Revelation 16

V1. John hears how out of the smoke-filled temple “a loud voice” sounds. ‘Loud voice’ is literally ‘great voice’. In this chapter the word ‘great’ occurs often (verses 9,12,14,18,19,21). The unrighteousness is great and God’s wrath is great. Great and extensive is the area of the unrighteousness, great and severe are therefore the means of God’s wrath.

The loud voice commands “the seven angels” to act. They must go, each of them to the territory on earth that was assigned to them. There they must pour out “the seven bowls of the wrath of God”. ‘To pour out’ is a sudden and complete effusion of the content on the objects of God’s wrath. The wrath of God does not consist here, so to speak, of a tap with a stick to correct wrong action, but of a complete overpowering and striking down of evil.

Bowl after bowl is emptied with a single move. The plagues follow one another in a great pace. Probably these judgments that spare nothing and no one, will be finished within a few days. They are not announced, as it happened with the two previous series of plagues – seals and trumpets. They happen without any warning because God has already warned enough (Pro 29:1).

V2. The first four bowls are much like the first four trumpets in Revelation 8. The plagues of the first four bowls strike the same areas as the first four trumpets did. However, the difference is that the trumpet plagues struck a limited part of the earth, a third part, while the bowl plagues doesn’t have that limitation.

To emphasize the speed of action, it is not said ‘and the first angel went’, but “so the first went”. You find that also in each of the next cases. The first pours out his bowl on the earth. That is not the earth in the broad sense of verse 1, but in the limited sense of ‘the dry land’, because in the following there is also mention of other areas on earth, such as the sea and the rivers.

When the angel has poured out his bowl the consequences immediately become visible. The people who are connected to the beast and worship his image, get a loathsome and malignant sore as a mark. This couldn’t be just a small sore that you can put a plaster on, but it is an enormous, striking sore that cannot be treated. A sore is an outburst of inner uncleanness that goes together with pain and that changes the outer beauty into repulsiveness.

For people who sacrifice everything for a perfect body, both in terms of health and shape, this is a disaster of unprecedented proportions. They have done everything to keep their body in top condition and now by one act of God’s wrath their body turns into a wreck, a pitiful example of misery and pain. Such as satan once struck Job with loathsome sores (Job 2:7), God now strikes the followers of the beast with them (cf. Exo 9:10; Deu 28:27,35).

V3. Without a renewed command from heaven – the command in verse 1 is one command for all seven angels – the second angel empties his bowl. The area that was given to him is “the sea”. The emptying of his bowl has the direct result that the sea becomes “blood”. However, it is not blood that flows, in which movement is possible, but it is blood that is clotted. The blood in a dead person is not running anymore. The sea turns into a clotted mass. Everything that lives in it cannot move anymore and dies immediately on its spot. The stench of the whole will be terrible and unbearable (cf. Exo 7:19-21).

Spiritually applied the sea is a symbol for all nations where things are disordered, in contrast to the earth as a symbol of an ordered whole. Everyone lives for himself, authority is not acknowledged. At the emptying of the second bowl this conduct will become a plague. In this way each individual will be left to his own, that it will be no more possible for him to be reached or to reach another person. As a result of utter mental numbing, all communication is dead. Loneliness prevails. As dead as they already were in the spiritual sense concerning their relationship with God, now death has also entered in their relationships with their neighbor.

V4. In case there might still be any hope that fresh water can run to the sea from the rivers, which may cause it to live again, then this hope is erased by the third angel. The bowl that he pours out, strikes “the rivers” that they become blood. This also happens to the stand-alone “springs of water”. No water can be drawn for one’s own refreshment or to bring refreshment elsewhere.

All the water has turned into blood. Every possibility to bring life where death is, is cut off. When man is cut off from God and from his neighbor, he is utterly subject to the influence of death, without any alternative.

Now read Revelation 16:1-4 again.

Reflection: What do you find poignant in the description of these bowl judgments?

V5. After the third had emptied his bowl and before the fourth empties his bowl, the voice of another angel sounds. He is furthermore indicated as “the angel of the waters”. The waters seem to be the area that is given to him by God to act there (cf. Rev 7:1; 14:18). Because of this, he will connect in a special way with the second angel and the third angel. The angel speaks to God and says to Him that His judgments show that He is “righteous”. The angel agrees with its righteousness.

