John revealed the outpouring of the bowls to enable his readers to understand the climactic judgments of the Great Tribulation. The setting of John's vision in this chapter is the earth.
"These plagues are not the expression of God's wrath against sin in general, nor are they punishments for individual wrongdoing. They are the outpouring of his wrath upon him who would frustrate the divine purpose in the world--the beast--and upon those who have given their loyalty to him.
"These plagues are God's answer to Satan's last and greatest effort to frustrate the divine rule."505
The voice John heard was evidently God's (cf. 15:8; 16:17). The fact that God told all seven angels to pour out their bowls seems to indicate that these judgments will follow each other in rapid succession.
The frequent use of the Greek adjective megalesin this chapter indicates the unusual severity and intensity of the bowl judgments. The NASB translators rendered this word "loud"here and in verse 17; "fierce"in verse 9; "great"in verses 12, 14, 18 (twice), and 19 (twice); and "huge"and "severe"in verse 21.506
The relationship in time of the bowl judgments to the trumpet judgments has been a matter of disagreement among futurist commentators. On the one hand there are some similarities between them, as a side by side comparison reveals.507
However the differences make it most difficult to conclude that they are identical judgments.508It seems more likely that the bowls constitute the seventh trumpet as the trumpets constitute the seventh seal. This would make the bowls the last plagues to come on the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation (15:1). Many details in the text, to be pointed out below, support the conclusion that this is the correct interpretation.
"The first four affect individuals directly either through personal affliction or through objects of nature, and the last three are on more of an international scale, leading the way to a final major confrontation."509
"After almost a century of insipid preaching from America's pulpits, the average man believes that God is all sweetness and light and would not discipline or punish anyone. Well, this Book of Revelation tells a different story!"510
The first four trumpet judgments fall on man's environment rather than on man himself, but the first bowl judgment falls directly on man himself. This plague resulted in some loathsome (bad) and malignant (evil) sores breaking out on the beast-worshippers (cf. Exod. 9:9-11; Lev. 13:18-27; Deut. 28:27, 35; Job 2:7).511This appears to be some type of skin ulcer that breaks out on the surface of the body. Might this be the result of germ warfare (cf. v. 17)? Believers who apostatize and worship the beast may suffer from this plague (cf. 14:9-12), but the faithful will be in a safe refuge (cf. 12:13-17) or God may protect them in other ways.
"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."512
This judgment resulted in the destruction of all sea life, not just one-third of it as in the second trumpet (8:8-9). This may involve actual coagulated, rotting blood or a liquid that resembles blood (cf. Exod. 7:19-25). I think it probably means real blood. Some commentators interpret the sea as the masses of humanity, but this sea is no more symbolic than the waters that Moses turned to blood.
"The sea is a great reservoir of life. It is teeming with life, and the salty water is a cathartic for the filth of the earth. However, in this plague, blood is the token of death; the sea becomes a grave of death instead of a womb of life."513
All the fresh water sources (springs, rivers, lakes, etc.) become blood in this plague (cf. 8:11; Exod. 7:24; Ps. 78:43-44). If the water is literal water, should we not understand the blood as literal blood too? People cannot exist long without any water to drink. However other cataclysmic changes follow that will evidently make water available again (cf. vv. 17-21).
John heard praise of God in heaven that interrupted his narration of the outpouring of the bowls of wrath briefly.
16:5 The "angel of the waters"evidently refers to the angel responsible for the sea and fresh water, the superintendent of God's water department. Scripture reveals that angels affect the elemental forces of nature (cf. Ps. 104:4; Heb. 1:7; Rev. 7:1; 9:11; 14:18). This angel attributes righteousness to the eternal God for judging in kind (cf. 15:3-4; Gal. 6:7). The holy and righteous God can judge humanity according to the lex talionisprinciple because He is eternal.
16:6 Specifically, God poured out blood on the earth-dwellers because they poured out the blood of His saints and prophets. He makes the punishment fit the crime (cf. Isa. 49:26).
