Revelation 15-16 (7 Bowls & Armageddon) Part 2

Introduction

English Standard Version Chapter 16

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 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 demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The Seventh Bowl

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into 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, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

This week we pickup where we left off in Revelation chapters 15-16. This is part two of our look at the 7 bowls, or 7 plagues. This week we’ll also look at what’s often referred to as the Battle of Armageddon described as part of the 7th plague. In our last time, we left off looking at the 3rd plague, so this week we’ll look at plagues 4-7.

If you’ll recall, these 7 bowl judgments depict the final judgment sequence against Jerusalem. All three judgment sequences, the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets, and the 7 bowls illustrate a progressive intensification of judgment against apostate Israel, this is why the judgment sequences often parallel on another. We also noted that many of the plagues that befall Jerusalem here parallel the 10 plagues that were inflicted against Egypt in the Exodus story. Many of these plagues also parallel the curses described in the Book of Deuteronomy, plagues threatened against Israel if they broke the old covenant.

And these plagues, specifically, will mark the completion of God’s judgment against the covenant breakers, here the wrath of God was finished in AD 70. And it’s important that we also understand that these judgments marked the end of the old covenant. While the last supper with Jesus and his disciples marked the beginning of the new covenant, so the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple marked the end of the old covenant. The old covenant was brought to an end at the coming of Christ.

Modern Israel

Understanding this also helps inform our perspective of current events, even now. Over the last week, war erupted in the Middle East. The Palestinian terrorist group known as Hamas made a calculated attack against Israeli citizens last weekend which resulted in the Prime Minister of Israel declaring war against them. While Israel is an ally of the United States and has every right to defend itself as a sovereign nation, we must be careful how we frame our perspective, as Christians, of the modern state of Israel. Israel is an ally of the United States, therefore it would certainly be fitting and appropriate for our nation to consider supporting and even coming to their defense, one way or another.

However, it’s common within popular eschatology to view the modern state of Israel as though they remained God’s chosen people, as though the old covenant were still in effect, or that we should look forward to the reestablishment of the old covenant. That we should expect and look forward to the rebuilding of a third Temple and the reinstitution of sacrifices. But this flies in the face of Christ and his once for all sacrifice. In fact, the writer of Hebrews would have been appalled at such a notion, since the book of Hebrews is all about the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice and that Christians should not return to Temple worship.

While the old covenant served a good purpose, to point ahead to Christ, Hebrews describes the old covenant as “types and shadows of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities.” That “it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, they would not have ceased to be offered.” That “they serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.”

And my point here is that for the Christian to look for the reestablishment of the old covenant would be an offense to the ministry of Christ. What we read in John’s Apocalypse is not a description of events still in our future, but of events of the first century that chronicle the end of the old covenant as the old covenant curses are poured out on the covenant breakers. And that this was necessary in order that the true Israel of God might be revealed from heaven, the church. And you see, the church isn’t a replacement but a fulfillment of OT prophecy. That Christ and the church have been the trajectory of redemptive history all along.

So, let us be careful how we think of the modern state of Israel, those who refer to themselves as Jews need the Gospel as much as our Gentile neighbors. It’s not ethnic Israel who are the chosen people of God, but the church, or has the Apostle Peter put it in 1 Peter 2:9, when writing to the church, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

You see, as the earthly Temple in Jerusalem was removed another took its place, the church, the temple of the living God. Just as the Spirit of God had filled the tabernacle and the Temple of the old testament, so now the Spirit of God filled the church on the Day of Pentecost. This is why Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 23:38, just before he predicted the destruction of the Temple, “See, your house is left to you desolate.”

4th angel, people scorched by the sun

With that, let’s pick up there in verse 8 of chapter 16 and look at the 4th bowl of wrath.

English Standard Version Chapter 16

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

Like most of the imagery in John’s Apocalypse we have to survey the rest of Scripture in order to draw out the meaning and significance of imagery like this.

Typically, Scripture describes God as shielding his people from the scorching heat of the sun. For instance, we read in Psalm 121:5-6, “The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.” Isaiah 49:10 says, when describing Israel’s future restoration, “they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.” And probably more familiar to us, Jeremiah 17:7-8, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Then we see an even more vivid contrast between the scorching heat described here in the 4th plague and the blessing associated with the 144,000 back in chapter 7, so turn with me to Revelation 7:15-17, and read with me how the angel describes the Christians who were protected from these judgments. I’ll start in verse 14,

English Standard Version Chapter 7

“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15  “Therefore they are before the throne of God,

and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

16  They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

the sun shall not strike them,

nor any scorching heat.

