Ch 16: The seven bowls
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The seven bowls (16:1)
16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth."
v1 - These are bowls of final judgement, not like the trumpets which were warnings. God first warns man through the trumpets but if these are persistently ignored then he sends his bowls of wrath, we should also remember that throughout the period of the warning trumpets the witnessing church has been at work. The seven bowls are also called the seven plagues. The wrath of God is poured out over the earth which is a fairly common idea in scripture (Psa 69:24, 79:6, Ezek 20:8 ff., Jer 10:25, Zep 3:8). They follow the same pattern as the seven trumpets: four (affecting creation: earth, sea, water, cosmos); then two (affecting the beast); then the final one in which the cities of the nations collapsed. The first four affect the land, sea, springs of water and sun, i.e. God's creation as announced by the first of the three angels, Rev 14:7. The voice from the temple will be God's voice, Isa 66:6. The bowls are poured out on to God's creation, they affect man indirectly through his environment. There then follow two further judgements which concern the beast, followed by the final judgement. Man is judged personally later. Mounce makes the point that 2 Thess 1:7-9 is about to be expanded in detail, that is when Christ comes again 'He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus'.
- Bowl 1 is poured out on the land and it effects the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image.
- Bowl 2 is poured out on the sea.
- Bowl 3 is poured out on the rivers
- Bowl 4 is poured out on the sun
- Bowl 5 is poured out over the throne of the beast.
- Bowl 6 is poured out over the Euphrates
- Bowl 7 is poured out into the air.
We should notice that the first four bowls affect the created order as announced by the first angel who commands those who live on the earth to 'Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water' (14:7). Because they refuse to worship Him but worship the beast, the first four bowls affect the created order: the land, the sea, the waters and the sun.
1.1. First bowl (16:2)
16:2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image.
v2 - The bowl is poured out on the land but it affects man directly. The first bowl affects all people who worship the beast and who have therefore given their allegiance to him rather than God. They refuse to worship God and therefore their hour of Judgement has come (14:7). See the similarity with the sixth plague on Egypt, Exo 9:9, in which festering boils break out on the men and animals. Those who receive the mark of the beast are marked by God (Mounce). Notice that the bowl is poured out on the land, yet people are affected, contrary to the first trumpet which did not affect people, Rev 8:7. Just as Satan afflicted Job with boils (Job 2:7) so the followers of the beast are afflicted with painful and ugly sores. In Deu 28:35 painful boils were to be the judgement on those who disobeyed God.
1.2. Second bowl (16:3)
16:3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
v3 - Blood is used to denote death, everything died in the sea compared with the trumpets in which only a third died, Rev 8:9. Note that in the Egyptian plagues it was literal blood. The two witnesses also have the power to turn the waters into blood, 11:6. See the similarity to the first plague on Egypt, Exo 7:17 ff., in which the Nile turns into blood. This also reminds us of the lake of blood from the winepress of God's wrath in Rev 14:19. Every living thing in the sea died compared with the second trumpet in which a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and third of the ships were destroyed (8:8-9).
1.3. Third bowl (16:4)
16:4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
"You are just in these judgements, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6 for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve."
16:7 And I heard the altar respond:
"Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgements."
v4 - The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. - Just as the second angel made the sea turn into blood so now the third angel turns the rivers and springs into blood (Psa 78:44). Blood is indicating death rather than literally, the blood is the punishment for shedding the blood of the saints and prophets v6. Compare this plague with first plague on Egypt Exo 7:17-19 in which the fish in the river die and the water becomes undrinkable even in the wooden buckets and stone jars. Compare this also with the third trumpet in which a third of the waters became bitter and many people died, Rev 8:11. One should assume that the blood indicates that many people died.
v5 - Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: "You are just in these judgements, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; - Notice that God is described as the one who is and was, he is not described as the one who is to come because he has already come in final judgement upon the world, compare with the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:17) in which he has come. Here is the angel in charge of the waters, in 14:18 we found an angel in charge of the fire. Some might say that God was harsh in his judgements, but in relation to the sins that man had committed he is not.
