels the bowls (vials) that contain the wrath of God [15:7]. These bowls are to be poured out upon the disobedient, upon the hardhearted world, that has rejected all appeals from God Almighty. Therefore, the bowls are filled with the seven last plagues, and God’s wrath is completed, then, through these bowls [15:8].
At the end of chapter 15, we see that the sanctuary (or, this vision of the tabernacle, the temple in heaven, that John sees) is “filled with smoke,” [15:8], and no one is able to come into it until these plagues are poured out [“The temple was filled with the smoke from the splendor and power of God, and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.”].
The figure of God’s glory filling the sanctuary with smoke comes from an Old Testament image. As a matter of fact, there are several. In Exodus 40:35, let us notice and see where this image that John sees is connected to: “And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.” You see, we’re constantly going back to references in the Old Testament, seeing the consistency that is there in God’s Word in the use of figures, of images, and so on, that are consistent with the New Testament.
This is the vision that John has in this particular place, and we see that the angels come out; they are given these seven bowls that are filled with the final plagues of God. And we continue with this view in chapter 16.
THE PRONOUNCEMENT (VERSE 1)
The Pronouncement by a Loud Voice from the Temple to the Seven Angels (verse 1)
“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’”
This voice is clearly the voice of God. We say that for a couple of reasons, none the least of which is, of course, the tabernacle, which is what is in view here (or, the image of the tabernacle), was God’s dwelling place on earth in the time of Moses when the children of Israel were wandering in the desert. It was the place of God; it was the place where God was. So, it would only be natural that it would be God’s voice coming from there.
We can also go back to chapter 15 and verse 8 and see what is says there concerning the glory of God—this is the image that John is seeing now, not necessarily going back to the Old Testament, but it is the image that John sees, and it does have to do with the glory of God [“The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed,” Revelation 15:8.]. So, again, what voice, other than the voice of God, would be coming out of this image of the temple?
THE SEVEN BOWLS OF WRATH (VERSES 2-21)
The First Bowl: Terrible Sores (verse 2)
“So the first [angel] went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.”
The contents from the first bowl—the first plague, if you will—are similar to the sixth plague of Egypt, Exodus, chapter 9 and verse 8, the plague of boils that God brought upon the people of Egypt [Exodus 9:8-11: “So the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace, and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. 9 And it will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt, and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.’ 10 Then they took ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses scattered them toward heaven. And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and beast. 11 And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians,”].
The contents of this first bowl bring about “a foul and loathsome sore.” It is brought upon those men who have “the mark of the beast” and “who worshiped his image.” This, of course, relates back to chapter 13, verse 16 and following, where we read about “the mark of the beast” and those who would bow down and worship him [“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666,” Revelation 13:16-18].
The sixth Egyptian plague affected both men and beasts. Here, this bowl affects those who have the mark of the beast. While the trumpets of the judgments were limited, here, this plague is all-embracing.
The Second Bowl: Sea of Blood (verse 3)
“Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.”
The second bowl resembles very much the second trumpet [“Revelation 8:8-9: “Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.”] in that it affects the sea and the living things of the sea. However, instead a third of the sea becoming blood, as was the case with the second trumpet, at the pouring out of this second bowl, all of the sea becomes blood and, we are informed by the Holy Spirit, the blood was like the blood of a dead man, foul and decaying.
You recall that the first plague in Egypt was the turning of the water of the Nile River into blood, Exodus 7:14-25 [“So the LORD said to Moses: ‘Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. 16 And you shall say to him, “The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, ‘Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness’; but indeed, until now you would not hear! 17 Thus says the LORD: ‘By this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.’”’
19 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.”’ 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the LORD had struck the river.”].
The Third Bowl: Rivers and Springs of Blood (verses 4-7)
“Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
‘You are righteous, O Lord,
The One Who is and Who was and Who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due.’
7 And I heard another from the altar saying, ‘Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.’”
When this third bowl is poured out, the rivers and sources of fresh water are smitten, “and they become blood,” [verse 4]. Once again, this is similar to the third trumpet, which brought bitter wormwood water to the fresh streams and fountains and also brought about a partial death [Revelation 8:10-11: “Then the third angel sounded [his trumpet]: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.”].
As we have in the past while studying Revelation been introduced to the angels controlling the wind, chapter 7, verse 1, the fire, chapter 14, verse 18, so the angel of the waters, here in verses 5 and 6, praises God for the righteous judgments which the Lord is bringing upon a disobedient world. The pronoun “they”in verse 6 [“For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets….”] refers to those who have persecuted the church, those who have shed the blood of its leaders. The “saints” are Christians, of course, and the “prophets” are those inspired men in the church who had been persecuted by the beast and by those who wear the mark of the beast.