"Pharoah tried to drown the Jewish boy babies, but it was his own army that eventually drowned in the Red Sea [Exod. 1:22; 14:28]. 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. 1:1-6)."514
The saints refer to all believers, and the prophets are those who delivered messages from God to humankind (cf. 11:18; 18:24). The angel affirmed that those guilty of slaying the saints and prophets deserve what they get. They took lives contrary to God's will, and now God is taking their lives in exchange.
16:7 The Tribulation martyrs offer their "amen"from under the altar (6:9; 15:3-4). The altar was the personification of those associated with it earlier in John's vision (cf. 9:13; Gen. 4:10; Luke 19:40; Heb. 12:24). God always judges consistently with His character, which these martyrs describe as being almighty, true, and righteous.
16:8 The fourth trumpet judgment darkened the sun (8:12), but this judgment increased the sun's intensity. There is a definite article before "men"in the Greek text. The men in view are evidently the people who have the mark of the beast and who worship him (v. 2). The faithful will apparently escape this judgment. Similarly the Israelites escaped some of the plagues on Egypt.
16:9 Evidently climatic changes will take place resulting in the sun's heat becoming much hotter than normal (cf. Deut. 32:24; Isa. 24:6; 42:25; Mal. 4:1; perhaps the destruction of the ozone layer?). Nevertheless instead of repenting the beast-worshippers curse God (cf. vv. 11, 21). They recognize His sovereignty, but they refuse to honor Him as sovereign (cf. Rom. 1:28; 2:24; 1 Tim. 6:1; James 2:7). Deserved judgment hardens the callous heart even more, as it did Pharaoh.515
"This is the only chapter in the visional portion of the book that speaks of widespread human blasphemy, the other references being to blasphemy from the beast (13:1, 5-6; 17:3). These men have now taken on the character of the god whom they serve . . . They blame God for the first four plagues, rather than blaming their own sinfulness."516
Previously some people repented because of the earthquake in Jerusalem (11:13), but now none do. Giving God glory is the result of repentance.
16:10 The darkening of the (first) beast's throne appears to be literal; light will diminish (cf. Exod. 10:21-23; Isa. 60:2; Joel 2:1-2, 31; Mark 13:24). Another possibility is that this may be a figurative darkening in which God somehow complicates the rule of the beast.517
". . . in terms reminiscent of the ancient battles of Israel, John describes the eschatological defeat of the forces of evil, the kings from the East."518
The weakness of this figurative interpretation is that the fifth trumpet judgment involved literal darkness (9:2) as did the ninth Egyptian plague (Exod. 10:21-22). God also darkened Jerusalem when Jesus Christ died on the cross (Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). Since the beast's kingdom is worldwide, this darkening amounts to a global judgment. Perhaps the faithful remnant will remain unaffected by this judgment as it did earlier in Egypt (cf. Exod. 10:23).
This judgment of worldwide darkness inflicts excruciating pain on the beast-worshippers also. Just how darkness will cause so much pain is hard to understand, but the chaos that darkness caused in Egypt may suggest some ways.
16:11 The earth-dwellers still fail to repent and continue to blaspheme God. The title "the God of heaven"recalls the pride of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors (cf. Dan. 2:44). One evidence that the bowl judgments will follow each other quickly is that the sores of the first bowl are still on people in the darkness of the fifth bowl. The bowl judgments come in swift succession, one right after another. In contrast, each of the seal and trumpet bowls ended before the next one began.
"The Scriptures plainly refute the notion that wicked men will quickly repent when faced with catastrophic warnings of judgment. When confronted with the righteous judgment of God, their blasphemy is deepened and their evil purpose is accentuated."519
The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.
16:12 The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plague on people but serves as a preparation for the final eschatological battle.520The Euphrates River is the northeastern border of the land God promised to Abraham's descendants (Gen. 15:18; Deut. 1:7; 11:24; Josh. 1:4).521Now God dries up this river that had previously turned into blood (v. 4) so the kings of the East can cross with their armies (cf. Dan. 11:44; Isa. 11:15). God earlier dried up the Red Sea so the Israelites could advance on the Promised Land from the west (Exod. 14:21-22; cf. Isa. 11:16). He also dried up the Jordan River so they could cross over from the east (Josh. 3:13-17; 4:23). Elijah too parted the waters of the Jordan (2 Kings 2:8). Cyrus may have conquered Babylon by draining the Euphrates and marching into the city over the riverbed (cf. Jer. 50:38; 51:36).522All these previous incidents should help us believe that a literal fulfillment of this prophecy is possible.