v6 - for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve - The reason for the judgement is given here, they shed the blood of the saints, one of the most heinous crimes that man can commit, 1 Tim 1:13. The punishment fits the crime, they shed blood so they must drink blood, this is similar to the levitical code 'life for life' Lev 24:17-18 see also Gen 9:5-6. Just as John uses the expression 'drunk with the blood of the saints' in 17:6, indicating that the harlot had murdered the saints, so here to drink blood indicates that these people died as a just punishment for murdering the saints (Psa 79, Isa 49:26). In the plague on the Egyptians all drinking water was turned into blood even in the wooden buckets and stone jars (Exo 7:19), John takes this and uses it to show that the persecutors of God's people must now drink blood because they have shed the blood of the saints. Prophets are included here because of the tradition of prophets being persecuted (Mat 5:12, 23:37, Luke 11:49). The two witnesses were prophets and were killed (11:7, 10) and in 18:24 it says that in Babylon 'was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth'. Note: 'as they deserve' is literally 'they are worthy' contrast this with the Lamb who is worthy because of his shed blood. Also 'shed the blood of your saints' literally poured out the blood, echoing the pouring out of the bowls (Sweet).
v7 - And I heard the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgements." - Under the altar are the martyrs, whose blood has been shed, Rev 6:9. The martyrs cry for their spilt blood to be avenged is at last fulfilled as God judges the inhabitants of the earth, it is also later fulfilled by the fall of Babylon, see Rev 19:2
1.4. Fourth bowl (16:8)
Rev 16:8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
v8 - The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. - Notice that the angels sphere of influence extends to the sun and not just the earth. There is no corresponding plague on Egypt, although the fourth trumpet affects the sun, the sun is darkened, Rev 8:12, this plague seems eschatological. This is the heavenly counterpart to the beast out of the earth who caused fire to come down from heaven in full view of men and deceived mankind (13:13-14). Compare with Deu 28:22; 'The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish'.
v9 - They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. - They were seared by the intense heat of the sun, this is in contrast to the saints who will not be scorched by the sun, Rev 7:16, compare with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were not scorched by the blazing furnace. Notice the explicit statement that these plagues are under the control of God. The indictment of man is that they refused to repent and glorify him. The angel had already given mankind one last chance in Rev 14:7 to repent before these plagues. Note that they cursed the name of God, they had taken on the character of the beast who is covered in blasphemous names, Rev 13:1, 13:5-6, 17:3. Despite this mankind still refuses to repent and glorify God. They did at least recognise God as the ultimate cause of these plagues but not the immediate cause in their own sin (Sweet).
1.5. Fifth Bowl (16:10)
16:10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
v10 - The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness - Man prefers darkness to light so this is what he gets. Man now experiences the reality of Satan's kingdom, the absence of all good. Having rejected the goodness of God they get the evil they prefer (xxxx). Satan's kingdom is the kingdom of darkness. Compare with the ninth plague of Egypt, Exo 10:22, in which darkness covered the land for three days. Caird makes the point that darkness represents the political disintegration of the kingdom of the beast. Sweet points out that Satan's throne which he shared with the beast (13:2), was at Pergamum (2:13), the Roman provincial capital. It suggests destruction of the central administration of the empire - something like the chaos of the civil wars of AD 68-69 (Sweet).
v10 - Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, - The effect of the first plague was still in effect (xxxx). For the second time as in the fourth bowl they curse God. This is again in contrast to the saints for whom there will be no more pain, Rev 21:4. Compare this with the agony caused by the stings of the locusts in the fifth trumpet (9:5). If we compare the fifth seal, fifth trumpet and fifth bowl we find affliction: in the fifth seal affliction for the church; in the fifth trumpet the locusts torment those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads and in the fifth bowl we see the agony of those people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image.
