Revelation 16 - The End is Near

The End is Near

Revelation 16

Today we are going to be looking at Revelation 16. In this chapter the end will come. I talked about this before; in all the old Japanese monster movies; Godzilla, Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mothra, when the monster is destroying Tokyo there is always on guy one the street while everyone is running for their lives with a sign saying ‘repent the end is near’. Well in chapter 16 we see the end. You may be thinking to yourself; “Preacher there are six more chapters to go so how can this be the end?” Well I’m glad you asked because I was wanting to say, again, that the Revelation is not a calendar of events. Let me give you some background for that statement. In chapter 5 when the Lamb opened the sixth seal there were the souls of the saints that had been martyred crying out for the Lamb to avenge them. But the great attack on the church did not get defined until chapter 12 when the dragon, Satan, began persecuting the church (the woman with child) with intensity because he had been kicked out of heaven. In chapter 14:8 an angel announced that Babylon is fallen is fallen. Yet in chapter 16:18, today, we will see that Babylon is given the cup of God’s wrath. And we will see it again in chapter 18. In chapter 14 we talked about the reaping of the grapes of wrath where God pour out His judgment on those who followed the Beast. In chapter 15 we read that there would be seven last plagues, bowls of the wrath of God and that wrath would be complete. And today in chapter 16 we see those bowls being poured out. I could go on and give you more examples but I think what we have seen over and over again in the Revelation is God revealing His plan in general then later giving more specifics or details about that plan and finally there will be a consummation of all things. So today we will see the end but only in general terms. Let’s go ahead and pray then we will read Revelation 16.

I know that this is a rather long passage but I think we need to read it in its entirety to get the overall picture of what God is doing. Revelation 16:1-21 1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.” 2 So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. 3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died. 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:“You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. 6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” 7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” 16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. 17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.[1]

Let me go back and remind you that I believe that the redeemed of God have been removed from the earth before God begins pouring out these bowls of His wrath. So those who remain on the earth are those who took the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The voice that John heard commanding the angels to go and pour out His bowls of wrath could be none other than God’s voice because in chapter 15 we are told that after He sent the bowls out with the angels the smoke of His glory filled the temple so that no one could enter until the bowls had been emptied and His judgment was complete.

I don’t know how much I really need to talk about these plagues but I will make this perfectly clear. These bowl plagues are not calls to repent, that time has long since ended, nor are they simple chastisements on those who had done wrong. These bowl judgments are punitive and final. There is no recovering from these judgments. The earth quakes at the end of the chapter marks the end of civilization as we know it. These judgments do resemble the plagues that God laid on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrew people go in Exodus. The sixth plague in Exodus was boils on the people of Egypt and here we see foul and loathsome sores on those who worshiped the beast. Turning the water into blood was the first plague on Egypt but it was not complete, however here in the third bowl all the fresh water on the earth is turned to blood. No one lives for very long without water to drink. The fifth bowl brought about darkness and that darkness caused pain in some way, probably from the loathsome sores and the scorching of the sun. We all know how we can endure pain in the daytime but it always seems to intensify at night. In the sixth bowl of wrath demon spirits that John says were like frogs go out of Satan, his beast and his false prophet and deceive the kings of the earth to prepare for battle against God. In the second plague in Egypt the whole land was covered with frogs. In Egypt there was a very destructive hail storm that destroyed part of the Egyptian’s crops of grain. However in the seventh bowl judgment the hail was between 80 and 120 pounds depending on which talent is used to weigh them. As I said any of the bowls of wrath are reminiscent of the plagues on Egypt.

Some of these bowl judgments have happened already in the Revelation on a much smaller scale, if you can call 1/3 of all the sea creatures dying when the seas turned to blood. This time all the sea is turned to blood in such a way that every creature in the sea died. Can you imagine the stench from the corpses of the animals and plants decaying on the sea shore not to mention the smell and sight of coagulating blood? Then there is the scorching of the sun but God had already promised in chapter 7:16-17 Speaking of the redeemed of God “they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”[2] All the way through Revelation John has reported violent earthquakes but none of them compare with the destruction reported in the seventh and last bowl of God’s wrath.

I have said several times that what God reveals in the Revelation is important, the events are important. But we could study the events and many have, and we could try to put a timeline to it, and many have and all we would have is a set of “facts”. It is much like studying history. If you do not study history from the perspective that there are principles to be learned then all you have is information. The same is true of the Word of God. I heard a Christian political commentator say the other day that he once studied the Bible so that he could beat his mother in the Bible Scattagories game; and he won. But he admitted that at the time he was not a believer and those facts he knew would have done him no good if he had died without Christ. So the point is there are principles or truths in this passage that we must not miss. To be honest and fair there are many principles here but I am only going to choose 4 to talk about this morning but I challenge you to go home and read the passage again and flesh out others because God’s Word is rich with eternal principles or truths for His people.