He also recognizes that God’s judgments show that He is Who He has always been, the Holy One. God’s judgments on the world at the end of history are no different from His judgments at the beginning of the world, such as the flood on the earth and the plagues on Egypt. He is not an unsteady ruler with changing standards all the time. In His judgments He is perfectly consistent.

V6. In the bowl judgments, God acts according to the principle of “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Exo 21:24). You may also say that man reaps what he has sown (Gal 6:7). The angel expresses this by stating that those who have shed blood also have had to drink blood in both previous judgments. Just as they have shed blood, just like that blood came out of the bowls which caused their death.

The words “they deserve it” are sometimes used in a positive sense (Rev 3:4; Lk 20:35), but also in a negative sense. A person also receives judgment that he ‘deserves’. He who has shed “the blood of saints and prophets” has clearly shown that he hates everything that belongs to God (His ‘saints’) and what reminds him of Him (His ‘prophets’). In that way he has got rid of every blessing that God was still giving through His saints and prophets. In that way you make yourself due to the judgment yourself.

In a spiritual sense God provided His people with His blessing by His prophets. But these ‘rivers’ are rejected by them, which caused them to change to blood. Also now all ‘rivers’ are rejected and therefore they are changed into rivers of blood. God’s Word and His institutions were given to be a blessing. But people got rid of them.

We can see the consequences in the dramatic changes in people’s thinking and behavior:
- selflessness turns into self-assertion,
- the submissiveness of children to their parents turns into rebellion,
- the exclusive love of the husband for his wife in marriage is oppressive and people start to live in alternative forms such as co-habitation and homosexual relationships;
- submission of the woman is slavery against which feminism opposes;
- euthanasia becomes a form of respect toward older people;
- abortion is committed out of respect toward life;
- obedience to authorities and submission of employees are answered by rights.
All virtues of God are an abomination to modern, autonomous man. God will judge him accordingly.

V7. After the angel of the waters John also hears how even the altar agrees with a “yes” to the truthfulness and the righteousness of God’s judgments. The altar addresses the Lord Jesus to Whom all judgment has been given (Jn 5:22-23) and Who at the same time is God, the Almighty. This altar refers to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and the redemption of all believers. God’s righteousness has never been shown more clearly than in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. He underwent judgment for the sins of all who believe in Him.

Therefore, they are free from the judgments that pass over the earth like a scourge. But all who have rejected His sacrifice will be struck by the scourge and perish. From the altar emanates the serious proclamation that God's judgment on persistent unbelievers is as true and just as the judgment that the Lord Jesus struck for those who believe in Him.

V8. Then the wrath of God is directed at “the sun”, when “the fourth” angel pours his bowl over it. As a result, the sun burns so hot that its rays become a fire that burns people (cf. Mal 4:1). No sunscreen will help against this, even if the protection factor is so high. This fire is a harbinger of hell.

Spiritually applied, the sun represents great rulers. The “men” are the unbelievers. During the great tribulation, those rulers are hostile to God. While the people thought these rulers were pursuing their interests, the fourth scale will transform these rulers into merciless rulers who will turn against their subjects and persecute and consume them with satanic pleasure. They did not want the gentle yoke of Him Who said that He is meek and humble of heart. Now an iron yoke is imposed on them that oppresses them without compassion (cf. Deu 28:48).

V9. The heat will cause tremendous pain. They know that the plagues come from God and they will no longer try to find a natural explanation for them, as happens today with all natural disasters. Men, however, refuse to admit that God speaks clearly to them in these natural disasters that they may repent. Enormous bodily pains or severe inner torments or both will drive them out to God. However, they do not come to God to confess their sins, but to blaspheme Him. Against their better judgment they blame Him for all misfortune.

Their aversion to God comes out in all their intensity in those dramatic circumstances. They have been indoctrinated and brainwashed by the beast in such a way that it doesn’t occur to them to give God glory. The propaganda of the beast (Rev 13:6) has done its disastrous work in his followers. They have never wanted to repent and they still do not want to now. The future propaganda of the beast casts its shadows ahead. Through the newspaper, radio, television and the Internet more and more expressions and programs appear in which the aversion to God is woven. Whoever preaches the biblical gospel, experiences that people become more and more harsh and unreachable. This is especially true in the Western world, where the light of the gospel has shone brightest and people still boast of their ‘Christian roots’.

