REVELATION
CHAPTER 16, “The Outpouring Of The Seven Bowl Judgments”
By
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at
chapter 15, and we saw some events occur that lead up to the final seven, and
by far the most severe, judgments of the Tribulation to be poured out upon the
earth: the Bowl Judgments.
1.1.1.
John had a vision of heaven and saw another
sign in heaven, a great and marvelous one.
1.1.1.1.John saw seven
angels who had seven plagues which contain in them the full wrath of God to be
poured out upon the earth.
1.1.1.2.John then saw a sea
of glass that was mixed with fire on which those martyrs who have been
victorious over the Beast were standing and playing harps and singing a couple
of songs of worship.
1.1.1.3.Then, the seven
angels were given seven censors which were full of the wrath of God which is to
be poured out upon the earth, and which comprise God’s full wrath upon mankind
in rebellion against Him.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at
chapter 16 and the outpouring of the final 7 judgments upon the earth during
the 7 Year Tribulation, “The Bowl Judgments”.
2.
VS 16:1 - “16:1 And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to
the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the
earth.””
- John hears a loud voice from the
temple in heaven saying to the seven angels to pour out their bowls of the
wrath of God
2.1.
As we saw in our
previous study, chapter 15 was simply a
lead in to chapter 16 where the seven bowls of God’s wrath are finally poured
out upon the earth. These bowls contain the full unadulterated
wrath of God within them.
2.2.
This wrath of God to be poured out
in this chapter is designed only for
those who absolutely refuse to repent and come to God for mercy.
2.3.
Even in the midst of the Tribulation period we have seen the Lord
reaching out to the world not desiring for any to perish but all to come to
repentance, not wishing to rejoice in the
death of the wicked. However, because God is holy and just He must
also pour out His wrath upon sin and unrighteousness.
2.4.
Unlike man’s anger, God’s wrath is totally holy and pure and is deserved
by every single person who receives it. God’s
wrath is “righteous indignation” which is totally deserved.
2.5.
By the way, there is a type of anger which the Bible says that we may
have which is not sinful, and this is a “righteous” anger or indignation, and it is acceptable in the sight of God because this is the very thing that comes also from
the character of God.
2.6.
These judgments which shall come
upon the earth are those which God will
pour out upon those who are 100% deserving of them. Those
have rejected God, rejected His Son, rejected the many warnings sent by God,
and they have a conscience that is
seared as with a hot iron. Wrath
will come upon those upon the earth whom
God has given over to a reprobate mind.
These ones no longer have an
ability to hear God’s voice, they are completely blind to anything of spiritual value, and their mind
never even considers God and His ways.
2.7.
God is a gentleman, and He will not force any man or woman to repent. A person must choose to have God in his life,
for the Lord will not force anyone to love Him. God
could have created robots who bow mechanically and prostrate themselves
in worship before Him, however He
wanted to create people in His image with reasoning and intellect who will
choose to love and worship Him of their own free will. If
any of us goes to hell it shall be because we ourselves have resisted the Lord’s many promptings and warnings and
stubbornly chosen that destination for ourselves. God places before us a path of death and a
path of life. If we really insist upon
defying God and thereby experiencing His wrath upon our lives, then God will grant our wish. However, if we are only willing to humble ourselves before Him and allow the touch
of His love into our lives and receive His mercy and forgiveness, we can have
life for all of eternity, a life that is full, abundant, and
overflowing. The question is ours to answer:
What do we want, life or do we want wrath? Which shall you choose?
2.8.
We will see here
in this chapter concerning the last
bowl which is poured out that causes all of the nations to come to the battle
of Armegeddon, a most amazing thing happens. All
of the nations come together to this
2.9.
The word “Armageddon” found in this chapter actually means, “
2.10. The Psalms contain not only
beautiful songs of poetry within them, but they are also full of prophetic
utterings, especially concerning the last days. For instance:
2.10.1.Psalm 2 predicts this very
battle of Armegeddon,.“Why are the nations in an uproar, And the
peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The
kings of the earth take their stand, And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed:
3 “Let us tear their fetters apart, And cast away their cords from
us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens
laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then
He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury: 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon
2.10.2.We will see an earthquake
that is unprecedented in the history of the earth in the latter part of this
chapter, one that levels the cities of the earth, however,
2.10.3.Likewise, the Psalmist writes in Ps. 110:1-2 about how that the Lord shall rule from
2.11. In this verse, it
is evident that the ‘loud voice’ that comes from the ‘temple’
to the seven angels in order to get them to commence with pouring out their
bowls, has come from Christ Himself.
