Revelation 16-The Seven Bowl Judgments
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 7, 2008
The Day of the Lord: Revelation 16-The Seven Bowl Judgments
Lesson # 20
Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation 15:1.
This morning we will study the seven bowl judgments that will take place during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, which are recorded in Revelation 16.
Chronologically, these seven bowl judgments follow the seven trumpet judgments that we noted last month, which were recorded in Revelation 8:1-9:21 and 11:15-19 and the trumpet judgments follow the seven seal judgments that we noted two months ago, which are recorded in Revelation 6:1-17 and 8:1-5.
These seven bowl judgments complete the third and final portion of God’s program to exercise His wrath, i.e. righteous indignation during the last three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth, which is also called by students of prophecy as the “Great Tribulation.”
The seven bowl judgments will perfectly accomplish God’s righteous purposes for the Seventieth Week of Daniel.
The seven bowl judgments like the seven sealed judgments and seven trumpet judgments are designed to vindicate the holiness of God and are by no means vindictive, rather they are vindicative.
They demonstrate the wrath of God or in other words, His righteous indignation towards sin and rebellion.
God’s wrath is an expression of His holiness.
The only way to avoid God’s righteous indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Also, the seven bowl judgments, like the seven sealed judgments and seven trumpet judgments demonstrate the omnipotence of God.
Now, Revelation chapter 15 is introductory or a prelude, preparing the reader for the execution of the seven bowl judgments described in chapter 16.
It prepares for the resumption of the chronological progression of events on earth that ended temporarily in Revelation 11:19 with the seventh trumpet judgment.
In chapter 15, the seven bowl judgments are first described as the seven last plagues and then as seven bowls full of the wrath of God (Revelation 15:7; 16:1).
Revelation 15, “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.’ After these things I looked, and the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, and the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in linen, clean and bright, and girded around their chests with golden sashes. Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.”
Now, in Revelation 16, the apostle John employs the adjective megas (mevga$), “great” eleven times (1, 9, 12, 14, 17, 18 twice, 19 twice, 21 twice), which indicates the unusual severity and intensity of these seven bowl judgments.
Revelation 16:1, “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.’”
The “loud voice from the temple” is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself since in Revelation 5, we saw that the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ was the only one in heaven and earth who was worthy to break the seven sealed scroll, which resulted in the execution of judgments upon the unsaved inhabitants of planet earth.
Now, the seventh seal introduces the seven trumpet judgments and they are followed by the seven bowl judgments.
Thus, since these three categories of divine judgment are interconnected with each other and since Christ began the execution of these judgments by breaking the seven sealed scroll, we can infer that Christ’s voice is the one speaking to the seven elect angels in Revelation 16:1.
Furthermore, Revelation 15 records the preparation of the seven bowl judgments and the elect angels singing the praises of the Lamb, who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus, we can see that the voice from heaven in Revelation 16:1 speaking to the elect angels and instructing them to execute the seven bowl judgment is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
The first bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:2 and is directed at those unsaved inhabitants of the earth who received the mark of the beast, i.e. the Antichrist and who worship his image.
Revelation 16:2, “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.”
This bowl judgment is reminiscent of the sixth plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:8-12; note also Deuteronomy 28:27, 35).
The second bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:3 and is directed at the sea as was the case with the second trumpet judgment in Revelation 8:8.
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.”
The third bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:4-6 and is directed at the inland waters such as rivers and fountains.
Revelation 16:4, “Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.”
The second and third bowl judgments parallel the first plague in Egypt (Exodus 7:14-25).
The second bowl judgment centers upon the oceans while the third focuses upon the rivers of the world turning them into blood.
When the second trumpet judgment took place, a third part of the sea became blood.
However, with the second bowl judgment the entire system of seas and oceans will be polluted.
The third trumpet made a third part of the inland waters bitter as wormwood.
However, the third bowl judgment will turn all bitter inland waters in the world into blood.
Therefore, since water is essential in order to sustain human life, these two judgments demonstrate that there is no life in following the Devil and Antichrist.
In Revelation 16:5-7, an elect angel proclaims the vindication of these judgments upon a Christ rejecting world.
Revelation 16:5-7, “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.’”
The fourth bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:8-9 and is directed at the sun.