V10. “The fifth” angel pours out “his bowl on the throne of the beast”, that is, on the center of his power. The result is a darkness that extends itself from this center over his whole kingdom. The darkness is reminiscent of the darkness in Egypt, the ninth and second-last plague (Exo 10:21-22). In complete darkness, it is impossible to take a step, because there is no orientation and communication. In that darkness man is fully delivered to himself. He doesn’t know where he is, doesn’t see any outcome and can go nowhere for help.

In this darkness people have no distraction of the pains that torment them. In great despair and at the same time with undiminished hatred they “gnawed their tongues because of pain”. Earlier they were saying with arrogance who was able to wage war with the beast (Rev 13:4; 19:19). Here is God’s response.

The beast received his throne from the dragon, that is satan (Rev 13:2). It seemed that with the super high intelligence of the beast, his knowledge and insight, the light on the world and the economy had begun to shine brightly again. All oppressive Christian truths have been rejected as darkness. But now here the moment has come that all the bragging about higher light and higher knowledge is not only put into the shadow by God, but it is fully covered in darkness.

When God brings truth to light, it means darkness for all who have banished Him. He makes the light that has been rejected to become darkness (Mt 6:23). They won’t know where they are or where go to. They will not even see any neighbor anymore. In this total isolation the soul is alone with himself and eats himself up in hatred, envy, bitterness and wormwood.

V11. “Their pains and their sores” are a reason for the people to blaspheme God. They blame Him for it. Instead of repenting they persevere in their sinful deeds. Psychologists and politicians may draw people’s attention through conferences to explain their reactions. Every explanation, how illogical it may be, is better than acknowledging that you are a sinner and that you need to repent. They refuse to give up anything of their debauched life and they rather choose to perish with the beast than to bow their knees under these final plagues of God.

Now read Revelation 16:5-11 again.

Reflection: Why do the people refuse to repent, although they are being so severely tormented by the judgments of God?

V12. It is “the sixth” angel’s turn to pour out his bowl. The target of the content of his bowl is “the great river, the Euphrates”. The Euphrates river is the natural border between the east and the west. This plague caused the Euphrates river to dry up. This in turn paves the way for the eastern powers – “the kings from the east” – to attack the restored Roman empire. You can think of countries like India, Indonesia, China and Japan. This is about the situation in which the Western-European armies have come to help Israel because Israel is threatened by the king of the North.

V13. At this point, John gets a glimpse into the secret dealings of the trinity of the ungodliness, “the dragon … the beast and … the false prophet”. “Out of the mouth” of each of them comes an unclean spirit. These “unclean spirits” look “like frogs”. ‘Out of the mouth’ means that propaganda is being spread. The content of the propaganda is unclean. The symbol, the frog, is very fitting, for it is an unclean animal (Lev 11:10,41). Only one more time frogs are mentioned in the Scripture, namely, in connection with the second plague on Egypt (Exo 8:2-14; Psa 78:45; 105:30). They come from the swamp and are most audible in the darkness of the night, which also fits with this symbol for the demonically inspired propaganda.

Uncleanness has become a trademark. Hands full of money is made with uncleanness. The many millions (!) of pornographic internet sites of which the number daily increases, prove the sensitivity of man to particularly this kind of propaganda. The advertising industry is full of it. That the unholy trinity chooses this form of propaganda makes it very clear how much man has degenerated into a creature that lives only for the satisfaction of his lusts.

V14. Promise people uninhibited freedoms and they are won to the cause against God and His Christ. With this message the “spirits of demons” – for the unclean spirits are demons – go out and get to work. They will perform “signs”, making their message to be accepted easier. Their mission is to persuade “the kings of the whole world” to support their intention. That intention is to wage war against God and His Christ. But as crafty and deceptive as demons have always been, they will surely present their plan otherwise, perhaps as a peace-mission. After all, peace is necessary in the Middle-East, right?

V15. The dark scene is interrupted by a word of the Lord Jesus for the believers who are fleeing from the beast. This statement is meant to encourage them in those turbulent times to continue to expect the Lord and to be vigilant. They must not let themselves be deceived by all events and especially not by the deceiving speech. For those who are not prepared for His return the Lord will come like a thief, which means unexpectedly and undesired.