2.12. Because of the devastating
nature of these bowl judgments, it is reasonable to conclude a few things:
2.12.1.The bowl judgments must
occur in the second half of the 7 Year Tribulation, otherwise there would be no
life left upon the earth.
2.12.2.The 3 sets of 7 judgments,
the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments, must occur in sequence during the 7 Year
Tribulation just as they appear written in the book consecutively.
2.12.3.The bowl judgments of this
chapter occur fairly rapidly.
3.
VS 16:2 - “2 And the first angel went and poured out his bowl
into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who
had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.” - The first angel pours out the first bowl
judgment
3.1.
As I mentioned in
the previous chapter, the bowls
mentioned here in these judgments are actually not like vases, rather
the word that is used is the same word
that is used for an incense “censor”, so these are censors full
of His wrath.
3.2.
This first bowl of the wrath of God causes cancerous sores to break out
upon the ‘men who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image’. Those who are God’s people on the earth and who have
rejected the mark and the worship of the Beast are unaffected by this judgment.
3.3.
In light of this verse, it is interesting today that scientists are so
concerned about the breakdown of the ozone layer around the earth which prevents the dangerous rays of the sun from
beating down upon mankind. However, it could be that the Lord now allows this
ozone layer to become completely depleted, and this causes the outbreak
of skin cancers on mankind. However, it could be though that something in the way
in which the mark is transmitted to people was done in such that it caused
these cancerous lesions that won’t heal to break out on and around the mark
itself.
3.4.
In any case, these sores prove to be a very grievous
experience to those who have rejected God, and because of these sores
which will not go away the wicked
people upon the earth will blasphemy God.
4.
VS 16:3 - “3 And the second angel poured out his bowl into the
sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the
sea died.”
- The second angel pours out the second
bowl judgment
4.1.
This second bowl of the wrath of God is poured by the angel ‘into the
sea’, and this causes the sea to turn into ‘blood’, like the blood ‘of
a dead man’. This
causes ‘every living thing in the sea’ to die.
4.2.
The second trumpet judgment in chapter 8 caused 1/3rd of the
seas to turn into blood when a great mountain fell into the sea, however this
disaster causes everything in the seas to die. As I mentioned previously in
my study in the book of Revelation, the
trumpet judgments always affected 1/3rd of something upon the earth, however
these bowl judgments affect 100% of something upon the earth.
4.3.
This bowl
judgment produces total devastation of
the greatest source of food that is currently upon the earth at this time. The
tremendous drought of the first half of the Tribulation has caused the seas to
become absolutely critical in the food chain for mankind, however now that is completely destroyed.
4.4.
Ocean water is almost identical in composition to blood, and the only
thing that sea water is lacking
in becoming blood is the iron that
gives human blood its red color. Whatever
the Lord uses to trigger the turning of the oceans to blood is something that
chemically makes the seas to become red through an influx of iron, however this resultant chemical compound for the seas
is not like blood as we know it, but rather is like the decaying and lifeless
blood of a dead man.
5.
VS 16:4 - “4 And the third angel poured out his bowl into the
rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.” - The third angel pours out the third bowl
judgment
5.1.
Not only will the seas of the world be turned into blood by these bowl judgments, but in this third bowl
judgment, the fresh water ‘rivers’
and ‘springs’ will now also ‘become blood’ because of the
outpouring of the wrath of God.
5.2.
However, we will
see that though these fresh waters are
foul and polluted, they do not necessarily cause death when drunk from,
as the wicked people of the world will still have a water supply to drink
from. It may be that intensive and expensive water purification is performed
upon these fresh waters by people or the municipalities, and this then
provides most of the water needed for drinking.
6.
