Because of Eternity . . .

As you compare the bowl judgments with the judgments we have read about already, there are some similarities, yet there is a huge contrast between them. The major difference is that these bowl judgments are going to impact everything. These judgments will be very inclusive. God will be holding nothing back to use later. This is, indeed the fullness, or completeness, of God’s wrath.

In addition, as we look at these bowl judgments, we will notice that the first four judgments will be dealing with nature. We will see that when nature is the recipient of these judgments, humanity will also suffer severely.

Then, in the next message, we will see that the last three judgments deal specifically with humanity. All in all, this will probably take place in a very short period of time. Immediately after this, Christ will return, as seen in chapter 19. Chapters 17 and 18, which are coming up soon in our series on Revelation, describe in more detail the destruction of the political and religious rule of Babylon, which the Antichrist has led.

In view of eternity, we must be willing to give ourselves wholeheartedly to serve in Christ.

Choose Life Eternal.

Revelation 16:1–2 (NASB95)

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.

This loud voice which comes from the temple can only be the voice of God, since we know from the last verse in chapter 15, that no one else could be in the temple.

The first bowl judgment will affect only those who have the mark of the beast. This will involve only the unbelievers. Once again, the Bible reminds us that there are only two groups of people. One group consist of those who belong to Jesus Christ. The other group consist of those who do not trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior. They will find themselves in that unenviable position of being enemies of God.

This judgment has a close counterpart in the sixth plague found in Exodus 9. There we recall, all of those who were opposing Moses, found themselves afflicted by painful boils. Here in Revelation, we read and understand that God’s enemies will find themselves, once again, experiencing extremely painful sores. The words describing the sores are loathsome and malignant. Interestingly, they are two Greek words which are used to describe evil. When combined, they describe that which is festering, painful, and incurable. For those who reject Christ, this judgment is not even close to the eternal judgment of hell, . . . tormented with fire and brimstone . . .

Right now, it is sometimes difficult for us to discern who belongs to Christ, and those who do not belong to Christ. However, that is not our responsibility. Instead, we must remember that our responsibility is to bring as many people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, as we are able. Our responsibility is also to encourage those who are straying in their walk to turn back in obedience to Christ.

For everyone who is listening who does not know Jesus Christ as personal Savior, you must understand that there are only two alternatives; heaven or hell. The Bible tells us that, if we acknowledge Christ, he will acknowledge us before his Father. However, if you think that, by simply saying “Lord, Lord,“ and doing all kinds of religious activity, that’s all you need to do to get into heaven, you are incorrect in that assumption. The Bible tells us that Jesus response will be, “away for me. I never knew you.”

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, we must be willing to give ourselves wholeheartedly to serving Christ, in light of eternity.

Choose Living Water.

Revelation 16:3–7 (NASB95)

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. Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

The next two judgments are direct attacks upon the world’s water systems.

The second bowl judgment affects all of the seas. That covers about 70% of the earth. The Bible states that the sea water becomes like the blood of a dead person. Why is the adjective, dead, used? Because there will be no life at all within the seas. In fact, the Bible states that every living thing will die. This is a direct contrast to the picture which the Bible describes in Genesis 1.20-21: “Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” From the scene in Genesis which is brimming with life, to the picture in Revelation of bloody death. Can you imagine the horrible smell as a result of this? Plus, this will be a breeding ground for even more disease.

Henry Morris writes about this judgment: In this toxic ocean nothing can survive, and soon all the billions of fishes and marine mammals and marine reptiles and the innumerable varieties of marine invertebrates will perish, thus still further poisoning the oceans and contaminating the sea shores of the world. The oceans will have effectively completed their age-long function in the earth’s physical economy, and will die. As God had created every living soul in the waters (Genesis 1:21), so now every living soul died in the sea. (The Revelation Record [Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1983], 298)

The third bowl judgment is upon the rivers and waters. Remember, the second judgment was against the salt waters; this judgment deals with all of the fresh water supply. This also becomes blood. This is not just the Nile, as seen in Exodus. This is all the world’s fresh water rivers and lakes. We know that people must have water in order to survive. Drinking the sea water would be poisonous. Drinking bloody fresh water would be disgusting. We see here that God is cutting off the very source of survival upon this earth, showing the absolute helplessness of humanity. If humanity thought they could do just fine without God, we would think that their eyes would certainly be opened at this point.