17  For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

The idea here is that one group receives a covenantal blessing while the other receives a covenantal curse. Listen to one of the covenant curses from Deuteronomy 28:22,

Deuteronomy 28:22 ESV

The Lord will strike you with wasting disease and with fever, inflammation and fiery heat, and with drought and with blight and with mildew. They shall pursue you until you perish.

John’s point here is that the covenant curses are being executed against the covenant breakers. Yet, John writes that they did not repent, but that “they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues.” It’s a reminder of just how hard the hearts of unregenerate men are, just like Pharoah in Egypt who hardened his heart over and over again despite the progressive intensification of the plagues.

Many wrongly think that man’s heart is neutral in matters of morality, that we have the moral capacity to choose either the good or evil, and that it’s merely our circumstances that cause us to sin (this is the fundamental belief of Marxism, and it’s what drives much of our nation’s policy making today), but the Scripture teach us that our hearts are desperately sick and that man is dead in his sins and trespasses, changing man’s circumstances will never remedy his sin. Man’s natural disposition toward God is hostility, and his natural disposition toward the Gospel is resistance. The truth is, natural man loves his sin, no matter how much he may attempt to fool others by painting his sin with virtue.

Therefore, God is viewed as a threat toward his love for sin, and the Gospel becomes a reminder of the consequences of it, death. If man is ever to repent of his sin, God must change man’s heart. This is why the Bible describes God as granting repentance, and faith as a gift of God. Natural man’s desire for sin binds his affections, natural man is in bondage to his sin, in fact, he’s a willing slave to it. Therefore, we see here that not even the severest of punishments leads men to repentance. As one theologian put it, “if pain could bring repentance, then Hell would be filled with the penitent.” It is therefore only the grace of God that brings men to Christ and grants them repentance. While God would be just to leave us in our sin, he has provided us a way of escape, forgiveness in Christ if we turn from our sin and turn to God. Therefore, let us pray that God would soften our hearts, that we would not harden our hearts, but turn and follow Christ.

5th angel, beast’s kingdom plunged into darkness

Then John describes the 5th bowl in verse 10,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

While the focus of this book is God’s judgment upon Jerusalem, the Roman Empire lingers in the background, making an appearance from time to time. Rome was depicted back in chapter 13 as a beast rising out of the sea, with even a cryptic reference to the Emperor Nero using the cryptogram 666, we’ll also see Rome in chapter 17, again, depicted as a beast with a great prostitute, who is Jerusalem, seated on him. And eventually Rome is pictured turning on Jerusalem and destroying her, just as they did in the Jewish-Roman War in AD 70, but ultimately John will described both of them as being thrown into the lake of fire in chapter 20.

Roman Empire civil war

And so it appears here in chapter 16, in the 5th plague, that the Roman Empire, or the kingdom of the beast, is plunged into darkness. One of the reasons I think John is referring primarily to Rome is because Jerusalem is described later in verse 13 as the false prophet alongside the dragon and the beast. Don’t forget, Jerusalem was described, at first, as a beast that rose out of the Land in chapter 13, then in the chapters that follow as the false prophet and the harlot Babylon. These three images are meant to paint a comprehensive picture of Israel, as a dangerous beast, yet also a false prophet and harlot in her relationship to God.

We must also realize that the judgment carried out against Rome would inherently impact Jerusalem. If you recall, back in chapter 13, the beast that rose out of the Land exercised all the authority of the first beast in its presence. In other words, Jerusalem was yoked to Rome because she depended upon Rome, therefore, as Rome went so went Jerusalem. What impacted Rome impacted Jerusalem. In fact, conversely, we see there in verse 11 that the Roman Empire wasn’t left unaffected by God’s judgment against Israel, John writes that they “cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores,” in other words the effects of the 4th plague, earlier, didn’t leave Rome untouched. The Roman Empire is also described here as cursing God for their pain and sores.

While John’s emphasis in Revelation is Jerusalem and her apostasy, the scope isn’t limited to Jerusalem. Which is why, again, we’ll see both the beast and the false prophet thrown into the lake of fire in chapter 20. Spiritually speaking, both Jerusalem and Rome were overthrown shortly after Christ ascended to take his throne in heaven. We’re meant to see that these spiritual events had tangible consequences on the earth.

Therefore, we also see depicted here God’s judgment against the Roman Empire, a time when the kingdom was thrown into darkness, likely describing the events of Nero’s suicide in AD 68, and the year of the four emperors that followed when the entire Empire erupted into civil war. In fact, during that time the Temple of Jupiter, the most important temple in ancient Rome, built on one of the famous 7 hills of the city, was destroyed, just as the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed a short time later in AD 70. It was undoubtedly one of the darkest times in history when two of the most hallowed shrines of the ancient world fell within the span of a single year.