VS 16:5-7 - “5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying,
“Righteous art Thou, who art and who wast, O Holy One, because Thou didst judge
these things; 6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou
hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” 7 And I heard the altar
saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments.”” - John tells us that ‘the angel of the waters’
announces that these things were done to the waters because the blood of saints
and prophets had been poured out
6.1.
It is interesting what we learn about angels and their powers and
abilities in this book. In the book of Revelation we have seen an angel having power over fire,
four angels who are able to restrain the winds upon the earth, and here we have
an ‘angel of the waters’, or an angel who has power over the ‘waters’,
who turns them into blood.
6.2.
The angel which has power over the waters worships the Lord because of
His holy and righteous judgment seen in this third bowl judgment, as he recounts how that it is justly fitting that since the people of this world are culpable
for the shedding of the blood of the saints whom they have allowed to be martyred,
that God now causes them to have to drink this water that has been turned into
blood.
7.
VS 16:8-9 - “8 And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the
sun; and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched
with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over
these plagues; and they did not repent, so as to give Him glory.” - The fourth angel pours out the fourth bowl
judgment
7.1.
I mentioned much
earlier in our study, it is just
possible that in the execution of these bowl judgments upon the earth, that the
Lord causes our sun to go into a super-nova state which causes it to heat up
the earth a great amount. As I
mentioned earlier in this chapter, it could also be that the Lord causes the
ozone layer around the earth to be completely broken through, and that this
accounts for the tremendous heat upon the earth which shall burn and scorch
people on the earth. Isaiah wrote in Is. 30:26-28 about the fact
that the Lord would cause the earth to be seven times hotter than it normally
is when He finally judged the wicked nations of the world, “26 And
the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun
will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord
binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted. 27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a
remote place; Burning is His anger, and
dense is His smoke; His lips are filled
with indignation, And His tongue is like a consuming fire;And His breath is
like an overflowing torrent, 28 Which reaches to the neck, To shake the nations
back and forth in a sieve, And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle
which leads to ruin.”
7.2.
Interestingly, in 2002, the month of October I believe it was, there was
a big happening in the world of Astronomy that had to do with our sun. For the first time in history, there was a
major solar flare that occurred on both sides of the sun simultaneously. This immediately led to grave concerns that
our sun may be much older than had originally been thought or that its life
expectancy before it becomes a supernova might be much less than originally
thought. If anything like this occurs
again there will be massive concerns in the scientific community which may even
lead to panic world-wide. Even a small
change in our sun’s present functioning would cause incalculable problems upon
the earth and could easily make life as we know it unsustainable.
7.3.
This heating up of the earth caused by the sun will surely cause all of
the polar ice caps to melt as well as every glacier, and scientists estimate
that such an event would cause the oceans of the earth to rise approximately
200 feet.
However, this rise in the
sea will cause the destruction of a
huge number of the major cities of the earth, including: Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, New York City,
Los Angeles, Miami, Rio De Jeniero, London, etc.
7.4.
We see that with each of these judgments that are poured out upon mankind that causes them great suffering, that instead of repenting and turning to God for
the mercy that surely would come, they instead become only more angry with God,
as they blasphemy His Name.
8.
VS 16:10-11 - “10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the
throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their
tongues because of pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of
their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.” - The fifth angel pours out the fifth bowl
judgment
8.1.
This fifth bowl of the wrath of God appears to be directed only upon the
Beast Himself and the city where he dwells, which will be
8.2.
Since water is necessary in every type of manmade generation of
electricity and the water all over the earth has been turned into blood, this
will possibly cause manmade electricity production to be shut down.
8.3.
Up until now Satan has been able to copy or even reverse the miraculous working
of God, however now he is unable to remove the darkness that covers the Beast
and the False Prophet and the city of
8.4.
Not only has a darkness fallen upon the Beast and the False Prophet, but
some sort of a plague has fallen as well, for they ‘gnawed their tongues
because of pain’ caused by sores
which have also come upon them while this is occurring. Satan
is now powerless to heal them from this malady as well, and the Beast and the False Prophet also begin to
blasphemy the Name of the Lord along with the rest of the world, because
of their suffering.
8.5.