v11 - but they refused to repent of what they had done - The indictment of man is that despite these bowls they still refused to repent, see also the fourth bowl, verse 9. Like Pharaoh they were hardened beyond repentance. Paul's comment in Rom 9:17-18 is instructive, Pharaoh was raised so that God could display his power and that his name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
1.6. Sixth bowl (16:12)
16:12 The sixth angel 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. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
16:15 "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
v12 - The sixth angel 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. - There is a famous incident in history in which Cyrus the Persian king captured Babylon by diverting the Euphrates river that runs through the centre of Babylon, his army then went into Babylon through the dry river bed (Barclay). There is prophecy against Babylon in Jer 50:38 'A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror'. Just as the Red Sea and the Jordan were dried so that the Israelites could escape Egypt (Josh 2:10) and enter the promised land, so the Euphrates river is dried up to make way for the kings of the East. Some commentators see a distinction between the kings of the East and the kings of the whole world, v14. The Euphrates marks the boundary between Israel and her enemies (Gen 15:18). Note the similarity between the sixth bowl and the sixth trumpet 9:14 in which the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates are releases and their troops kill a third of mankind.
v13 - Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. - This is the first mention of the false prophet who is the beast out the earth, because he is the one who performed the miraculous signs on behalf of the beast 13:13, cf. 19:20 and deceived the inhabitants of the earth 13:14, and is destroyed in 19:20. We again see here together the unholy trinity of Satan, beast and false prophet. The beast and false prophet gather the kings of the earth to make war against the rider on the white horse and his army in 19:19, they are thrown into the lake of burning sulphur in 19:20. Satan gathers the nations for battle against the camp of God's people in 20:7, he joins the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire, 20:10. Three evil spirits come out of the mouths of these three, by coming out of the mouth it probably indicates that these are lying deceiving spirits, cf. the river of lies coming out of the mouth of the dragon (12:15) and contrasts to the sword of the Son of man (1:16, 19:15). Frogs are connected with plague, compare with second plague on Egypt (Exo 8:3). Frogs are unclean animals, Lev 11:10. The evil spirits come out of the mouth, note the word for spirit is pneuma in Greek which is also the word for breath. Caird points out that from the mouth of the beast came blasphemous pretensions to deity (13:6), from the mouth of the false prophet came the seductive propaganda of the imperial cult (13:12-15) and from the mouth of the dragon came the river of lies with which he tried to overwhelm the church (12:15)
v14 - They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, - The miraculous signs are caused by demons, and performed by the beast out of the earth, Rev 13:13, who is here identified with the false prophet. They are lying spirits such as those who enticed Ahab into battle, 1 Ki 22:21 ff. They perform miracles in the same way as the coming of the man of lawlessness will, 2 Thess 2:9.
v14 - and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. - This is the battle of Armageddon, v16, it is again referred to in Rev 17:14, 19:19 and Rev 20:8. This is one example of parallelism in Revelation. This battle precedes the second coming, which is referred to in v15. For other references to the last battle see also Zech 14, Joel 3, and Ezek 37, 38. This is also a reference to Psalm 2:2, 'The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One'.
v15 - Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed." - This interjection is a warning to the church, that Christ is coming soon, c.f. the warning to Sardis to wake up in 3:3. We should not be surprised at this interjection because the second coming or the last battle occur also in the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet. Being awake when Christ returns is a common theme in scripture, meaning being spiritually prepared for his coming, Mat 24:43, 1 Thess 5:1, 2 Pet 3:10, Rev 3:2. His second coming comes during this battle, hence its unexpected mention, Rev 19:19-20 see also Zech 14:4,5. This is the third of seven blessings in the book. The church in Sardis had to wake up 3:2, the martyrs were given a white robe, there were some in Sardis who had not stained their clothes 3:4. The clothes are the garments of salvation. Those who lost their clothes could refer to back-sliders. Those who go shamefully exposed are people whose sin is seen, c.f. the naked Laodiceans who are counselled to buy white clothes to wear to cover their shameful nakedness (3:17-18).
v16 - Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. - This is again referred to in Rev 19:19 and Rev 20:8, another example of parallelism in the book. Armageddon or Har-Magedon, Magedon is normally connected with Megiddo, the Har meaning mountain. Megiddo is the site of many battles, but there is no mountain there. This is fairly cryptic and has baffled most commentators, the main point is that it is the site for the last great battle. Megiddo is the place where the enemies of Israel are routed led by Deborah (Judg 5:19). Armageddon is the symbol of every battle in which, when the need is greatest and believers are oppressed, the Lord suddenly reveals His power in the interest of His distressed people and defeats the enemy (Hendriksen). This last battle is referred to here and other places in Revelation (17:14, 19:19, 20:9, cf. also 11:7 ff. 13:7).