The expression in verse 5, “The One Who is and Who was and Who is to be,” refers, as elsewhere in this book of Revelation, to God Almighty.
We notice that because “they”—those who have persecuted the church, those who have shed the blood of Christians and of the leaders of the church, and so on—because “they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,” God’s great justice comes upon them and God has “given them blood to drink,” which is another way of saying that they will pay. They will receive recompense for their bloodshed, “For it is their just due.”
In verse 7, we see that John hears another voice [“And I heard another from the altar saying, ‘Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.’”]. The voice comes out of the altar, which, I think, refers back to the fifth seal [Revelation 6:9-11: “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God and for the Testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.”].
You recall that when that fifth seal was opened, there was an altar, and under the altar were the souls of those saints crying out, “How long, O Lord, how long?” So, is this, then, the voice of those martyrs who are crying out for justice, who have cried out for justice, who continue to cry out for justice? But NOW, add an “Amen!” to this evaluation of God’s true and righteous judgments brought upon those who have persecuted them in the past.
The Fourth Bowl: Men Scorched (verses 8-9)
“Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the Name of God Who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.”
The fourth bowl has a similarity to the fourth trumpet [Revelation 8:12: “Then the fourth angel sounded [his trumpet]: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.”]. It [the contents of the fourth bowl] takes effect upon the sun and the heavenly bodies, but whereas the fourth trumpet brought a plague of darkness over a third of the sun and the moon and the stars, here the plague is not darkness, but rather, it is heat from the sun, which scorches men with fire.
In verse 9, we are introduced to men’s response to the plagues. We will see this response by men twice more in this chapter, verses 11 and 21. The men, those who are being affected by these plagues, who are being afflicted by what is being poured out upon the earth from these bowls, recognize that God is the source of these judgments, but they blaspheme the Name of God, Who, as John says, has “power over these plagues.” And men refuse to repent. They will not be wooed by God’s goodness, by God’s mercy, nor will they be brought to repentance by His severity “and give Him glory.” Instead, they harden themselves to curse and to revile Him in their own obstinacy. They refuse to accept responsibility for their evil doing, and they blame God, though they have brought the judgments for their evil, the consequences of their evil, upon themselves.
The Fifth Bowl: Pain and Darkness (verses 10-11)
“Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.”
While the fifth trumpet in chapter 9 [Revelation 9:3-5: “Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.”] introduced a plague of demonic locusts that tormented and tortured, this fifth bowl is poured out upon the seat of the beast—upon his very throne, if you will, and his kingdom is filled with darkness, and men gnaw their tongues in pain.
The coming of darkness upon the seat of the beast emphasis the fact that it will soon be overwhelmed, that it will soon be consumed, by the God of light. Darkness stands in opposition to God’s Truth and His salvation, for darkness symbolizes evil and man’s destruction. The perfect tense of the verb is used here, and it shows that the darkness has come upon the seat of the beast, never to be removed, never to be lightened up again.
In all probability, there is a close connection between the fifth trumpet, with its demonic locusts that attack and torment mankind, and the darkness that causes men to gnaw their tongues in pain and to blaspheme God because of their sufferings. Yet, once again, they refuse to repent; they refuse to acknowledge—to recognize—what is going on. They know about God’s Way, but they insist on continuing in their own rebellious way. And, indeed, that is the terrible character of sin.
The Sixth Bowl: Kingdoms Gathered at Armageddon (Harmagedon) (verses 12-16)
“Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 [The Lord Jesus says,] ‘Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.’
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon [also, “Harmagedon”].”
We see here that “the great river Euphrates” is mentioned in connection with this sixth bowl. It is also mentioned in connection with the sixth trumpet that we saw in chapter 9, where the angels at the river Euphrates are loosed, and the enormous number of horsemen sweep down across the landscape [Revelation 9:13-16: “Then the sixth angel sounded [his trumpet]: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, ‘Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.’ 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.”].
Here, the bowl is poured out upon “the great river Euphrates, and its water is dried up, so that” the kings are able to move across the river from the east and prepare for invasion [verse 12]. Now, this actually has a historical significance to it. Drawing upon history and the fall of ancient Babylon before the Persians under Cyrus, the waters of the Euphrates River were diverted so that the city was isolated, so that the city was vulnerable and, thus, was able to be overrun. John here shows the waters of the Euphrates “dried up” by means of this bowl, so that the deceived kings can gather themselves for the great battle between right and wrong. In Brother Homer Hailey’s Commentary on Revelation, he says, “[The horsemen] are gathered together as enemies of God’s cause, mustered by the unclean spirits to war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” Concerning “the way of the kings from the east,” Brother Burton Coffman comments, “When the boundary between right and wrong—between the church and the world—is dried up, the kings of the east will come to exploit their advantage. These are not to be understood as allies of righteousness, but as enemies of it. That they come from the east, ‘the sunrising’—in our interpretation, this merely means that they come from beyond the violated boundary. Forces of evil will enter and dominate what was once true religion. Their being called ‘kings’ should not mislead us. Their names are given in the very next verse [verse 13: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.”].”
