Revelation 16
“In the previous chapter, John saw the seven angels having the seven last plagues wherein the wrath of God is complete (Rev. 15:1). He was also shown those who had overcome the Beast and had refused to worship him or take his mark. These were undoubtedly martyred, filling up the cup of God’s wrath even further. The angels have been given the seven bowls of the wrath of God.
Now the scene depicts the actual pouring forth of the seven bowls upon the earth below. As each bowl is poured out, those on the earth receive a plague. Since the wrath of God is complete in these seven bowls, they span the remainder of the Tribulation period up until its end, when Christ returns and overthrows the enemies of God in the Campaign of Armageddon. Even though this chapter concludes with the pouring forth of the seventh bowl, at which the work of God’s wrath is complete, John’s vision will not be complete. For three more chapters (Rv 17, 18, and 19) remain within which John is shown details attending the judgments associated with these bowls culminating in the Second Coming of Christ and the binding of Satan prior to the Millennial Kingdom.” (Garland’s Commentary)
1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Great: the word “great” appears 11 times in this chapter, making it known as the “Great Chapter” of the Bible.
Go: seems to be in a rapid sequence, or all at once, here at the end of the Tribulation. Done at various point on the Earth probably. Vials – most refer to these as the ‘bowl judgments’, but the word ‘bowl’ or ‘bowls’ does not show up anywhere in the book of Revelation. The NIV uses the term bowl. The correct term is ‘vial judgments’. They are most ‘vile’ indeed.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Sore: This is similar to the 6th Egyptian plague. Job had this come upon him, which was designed by Satan to finally do him in: Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin , yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. This series of judgements starts out with possibly the worst for man, sores over his whole body. These were ulcerations and boils (ever had just one?!). God knows how to get mortal humans’ attention; attack their physical health.
Only fell on the AntiChrist worshippers (most of the world’s population); those that had the mark and worshipped the image were one in the same.
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
Blood: this has happened before at the 2nd Trumpet judgement (Rv 8:8) with a third part of the sea turning to blood. This time it all becomes blood (i.e. salt water). Dead men’s blood gets thick and gel-like (clots). Every living creature died; just think of the stench of all these sea creatures! and the congealed blood! Do sea creatures have souls? Sea travel is basically finished. I’m not sure how this affects our Eco system as a whole, but surely the atmosphere would change some with all this water vapor changing to a nasty bloody vapor! *If the Environmental Wackos were upset with the USS Valdeiz oil tanker spill, just think what this will do?! How apprapo’!
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
This is a repeat of the 1st Egyptian plague. This completes off what Rv 8:11’s judgement did, where a third part was affected. Here it is all of the rivers (both above and under ground). So, there is basically no more water on earth that hasn’t been turned to blood. How will people survive? Are we at the very last week or two here? Do they find a way to in mass purify bloodied water in order to get pure water? Doubtful. All sewage systems basically will shut down. Every one’s house water supply will stop. Toilets won’t flush anymore. No showers. What a mess!
Oh how the RCC has shed the blood of saints over the ‘Dark Ages’! I wonder if the people will actually try and drink the blood? Maybe they will be able to get enough water to stay alive, but then oh how awful tasting! And, most of it will be clotting and congealing!
This judgement must have really been bothersome, for the angel was quite impressed by it. Satanism involves the drinking of blood; just what the AntiChrist followers are…Satanists.
*There is this great fascination with Vampires these days on tv and in movies. Maybe this ‘movement’ gains more in popularity till it becomes in vogue to ‘pretend’ to be a vampire and try and get blood from people. Nonetheless, God will appropriately judge them with an ample supply of blood to drink!
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Sun: In Rv 8:12 the sun is turned way down (a third), but here way up. The flames increased on its surface which probably increased earth’s temperatures up to even 120 – 130 degrees F. And possibly this angel has actual fire come forth to scorch them (from the angel or the sky; but, most likely it is in reference to the sun). Just a taste of how it will be for them soon in Hell. Rev 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. It may be that there will be some saints on the earth at this point. Now they will have a legitimate reason for concern with Global Warming!
Blasphemed: the people of earth knew very well where these judgements were coming from. They chose to blaspheme rather than repent and give Him glory; all of them! Won’t any of them at this point give God the glory and get saved?! It is amazing the spirit of mankind today in which they will have so many reasons to repent and believe in the God of the Bible, but yet they still refuse. Don’t be surprised dear Baptist when America is judged time and time again and yet the people don’t turn to the Lord. But, let that not be true for we Christians! May we ‘repent’.
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Seat: this is probably the throne in the Temple in Jerusalem. This is where he has been ruling from, as god, for at least a year or 2.
Darkness: This is similar to the 9th Egyptian plague. The men of earth probably initially rejoiced when the scortching sun’s rays went totally away. But oh were they wrong about rejoicing. Darkness always represents one’s utterly lost and hopeless state. Could have been over the whole earth. It was so dark that people were loosing their minds and gnawing on their tongues…terror. It was all adding up and they continued to yell at God and not repent; they knew that they they were suppose to repent. Oh how Satan’s current kingdom here on earth is full of darkness; people are gnawing their tongues because of spiritual pain but don’t even know it!
They have sores all over their body, only blood to drink, scorched skin, and now gnawingly gruesome darkness. Still no repentance. It might very well be that if they won’t repent from all this then there will be no repentance in Hell; they will acknowledge Jesus as Lord but their heart will never change. Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still:
*What will it take you to repent???! Are you too far gone to repent?!
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Euphrates: This river is 1800 miles long and 900 to 3600 ft wide and up to 30 ft deep. In Rv 9:14 it speaks of the 4 angels that were bound in this river which then led 200 million demonic creatures to torture and kill a third of mankind. Verse 12 is in the future some and this is a separate judgement. However, it is interesting that both judgments are the sixth in their series of seven.