Let me read a few of the verses to you again and we will look at the first principle. Revelation 16:8-11 and 21 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds…21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. There is something about those three different plagues that are common for them. When the angel poured out his bowl on the sun and the sun scorched the people instead of bowing before God and pleading for mercy, instead of repenting and giving Him glory they blasphemed Him. Very clearly they knew who caused the plague and still they reviled Him for who He is. In verses 10 and 11 when God turned out the lights and the pain came they did the same thing. They recognized the cause of their pain yet they would not repent from their deeds. And finally in verse 21 along with the earthquake like none before there was hail the size of a man and instead of repenting the people who had worshiped the Beast blasphemed God. What is the principle we learn here? Some people no matter how much mercy is shown, no matter what the evidence is, no matter the hardship or judgment that befalls them they will never repent. We saw this with Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and we have seen it in the Revelation but how many of you have explained the Gospel to someone and even explained the coming judgment and still they deny the need of the Savior. It is one of the hardest parts of being a believer but the truth is some people, no matter how much they know, will not repent and turn to Christ. Does that mean we just give up on them? Of course not, salvation is of God but we do not know the heart of man, only God knows that so we just continue to share the message of the cross and trust our Savior through the Holy Spirit to do what the judge of all the world does; which is right. Some people will never repent but we never cease proclaiming the Gospel.

The second principle is found in verses 4-7: 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying:“You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. 6For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” 7 And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” The hard principle we find here is that those who receive God’s wrath deserve God’s wrath. These people in this passage were complicit in killing the redeemed of God so they are going to have to drink blood. Their sin leads to their judgment. We don’t mind saying that about them or the ever damnable Hitler or Stalin or some politician we hate but there are people who by our standards don’t seem all that bad in the grand scheme of things. How many times have you heard someone described as a “good person”? We need to understand that “good people” deserve God’s judgment. God’s judgment of people is true and righteous. God does not make mistakes as it relates to the heart of man. I will just say plainly that I deserve God’s judgment and wrath and you deserve God’s judgment and wrath. However Christ took God’s judgment of me on my behalf. The wrath that I deserved was taken on the cross by Jesus willingly and lovingly that is grace. However those who receive His wrath deserve His wrath.

The third principle or truth we need to look at is found in verses 12-14 and16 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty… 16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. The place name Armageddon is only used in this one place in all of Scripture yet it is used in common vernacular all the time. People joked about the snow storm being a snowmageddon. So let me just tell you that no one knows for sure where Armageddon is. Some people will draw diagrams showing the movement of troops as they come down the Jezreel Valley for the final battle but that is not necessarily so. The word Armageddon means in Hebrew the Mountain of Megiddo. There is no Mountain anywhere near Megiddo it is in a plain or valley. So where this final battle to end all battles is to be fought is not known for sure. Ok with that out of the way because many people get caught up in it let’s move on to what I think is far more important. Though we may not know the where or the when of this coming together to prepare for battles we do know for sure that it will happen. The great day of God Almighty will occur exactly as God plans. Amos described it to the people of Israel who were in rebellion against God this way; Amos 5:18-20 18Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. 19It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! 20Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?[3] Peter described it like this in 2 Peter 3:10 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.[4] I could give you many more verses but the point is Christ will return as the conqueror that He is and He will destroy all those who oppose God and the people of God. It is going to happen and the destruction that we read about in chapter 14 where the blood runs up to a horses bridle for the length of Israel will happen, the grapes of wrath will be trampled it is a sure thing. We will see the specifics of it in chapter 19. The day of the Lord is real and it is coming.

This leads us to our last principle or truth found in verse 15: 15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” I am not an actor and definitely not a thespian but I was in a couple of plays and musicals in High School and at churches and I did take two years of drama in High School so I do know some of the concepts of theater. In theater there is a concept called the “fourth wall”. It is an imaginary wall that divides the actors on stage from the audience. For the most part that wall is not to be broken. The actors do not speak directly to the audience. But from time to time the wall is broken to give the audience a little more insight into the story line of the play. I believe this is somewhat the activity of Jesus that we are seeing here. As the scene John is observing is played out with the bowls of God’s wrath poured out on the people who worshiped the Beast, Jesus steps on the stage and turns to those who are blessed to read and hear this Revelation and gives us a warning. In light of the fact that the bowl judgments are definitely coming and the fact that the Day of the Lord is a sure thing Jesus says to pay attention, He is coming at a time that you are not expecting it like a thief. If you are paying attention and keep clothed then you will not be put to shame. Jesus told us back in Matthew that in the last days things would be like they were in the days of Noah. People would be going about their lives just like nothing was happening, until the Day of the Lord. Peter makes it clear that Noah continued to preach repentance while he built the ark and no one would listen until the day the doors were sealed. I believe this warning from Jesus is a two pronged warning. For the lost it is a call to repent and turn to Him, to be clothed in His righteousness because His coming is imminent. But to believers I believe there is a warning as well. We are clothed in the righteousness of Christ but often we live as if we are not. This is a call for the church to live as the church. Be prepared for when the Master comes just like the message of the parable of the 10 virgins we talked about a couple of weeks ago. He is coming be prepared.

With the backdrop of the seven bowls of wrath being poured out on the people of the earth we can see four truths. Some people, no matter the mercy shown, no matter the warnings made, or the judgments received, will not repent and turn to Christ. But we believers do not know who those people are so we just keep on proclaiming the Gospel and let the Lord of all the earth do right. Second, those who refuse to repent and turn to Christ deserve God’s wrath. That is a tough truth because no one wants people to perish. But the truth is outside of God’s grace we would all perish in our own sin. But Christ in His mercy extended to His grace to us by taking the judgment on Himself for all who will believe and repent. Third, the great and awesome day of God Almighty will come. We do not know when or exactly where but it is imminent and we must warn others of His coming judgment. And finally we must be prepared for the coming of Christ. We must be clothed in His righteousness and His alone. He is coming. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 16:1–21). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 7:15–17). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Am 5:18–20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (2 Pe 3:10). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.