Tacitus

And before we move on I want to read you an excerpt from the famous Roman historian Tacitus who lived through these events, describing the year of the four emperors and the ensuing Roman civil war like this,

The Days of Vengeance The Last Three Chalices: It Is Finished! (Rev. 16:10-21)

"Close by the fighting stood the people of Rome like the audience at a show, cheering and clapping this side or that in turns as if this were a mock battle in the arena. Whenever one side gave way, men would hide in shops or take refuge in some great house. They were then dragged out and killed at the instance of the mob, who gained most of the loot, for the soldiers were bent on bloodshed and massacre, and the booty fell to the crowd.

"The whole city presented a frightful caricature of its normal self: fighting and casualties at one point, baths and restaurants at another, here the spilling of blood and the litter of dead bodies, close by prostitutes and their like - all the vice associated with a life of idleness and pleasure, all the dreadful deeds typical of a pitiless sack. These were so intimately linked that an observer would have thought Rome in the grip of a simultaneous orgy of violence and dissipation. There had indeed been times in the past when armies had fought inside the city, twice when Lucius Sulla gained control, and once under Cinna. No less cruelty had been displayed then, but now there was a brutish indifference, and not even a momentary interruption in the pursuit of pleasure. As if this were one more entertainment in the festive season, they gloated over horrors and profited by them, careless which side won and glorying in the calamities of the state."20

20. Tacitus, The Histories, iii.83: trans. Kenneth Wellesley (New York: Penguin Books, 1964, 1975), pp. 197f.

6th bowl, Euphrates dried up

Then John describes the 6th bowl starting there in verse 12, it’s at this point Armageddon is mention,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 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 demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

Simply put, the imagery here is meant to describe the invasion of an army against Jerusalem, an army that would come from the north near the Euphrates River. And what we must understand is that the Euphrates River was at Israel’s northern frontier, from which, historically, Israel’s enemies had invaded. This was the direction from which the Assyrian and Babylonian armies had come, so imagine looking off in the distance in the direction that had historically been where your enemies had come, always wondering if an invading army might one day come into view over the horizon.

Therefore, when John says that, “the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east,” the imagery would have have struck fear into the hearts of the Jewish reader, almost like PTSD, all of their memories of the kings from the east marching on Israel to kill and take them captive, all over again, but this time it would be at the hands of the Romans.

And while the Roman army didn’t have to dry up the Euphrates River to invade Israel, the imagery undoubtedly would have compounded their fears. You see, while in Babylonian captivity, the Persian Army lead by Cyrus invaded the city of Babylon from the north by diverting the Euphrates River, effectively drying it up, and marching into Babylon by surprise by the dry riverbed that entered the city.

As most of us are aware, the imagery of water drying up had historically been a symbol of deliverance. We all remember Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea from the Egyptian army, when Israel escaped Pharaoh's grasp as God split the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to pass, while drowning Egypt’s army behind them. Or when God dried up the Jordan River in Joshua’s day for the people of Israel to cross over into the promised land at the birth of the Jewish nation. But now, rather than a sign of deliverance, the drying of the Euphrates signified Jerusalem’s final destruction.

And so the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, wrote that the Roman general, Titus, brought thousands of Roman reinforcements to the siege of Jerusalem from the region of the Euphrates. And what’s described here in the 6th bowl is precisely what we’ll see described again in the next chapter (chapter 17), when the beast of Rome, where Jerusalem is seated, turns on her. John writes in Revelation 17:16 that “the beast will hate the prostitute” making “her desolate and naked,” and devouring “her flesh and [burning] her with fire.”

Unclean spirits assemble the kings for battle

Then John describes something peculiar beginning in verse 13,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

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 demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

On the face of it, this text seems strange, but here’s what I believe John’s point is. In one sense Satan is behind this activity, he gives his authority to the beast and to the false prophet, to Rome and to Jerusalem, to destroy the church. This is why the church was persecuted so severely in the first century by both Rome and Jerusalem. However, this demonic activity isn’t beyond God’s sovereign purposes, ultimately they serve him. Therefore, rather than destroying the church the two beasts turn on one another. History tells us that it was the Jewish Revolt in AD 66 that eventually incited the Roman’s to attack Jerusalem and burn its temple to the ground.

In other words, the idea here is that these lying spirits, these demonic spirits who are performing signs, ultimately incite the kings of the whole world to assemble against Jerusalem, resulting in its destruction. It as if these demonic spirits can’t help themselves, and therefore play into God’s hand. The unity between the Dragon, the Beast, and False Prophet is broken, resulting in God’s intention to preserve the church and judge both the Rome and Jerusalem. As always the devil overplays his hand, just as he did when he killed the the Son of God. And so John writes that the kings of the whole world are assembled for battle on the great day of God the Almighty, and in verse 16 that “they assembled themselves at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”

Armageddon or Mt. Meggido

Now, for many, today, this so called “Battle of Armageddon” has become synonymous with WWIII, but that’s obviously not what John has in mind here. He’s referring to the great tribulation of the first century. However, there is historical significance behind the word Armageddon, which is spelled literally Har-Magedon, meaning Mountain of Meggido.

