SEVEN BOWL JUDGMENTS

Revelation 16
Bob Bonner
March 19, 2006

This morning, our study of the book of Revelation, brings us to chapter 16. If you are visiting us for the first time, please forgive me. I do not usually jump into a message this quickly without setting the context for the passage we are about to study. But due to the content of this chapter, we simply do not have the luxury of time to really set the stage as I would normally like to do.

We have been working through the book of Revelation, and if you would like to get a better grasp of the prophetic as well as scriptural context of this chapter, I would encourage you to pick up a tape from last week’s message, or hang in there till next week, when I will review what we have covered thus far, before we enter into a new section of the book.

Revelation 16 is comprised of the final set of seven Bowl judgments of God against this world, before this world as we know it, will cease to exist.  In a moment, as we read this entire chapter, notice the rapid fire, short brief statements that describe each of these seven Bowl judgments. The way these judgments are recorded leads one to believe these events will take place very quickly and close together.

We read, ¹Then 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.” ²So 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. ³The 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. ⁴Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. ⁵And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; ⁶for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” ⁷And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” ⁸The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. ⁹Men 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. ¹⁰Then 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, ¹¹and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds. ¹²The 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. ¹³And 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; ¹⁴for 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. ¹⁵(“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.”) ¹⁶And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon. ¹⁷Then 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.” ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹The 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. ²⁰And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹And 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.

•  In fact, the Trumpet judgments mentioned in Rev. 8-9 appear to be the same as

 these judgments. Some have even mistakenly concluded that they are one and the same judgments. But they are not. So, before we take a closer look at each of these judgments, let’s compare these two sets of judgments, the Trumpet Judgments from chapters 8-9, with the Bowl judgments of chapter 16.

Trumpet Judgments Bowl Judgments First on the earth, resulting in 1/3 of vegetation being burned up.  8:7 First on all the earth, resulting in human sores.  16:2 Second on the sea, turning it into blood, resulting in 1/3 of sea life and shipping destroyed.  8:8 Second on the sea, turning it into blood, all living creatures in the sea die.  16:3 Third polluting 1/3 of the fresh water, killing many.  8:10 Third polluting all fresh water.  16:4 Fourth decreasing 1/3 of the light from the sun, moon and stars.  8:12 Fourth on the sun only, resulting in the scorching of all humans.  16:4 Fifth dealing with demon possession with the sun and sky darkened, demonic pain inflicted upon the worshipers of the beast.  9:1-12 Fifth deals with darkness and sores that cause agony among worshipers of the beast.  16:10-11 Sixth dealing with demons coming forth from the River Euphrates to kill 1/3 of the human race.  9:13-14 Sixth deals with the River Euphrates drying up, opening the way for the kings of the East to join the beast in battle against God.  16:12 Seventh implying that the Great Tribulation is coming to an end with an earthquake and hail storm.  11:15-19 Seventh declares “It is done!” with the resulting destruction of an earthquake and giant hail storm.  16:17

Although there are a great many similarities between these two sets of judgments, they do not prove to be identical. There are many striking differences revealed between these two sets of judgments. For example: 

In the Trumpet judgments, generally speaking, A third of the earth and heaven is afflicted, whereas in the Bowl judgments the effects of the judgments are on the entire earth and are much more severe and final in character.

Second: The Trumpet judgments were the result of God and Satan’s doing. But the Bowl judgments come directly and solely from God. 

Third: Chapter 15:1, which introduces these Bowl judgments, calls these judgments, the “last judgments,” showing they do not go back in time to repeat earlier judgments. 

Hence, the only conclusion one can draw from a closer examination of both sets of judgments is that the Bowl judgments, although admittedly similar, represent a separate, intensified expansion of the original Trumpet judgments.

Now, let’s go back and look at each of these Bowl judgments individually. It is clear that the first Bowl judgment, mentioned in verses 1-2, that describes grievous sores is only experienced by those who worship the beast. In other words, not all of humanity is affected by this judgment. Those who have put their trust in Christ escape this judgment.