For the third time in this book the word “blessed” sounds. It is meant as a consolation and encouragement for the living saints. While under the influence of the ‘frogs’ the people will dress and behave themselves more and more shameless, the saints will distinguish themselves by dressing and behaving themselves honorably. The spiritual application is that the people of the world are walking naked, that is, that everyone sees what the flesh is capable of. Believers have received the garments of salvation by which the flesh can be kept in the death.

V16. With the word “and” the thread is picked up again with verse 14, the gathering of the armies. Here you see that in reality God gathers the hostile armies and not the spirits of demons of verse 14 that think that they have organized it themselves through their deception. The place where these armies are gathered is called by its Hebrew name. “Har-Magedon” means ‘the mountain where troops gather’. In that place the Western-European armies will be defeated by the Lord Jesus. The report of that battle, or better said, judgment, is described in Revelation 19 (Rev 19:19-21).

V17. Finally it is “the seventh” and last angel’s turn. Under the previous bowl judgments the whole society has been already destroyed in all its parts. But there is one territory left and that is “the air”. The last bowl is poured out on it. The air the people breathe will be suffocating. Breathing will be heavy and stuffy.

Spiritually applied the air is the atmosphere that is ruled by satan (Eph 2:2). The spiritual air that people breathe will then totally be under the judgment of God. All human relationships that the most wicked person needs to have a meaningful life, such as family, friends and colleagues, will be gone. Nothing is left but desperate loneliness in a hopeless environment, without any prospects. This too is, as it were, a foretaste of hell.

With this, the judgments of God have come to an end. A loud voice announces that God’s holiness (the voice comes from the temple) and God’s righteousness (the voice comes from the throne) have been fully satisfied. With the cry “it is done!” it is indicated that all God’s purposes with His judgments have been fulfilled. There is nothing left to come under judgment.

V18. What follows is a description of the accompanying phenomena to the seventh bowl and the consequences of pouring it out. “Flashes of lightning” underline that the judgment comes from heaven and that it will come suddenly and will be unstoppable. The flashes of lightning go together with all kinds of noises or “sounds” and with “peals of thunder”. Thunder indicate the powerful speaking of God in judgment.

This impressive speaking from heaven is echoed on earth in an earthquake of a magnitude that dwarfs all previous earthquakes (Hag 2:6). This last earthquake will bring a radical end to everything that still gave man any hold.

V19. The earthquake will strike all habitats where there may be people. First “the great city” is mentioned. It is not quite clear which city is meant by that. According to some interpreters it is about political Rome and according to others it refers to Jerusalem (Zec 13:8-9). There are two indications that, in my opinion, speak for thinking primarily of Jerusalem. The first is that Jerusalem earlier is called so (Rev 11:8). The second is that it is said here that the city is divided “into three parts”, which means that the city is not totally destroyed, but is partly spared (Zec 1:17).

“The cities of the nations” are all cities outside Israel. These are the living communities of people. In the past such cities have always been reconstructed after disasters. That will not be the case here. All rebellion of human civilization against the government of heaven has seemed meaningless. Finally, every living community completely collapses.

As final city “Babylon the great” is mentioned. Here we have religious Rome, the spiritual power, the system that has been delivering religion to an ungodly whole. That system is remembered before God separately as a special object on which His wrath is focused. Babylon, the roman-catholic system, has arrogated itself to be God’s representative on the earth and in this way has most dishonored God’s Name.

V20. Also the places where people have fled to escape all the disasters, perish in the earthquake. No more shelter will be found. All those still alive, probably on their way to an island or a mountain to seek a safe place, will be directly exposed to the concluding part of the final plague.

V21. The final consequence of the seventh bowl are deadly “huge hailstones … from heaven” (cf. Job 38:22-23). The weight of the hailstones is mentioned. Converted, the weight of a hailstone is about fifty kilos. The last drops from the last bowl take the form of these enormous hailstones that come down on the people with great speed and crushing gravity.

The only response of hardened man who is
tormented by sores,
burned by the sun,
clothed in darkness,
deprived of every hold by the great earthquake and
struck by an unprecedented hail
is that he blasphemes God. Here it is no longer said that the people did not repent (verses 9,11). With cursing they ball their fist to heaven and sink down into death.

Now read Revelation 16:12-21 again.

Reflection: What warnings do the two last bowl judgments contain for you?