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.