The Seven Bowls

Good morning friends - we are back in revelation - and right into the thick of it. Today we are going to read the seven bowls - which is the whole chapter of 16. So if you would like to remain seated, please do - however I invite those who are able to stand - as I’d like to read this whole passage for us.

Revelation 16 CSB

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image. The second poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead person, and all life in the sea died. The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. I heard the angel of the waters say, You are just, the Holy One, who is and who was, because you have passed judgment on these things. Because they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, you have given them blood to drink; they deserve it! I heard the altar say, Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire, and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works. The sixth 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. Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.” So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. Then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done!” There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger. Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.

Let’s pray - Go ahead and have a seat.

Welcome back into the world of Revelation. I mean - happy Mother’s day, right? Nothing like talking about God’s Wrath to get us ready for Mothers’ Day, yeah?

Revelation 16 is where we read of the SEven Bowls of God’s wrath pour out on the earth. And while we have a lot to get through - it’s worth stepping back for a moment and reorient ourselves to the literature we are reading again, and to reflect on the goal of the work.

Revelation was written to real Christians going through real hardship - who were in a toxic environment that was thick with Paganism and evil and exploitation, and many Christians were being tempted to give into the idolatry, to worship the emperor as god, to play with sin.

So John has a prophetic vision - and writes an apocalyptic letter to them as a pastor. Apocalyptic literature was a genre of ancient literature - using highly symbolic imagery to communicate a greater or deeper truth. It’s written to help us FEEL something as well as understand it. Like it should DO something to us.

And that’s the main point - the goal revelation isn’t speculation - it’s transformation

Revelation is about transformation - not speculation.