A
“great voice” commands the seven angels to “pour out the seven bowls of the
wrath of God onto the earth.” The voice is that of either an angel, a cherub,
Christ, or God Himself. The
first angel sets in motion his judgment, which comes to punish people because
of idol worship and “those who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his
image”. The bowl’s effect is based on the literal Egyptian plague of boils
(Exodus 9:9–11).
The
second bowl: God punishes the world system economically in Revelation16:3. The
second bowl’s parallelism with the second trumpet is striking. The trumpet
struck the sea and “a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the living
creatures in the sea died.” Likewise, the second bowl strikes the sea and
“there came about blood as of a dead person, and every living thing died, the
things in the sea.” Both texts are clearly based on Exodus 7:17–21, where Moses
turns the Nile into blood and the fish in it die. Therefore, the second trumpet
and the second bowl have to do with the same kind of judgment. The primary difference
is the trumpet’s partial effect and the bowl’s total affect. The third bowl:
god punishes the persecutors of his people economically (16:4–7).
The
third bowl is parallel with the third trumpet (Revelation 8:10–11). The third
trumpet bring destruction “on a third of the
rivers and on the springs of the waters … and many people died from the
waters because they were made bitter.” Similarly, the third bowl is directed
against “the rivers and the springs of the waters, and they became blood.” Both
texts are based on the plague on the Nile in Exodus 7:17–21. Therefore, the third
trumpet and the third bowl pertain to the same kind of judgment - the primary
difference is that the former has partial effect and the latter total effect.
The
fourth angel pours his bowl on the sun, causing it “to burn men with fire.” The
power “to burn” could be seen as “given” either to the angel or the sun. God’s direct
authority over the trial is explicitly indicated by Revelation16:9’s: “God, the
one having authority over these plagues.” This woe includes suffering involving
deprivation of forms of earthly security, likely with an economic focus. This
bowl plague brings about only blasphemy and a non-repentant attitude, much like
the sixth trumpet. Indeed, the similarity of the sixth trumpet and the fourth bowl
is striking. “They blasphemed the name of God” because of the suffering they
experienced from the plague of the fourth bowl. This blasphemy is a defiant
slandering or defaming of the name of the true God. In this context, God’s “name”
represents his attributes and character. The reprobates utter lies about God’s
character as revenge for the
punishments that they experience under his hand.
The
fifth bowl: god punishes hardened idolaters by causing them to suffer by
revealing to them their irremediable separation from him in Revelation 16:10–11.
The contents of the fifth bowl are emptied onto “the throne of the beast.” The
beast’s throne represents the beast’ sovereignty over his realm. Therefore, the
bowl affects the beast’s ability to rule. The result
of the judgment is that “his kingdom became darkened.” Like the fourth trumpet,
this woe is also based on Exodus 10:22, where God brings darkness over Egypt. The
plague came against Pharaoh because of his disobedience to God’s command, his
oppression of Israel, and his allegiance to Egypt’s idolatrous system-so too
here to some extent. The suffering of v 10 does not soften the subjects of the
beast but hardens them further in their antagonism to God.
This is parallel to the plagues of Pharaoh having the effect of hardening his
heart also. Just like Egypt a remnant of Egyptians did repent and came out of Egypt
with Israel, the vast majority refused to trust in Israel’s God. This will be
the same in the time of the End.
The
sixth and seventh bowls: The final judgment of the evil world system take place
in Revelation16:12–21). The sixth bowl: god gathers together ungodly forces in
order to punish them decisively at the End of the Age. Although they might
think they are coming to wage war they are actually being gathered together to
be shot like fish in a barrel. The woe of the sixth bowl is depicted according
to the description of God’s judgment of
Babylon and Israel’s restoration, which itself was patterned after the drying
up of the Red Sea at the exodus.
Kings
will come from the east and from the vicinity of the Euphrates in Revelation
16:12. This evokes the OT prophecy of a northern enemy beyond the Euphrates,
whom God will bring to judge sinful Israel. Though these kings figuratively
will traverse the dry riverbed, in contrast to the ancient Egyptians, who
failed to cross the Red Sea, their journey will culminate in a greater judgment
than was experienced by Pharaoh’s army.
