Revelation 16:1-12 NASB
CHAPTER 16
Six Bowls of Wrath
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.”
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.
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.
Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. 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 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.
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.
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.
A loud voice comes from the temple. It doesn't identify the speaker, though there is little doubt Who gives the command. The day of The Lord is at hand and for the wrath of God to be poured out on the wicked.
The first five bowls produce some familiar results, but seem to speak to the total effect of the plagues that followed the trumpets. Those who dwell on the earth and have taken the mark of the beast find that mark now brings painful sores as God's justice catches up with them. What seemed pleasurable at one time now is plainly seen for the loathsome thing it is.
The waters turn to blood. Blood has always represented life and the sea operates as a metaphor for mankind in Scripture. Notice when the second bowl is poured the blood became like that of a dead man. The blood here flows from the dead, for those who have chosen the world rather God. Their lives became forfeit as judgement for their sins.
After the third bowl is poured, an angel of the waters gives praise to the Lord. The divine stamp of the number three points to the sovereignty and divine hand Who rules the earth.
The three-fold title is given that reflects the passage of time. He no longer is the one to come because He has. Instead of “who is to come”, He is the Holy One. All authority and judgement was given to the Son. He is the true one, the Lord God Almighty. Here we are reminded that the Father and Son are one.
One of the chief differences between the righteous and the unrighteous is that the unrighteous get what they deserve. The righteous receive what they don’t deserve. It is an unmerited gift from the hand of God.
The fourth bowl is poured and the sun becomes fiercely hot. The protective wing of the Lord has been removed. The cooling of gentle rain from heaven is no more. God promised that the chaff would be burned, that the unfruitful branches would be gathered and burned. Even in their suffering they do not repent.
Just as darkness descended on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to free Israel, darkness envelopes the kingdom of the beast as the fifth bowl is poured. The tongues that would not confess God now prove to be unbearable. Neither the sun or moon give light to those below.
The Euphrates River is the eastern border of the land promised to Abraham, the promised land. That border has vanished on today’s maps. Jerusalem is not recognized as the capitol of Israel by the US. The temple mount is possessed by gentiles, trampled as it were by the enemies of God. They seek the destruction of Israel even now.
The army of the beast grows in strength everyday. The drumbeat of war looms louder with each rocket added to the arsenal of destruction and with each spin of of a centrifuge to create a nuclear bomb. The enemy is uninhibited in their goal of wiping Israel from the face of the earth. The world seems to be transfixed in a supportive posture to the rabid hatred of that nation. It’s almost like the world is marveling at the beast and saying, “Who can withstand its power”?
Isaiah 49:26
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
that I am the Lord your Savior,
and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Hebrews 10:29-31
How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Jeremiah 6:29-30
The bellows blow fiercely;
the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
for the wicked are not removed.
Rejected silver they are called,
for the Lord has rejected them.”
Ezekiel 24:13-14
On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, you shall not be cleansed anymore till I have satisfied my fury upon you. I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; I will not spare; I will not relent; according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”
Isaiah 8:21-22
They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Jeremiah 5:3
O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
Matthew 13:49-50
So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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