Now for that to mean anything to us we have to understand both the history and geography of Israel. First of all, there is no such place in the ancient world, or Isreal, specifically called Armageddon. However, there is a place in northern Israel called the Plain of Megiddo, and Jerusalem sits on top of a mountain. Therefore, many commentators suspect that John is combining these two locations in order to make a point about Jerusalem.

When you survey the OT you’ll see that the Plain of Meggido is mentioned several times throughout the books of Joshua, Judges, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Zechariah. However, for most of us the Plain of Megiddo is probably relatively obscure, so I’ll mention a few of the events associated with it briefly.

One of the first times that Megiddo is mentioned is in Judges when Deborah and Barak achieve victory and defeat the kings of Canaan. The next time is in 2 Kings 9 when the grandson of Ahab, King Ahaziah of Judah, died there. Then later in 2 Chronicles 35, and probably the most significant account, when king Josiah fought against Neco, the king of Egypt, deliberately defying of the word of God, and was mortally wounded there in the Plain of Meggido (2 Chron. 35:20-25). And at the time the prophet Jeremiah uttered a lament for Josiah, and we’re told that Josiah’s death was lamented by the Jews for more than a hundred years, even after their captivity in Babylon when Ezra was involved in rebuilding the City of Jerusalem.

The point here is that the Plain of Megiddo was eventually thought of as a place of impending doom or catastrophic defeat for Israel, and reason for mourning. In fact, the prophet Zechariah makes this point when he used the mourning typically associated with Megiddo to describe God’s mourning over Jerusalem for her people’s unfaithfulness. We read in Zechariah 12:10-12,

English Standard Version Chapter 12

10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, each family by itself

Therefore, the term Armageddon, or Mount Meggido, likely refers to the impending catastrophe that was about to befall Jerusalem, that it had become a Mountain of Megiddo, imagery meant to embody defeat and desolation, a place where those who set themselves up against God would meet their end. Jerusalem had become an Armageddon, a Mount Megiddo, a place of destruction for it disobedience.

7th angel, city split into three parts

And finally we wrap up by looking at the 7th and final bowl, continuing there in verse 17,

English Standard Version Chapter 16

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into 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, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

It’s at this point the destruction of Jerusalem had come, signified by the apocalyptic imagery of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and an unprecedented earthquake. In fact, when John says there in verse 19 that, “the great city was split into three parts” he’s making a reference to the prophet Ezekiel when the prophet was instructed to dramatize the coming destruction of Jerusalem that took place in 586 BC. To shave his beard, and to divide it equally into three parts. He was instructed to burn of third of it with fire, to strike a third of it with the sword, and to scatter a third of it to the wind, symbolizing the coming slaughter of the city’s inhabitants. So, when John uses the same language that Ezekiel used to describe the coming destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC we’re supposed get the hint!

And if that weren’t uncanny enough, Josephus tells us that when Jerusalem was under siege by the Romans that inside the city were three Jewish factions fighting against one another. In fact, we’re told that the Titus likely took the city much faster because of the internal conflict, that the infighting lead to the city being taken much sooner.

Hailstones

Then finally in verse 21 John connects the 7th plague with the Egyptian plagues yet again, highlighting again how the Egyptian plagues had been turned against the Jews, he writes, “And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.” In fact, as we close this morning I want to leave you with more remarkable correlation between the descriptions here in Revelation and the historical account provided by the Jewish historian, Josephus. He describes white stones that were catapulted by the Roman army into the city, stones weighing approximately 100 pounds, or one talent,

The Days of Vengeance The Last Three Chalices: It Is Finished! (Rev. 16:10-21)

"The stone missiles weighed a talent and traveled two furlongs or more, and their impact not only on those who were hit first, but also on those behind them, was enormous. At first the Jews kept watch for the stone-for it was white-and its approach was intimated to the eye by its shining surface as well as to the ear by its whizzing sound. Watchmen posted on the towers gave the warnings whenever the engine was fired and the stone came hurtling toward them, shouting in their native tongue: 'The Son is coming!' Those in the line of fire made way and fell prone, a precaution that resulted in the stone's passing harmlessly through and falling in their rear. To frustrate this, it occurred to the Romans to blacken the stones so that they could not be seen so easily beforehand; then they hit their target and destroyed many with a single shot."

Prayer