Chapter 16...The Bowl Judgments
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.--Revelation 16:1-2
These are evil sores. Festering, painful, and incurable. These sores will bring unrelieved physical torment to those who have rejected Jesus Christ. The sores will not affect believers, . They will come only upon those who chose to follow Antichrist, received his mark to show their allegiance (13:16–17), and 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.--Revelation 16:3
One of the reasons the bowl judgments will be so devastating is that their effects are cumulative. Before the sores of the first bowl could heal, “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.” Are you getting the similarity to the first plague in Egypt. (Exodus 7:20–24) and also the second trumpet judgment (8:8–9), but this time the effects will be much more intense. We are talking the ocean here...70% of the earth’s surface. The effects of this judgment will be worldwide.
We do not know exactly what supernatural means God will use to destroy the oceans, but the effects, according to people who have spent some time studying this say it will resemble those of the phenomenon known as the red tide...concentrated, toxic species of algae kill higher forms of marine life, including shellfish, fish, and marine mammals. The smell of death and decay will be horrific and really unimaginable.
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.” (16:4–7)
Freshwater is already in critically short supply by the time of this bowl judgment. The third trumpet judgment (8:10–11) will result in the poisoning of one third of the world’s freshwater.
The two witnesses will “have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying [the last three and a half years of the tribulation]; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood” (11:6).
The temporary restraining of the earth’s winds (7:1) will also cause drought. With no wind to move clouds and weather systems, the hydrological cycle will be disrupted and no rain will fall. The destruction of what is left of the earth’s freshwater will cause unthinkable hardship and suffering.
The scene is so unimaginably horrible that people will wonder how a God of compassion, mercy, and grace could send such a judgment.
The angel of the water speaks in God’s defense. God's judgment is unquestionably righteous because He is the Holy One. Fittingly, those who have spilled so much innocent blood will be given blood to drink. In the angel’s chilling words, “They deserve it.” God is just and holy and will execute vengeance for His people.
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written,“Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. Goes on to say if your enemy...overcome evil with good.--Romans 12:19
For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”[a] says the Lord.[b] And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”--Hebrews 10:30
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,--Hebrews 10:26
but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.--Hebrews 10:27
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. (16:8–9)
Searing heat exceeding anything in human experience. Another serious consequence of the sun’s intense heat will be the melting of the polar ice caps. One would think that the unparalleled disasters of the first four bowl judgments would cause people to repent. Instead “they blasphemed the name of God.” They did not repent nor give him glory. Neither God's goodness or His wrath were bringing these to repentance.
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. (16:10–11)
As He did long ago in Egypt (Exodus 10:21–29), God will turn up the intense suffering of the sinful world by turning out the lights. After the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, darkness engulfs the earth.
The cumulative effect of the painful sores, fouled oceans, lack of drinking water, intense heat, all engulfed in thick blackness, will bring unbearable misery.
Yet, incredibly, the wicked, unbelieving people of the world will still refuse to repent. (this is the last reference to their refusal to repent...perhaps they are now hardened and implacable in their sin...unredeemable.) John notes that they gnawed their tongues because of the most intense and excruciating pain. Still “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. 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. (16:12–16)
Unlike the previous five bowls, the sixth has no specific assault on humanity but prepares for what is to come. When his turn came, the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. The Euphrates appeared earlier in Revelation in connection with the sixth trumpet judgment (9:14), when two hundred million demons who were bound near it were released. As the angel dumped his bowl, the Euphrates’s “water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.”)
From the mouth of each member of the unholy trinity (Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet) came a foul, unclean spirit resembling a frog. The unholy, deceiving trinity will lead the kings of the east and their armies to their doom...to a place called in Hebrew Har-Magedon. (Mount Megiddo) The eastern armies will need to cross the Euphrates to reach their ultimate destination of Armageddon in the land of Palestine. God’s drying up of the Euphrates is not an act of kindness toward the kings from the east, but one of judgment. They and their armies will be entering a deadly trap. JUST LIKE PHARAOH'S ARMY ENTERED THE PARTED WATERS OF THE RED SEA AND WERE ANNIHILATED...SO WILL THE ARMIES OF THE EAST BE ALSO. THE DEMONS WILL LEAD THEM STRAIGHT INTO HELL AND EVERLASTING TORMENT. GOD LEADS HIS PEOPLE TO HEAVEN AND EVERLASTING LIFE IN HIS PRESENCE.
Amid all the horrors of judgment, deception, and war comes a word of encouragement to believers: “Behold, I am coming like a thief." This gracious word from heaven will come before the pouring out of the seventh bowl and assure believers that the time of the end is coming quickly and they will not be forgotten.