The blowing of the fourth trumpet judgment dealt with a third part of the stellar universe resulting in the darkening of a third part of the day and of the night.
However, in contrast to this, the fourth bowl judgment is directed only at the sun and increases the sun’s intensity and does not decrease it as was the case with the fourth trumpet judgment.
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.”
The fifth bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:10-11 and like the fifth trumpet judgment, it results in darkness, which is reminiscent of the ninth plague of Egypt (Exodus 10:21 23).
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 fifth bowl judgment is executed against the Antichrist’s center of power, which anticipates the destruction of his kingdom.
The sixth bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:12-16 and is directed at the Euphrates river in Iraq and dries it up.
The Euphrates is mentioned in Revelation 9:14 when the sixth trumpet was sounded resulting in the release of the fourth non-elect angels and a massive demonic army.
This river formed the Eastern boundary of ancient Rome and its conquests and it also forms the Eastern boundary of the land as promised to Abraham (cf. Gen. 15:18; Deut. 1:7; 11:24; Josh. 1:4).
The purpose of this sixth bowl judgment is to prepare the way for the invasion of Israel by the kings from the east to do battle with the armies of the Antichrist so that God might bring them into judgment at Armageddon.
Revelation 16:12-16, “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. 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.”
“The kings from the east” in the original Greek text is literally “the kings from the rising sun” and is a poetical expression signifying the kings from where the sun rises, as China, Japan, India, Persia, and Afghanistan.
The word “war” in Revelation 16:14 is the Greek word polemos (povlemo$), which signifies a war, an entire campaign and not merely one isolated conflict or battle.
“Har-Magedon” is the name Armageddon ( )Armageddwbn), which is Greek transliteration of two Hebrew words, har and Megiddo, “the hill of Megiddo.”
The word Megiddo means “place of troops or “place of slaughter” and is also called the Plain of Esdraelon and the Valley of Jezreel.
The area is about fourteen miles wide and twenty miles long and forms what Napoleon called “the most natural battlefield of the whole earth.”
The battle of Armageddon appears to be the result of the armies of the nations of the earth gathering on their own initiative, which is true but this is according to God’s plan from eternity past.
Satan, Antichrist and the false prophet, the Satanic trinity, through demonic powers, will influence the nations and cause their rulers to assemble their armies for battle.
This assembling of the world’s armies for World War III is designed by God to bring an end to Satan’s rule of planet earth and to establish His Son’s millennial reign.
Daniel 11:40-45, Zechariah 12 and 14 describes this war from Israel’s perspective and Revelation 19 records the outcome of this war.
The seventh and final bowl judgment is recorded in Revelation 16:17-21 and is poured out into the earth’s atmosphere resulting in an unprecedented earthquake, the greatest to ever take place on the earth since man has been on it.
This massive world-wide earthquake will reduce the cities of the Gentiles to rubble and change the topography of the earth.
Also, the city of Babylon will be split into three parts as a result of this earthquake as indicated by Revelation 16:19, which makes clear that this city will be Babylon since the cup of the wine of God’s fierce wrath is poured out on this city.
This city of Babylon located on the Euphrates River will be rebuilt and will be the capital of the final world government.
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.”
The supernaturally formed huge hailstones that will weigh one hundred pounds each will destroy anything left standing from the earthquake and would no doubt kill or seriously injure those they hit.
Again, instead of this judgment leading to repentance and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, the unsaved continue to blaspheme the person of God instead.
This seventh bowl judgment is reminiscent of the seventh plague in Egypt (Exodus 9:22-26).
Just as Pharaoh and the Egyptian leaders refused to humble themselves before the Lord and trust in Him, so the unsaved inhabitants of the earth during this seventh bowl judgment will do the same.
This seventh bowl judgment, which results in this unprecedented, massive world-wide earthquake completes God’s judgment program for the final three and a half years of Daniel’s Seventieth Week and will result in the Second Advent of Christ.
Satan’s masterpiece, his world-wide system is destroyed, reduced to rubble as a result of these seven bowl judgments.
This leads us to the communion service and so therefore, could we have our ushers pass out the communion elements and let us take a few minutes to meditate upon the Lord and prepare ourselves for the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread.”
1 Corinthians 11:24, “and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:25, “In the same way {He took} the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink {it} in remembrance of Me.’”
1 Corinthians 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.”