Living in the Last Days (19)

“The Seven Bowls of Wrath”

Revelation 15:1-16:21 “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest. And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And …”

I. Intro

John now sees seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. This is the final set of the trio of seven judgments: the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls. John also sees in Heaven what appears to be a sea of glass that is before God’s throne. This sea of glass probably represents God’s holiness that separates Him from all sin. The sea is mingled with fire, suggesting judgment is about to come. John also sees those who had gotten the victory over the beast, and over the image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name. These are those who remained faithful to Christ and refused to worship the Antichrist and receive his mark. Now in Heaven they are standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. These are tribulation martyrs. This song is similar to the celebration of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt in Exodus 15. However, this song includes the ultimate deliverance, through Christ’s death on the cross, of God’s people from Satan. It praises God for His amazing deeds, justice, truth, holiness, and righteousness. Next, John looks and sees the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in Heaven is open. Out of it, from God’s presence, comes the seven angels.... having seven plagues. One of the four living creatures gives the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God. No one can enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels are finished. Revelation 15:6-8 “And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” John hears a great voice out of the temple telling the seven angels to pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the Earth. Revelation 16:1 “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

The First Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:2 “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.” This describes malignant, oozing ulcers-similar, but more severe than those that affected the Egyptians. Exodus 9:9-11 “And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.” This judgment is only on those who follow the Antichrist and receive his mark. Some speculate the mark of the beast becomes infected and causes incurable suffering.

The Second Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:3 “And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.” The second angel pours out his bowl into the sea, which becomes like the blood of a corpse and everything in the sea dies. One-third of sea life has already been killed at the sound of the second trumpet. Revelation 8:9 “And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.” However, now all sea life is killed, causing unimaginable stench and pollution. This is similar to the first plague in Egypt, in Exodus chapter 7.

The Third Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:4-7 “And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

The Fourth Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:8-9 “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.” In this judgment, the sun’s heat intensifies, scorching people with fire. It is clear something will happen to the ozone layer that protects the earth from the sun’s deadly rays. The affected people curse God’s name; they repented not to give Him glory. However, God’s judgments are always designed to bring people to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

The Fifth Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:10-11 “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.” The fifth angel pours out his bowl of darkness, upon the seat of the beast, which refers to the Antichrist’s center of power. This seat was given by the dragon, Satan, to the beast. Revelation 13:2 “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” At this point, painful ulcers, lack of drinking water, intense heat, and thick darkness cause people to gnaw their tounges because of the physical and psychological pain. However, the people continue to blaspheme God and refuse to repent.

The Sixth Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:12-16 “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” When the sixth angel pours out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates, it dries up. The Euphrates is the longest (1,700 miles) and most important river in Western Asia; therefore, it is called the great river. It originates in Turkey, flowing through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris, before emptying into the Persian Gulf. It is mentioned in the first and last books of the Bible. The river that was previously turned into blood now dries up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. The identity of these kings is unknown. The drying up of the Euphrates River symbolizes God’s removal of restraint on Satan’s capacity to influence the world. Therefore, John sees three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon (Satan), the beast, and the false prophet, which are the unholy trinity. They are spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the whole world. These are apparently people possessed by demonic spirits who are persuasive in speech and signs. John next parenthetically includes a word of comfort from the Lord Jesus about His return and the need to stay morally awake and spiritually clothed. In verse 16, the world leaders assemble armies at a place with a Hebrew name. What is it? This is the only place in the Bible this name is found. It means ‘mountain of Megiddo.’ Since there is no mountain by that name, it probably refers to the hill country surrounding the Plain of Megiddo, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. This area is approximately 14x20 miles; therefore, it is not large enough to contain armies from all over the world. So, it may be the most important part of a much larger military deployment. Some people see the name ‘Armageddon’ as representing an event rather than a locality. The actual battle will not be described until (19:11-21) when Christ returns to Earth with the armies of Heaven.

The Seventh Bowl of Wrath Revelation 16:17-21 “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” While demonic forces are gathering the armies of the world in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon, there is another bowl of wrath poured out upon Earth. When the seventh angel pours out his bowl into the air , a loud voice comes out of the temple, from God’s throne, saying, “It is done.” This means the seventh bowl is God’s final judgment on Earth. The seventh bowl causes voices, and thunderings, and lightening; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since people were placed on Earth. Because of the earthquake, the great city is divided into three parts. In (11:8) we learned the great city is called Sodom but is Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified. The city being split into three parts is the beginning of geological alterations that will conclude when Jesus returns. According to Zechariah 14:4 “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, Which is before Jerusalem on the east, And the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, And there shall be a very great valley; And half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, And half of it toward the south.” when Christ returns, the Mount of Olives is split in two. As a result of the earthquake, the cities of the nations fall and God gives great Babylon her cup filled with the wine of the feirceness of His wrath. Great Babylon is the center of the Antichrist’s empire. This event will be described in more detail in chapters 17 and 18. This scene of incredible horrors continues as islands disappear and mountains are leveled. There is also a storm with great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent. (one hundred pounds), falling on people. The largest recorded hailstone in the United States fell on July 23, 2010 in Vivian, South Dakota. It measured eight inches in diameter and eighteen inches in circumference and weighed about two pounds. The hailstones of that storm broke through roofs leaving holes in interior ceilings. The hailstones of the seventh bowl will be fifty times heavier, capable of destroying entire buildings and killing thousands of people worldwide.

The survivors of the hailstorm will curse God because of the plague of the hail and will remain defiant and unrepentant. However, 1 Thess. 1:10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” gives us beleivers a promise we can cling to. Jesus will deliver us from God’s wrath. God’s awesome wrath will one day fall on Earth. Just as when Noah faithfully preached righteousness, a wicked world will refuse to repent and will suffer God’s wrath.