The second Bowl judgment was an attack on the sea. Every living thing in the sea will die. It is not clearly stated, but I presume that if someone is in the sea, they may die along with the other living creatures in the sea. Furthermore, since all of these judgments appear to be experienced only by those who have refused to worship Christ, I would think that if human life is included in the deaths experienced in the sea as a result of this judgment, it would exclude the believers.

The third Bowl judgment, in verses 4-7, is is against all the fresh water supply on earth. ⁴Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. ⁵And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; ⁶for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” ⁷And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

Because the angel who poured out this Bowl judgment declares that God’s judgment is justified against the world for its persecution of believers, I don’t see this Bowl judgment affecting the believer. Furthermore, in verse 7, when it states that the “altar” agrees, I don’t believe it really means the altar is talking. Rather, I prefer to take this to refer to those mentioned in the previous chapter, chapter 15, the martyred Great Tribulation believers who will be in heaven praising God for taking His vengeance against those who killed His children. Their voices are so loud that it appears that the altar itself is speaking. Their message of praise sounds vaguely familiar to a common expression of our day: “What goes around, comes around!”

As mentioned earlier in our comparison between the Trumpet and Bowl judgments, in chapter 8, the fourth trumpet judgment strikes the sun, moon and stars, reducing their light by one third of their normal output. Here, the fourth Bowl judgment involves only the sun; the impact of this judgment is also different. Its impact is not a reduction in light, but an increase in the sun’s scorching heat, such that it burns human skin. Once again, verse 9 points out that those affected by this judgment are non-believers who, like Pharoah, who, after many of the 10 plagues fell upon Egypt, still refuse to repent and trust Christ. 

As we go through these judgments, you will sense that God is not just bringing these judgments to punish or kill people, but He is still trying to use these terrible judgments to convince the rebellious, hard -hearted, lost individual that He is the one to be feared and worshiped, not the beast, themselves or anyone else. He wants them to repent, so that He might embrace them. This scene is very similar to the ten plagues that God brought against Pharaoh when Pharaoh refused to repent and to allow the children of Israel to go. His hardened heart eventually led him to his death, just as these non-believers at the end of the Great Tribulation will die in their sin, promoted by hardened and rebellious hearts who will prefer to refuse Christ and die than to trust Christ and live.

In verses 10-11 we read about the fifth Bowl judgment. This judgment is aimed not so much at all of the people of the world, as it is pointedly aimed at the beast and those geographically nearest him. Let’s read those verses again: ¹⁰Then 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, ¹¹and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.

At this time, the beast’s throne will be in Babylon and so will be his kingdom. This plague will be localized to that area. Imagine the psychological damage this judgment will cause. The lights go out and there in the dark you find yourself suddenly covered in painful sores, such that the only way one can find relief is to cause a lesser pain, like chewing your tongue to distract you from feeling the greater pain. I sense that this is a foreshadowing of what hell will be like, with the gnashing of teeth. Once again, note: they don’t repent. Instead, they remain defiant and curse God!

Keep in mind, in this pain, as with all of the previous judgments, these people are still trying to carry on a “normal” life, do business and have relationships with people. The Beast will still try to run the world and orchestrate a final war against Jesus Christ.

In verses 12-16, we have the sixth Bowl judgment. It involves the drying up of the Euphrates, so that the kings of the East can easily join ranks with the beast in the war against Jesus Christ. 

There has been endless speculation about “the kings from the East,” with many expositors trying to relate them to some contemporary leaders of their generation. One survey of 100 commentaries of the book of Revelation reveals at least 50 different interpretations of the identity of the kings of the East. The simplest and best explanation, however, is that this refers to kings or rulers from the Orient or East who will participate in the final world war against Christ. From modern day knowledge the most likely candidates would be the rulers of China, Japan and India. 