The gnawing of the tongue is done by people in mental institutions who have totally lost all contact with reality. It is really the sign of a person who has fully broken down mentally. This
is what these final plagues cause upon the people of this world.
9.
VS 14:12 - “12 And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the
great river, the
9.1.
When the sixth angel pours out His bowl full of the wrath of God, the
‘Euphrates’ river is ‘dried up’, and this happens so that the ‘kings from the east’
might be able to travel to
9.2.
The
9.3.
When the temperature of the sun is increased which melts all of the
world’s glaciers, the source of the
9.4.
Likewise, the
9.5.
John records that
this Euphrates river, which
forms an eastern boundary for the holy land, will be dried up so that the kings of the countries to the east such as
China, Japan, and India will be able to invade the holy land and themselves be
drawn to the valley of Megiddo for the outpouring of the final bowl of
the wrath of God.
9.6.
It is believed by many that 200 million people just from the Asian
nations will cross over this Euphrates river in order to invade the
10.
VS 16:13-14 - “13 And I saw 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, three
unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing
signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together
for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” - John tells us that he saw coming out of the
dragon, the beast, and the false prophets three unclean spirits like frogs
10.1. Here in these verses we again see demonic spirits who go into the world being directed by Satan,
however it is really God who is causing His will to be carried out through them.
10.2. Satan is pictured in verse
13 once again as the ‘dragon’, as
he was in chapter 12.
10.3. Out of the mouths of the
dragon (Satan), the Beast (Antichrist), and the false prophet (who was
originally introduced to us in chapter 13), come these three ‘spirits’ who are described by John as being ‘like frogs’
in appearance.
10.4. The job of these three
unclean spirits is to go out and gather the kings of the world together for the
battle of Armegeddon. This
battle John calls ‘the war of the great day of God’. This
day is truly “the day” of God’s judgment which is mentioned so
many times in the scriptures.
10.5. Some commentators have
suggested that the battle of Armegeddon actually begins as a squirmish between
nations, and then ends with the Second Coming of Christ, and at that point the
nations gathered there try to battle with the Lord Himself. Thus, these
three frog-like spirits may use deception to gather the nations to the battle
of Armageddon, redirecting their purpose at the last moment.
11.
VS 16:15 - “15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the
one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men
see his shame.”)” - Jesus
injects here a warning that He is coming like a thief
11.1. We have to ask ourselves
concerning this verse whether it is meant for the people of this world who are
currently alive today? Or, whether it is
intended as an exhortation to those who are alive at the time when these things
are occurring during the second half of
the seven year Tribulation period? Is God giving a challenge to those who have
refused the mark of the Beast to continue to hold out and fear God and His
judgment rather than man?
11.1.1.If some of the people of
this world get a hold of Bibles during the Tribulation period and they begin to
read the book of Revelation, they may well be challenged by this verse.
11.1.2.However, all men of all time
should be encouraged to walk as God wants them to walk, for He will come at a
time when people least think that He is coming. Therefore, as the 10 virgins, we must always be prepared
and have enough oil in our lamps that no matter at what hour the bridge
groom may come that we will be ready for Him.
12.
VS 16:16 - “16 And they gathered them together to the place which
in Hebrew is called HarMagedon.” - John tells
us that the three frog-like spirits gathered the armies of the world together
to the place called ‘HarMagedon’
12.1. The job of the three unclean
spirits who appeared to John to be like frogs in appearance is to gather all of
the nations who have rejected God to the valley that ‘in Hebrew is called
HarMagedon’.
12.2. This battle will take place
in the
13.
VS 16:17-19 - “17 And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the
air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is
done.” 18 And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and
there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be
upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 And the great
city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And
13.1. When the seventh angel pours
out the last bowl containing the wrath of God, it is accompanied as we might
expect with ‘flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder’, for
God’s terrible wrath against all that is sinful and ungodly is finally poured
out upon impenitent hardened men and
women. These people have been given every chance by God to repent,
however they have refused over and over again to do so.
13.2. Since the people have
refused to repent and turn to God while all of their normal lives they have
experienced the goodness of God in providence over them, in His mercy He has
poured out judgments upon them in hopes that in their suffering they will turn
to Him.