John sees “three unclean spirits,” [verse 13] that look like frogs, and they come “out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” Now, the “false prophet” is, undoubtedly, the second beast of chapter 13. You remember that there was the beast that came out of the sea and the beast that came out of the earth. The second beast [the earth beast], chapter 13, verse 11 [“Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.”], has not been referred to previously in this manner, as the “false prophet,” but that is undoubtedly what John has in view here, and the “earth beast” is what he refers to as “the false prophet.” If you’ll recall, our description, our characterization, of that second beast [the “earth beast”] was that it represented false teaching, the false doctrine, false religion, and so here, it is being characterized as a “false prophet.”
The “dragon” is undoubtedly the dragon that was described in chapter 12 [“And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth,” Revelation 12:3-4a].
The “beast” mentioned here in verse 13 is the same one mentioned in the first part of chapter 13, the one that came out of the sea [representing evil kingdoms, governments, empires, politics, etc.] [Revelation 13:1-3: “[The dragon] stood on the sand of the sea. And I [John] saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”].
These “frogs coming out of the mouth of the” three great representatives of evil [Satan, the sea beast and the earth beast] simply demonstrate, simply show, the kind of influences that will go forth in teaching and in action. Of course, you probably can’t help but picture these frogs and think about these frogs without making the connection to the plague in the land of Egypt in the long ago. Yet, these, it would seem, are more terrible. By their working of “signs” that deceive, and by their lying teaching, they are able to deceive men, for they are spoken of here as the “spirits of demons,” [verse 14].
By the way, look very quickly back at chapter 13, verses 13 and 14. In talking about that second beast, the beast from the earth, the beast that here is identified as “the false prophet,” notice what he is described as doing: “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast….” Well, there is, certainly, the description of his actions, of his behavior, of his truly being a false prophet, and the confirmation of that is here in chapter 16, as well.
They go forth to gather the rulers of the whole God-defying world to do battle on the “great day of God Almighty,” [verse 14]. Psalm 2:1-3 tells of others who would go against the Lord and His Anointed [“Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.’”]. See also Joel 3:4 [“Indeed, what have you to do with Me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against Me? But if you retaliate against Me, Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head.”].
This term, the “great day,” looks back to the Old Testament and is reflected in such passages as Joel 2:11[“The LORD gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great; For strong is the One Who executes His Word. For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; Who can endure it?].
The day of the Lord in the New Testament refers to the final Day of Judgment and is also called “the day of God, 2 Peter 3:11-12 [“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?”].
Before mentioning “Armageddon” [verse 16], the Lord assures His people that His coming will be “as a thief.” There is that a parenthetical statement of the Lord that is inserted in verse 15 of the text. If you have a red-letter edition of the Bible, that statement by the Lord sort of stands out there by itself on the two pages, but indeed, those are the Words of the Lord [“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”]. He is, once again, saying that He will come unexpectedly. There are a number of times in the New Testament that the coming of Christ is compared to the unexpected arrival, to the unexpected coming, of a thief. Here in the book of Revelation, we’ve already seen one of those comparisons, Revelation 3:3 [“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”]. Jesus would say that of Himself in Matthew 24:42-44 [“42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”]. Paul will use this terminology, 1Thessalonians 5:2 [“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”]. And then, Peter, also, will use this terminology, 2 Peter 3:10 [“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”].
And so, Christians are to be watchful, to be ready, and to be clothed in the garments of righteousness. Here occurs the third of seven beatitudes that are contained in the book of Revelation—“Blessed is he who….” It simply states that the one “who watches,” the one who “keeps his garments,” will be blessed, for he will have no shame.
Well, the gathering place for this great battle is given the name in the Hebrew language of “Armageddon.” This is an unusual name since it actually is unknown in Hebrew literature. The name occurs in the original text in two spellings, “Armageddon” or “Harmagedon.”