Think of it! The industrial might of Japan, combined with the nuclear power of China and the quickly advancing technological power of India (thanks to the West outsourcing it computer technology to the East). The original intent of the kings of the East will be to come to the West for a final world war against Israel. But understand, their battle really isn’t against Israel so much as it will be against the beast and any one who is aligned with him. The war will be aimed at Jerusalem, one of the major capital cities of the beast, his jewel. All of the nations of the world will want the beast dead and this world war will begin.

 But something will happen to turn the heads of all of the nations of the world away from fighting the beast to joining him in a final world war. The question is what? What will cause natural enemies to unite together? Answer: another common enemy. That would be Jesus Christ.

Think about this: Why would the kings of the East make this daunting journey, originally motivated by a desire to take out the beast, but then suddenly desire to join the beast at a time of drought, scorching heat, darkness and painful sores? Why didn’t they just stay home? Verses 13-14 give us the answer.  The real reason for their drivenness to join the beast and to go to war is the deceiver Satan pushing them on! 

By the way, not long ago, I really didn’t understand how this final battle would develop. But as I have pieced together the data found in Scripture, I have learned that when the nations join together to do battle against Jesus, their ultimate goal is to take over His future capital city, Jerusalem, so that they hopefully can prevent His reign from there.

In order to successfully attack Jerusalem, their battle plan will be made up of a multi-pronged attack on Jerusalem. In fact, the attack against Jerusalem will come from all four directions of the compass. According to Rev. 16, the major staging area for this final war will be in the north, in the Valley of Jezreel, just below the hills of Megiddo. Because this is the largest of the four staging areas for the war, the entire war has been called Har Magedo, or Armageddon. This valley is 14 by 20 miles and thought by Napolean to be the greatest site for warfare in the entire world.

According to Joel 3:2, 12, the second staging area will be the Valley of Jehoshaphat.  We don’t know for sure where this valley lies at this time, but the best guess is that it extends east of Jerusalem across the Jordan river and then northward. This area was once a great trade route for centuries. Many great battles were fought there.

The third staging area of attack, according to Isaiah 34:6, is Idumea, which is another name for Edom. Edom is located southeast of Jerusalem.

The fourth site, according to Zech 12:2, will be Judah, which is just south of Jerusalem.

Daniel 11 also speaks of the nation from the North (Russia?) and the nation from the South (Egypt and North Africa) originally coming up to do battle with the beast (Rev. 16:12-16.) However, Zech. 14:1-3 tells us that those plans will quickly change, and like the kings of the East, these kings of the South and North will shift their target from the beast to Christ.

When the Lord Jesus Christ does finally come to fight against the nations and rescues Israel from their midst, then will Psalm 2 be fulfilled.  Psalm 2:1-6, says this: Why are the nations in an uproar? And the peoples devising a vain thing? ²The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, ³“Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” ⁴He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. ⁵Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, ⁶“But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” Then later in this same Psalm we read in verses 10-13, Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth. ¹¹Worship the Lord with reverence And rejoice with trembling. ¹²Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! Once again, God is warning the unbeliever of the outcome. Once again, God is offering them a way of escape that they might be saved. But as future history will reveal, the hardness of their hearts will prevent them from accepting the Lord’s gracious offer and they will be not only obliterated, but damned to hell for eternity.

However, in the midst of these verses in Revelation, did you notice the brief interlude of encouragement for the believers who will be alive at this time? The word of exhortation to them is to be faithfully alert. We read in verse 15, 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. The “shame” referred to here is the shame that a soldier would experience for not having his clothes on and thus ready for battle because he was derelict in his duty. Somehow, those believers who remain alive at this time are to be ready to join the Lord in this war, and to participate in the victory that will be His.

The final Bowl judgment is revealed to us in verses 17-21 which state, ¹⁷Then 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.” These words, “It is done” are similar to our Lord’s words spoken just before He died on the cross, “It is finished.” The idea here is that the war is over!  This is God’s final natural judgment on earth aimed at all who stand against Jesus Christ. This judgment describes a widespread destruction of our fallen world and a reforming of our present world in preparation for the new Millennial Kingdom on earth.  We read, ¹⁸And 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 (Jerusalem) the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. ¹⁹The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. According to Zech. 14:4-10, we have a description of these changes in detail. There we are told about these massive geophysical alterations to the city and its surrounding region that will conclude when Jesus returns.  Hence the purpose of this earthquake is not such much to judge the city of Jerusalem as it is to prepare Jerusalem, the “great city” to be the capital city for the Millennial Kingdom.