And
just as Babylon has been universalized and become symbolic of Rome or some new
incarnation of Rome (See Apocalypse Prophecy LVI), so the Euphrates may or may not be a literal geographical reference
to the Euphrates in modern Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Is this reference
to be taken literally or figuratively? A figurative interpretation of the Euphrates
may also be suggested by the figurative use of “sea,” “river,” and “water” in
the exodus-like plagues of the 2nd and 3rd bowls.
The
pouring out of the bowl sets in motion actions by the three great opponents of
the saints and leaders of the forces of evil that culminate in the dragon, the
beast, and the false prophet, who
represent respectively Satan, the Satanic political system, and the religious
support of the political system. It should be added that this is the first
occurrence of “false prophet” in John’s Apocalypse. The deceptive influence of
the three characters is portrayed metaphorically. The wicked trio spit out
“three unclean spirits like frogs,” one spirit from each member of the
triumvirate. As I will allude to in my next post, Babylon is the “habitation of
demons and prison of every unclean spirit” and of all unclean animals. The woe
of frogs recalls the exodus plague of frogs, which falls in line with the other
preceding bowls and trumpets also modeled in part on the exodus plagues. Frogs
are chosen to represent deceptive spirits partly because of their characteristic
croaking, which is loud, meaningless and usually annoying. The demons are
“doing signs”. Here the deception is aimed at “the kings.” The purpose of the
deception is “to gather them together for the war of the great day of God
Almighty.” (as if…)
That
the battle is called “the war of the great day of God” indicates that the
battle is one in which God will decisively judge the unrighteous and crush them
once and for all. This is the meaning of “great day of God” we read about all
throughout the Old Testament but especially in Joel 2:11 and Zephaniah 1:14.
The time that would come when the beast would attempt to annihilate the entire
community of faith has come. The truth is that this onslaught will occur on “the
great day of God” and could come at any hour. Believers must be prepared to
hold firm in faith and not compromise when it does happen. The members of the
churc must expect that the situation described in Revelation16:12–16 could
happen at any moment and should be prepared accordingly. So…the demonic spirits
deceive the kings and “gather them together at the place” where the war is to
occur. The outcome of the war is described in 17:14; 19:14–21; and 20:7–10,
where the forces of the dragon and beast are portrayed as destroyed by Christ and
God.
The
place where the battle is to be fought is called “Armageddon.” Like the place
names “Babylon” and “Euphrates,” so to “Armageddon” may not refer to a specific
geographical locale, but possibly the whole world. The battles in Israel
associated with Meggido and the nearby
mountain become a typologic symbol of the last battle against the saints and
Christ, which occurs throughout the earth. The possibility that “Armageddon” is
not literal is evident from the observation
that OT prophecies of the final battle of history place it, without
exception, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Jerusalem and Mount Zion or
its surrounding mountains. In reality the plain of Megiddo is about a two days’
walk north of Jerusalem.
Furthermore, John himself places the battle directly outside Jerusalem in Revelation
14:20 and 20:8–9. A figurative view of “Armageddon” is also apparent from the fact
that no mountain of Megiddo exists nor has it ever. Literally, “Armaggedon” in
Hebrew (har-megiddôn) means “mount of Megiddo.”
Along
comes the Seventh Bowl: God Punishes the World System with Final Judgment. The
seventh bowl describes the final destruction of the corrupt world system, which
follows on the heels of the Battle of Armageddon. The bowl being poured out on
the “air” is best understood as part of the exodus plague imagery present in
the trumpets and the preceding bowls and alluded to in “the plague of hail”. The
announcement is that “it is done” is very similar to the declaration of
Christ’s accomplishment of redemption at the cross, “it is finished.” By verse
20 we see the absolute nature of the judgment is continued by a picture of the
further breakup of the cosmos and the fact that “every island fled, and the
mountains were not found”. The exodus plague of hail is replicated, but this
time it strikes not one nation but all throughout the world who are in
opposition to God.
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