Some interpreters believe this is an Oriental invasion of Babylon in the future that will be similar to Cyrus' invasion of it in the past.523However, these are probably the Oriental armies that will assemble in Israel for the battle of Armageddon referred to in verses 13-16.524The drying up of the Euphrates will be an immediate help to these advancing armies, but it will set them up for defeat, as was true of Pharaoh's army.
". . . in the Old Testament a mighty action of God is frequently associated with the drying up of waters, as the Red Sea (Ex. xiv. 21), the Jordan (Jos. iii. 16 f.), and several times in prophecy (Is. xi. 15, Je. li, 36, Zc. x. ll)."525
"A more immediate suggested identification of the kings from the east (i.e., the rising of the sun') could be the Parthian rulers who were a continual threat to Rome during John's day, but this was hardly a factor in preparation for the battle of Harmagedon in 16:16."526
Presently some sections of the Euphrates River are dry at certain times of the year due to dams that Iraq has built to create reservoirs. These dams generate power for the Middle East. Perhaps when the Euphrates dries up even artificial light will end in that region.
16:13 Verses 13-16 give further comments on the sixth bowl judgment. They are not an interlude between the sixth and seventh bowls (except verse 15). They reveal that rulers from all over the earth will join the kings of the East in a final great conflict.
The dragon, beast, and false prophet will evidently join in making a proclamation that will mobilize the armies of the world to converge on Palestine. Something proceeding from the mouth suggests a proclamation. This is the first mention of the false prophet, but he is clearly the beast out of the earth (cf. 13:11-17). He deceives the people. What he urges them to do for their advantage results in their destruction eventually.
The three unclean spirits that proceed from their mouths, the agents of this diabolical trio, are demons (fallen angels, v. 14; cf. Matt. 10:1; Mark 1:23-24; 3:11; 5:2, 13; Acts 5:16; 8:7). They resemble frogs in that they are unclean and loathsome (cf. Lev. 11:10-11, 41). The second Egyptian plague involved frogs (Exod. 8:5), but these demons are only like frogs.
16:14 Here John identified the spirits as demons. The demons go out to the kings of the earth deceiving them to assemble their armies in Palestine for the battle of Armageddon. A deceiving spirit earlier lured King Ahab into battle (1 Kings 22:21-23). They will do this under the influence of Satan, the beast, and the false prophet. The demons persuade them, but their decision is something that God, the ultimate cause, puts in their hearts (17:17).
It may also be the advancing army from the east that moves these kings to assemble for war.527These kings from all over the world will gather to destroy Israel (cf. Ps. 2:1-3; Joel 2:11; 3:2; Zech. 14:2-3). Satan's purpose in bringing all these soldiers into Palestine in the first place appears to be to annihilate the Jews. When Jesus Christ returns to earth, specifically to the Mount of Olives (Zech. 14:1-4), they will unite in opposing Him. However God's sovereign hand will be regulating Satan's activities (Zech. 14:2). This will not be the day of Satan's triumph but that of the Lord God Almighty. He will show Himself supreme in this climactic battle (cf. Joel 2:31).528The description of this battle follows in 19:11-16.
16:15 Jesus Christ Himself evidently gave this parenthetic invitation and warning (cf. 3:3, 18). His second coming will be as a thief in that it will be sudden, and His enemies will not expect it (cf. Matt. 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1 Thess. 5:2). Believers who understand the revelation of this book, on the other hand, will be expecting His return.529Jesus Christ urged these faithful believers to be watchful and pure (cf. Matt. 25:1-30).530The alternative is embarrassment (cf. Exod. 20:26; Lev. 18:6-19; Deut. 23:14; Isa. 47:3; Ezek. 16:37; 23:24-29; Hos. 2:10; Nah. 3:5). This is the third of the seven beatitudes in Revelation (cf. 1:3; 14:13; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14).