We continue reading, “Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. ²⁰And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ²¹And 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.

First, imagine the effects of hail stones hitting the entire planet, each weighing one hundred pounds! This is a judgment that compares to Sodom and Gomorrah, except here, it attacks the entire planet! 

Furthermore, the severity of this final judgment, as revealed by the italicized words above, was not just a local judgment felt in Palestine. This judgment was felt world wide! The topography of the entire earth will change as a result of this judgment. This change will be reflected in what the earth will look like during the Millennial Kingdom.

One last observation, from verse 21. The fact that the people of the earth still blaspheme God and refuse to turn to Him, reveals the utter perversity of the human heart. It’s almost as though that as time goes on, and the evidence becomes more clear that biblical prophecy is right on, people will become more blind to the truth and their hearts will become harder against God and deaf to His voice. They will have eyes to see, but they will be blind to what’s happening right in front of them!

If you are sitting here this morning, and you have still not committed your life to Christ, I can’t help but be struck by the importance of these words found in Hebrews 4:7. Please take these words to heart. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” My friend, if you have not fully committed in your heart to submit to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, why not!? For every day you refuse Him, it will be harder for you to trust Him in the future. Why not commit your life to Christ today?

To those of you who think you are saved, I would challenge you to read Matthew 23-25. For there, you will find very important pieces of evidence of those who are saved and those who are not. The evidence of those who know Jesus...who have entrusted their lives to Him is that they are obvious in their servanthood for Him. If anyone followed you around for one day, ....take tomorrow for example...would they be able to declare, “Yes, I was watching Chuck, Suzie, Jim or whatever your name is, and I could clearly see by their choices that their life reflects that their first priority is to serve the Lord.” Does your life reflect that the Lord’s agenda is the priority of your life?

On the other hand, there is other evidence described in Matthew 23-25, that reveals some may think they are saved, but by this evidence they reveal they may not be saved. The evidence is found in two forms: first, it is revealed in an attitude of laziness. Laziness expressed in statements like, “Oh, I’ve already done my part. It’s time for the younger people to pick up the slack.” Or, “Man, that is really going to inconvenience me to do that for the Lord. I think I’ll pass on that.” Or, “I don’t like doing....serving coffee on I-5 to strangers so that I might have an opportunity to share Christ with someone... or...that job is too hard or embarrassing. So, I just would rather not do it.” Those are evidences of people who may be religious, but they are not saved. If they knew the Lord, they would gladly serve Him. They may call themselves Christians, like a baseball fan wearing a uniform may think he is a real player, but because he never gets on the field to play the game, he exposes the truth that he is not a real player, just a wanna be.

A second characteristic, found in Matthew 23-25, of those who think they are saved, but their attitude toward life reveals they are not, are those who look at this present day, and plan how they are going to invest their lives with this thought in mind: “I don’t think Jesus will be here soon, so I can be lazy and lawless and seek after my own agenda rather than His priorities for my life.”  Won’t they be surprised when the Lord shows up and says, “Sorry, I never knew you.”

Friends, we are living in very exciting, challenging and yet serious times. One day, you will have to give an account for how you invested your life. Did you submit yourself to Him and His calling upon your life? Or, will you have been judged as doing your own thing? Today is a new day and ripe for a new beginning. How and for whom will you live the rest of your life?

God I thank you for what this study of Revelation has birthed in my own heart these past several months. I’m personally convicted by what I read. Father, I commit to you, that you own me, my time and all that I possess. Show me how to better utilize what you have made me a steward over, that Jesus might be made known in the hearts of those around me. Lord I look forward to Your coming. May you find me alert and faithfully serving you, should you call me to yourself sooner than I expect. Amen.

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