1.7. Seventh bowl (16:17)
Rev 16:17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
The seventh bowl follows on swiftly from the sixth bowl, there is no interlude as there was between the six and seventh seal, and the sixth and seventh trumpet, in which the church can witness, the time for repentance is now past. There are similarities between the seventh trumpet (11:15) and the seventh bowl.
- i. Loud voices in heaven.
- ii. God's wrath has come.
- iii. God's temple was opened
- iv. Flashes of lightening, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm
v17 - The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, "It is done!" - The air is where Satan and his demons live (Eph 2:2). Just as the loud voice commands the angels to pour their bowls on the earth (16:1), so a loud voice from the temple says 'It is done', which indicates that with the seventh bowl the wrath of God is accomplished, Rev 15:1. Just as Jesus said 'It is finished' when he completed his redemptive work. What is seen here is the wrath of God on society and its structures, the punishment of the individual occurs later. Contrast the destruction here with 21:6 where 'It is done' occurs again because the redemptive plan of God is accomplished and there is a new heaven, a new earth and a new city.
v18 - Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. - Compare this with the opening of God's temple in Rev 11:19, 'there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm'. Compare also with the censer hurled to earth as a prelude to the seven trumpets, Rev 8:5, 'there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake'. The judgement of God comes from out of the temple and the throne, it is from God personally.
v18 - No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. - This is the climax of God's judgement, complete destruction rather than partial as in the seals and trumpets. Compare with Dan 12:1, Ezek 38:19-20, Zec 14:4-5, Mat 24:21 and especially the similarity of this passage with the sixth seal of Rev 6:12-14.
v19a - The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. - See Zech 14:4 in which the Mount of Olives is split in two when the Messiah comes. The only previous reference to the great city is the three part description in Rev 11:8 in which the great city is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Babylon the Great is mentioned in the next sentence (v19b), in Rev 18:10 the great city is Babylon, city of power. The language used emphasises the complete destruction of the world's cities and their trade, culture etc. (Isa 24:18-21). Everything that was made by man is destroyed, this is in contrast with the heavenly city that the saints receive which cannot be shaken, Heb 12:26. Note the three part mourning of the kings, merchants and seamen over the destruction of Babylon in 18:9-20.
v19b - God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. - Babylon the Great is here introduced and punished, the great city first appears in Rev 11:8. Just as God remembered Noah during the flood (Gen 8:1), and remembered Abraham when he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:29) and he remembered his covenant with Abraham when the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt (Exo 2:24), so God has remembered Babylon's crimes, see 18:5. The next two chapters deal with Babylon in more detail. Just as she made the nations drink her maddening wine (see Rev 17:2, 18:3) so God makes her drink the cup of his wrath, see also (Rev 14:8, Is 51:17), if anyone worships the beast they also will drink the wine of God's wrath (Rev 14:9). It is time for Babylon to be judged, Jer 51:13, 'You who live by many waters and are rich in treasures, your end has come, the time for you to be cut off'.
v20 - Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. - This emphasises the destruction caused by the earthquake, compare this with the similarity of the sixth seal of 6:14, in which 'every mountain and island was removed from its place', see also Isa 13:13, 24:19-21. There is also a similarity to the effect of the presence of God on the great white throne in which the earth and sky which fled from his presence (20:11).
v21 - From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible. - They curse God as they had done with the fourth and fifth plagues but this time there is no mention of repentance. This is mankind's final attitude towards God, the time for repentance is past. The plague of hail corresponds with the seventh plague on Egypt and the judgement of God (Josh 10:11, Ezek 38:22). The hail is sent from God, see Rev 11:19 in which when God's temple is opened, the ark of the covenant was seen and there came flashes of lightening, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm, therefore the people curse God for sending the hail. Hail the size of golf balls is a known climatic feature in N America.