The reason given for the water turning into blood is because these people who have rejected Christ and chosen to worship the Antichrist, have shed the innocent blood of Christians and prophets. Thus, they deserve to drink blood. This is all part of God‘s incredible judgment upon the unbelieving world. As one commentator states, “people must choose whether to drink the blood of saints, or to wear robes dipped in the blood of the lamb.“

It does not matter how many resources and abilities humanity may think it has, God is going to obliterate even the most basic of the necessities. This world and humanism has taught that humanity doesn’t need God; only themselves. However, these people will one day discover that, without Jesus Christ, the One Who is the Living Water, there is no hope.

The world today seems bent on persecuting the church. It has been this way ever since Pentecost, and will continue until the Lord raptures the church. It has been this way with the prophets, and all who would follow the Lord. Even during the tribulation time, those who choose to follow the Lord will undergo extreme persecution. The world’s philosophy has been to silence the messenger, hoping to kill the message. We know that the martyrs, the blood of all the saints of all the ages will, one day, be accounted for as the world will have nothing to drink, except water that has become blood. It is interesting to reread the short sentence: They deserve it. Humanity thinks they deserve all kinds of benefits just because of its entitlement philosophy. However, the Spirit of God makes it clear that on this earth at that time, this judgment is truly what humanity deserves, because of how they’ve treated God’s people.

We understand that even in our time upon this planet right now, it is going to become more and more difficult to serve Jesus in the days ahead. However, be encouraged to be faithful. Serve with all of your being. Be willing to commit your life to complete obedience to Christ, even to death. That is why I state: in view of eternity, we must be willing to give ourselves wholeheartedly to serve in Christ.

Choose to Avoid the Lukewarm.

Revelation 16:8–9 (NASB95)

The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. 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 last of the nature judgments is found in the fourth bowl judgment. This saucer or bowl is not poured out on the earth, but upon the sun. However, the results will be felt intensely on the earth. Instead of experiencing darkness, as was the case of the fourth trumpet judgment, those people who are left on earth will experience heat. This is so intense, the Bible says they will be “scorched with fire.“ This will truly be an inconvenient truth. This type of heat will cause astounding evaporation of the water. This is when one will truly see the polar ice caps melting. This will be true climate change. And it’s not caused by anything other than God’s judgment.

However, instead of repenting and turning to God, the people sadly choose to curse God. Even though they recognized that God was the One causing all of this, they refused to change their minds. They will love their sin and themselves and refuse to repent so as to give Him glory.

The picture we see is that the earth and all of nature is going to be falling apart all around them. Sadly, humanity will still worship the creation rather than the creator. It will not matter about different fundraisers which attempt to save the whale, endangered rats, trees, the ozone, and anything else which is part of God’s creation. Even today, if a minute portion of the money spent for this world, which is slowly decaying, and will one day be destroyed, would be spent for reaching souls for Christ, our world would have a whole different outlook. If all the churches around the world would give, raise money, and spend with an intense desire to reach the lost, as well as restore the wayward and strengthen the body of Christ, our churches would have an incredible impact. As it is now, I am afraid most of Christendom falls into the category of the lukewarm, which we read was a problem even during John’s time.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, we must be willing to give ourselves wholeheartedly to serving Christ. For many, you may wonder what else you could do. I am certain that I cannot give an answer. I believe this is more of a mindset, as well as a constant act of submission and obedience to God.

Complacency and a lackadaisical attitude are traps into which all of us can stumble. I believe it would benefit everyone of us, if we are serious about Kingdom Work, to make a conscious decision each morning to serve God wholeheartedly; in whatever form that may take, and in whatever location it may be. We could simply ask ourselves the question, “Am I willing to do whatever it takes to reach people for Christ? Am I willing to do whatever it takes to encourage my brothers and sisters in their growth and walk with Christ?“

Everything here on this planet is temporary. So in view of eternity, we must be willing to give ourselves wholeheartedly to serving Christ.