13.3. Sadly, now each and every
person on the earth who is not one of God’s people is utterly beyond ever being
reached by God. They
have all blasphemed the Holy Spirit, and God has turned them all over to a reprobate
mind.
13.4. At this point of the 7 Year
Tribulation period, all of the nations have converged upon
13.5. The Battle of Armegeddon is
actually interrupted by God as it is getting under way. Some scholars
have gone so far as to say that the battle actually never occurs, however this
is not true.
13.6. The first thing that happens
in this bowl judgment is that there is an earthquake that occurs that is
unprecedented in all of history. This earthquake occurs world wide, and it is of such intensity that all of the cities in the world fall down,
that is, with the exception of the city
of
13.7. After the earthquake, the
city of
13.8. In chapters 17 and 18 we
will talk about what
13.8.1.In the scripture, we see
that
13.8.2.We will look in the next
chapter at how that
13.9. Notice that is says here that
the Lord is going to give to
14.
VS 16:20 - “20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were
not found.”
- John tells us that the great
earthquake causes all of the islands and the mountains on earth to disappear
14.1. Here we see in this verse
further commentary upon the devastation of this killer earthquake that comes upon the earth. This
is a literal fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 40, a partial fulfillment which was
completed in the life of John the Baptist who came before Christ in the spirit
and power of Elijah as the forerunner of the Messiah. John the Baptist’s message and preaching
brought repentance and the coming together of people separated by sin, and thus
provided a partial fulfillment of this verse.
14.2. The earthquake that shall
come upon the earth will actually cause a leveling of the mountains of the
world as well as a filling up of the valleys that exist all over the world. We even see
that all of the islands in the ocean
will sink down and the land will rise up in the oceans covering the water. Thus,
the Millennial earth will be returned to is pre-deluvian state through
the restoration of God, including the
separation of the firmaments causing the water vapor canopy over the earth that
once existed (with no more rain necessary). The earth
will again become the lush garden that first was created. A
river will open up in Jerusalem initially as some under ground channel
will break open, and fresh clean water
will begin to flow out from there and begin the rejuvenation of all that was
destroyed by man as well as that accomplished by the wrath of God during
the Tribulation Period.
15.
VS 16:21 - “21 And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each,
*came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague
of the hail, because its plague *was extremely severe.” - John tells us that huge hailstones began to
fall from heaven upon men
15.1. The final outpouring of
God’s wrath occurs when 100 lb. hail stones fall down upon the people gathered
there in the
15.2. The hailstones themselves
form the wine press that squeezes the wine of the blood of the people of the
earth, out of them. This
blood then flows up to a height of about 4 feet, the height of a horse’s
bridle. I mentioned previously that the blood could be squeezed out of all of the
people gathered in the
15.2.1.JOKE: The battle of Armageddon could be a party
drink, one big grape crush on ice!
15.3. In the Old Testament the
punishment for blasphemy was stoning, and these people have all gathered
together blaspheming the Name of the Lord as they are seeking to do battle
against God, and God Himself carries out
the punishment of His judgment with a stoning of hail that takes the life of
all who are present.
15.4. Someone once said about this
judgment, “You can either hail Him as the King of Kings, or get hail “from”
Him as the King of Kings! It is your
choice...”
15.5. In Zechariah 14:1-16, we
read about the vision that Zechariah had of this same battle of Armageddon
occurring, “1 Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will
be divided among you. 2 For I will gather all the nations against
Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the
women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not
be cut off from the city. 3 Then the Lord
will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of
battle. 4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be
split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of
the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5
You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the
mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the
earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of
15.6. Likewise, in Zechariah
12:1-3, Zechariah saw into the future how that Jerusalem would be the focus of
the world’s attention in the last days and that she would be a burdensome stone
that none would be able to move, “1 The burden of the word of the
Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares
the Lord who stretches out the
heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within
him, 2 “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes
reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it
will also be against Judah. 3 “It will come about in that day that I
will make
15.6.1.Israel and Jerusalem occupy
such a very small piece of real estate on the globe, comparable to the size of
the state of New Jersey, however just think about how much of the world’s
attention is constantly being taken up with this one piece of land. Over 1/3rd of the discussions that
the U.N. has entered into since the U.N. was founded has centered around