Another interpretation sees this encouragement as directed to the Christian readers of this prophecy during the church age, before the Tribulation begins. Advocates of this view point out that by the sixth bowl believers who have not taken refuge (12:13-17) will have suffered martyrdom (13:15; 14:1-5, 13; 15:2). Therefore, according to this view, there will be no believers on the earth by the time the sixth bowl judgment occurs.
"The close similarity to 3:3, 18 and the parenthetical nature of the announcement favor the latter alternative [i.e., this view]."531
I think this verse is a general word of encouragement addressed to believers in the Great Tribulation, in view of the context, but applicable to believers in the church age. If believers do not understand that Jesus Christ will return very soon, they may behave in ways that will be embarrassing when He does return, at the Rapture or the Second Coming.
16:16 "And"(Gr. kai) resumes the exposition of the sixth bowl judgment from verse 14. The demons will assemble the kings of the earth and their armies. They will go to what in Hebrew is called "Har-Magedon"(lit. mountain of Megiddo, Megiddo meaning either place of troups or place of slaughter). John was writing to Greek-speaking readers who were generally unfamiliar with Palestinian geography (cf. 9:11).
This mountain may refer to the small hill on the south-central edge of the Jezreel (Esdraelon) Valley in northern Palestine on which the town of Megiddo stood. Alternatively, "Har-Magedon"may refer to the mountain closest to Megiddo, namely, Mt. Carmel. There God humiliated the host of prophets of Baal who gathered to oppose Him in Elijah's day (cf. 1 Kings 18:16-40). God and Elijah slaughtered them in the Valley of Jezreel. Mt. Tabor is another prominent hill (1,850 feet high) at the east end of this valley. Some believe it is the mountain in view here.532Probably Har-Magedon refers to the hill country surrounding Megiddo that includes all the mountains that border the approximately 14 by 20 mile Valley of Jezreel. Earlier Deborah and Barak had defeated the Canaanites in this valley (Judg. 4-5), and Gideon had routed the Midianites (Judg. 7). King Josiah also died there when he opposed Pharaoh Neco (2 Chron. 35:22).
"The plain of Megiddo is admittedly not large enough to contain armies from all over the world, so this must be the assembly area for a much larger deployment that covers a two hundred mile distance from north to south and the width of Palestine from east to west (cf. 14:20). Some decisive battles against this massive force will probably occur around Jerusalem (Zech. 14:1-3)."533
A less literal view sees the name standing for an event rather than any single locality.534
16:17 This final judgment has the greatest impact of all since the air into which the angel pours his bowl is what humans breathe.535The loud voice is probably once again God's since it comes from the throne in the heavenly temple (cf. 16:1). With the outpouring of the final bowl God announced that His series of judgments for this period in history was complete. This statement is proleptic since it anticipates the completion of the seventh bowl judgment, which John had yet to reveal (cf. 21:6).
"The pouring out of the seventh vial into the air is probably a gesture pointing to the utter demolition of man's greatest final weapon in human warfare, when once the wrath of God is poured out in the great day of God Almighty."536
"Men would not have the Savior's It is finished!' on Calvary; so they must have the awful It is done!' from the Judge!"537
16:18 Lightning, thunder, and the greatest earthquake this planet has ever experienced will accompany, and to some extent produce, the desolation that follows. The storm theophany again appears at the end of another series of judgments (cf. 8:5; 11:19). These are signs of divine judgment, but this earthquake is much larger than any previous one (cf. 6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; Hag. 2:6; Heb. 12:26-27). It heralds the seventh bowl judgment and the end of the seals and trumpets judgments. All three series of judgments end at the same time.
