The Bowl Judgements

We are going to try cover chapter 16 tonight which contains all seven of the bowl judgements

Review Questions:

QUESTION: Who sang the song of Moses in chapter 15?

The ones who refused to worship the beast

QUESTION: What did they say about God even though they lost their lives being faithful to Him?

Great and Marvelous are Your works

Righteous (just) and true are Your ways

What does just mean?

To be fair

INTRODUCTION

Here are the 7 bowl judgments that will come upon the people who follow the beast:

1) Lets talk about these judgements:

Here are the three main views:

Cyclical View. According to this view, the three sets of judgments repeat each other (are cyclical); the organization of the seals, trumpets, and bowls, with the second and third cycle repeating and elaborating the meaning of this first cycle. Thus we are at the end of human history at the end of each judgement cycle

Consecutive View. This view holds that judgments will follow in the order described in Revelation: first the seals, then the trumpets, then the bowls—in other words, Revelation is describing twenty-one separate events. Thus, chapters 6–16 in Revelation would be chronological.

Progressive Intensification View. The key to this view is understanding the results of the judgments. The seals destroy one-fourth of the earth; the trumpets destroy one-third; the p 70 bowls affect everything. The picture seems to be one of progressive intensity, with each of these sets of judgments ending in the same place—that is, the end of history.

After this study, my view on these judgements has changed somewhat. I think there will only be 7 judgements and Revelation presents them from different angels intensifying as the end comes.

My belief of the judgements:

The seal judgements begin with the antichrist on a white horse beginning the Tribulation period. The sixth seal gives the same description that Jesus gave and said it would happen after the Tribulation:

Matthew 24:29 ““But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

Revelation 6:12–13 “I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.”

The Trumpet judgements end the same way

Revelation 11:15 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.””

The bowl judgements end the same way

Revelation 16:17 “Then 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.””

Also the judgements intensify each time but are very similar:

Seal judgements affect 1/4 of the earth - Trumpet judgements: 1/3 earth burned up - bowl judgements: all the earth

trumpet judgements: 1/3 sea creatures died - bowl judgements all the sea creatures died

THE SEVEN BOWLS

1) Malignant (evil) Sores

Revelation 16:1–2 “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.”

The word translated “malignant” literally means evil. The idea is that they will be very painful and serious.

This plagues is not mentioned anywhere else in Revelation, but it was one of the plagues poured out upon Egypt (the plague of boils)

Another place we see this (or something similar to this is Job).

I have had a boil before, and it was one of the most painful sores I have ever had.

It was actually a staph infection that was raised up like a boils oozing blood and puss and caused pain.

2) Sea becomes Blood and everything in it dies

Revelation 16:3 “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.”

This plague again is similar to the trumpet plague.

Revelation 8:8–9 “The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.”

The point is that it has intensified

3) Fresh waters become Blood

Revelation 16:4–7 “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.””

Again like the previous judgement, this one also is an intensification of the third trumpet judgement

Revelation 8:10–11 “The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.”

“They deserve it”

This is said in response the killing and persecuting of Christians in those days.

And they are saying that they deserve what is being given to them.

God will repay the world for its evil and He is right to do so.

But we are also reminded here of God’s grace. You and I have done so much in our lives that we deserved His judgement as well. But in His kindness and love he wiped away the judgement we deserve simply by trusting Him with our lives.

And think about the most rotten person you know. One whom you would like to see scorched by the sun. AND THEY DESERVE IT!

But if they turned to Jesus and trusted in Him, God would completely forgive them and His wrath would no longer be waiting for them.

And that is the essence of the gospel. God took our punishment we deserve and put it on Jesus. And that gospel is applicable to everyone who accepts it and believes it.

4) Sun scorches people

Revelation 16:8–9 “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.”

Another plague using the sun.

In this judgement though the sun does not turn black, but gets close enough to the earth to scorch people.

It is a reminder that Jesus holds this world together, and there will come a day when He will let the world know that

“and they did not repent”

It is a picture of a heart that has been hardened and hardened until its numb to God

And this happens all the time today to people who come and hear of God’s grace and mercy, yet refuse to repent and their heart hardens a little more.

What was once serious is now something to laugh about and even smirk at. Hard hearts lead to judgement.

5) Darkness Covers the entire earth

Revelation 16:10–11 “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.”

This plague is similar to the fourth trumpet judgement but intensified:

The forth trumpet: Revelation 8:12 “The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.”

BUT, it says, “And they gnawed their tongues because of the pain…”

Now how can darkness cause pain?

It is possible that this a reference to judgement. The phrase “gnawed their tongues” is very similar to Jesus’ “weeping and gnashing of teeth”.

The idea is intense suffering which will come from judgement which is represented here by darkness

6) The Euphrates dries up

Revelation 16:12 “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.”

This judgement also parallels the sixth trumpet where the four angels at the Euphrates were released

Revelation 9:13–16 “Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.”

The horsemen here are replaced by kings from the East

The Euphrates drying up could be literal or symbolic.

I think it is probably symbolic because the river provided a natural boundary for armies.

As the river dries up it removes the natural boundary and allows armies to advance for the battle of Armageddon

BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

Revelation 16:13–16 “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; 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. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.”

Here is the final Holy War (The battle of Armageddon) which is known as the end-of-the-world battle.

It is the Satanic trinity who comes together with the kings of the world

Our of their mouths “spirit like frogs”

This is the message of deception spread all throughout the earth to gather together all those who worship the beast for this final battle.

A parenthetical warning from Jesus

“Behold I am coming like a thief, blessed is the one who stays away and keeps his clothes”

This is a call for spiritual vigilance!

It is a call to stay awake, to not become spiritually slothful

And it is linked to our heavenly reward.

That is what Jesus puts in view here to motivate faithfulness

7) A Great Final Earthquake followed by a hailstorm

Revelation 16:17–21 “Then 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.” 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. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 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.”

This is the final plague that brings history to a close

A Great Earthquake such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth=

Matthew 24:21 ““For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”

This is another piece of evidence that what Jesus taught was about a future Great Tribulation to come

Huge hailstones 100 pounds each

One person figured these stones would be 17.6” in diameter

The largest hailstone recorded in human history weighed 2.25 pounds and killed 92 people

Can we imagine what 100lb hailstones would do

Yet even despite this, those on earth blasphemed God

In other words, they blamed God rather than on their own sin

What a common trait found in human nature

I would like to say Christians never act this way, but we do

We sin, we reap the consequences of it, then we blame God or others rather than being honest with ourselves and acknowledging our wrong doing

OBSERVATIONS:

God has power over all of nature: the sun, moon, wind, temperature, disease, rain and drought.

God will and can use nature (Because He is Lord over creation) as a means to demonstrate to the world that He is God.

That is essentially what He is doing in these series of plagues.

Many of them could be considered natural phenomenons, but we should see behind that God’s Sovereignty.

Sometimes God does use natural events to get our attention and call us back to Him. We should not ignore circumstances.

On the other hand, we should not be terrified of nature, knowing that God controls it.

It is the nature of mankind to explain away things that we cannot explain rather than to ascribe them to God.

People explain natural phenomenons as all natural, but we must remember that God has all power over nature.

What will people say when this happens?

A result of global warming?

Too many cow farts?

Trump caused it?

How many will see God’s hand at work in nature?

QUESTION: Can you think of any times in your life when God has used nature or arranged circumstances to guide you?