The First Three Bowl Judgments

Revelation 16:1-7 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. 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. 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. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 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. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Introducing One

We finished chapter fifteen where John prepared the readers for these last seven judgments on the world and its people.

This chapter, containing the “Bowl Judgments” is the most catastrophic and devastating of the Revelation. We are now invited to see God’s wrath on a God hating world. The object of the wrath is those who worship and have taken the mark of the beast.

In the fifteenth chapter, we were introduced to seven angels carrying seven bowls filled with the seven plagues of the wrath of God. In this chapter, they will carry out orders from the Temple “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” (v. 1) It also includes the interlude between the sixth and seventh bowls.

The timing of these judgments is at the end or near the end of the last half of the 3 ½ years of the reign of the Beast. It is generally assumed that these judgments follow very quickly, one right after the other.

In comparison between the seven seal and trumpet judgments, the seven bowls of wrath are without any restraint.[1]

The seven plagues are targeted and specific with the goal of the destruction of Babylon: the world system of government and world religion. These judgments lead up to the return of Jesus Christ to reign for 1,000 years and the great white throne judgment of God (Chapter 20).

Walvoord writes:

Chronologically this chapter is close to the time of the second coming of Christ, and the judgments described fall in rapid succession. Alford says, “There can then be no doubt here, not only that the series reaches on to the time of the end, but that the whole of it is to be placed close to the same time” (The Greek Testament, 4:696). Daniel indicated that these closing days of the Tribulation will be a time of world war (Dan. 11:36–45). World events are now pictured by John as rapidly coming to their climax.[2]

McGee says.

“There is a definite similarity between the judgments in this chapter and God’s judgments upon Egypt through Moses.”[3]

Note: I believe that the world is beyond salvation during the bowl judgments. God has given them plenty of opportunities to believe and repent. However, when God seals off the temple in heaven “til the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled”, there is now no opportunity for restitution with God.

And So, it Begins.

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.

Six times in the Revelation we have the phrase; “great voice” (1:10; 11:12; 16:1, 17; 19:1; 21:3).

The angels, after receiving the golden bowls filled with the last plagues, are waiting on direction from God when to begin.

The “great voice” declares; “Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”

These are the “seven last plagues” (15:1), and as such, they are more destructive than the previous judgments.

MacArthur writes:

“God commands all seven of them, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” As are all the judgments, the seven bowls will be supernatural acts of God. The text does not accept a natural, scientific explanation, as some commentators propose. The judgments will hit far too rapidly for any explanation other than that they come from God Himself. In fact, there is only a brief pause, just long enough for one of the angels to affirm that the bowl judgments are just and righteous (verses 5-7).”[4]

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.

John records the acts of each of the seven angels in a chronological manner: “The first went and poured; the second angel poured out,” etc. The act of pouring is simply “to stream out from a container.”

“…and there fell a noisome and grievous sore” – “noisome” literally means, “having an extremely offensive smell.” This Greek word (kakoe) is translated into English as foul (NRSV, KKJV), ugly (NIV), loathsome (NAS), evil (KJV) and painful (ESV).

The Septuagint[5] translates the same word for “grievous sore” as used in the plague of boils against the Egyptians (Ex. 9:9–11), and the sores that afflicted Job (Job 2:7). The same Greek word describes the infirmity of the beggar Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke (Lk. 16:21). These are open, oozing and incurable sores.

The target for this bowl judgment is those who have taken the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist. Later in this chapter (16:10) we find that these soars did not disappear as the following bowls are “poured out.” When the fifth bowl is poured, people are in pain…and yet they still will not repent.

Wiersbe writes:

It is an awesome thought to consider almost the entire population of the world suffering from a painful malady that nothing can cure. Constant pain affects a person’s disposition so that he finds it difficult to get along with other people. Human relations during that period will certainly be at their worst.[6]

Notice at this time, repentance is not communicated nor is it offered to the world. It reminds me of when God closed the door of the ark; the time had passed for those in the days of Noah (Gen. 7:16). I think of when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorra, judgment came for “…the people of Sodom were wicked, and great sinners before Jehovah” (Gen. 13:13), and there was no more time for repentance.”

Note: these seven bowls are poured out one-after-another, with no intermission or pause.

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. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.

The second and third bowl judgments are like the first plague of Egypt (Ex. 7:14-25). They are similar in nature as the waters in which they are poured, “became as blood.” The second trumpet judgment caused 1/3 parts of the sea became as blood (8:8-9) and the third trumpet caused the inland waters to become as wormwood (8:10-11).

When the second angel pours out his bowl of wrath, the result is that all the creatures of the oceans die. I love seafood. It really does not matter to me what the creature is; I like to eat it. All fish, shrimp, crab, lobster, oyster, clam, and scallops, now die. Dolphin, shark, eel, and whale die. No life is found in the sea, “every living soul died in the sea.”

When the third plague is poured upon “the rivers and the fountains of waters”, there will be very little, if any, water for drinking for the parched of the earth.

Revelation 16:5 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.

The angel of the waters says, “Thou are righteous, O Lord.” The word can have various meanings, but in this case, it means:

“…rendering to each his due and that in a judicial sense, passing just judgment on others, whether expressed in words or shown by the manner of dealing with them.”[7]

God is righteous in His dealings with man as he upholds the moral order in the universe. Only through righteousness can God have fellowship with man.

Therefore, it is righteous for God to judge the earth

“…which art, and wast, and shalt be” – throughout the Revelation, the description of God being eternal is a common theme.

Revelation 1:4 “…from him which is, and which was, and which is to come”

Revelation 1:8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:11 “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:

Revelation 1:17 “…Fear not; I am the first and the last.”

Revelation 2:8 “…These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive.”

Revelation 4:8 “…Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Revelation 21:6 “…I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end”

Revelation 22:13 “…I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Revelation 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

“For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets” - The reason that the Eternal One is righteous in His judgments is because those upon who His judgment falls are those that “have shed the blood of saints and prophets.”

“…thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” – It is only right that a righteous LORD should turn the murder’s lust for blood against them.

Wiersbe comments:

In God’s government, the punishment fits the crime. Pharaoh tried to drown the Jewish boy babies, but it was his own army that eventually drowned in the Red Sea. Haman planned to hang Mordecai on the gallows and to exterminate the Jews; but he himself was hanged on the gallows, and his family was exterminated (Es. 7:10; 9:10). King Saul refused to obey God and slay the Amalekites, so he was slain by an Amalekite (2 Sam. 1:1–16).[8]

Revelation 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

“And I heard another out of the altar say” – This voice from the altar in the throne room of heaven is not identified. This is probably the voice of an angel from the ninth chapter.

Conclusion

1. Judgment is coming to Every Man

2. The Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

a. Have you ever thought something wasn’t fair, especially before you had all the facts?

3. There is Coming a Day. Just because it hasn’t happened yet, doesn’t mean it won’t happen.

[1] For example, the trumpet judgment resulted in 1/3 of the land was burned, 1/3 of the waters were bloodied, 1/3 of the waters were made bitter, 1/3 of the light from the sun, moon, and stars was darkened, and 1/3 of all mankind is killed [2] Walvoord, J. F. (1985). Revelation. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 966). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. [3] McGee, J. V. (1997). Thru the Bible commentary (electronic ed., Vol. 5, p. 1021). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. [4] MacArthur, John (2007). Because the Time is Near. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, p. 249 [5] A translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek [6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 609–610). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books. [7] Strong, J. (2001). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software. [8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 610). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.