Kings: these would come from China and Africa and probably many other lands to battle in the holy land, in accordance with God’s great plan; culminating here with Armageddon. Will America be one of these?! Will Obama, or one of his cronies, be king at this time?!! The Euphrates was originally on the border of the land of Israel. It also was near the ancient city of Babylon. It could be that Babylon rise again and is kind of a headquarters for the beast as he prepares to enter the holy land. God dried up the Jordan for Israel to cross into her inheritance, the Promised Land (Jos. 3:15-17; 4:22); Now He dries up the Euphrates to gather the kings into His inheritance, for which they will be judged (Ps. 79:1) (Garland’s).
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come 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 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Frogs: these are literal unclean angelic spirits, devils. And they resemble hideous frogs (E.T.?). “Their comparison with frogs alludes to their uncleanness, being aquatic animals lacking scales (Lev.11:9-12; Deu. 14:9-10); They also recall the plague of frogs in Egypt (Ex. 8:2-13)” (Garland’s). The dragon is Satan himself; this is odd for him to have a spirit come out of him. It may be that they are ordering from their mouths that 3 devils go and do this evil. “The three spirits correspond to the three personages of the “antitrinity”: the dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet; All three work together with a unified goal of drawing the nations to battle” (Garland’s). Again, what does ‘spirits of devils’ mean? Aren’t devils soley spirit beings; I do not believe that they have any other part to them other than ‘spirit’.
Miracles: signs and wonders can, and will, be used to deceive people, leaders, to follow the Devil and his plans. The leaders of our Earth are even now being influenced by lying spirits. Armageddon is soon to be fought and Christ will return at the end of it to destroy evil.
*Realize that devils can, and do, perform real miracles…don’t be deceived by them as we approach the end!
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
The end of the Tribulation involves this battle of ‘that great day of God Almighty’…at Armageddon (14). The beginning of the ‘Day of the Lord’ comes as a thief (i.e. the Rapture).
2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 1 Thess 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
This may be like a parenthetical statement to alert the reader to the importance of keeping pure and always being ready for meeting your Saviour.
Rev 3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
It will be shameful if you are a carnal Christian when you stand before Christ…your personal righteousness acts as a garment. It may be that that shame is attached with you for all of eternity! Are you appropriately dressed?! Don’t walk around naked and everyone then see-eth your shame!
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
These devils gather the “kings of the world” (vs. 14) into a place called Armageddon (God instructed them to do this); the valley of Megiddo; the Jezreel valley. “Since there is no specific mountain by that name, and Har (Harmagedon) can refer to hill country, it is probably a reference to the hill country surrounding the Plain of Megiddo, some sixty miles north of Jerusalem” (Strong’s).
This valley is of immense strategic importance because it forms a natural highway from the Mediterranean coast to the Jordan valley. It is located in Northern Israel. It is between 15 and 20 miles wide and runs about 35 miles (some say 200 miles). There have been over 200 battles fought here in history. The battle here probably was a campaign of battles, vice one single one. It may be that the carnage at the end of chapter 14 is not the same as this battle. Rev 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. One main reason is how the text flows with many conjunctive ‘ands’ being used (see chp 15, etc). It shows a chronological flow. Also, verse 20 shows it to be right outside the city (Jerusalem), whereas Armageddon is a long ways from Jerusalem, or any other prominent city.
17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
It is done – What is done? The wrath of God during this 7 year period is finally done! Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. I don’t believe that at this very moment in time that the Tribulation has ended, but just that the 7th judgment (the last one) is being released and thus the pouring out of judgments is now done…but this last judgment still lingers on.
Were all 7 of these vials poured out one after another? Were they spaced out by 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, months?
Earthquake – this is a worldwide one! Terror everywhere. Jesus taught that earthquakes were an indicator of “the beginning of sorrows” (Mtt. 24:8). A tremendous earthquake results from the opening of the sixth seal, attended by cosmic signs (Rev. 6:12). There was an earthquake after the seventh seal, but before the first trumpet, when the angel of the altar took the censer, filled it with fire, and threw it to the earth (Rev. 8:7-10). At the ascension of the two witnesses a great earthquake leveled one tenth of Jerusalem contributing to the conversion of those who remained alive (Rv. 1:13).
19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Great city – The Bible refers to ‘the great city’ as Jerusalem and Babylon. Here, I believe it to be Jerusalem; In Rev 11:8 Jerusalem is called the great city; the next to fall are the Gentile cities; and then finally the great city of Babylon. This earthquake is definitely world wide. “Babylon is to be completely destroyed , permanently uninhabitable, and become a prison for unclean spirits (Isa. 13:21-22; Rev. 18:2)” (Garland’s).
20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
The whole topography of the earth was changed from this great earthquake. The mountains blow their tops off and the islands do the same and get covered over from water. A gigantic reset button was pressed. The Millenium’s earth will look quite different than today’s. It appears that Jerusalem will be on top of a mountain (the mountain of God) and it will be the highest point on the planet.
21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
Talent – This is about 100 pounds! Boom! Boom! all over the place! Flattening down whatever rubble was left after the massive quake. In the early 1800’s there is claim that some hail stones sometimes weighed up to 12 pounds! If you through a 10 pound bowling ball off a skyscraper how would it sound if it hit the ground right next to you??!!
Blasphemed – this was the worst of them all. Earlier they blasphemed God from the sun scorching them with great heat; and then from their pains and sores; and now from the plague of the hail!!!! This was it for them. But, they still repented not!
*Why do Americans (and the rest of the world) today seem to be more against God than in the decades prior?! They are reacting to His judgement just like this; they blaspheme instead of repent.