Most commentators relate this name, this description, in some way to an actual place called “Meggedo.” It was a famous fortress in the land of Palestine, guarding the mountain pass from the Plain of Jezreal to the coastal plain. It is here that Barak and Deborah overthrew Sisera and his forces, Judges 5:19-21 [see Judges 4 and 5]. Also, Pharaoh Necho defeated and slew Josiah here in this location, 2 Chronicles 35:20-24. Therefore, it has been interpreted as the Mountain of Meggedo. It was a place that in history had been the site of many battles, and, in fact, great battles—some that are recorded on the Old Testament. And so, it would have been a reference that would have been known to those who were familiar with Hebrew history.
But most scholars understand that this reference in chapter 16 does not designate a specific place. In other words, what John has in view here, what he’s being inspired to write by the Holy Spirit, is not to identify a specific place where a great battle is going to take place. Rather, it has reference to the occasion, the ongoing struggle between good and evil. We’ll have more to say about this a little later, but let’s go on here to the seventh bowl.
The Seventh Bowl: Great Earthquake; the Great City Divided and Babylon Remembered; Cataclysmic Events (verses 17-21)
“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’ 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.”
When the seventh bowl is poured out “into the air,” the voice that “came out of the temple in heaven”—and remember, that is the voice of God—declared, “It is done!” What is in view here? Well, the work of the plagues is finalized, it is finished. In Revelation, chapter 6, verse 12, and again in chapter 11, verse 13, the lightnings, voices, thunderings and earthquakes indicate God’s judgment.
The great city of Babylon, representing all evil, or, perhaps, as we have discussed before, maybe for those 1st Century readers, they had in view the Empire of Rome, but the great city of Babylon falls, along with “the cities of the nations,” [verse 19]. God gives to Babylon the judgment that she is due.
The islands and the mountains flee away, [verse 20]. Hail, the weight of a talent—roughly a hundred pounds—“fell upon men,” [verse 21]. That simply indicates the great destroying character of this judgment.
So, the pouring out of the seventh bowl is accompanied, once again, by men’s hardened hearts, and “Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great,” [verse 21b].
Well, those are the seven bowls of God’s wrath. I wanted to say a little more about this idea of “Armageddon.” It’s one that, of course, we hear about a great deal. Perhaps, there is not a lot of truth about many of the things that we hear. Let me make a few comments about this.
Various Thoughts and Teachings About Armageddon
What I’d like to do is examine several of the various popular thoughts and teachings about Armageddon. We certainly won’t cover them all, because there are a myriad of them. There, indeed, is a wide variation to this battle and the way this is interpreted.
This is depicted in the Scriptures as a battle between the forces of Satan and the forces of the Messiah—the forces of good against the forces of evil. But, it’s in the details of how it is described and how it is thought of that these popular thoughts and teachings spring up.
First of all, there are those who think of it as a battle between two groups, or nations, which exist today. Those individuals with that point of view endeavor to identify those nations. It is a view that has been around for a long time, and because of that, the nations have been identified, and then re-identified and continue to be identified.
There’s a second view, that Armageddon is interpreted as “the last great battle” during the so-called “Rapture,” immediately preceding the establishment of the “millennial Kingdom of Christ,” as He will reign upon the earth. And the wicked nations, led by the anti-Christ, will come up against the city of Jerusalem, and Christ, with His saints, will suddenly come down and rescue the Jews. According to this view, this battle will literally take place at the site of the Meggedo in Palestine.
A third popular view is referred to as the “Continuous Historical School.” That sees the book of Revelation as a gradual unfolding of the church, or, the pattern of church history. Armageddon is interpreted as being a struggle between the Roman Catholic church and the faithful of the Lord, in which the Roman Catholic church will be completely overthrown. Therefore, this battle would be a future battle. Preterits hold that this is the symbolic representation of the struggle between paganism and the Gospel of Christ, which was fulfilled when Christianity conquered at the time of Constantine and the heathen began to be converted en masse to Christianity. According to this view, therefore, it has nothing to do with the end, but has already been fulfilled.
Others hold that this is a symbolic battle having nothing to do with any kind of temporal warfare. It represents the struggle between all the hosts of wickedness and the Son of God. The context in which this passage occurs would indicate that this IS the final and decisive battle between God and His Messiah and Satan and his angels. Whatever may have been the struggles that have taken place through the ages, this is kind of a climaxing struggle. The dragon, the beast, the false prophet, those who wear the mark of the beast, the harlot of Babylon, all of these are described in the book of Revelation as the enemies of God, as the enemies of Christ. They are the forces of evil. They are aligned against God, His Messiah and those who are His people—His followers.
The message of the battle of Armageddon is that, in the end good will prevail; good will overcome evil; Christ and those aligned with Him will be triumphant in the end. That is the message here of the imagery regarding the battle of Armageddon.