There were similar respites to encourage God’s people between the sixth and seventh seals (7:1–17) and between the sixth and seventh trumpets (10:1–11:14).
Then the exalted Lord pronounced the third of seven beatitudes in Revelation (1:3; 14:13; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14): “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.” This describes those who will be prepared for His arrival. The imagery here is of soldiers alert and on duty.
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. (16:17–21)
The seventh bowl is the final outpouring of God’s wrath on sinners in this present earth. It will be the worst calamity in the world’s history. Its effects carry all the way to the establishment of the earthly kingdom of Christ. Like the fourth angel, the seventh angel did not dump his bowl on the earth, but poured it out “upon the air.” As the angel dumped his bowl, a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne. God’s solemn declaration “It is done” announces the climax of the final day of the Lord that will spread doom over the entire globe.
From John MacArthur: Taken from "Because the Time is Near"
The perfect tense “it is done” describes a completed action with ongoing results. It is similar to Jesus’ final words from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God’s judgment of Christ on Calvary provided salvation for repentant sinners; the judgment of the seventh bowl brings doom to unrepentant sinners.
Atmosphere affected...flashes of lightning, peals of thunder. But those earlier storms were mere previews of the mighty storm of wrath that now bursts upon the earth.
Though the seventh bowl was dumped on the earth’s atmosphere, it will also have a devastating effect on the earth itself. God will punctuate this final judgment against sinners with an earthquake, just as He did His judgment of sin at Calvary (Matthew 27:51–54).
This earthquake will be the most powerful one ever to strike the earth. John described it as “a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth.” The shaking will be so severe that it will renovate and reconfigure the earth in preparation for the millennial kingdom, restoring it to something like its pre-flood condition (verse 20).
The first effect of this great and mighty earthquake was that “the great city was split into three parts.” A comparison with 11:8 clearly identifies the great city as Jerusalem, “the great city … where also [the] Lord was crucified.” That the great city is distinct from the cities of the nations offers further evidence that Jerusalem is in view. The massive earthquake will split Jerusalem into three parts, beginning a series of geophysical alterations to the city and its surrounding region that will conclude when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.
Zechariah 14:4–10 describes these changes in detail. The Mount of Olives will split in two, and a new valley running east and west will be created (Zechariah 14:4). A spring of water will flow year-round from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean and Dead Seas (Zechariah 14:8), causing the desert to blossom like a rose (cf. Isaiah 35:1). Jerusalem will be elevated, and the surrounding region flattened into a plain (Zechariah 14:10).
Thus, the purpose of the earthquake as it relates to Jerusalem is not to judge the city, but to enhance it. Jerusalem was judged earlier in the tribulation by an earthquake, which led to the salvation of those who were not killed (11:13). Thus, there is no need for further judgment on that city. The physical changes will prepare Jerusalem for the central role it will play during the millennial kingdom, when Christ will reign there as King (Psalm 110:2; Isaiah 2:3; 24:23; Micah 4:7).
Unlike Jerusalem, which was enhanced by the earthquake, the cities of the nations fell, perhaps simultaneously with the defeat of Antichrist by the Lamb (17:12–14). Specifically singled out is Babylon the great, which “was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.” As the capital city of Antichrist’s empire, Babylon especially will be made to drink the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath (chapters 17 and 18).
The final effect of the earthquake is to prepare the earth for the millennial rule of Christ. To that end, the earth’s topography will be drastically altered; “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” Islands, which are undersea mountains, will disappear. The mountains on land will be flattened (Isaiah 40:4), completing the process that began during the sixth seal (6:12–14).
Those who somehow escape the devastation caused by the earthquake will face another catastrophe, one unprecedented in earth’s history. They will be pelted with “huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each,” that will hurtle down from heaven. Unlike the seventh Egyptian plague (Exodus 9:23–24) and the first trumpet judgment (8:7), the force of these hailstones is unimaginable. The Greek term translated “about one hundred pounds” described the most weight a normal man could carry, anywhere from 90 to 135 pounds. The heaviest hailstones ever recorded weighed about two pounds. These will be fifty times heavier. No doubt many will die due to inadequate shelter or no shelter following the massive earthquake. Still unrepentant, the survivors of the hailstorm will blaspheme God “because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”
Incredibly, tortured humanity remains hardened against God—a truth that should give pause to those who think that signs and wonders will convince people to believe the gospel. In light of the inevitable judgment to come, the warning to all unrepentant sinners is
“Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).
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