16:19 A result of this unprecedented earthquake is the splitting of the great city into three parts. The "great city"could refer to Jerusalem (11:8), to Rome,538or to Babylon on the Euphrates (14:8; 17:18; 18:10, 21),539to which this verse refers explicitly later. Probably Jerusalem is in view.540It contrasts with the cities of the nations, and the phrase "the great"described it before (11:8). Zechariah's prophecy of topographical changes taking place around Jerusalem at this time argues for a geophysical rather that an ethnographic division (Zech. 14:4).541
Evidently the earthquake will destroy virtually all the cities of the world. Babylon on the Euphrates is the most significant of these cities (14:8). It is the special object of God's judgment, which the cup of wine that she receives symbolizes. Chapters 17 and 18 will describe the fall of Babylon in more detail.
"The fall of Babylon is the central teaching of the seventh bowl. It is an event already announced in 14:8 and prefigured in the harvest and vintage of 14:14-20. . . . Stages in Babylon's downfall come in 17:16 and 18:8 . . ., but her ultimate collapse is in 19:18-21"542
The government of Iraq has been trying to rebuild Babylon.543Interpreters have differed on the question of whether someone will rebuild the whole city completely or not. Some believe Iraq will rebuild Babylon mainly in view of what the prophets predicted would happen to Babylon in Isaiah 13 and 14, and in Jeremiah 50 and 51. They say this has not yet taken place.544Others hold that Scripture does not require the rebuilding of Babylon since they believe God has fulfilled these prophecies.545It seems to me that a literal city is in view in Revelation.
16:20 The earthquake will produce other effects. It will level mountains and cause islands to disappear.546As the Flood produced global topographical changes, so will this earthquake. It will prepare the earth for the Edenic conditions that the prophets predicted would characterize the earth during the Millennium. These changes will be a foreview of the final disappearance of the old creation and the creation of a new earth (cf. 20:11; 21:1-2).
16:21 The accompanying storm will include huge hailstones that will fall on the earth crushing people (cf. 8:7). Hail was often an instrument of divine judgment in biblical history (cf. Josh. 10:11; Job 38:22-23; Isa. 28:2, 17; Ezek. 13:11-13; 38:22-23). In spite of all these judgments the hearts of earth-dwellers will remain hard, as Pharoah's did during the plague of hail in Egypt (cf. Exod. 9:24). They will know that God sent this calamity, but rather than repenting they will shake their fists in God's face. God will stone these blasphemers with these huge hailstones (cf. Lev. 24:16).
"We cannot emphasize too strongly that in the three series of divine judgments--first the seals, second the trumpets, third the vials (or bowls) of wrath--we have those preliminary hardening actions of God upon an impenitent world, by which He prepares that world for the Great Day of Wrath--at Christ's coming as King of kings, as seen in Revelation 19:11-15. . . .547
J. Dwight Pentecost believed that the bowl judgments describe the second advent of Jesus Christ to the earth.
"Since the bowl judgments must span some period of time, we must view the second advent of Christ as an event that encompasses a period of time. In that regard, we find an interesting chronological note in Daniel 12:11-12: From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.' Twelve hundred ninety days span the second half of Daniel's seventieth week, and that time period brings us to the end of the Tribulation period. But the blessings of Messiah's reign are not enjoyed until some forty-five days later. Therefore, it is suggested that the forty-five day period is the period in which the judgments associated with the second advent of Christ are poured out on the earth. And that entire forty-five day period, then, could be called the second advent of Christ.
"Further, it is suggested that the 1,290 days come to their completion with the appearance of the sign of the Son of Man in heaven (Matt. 24:30). The judgments of Revelation 16 follow in a forty-five day period and are concluded with the physical descent of Jesus Christ to the earth. Hence, Revelation 11:15 brings us to the second coming of Jesus Christ back to the earth at which time He will experience the fulfillment of the Father's promise . . . [in Ps. 2:8-9]."548
It seems to me that the 45-day period may be the time of preparation for the beginning of the Millennium. It seems unnatural to describe the return of the Lord as taking this long to happen (cf. Acts 1:9-11). Therefore I prefer the view that the bowl judgments describe what happens before Jesus Christ returns rather than when He returns. These judgments then set the stage for the return of Jesus Christ to the earth.
Before recording that event in chapter 19, God led John to give more revelation concerning the fate of Babylon in chapters 17 and 18.549
