REVIEW :
Chapters
12-14 included the
picture of the woman (Israel),
the dragon (Satan), the first beast (the
anti- christ), the second beast or the false
prophet (who promotes worship of the anti—christ), the 144,000 (the church),
the three angels who announce God’s judgment to the world, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lamb of God, who stands triumphantly in the midst of His people
on Mount Zion. It is the time of the
second coming , beginning with the final
judgement and the great harvest. Revelation
15 serves as the introduction to chapter 16, the “7 bowl judgments or 7 plagues “ which are associated with
that final harvest – the great wine press of the wrath of God (14:19). Revelation 15:1 indicates that with these seven plagues
the wrath of God is completed. It
will be the end of the world as
we know it.
We have seen that the Revelation
to John consists of a series of cycles of judgment that come with ever increasing intensity ,
beginning with the first cycle, the seal judgments (Rev. 6:1-8:1) bringing death and destruction upon one quarter
(25 %) of the earth’s people.
The second cycle of judgment, the trumpet judgments (Rev. 8:1
-11:19) is even more intense than
the seal judgments , bringing death and destruction to one third (33%) of the earth’s people.
The bowl judgments announced in Ch.15 and described
in Ch. 16, bring complete destruction upon the entire
world. [1]
It will be the end of the world as we know it.
Each of the cycles of judgment
(the seal, the trumpets and the bowls), begins from the vantage point of the
heavenly throne. All of these three cycles (which cover the
period between Christ’s ascension
and His descension) speak about the same thing , but with ever increasing
narrower focus .
Think about this – approximately
2000 years have passed since
the ascension of the Lord Jesus. Do you
think that we can be far from this event
? Let
the text in Rev. 16:15 continuously
remind you of this fact.
A recent movie called “ 2012”
(based on Mayan writings and calendar)
shows us that even pagans have a foreboding that this world will end soon.
Revelation
16:1-21
·
In this chapter we will
discover what will happen to the
world’s unbelieving people[2]
at the time of Christ’s second coming.
·
Note the similarity between
this and the Exodus 7:14 – 12:32
judgments. In the Exodus judgments God
made a distinction between the Egyptians
and His people. So will it be at the end.
The judgment of the 7 bowls comes
from the temple in heaven (16:1)
“Then I heard a loud voice from
the temple telling the seven angels,
“Go, pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” This indicates
that everything about to happen will take place according to God’s plan. It is
also the long awaited moment for those in Rev. 6:9-11, who had been
slain for the Word of God, and who are waiting under the altar in heaven for justice to be done : “how
long before you will judge and avenge
our blood on those who dwell on the
earth ?” This is the time when God answers their prayer!
The Seven
Bowl Judgments :
The first angel pours out God’s wrath on all those who have worshiped the beast and who bore His
mark (16:2). Like the painful sores of the sixth plague which came
upon Egypt (cf. Exodus 9:8-12), so
too, this people
will suffer the wrath of God.
The second bowl
judgment (16:3)
in which the sea becomes like blood and lifeless, borrows its
imagery from the first plague
upon Egypt, when the Nile turned into
blood. This also corresponds with the second trumpet judgment
in Rev 8:8 where a third of the sea had been turned to blood. But here in 16:3
everything dies – again an indication of the finality of God’s wrath upon all who have
despised His Son.
The third bowl
judgment (16:4-7) is similar
to the second , except that the rivers
and springs became
bloody and lifeless, symbolic of
the fact that God’s judgment now extends even to the sources of life. Note the response from the angel who executes this
judgment (vv 5-7). This
reminds us of Deut. 32:4,
Moses reminds
Israel that Israel’s God , “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of
faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Here , the fact that
God’s people who have
suffered greatly at the hands of the
people of this world ( in the
hands of Satan , the antichrist and the
false prophet ) is not forgotten. The
abusers of God’s people will now be forced to drink their own blood . This is the picture that we find in Isaiah 49:26
: “I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be
drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your
Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Now note the response from the
altar (i.e. those in Rev. 6:9-11) as they respond
in 16:7 : “Yes,
Lord God the Almighty, true and just are
your judgments.” Here is the
assurance that God will avenge all those who have died for the cause of His
name. The suffering and persecuted church is reminded that she is
not forgotten by her God. The day of His terrible judgment is coming. Justice will be done!
The fourth bowl judgment (16:
8-9) continues the outpoured wrath of God as it reveals
an intensification of the sun’s
heat, scorching the enemies of God and
the amazing thing is that these people that are so
afflicted still dare to curse God, refusing to repent or to give God the glory due to His Name . In this they are as stubborn as
the Egyptian Pharaoh at the time of the 10 plagues .
The fifth
bowl judgment (16:10-11) reflects the 9th plague upon Egypt (darkness- while
the people of Israel had light where they lived Ex 10:23) and yet,
despite the agony which comes upon the people of the earth, who gnaw their tongues in anguish, they continue
to curse God and refuse to repent.
The sixth
bowl judgment (16:12-16) sets the scene
for the final great battle of
Armageddon. The symbolic barrier–the Euphrates River[3]-
the eastern border of the Roman empire
is breached , allowing a massive
army to invade the territory of Mt Zion from
the east. [See the similarity with the 6th
trumpet in 9:13ff in which a vast army crosses the Euphrates to
kill a third of mankind]. God’s power to dry up waters has been shown on
a number of occasions in Israel’s history
- the Red sea ( Ex 14:21ff); the Jordan (Josh 3:14ff) cf. also Isa
44:27. With the symbolic barrier of the Euphrates removed, the enemies
of God now rush to assault the church, only to find themselves totally defeated
by the direct intervention of God.
The kings of the east–later
identified in verse 14 as kings of
the whole world, now advance against God’s people because they have been
deceived by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (see 16:13)
out of whose mouth came “three
unclean (evil) spirits that looked like frogs “. V. 14 tells us that “they are demonic spirits of demons performing
signs, who go around
to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for
battle on the great day of God the Almighty” , which will be the same day
and event which is spoken about
in v. 15 “Behold I am coming like a
thief!...” THE SUDDEN
APPEARANCE OF OUR LORD JESUS as
told in Matt 24:44 and 25:13 (see also
1 Thess. 5:2,4 ; 2 Peter 3:10; Rev 3:3)
The Lord Jesus has warned Christians to
be alert to this happening. This exposes
us to the real threat that many in the
modern church are facing – namely that we are
sleeping, just like the five
foolish virgins in Matt. 25:1-13.
Given what follows in Revelation 17-18, where the great prostitute with her seductive ways is exposed,
Christians are warned not to be
caught naked and exposed (v.15)
in bed with this prostitute .
The final battle of Armageddon:
Many commentators believe that Armageddon is a
reference to the plains of Meggido, north-east of Jerusalem, the site of several important battles in
Israel’s history (cf. Judges 5:19; 2
Kings 23:29). A very common
interpretation is that at the end of the age, the armies of the world would gather
on these plains to
destroy the nation of Israel, or
to fight against the armies of heaven, when Jesus Christ destroys them.
But many
recent commentators think that the reference to Armageddon,
has nothing to do with the plain of Meggido,
and nothing to do with a war to get
rid of the Jews etc. Rather, it
is argued that Armageddon should be understood as Har-Magedon, or “the Mount of
Gathering” . In Zechariah
12:3
and Ch.14, the prophet speaks
of the final battle occurring at Jerusalem ( Mt Zion) , not at Meggido. Har-Magedon, (the Mount of Gathering) is therefore, much more likely a reference to
Mount Zion, the earthly counterpart of the heavenly temple gathering. We have already seen
this in Revelation 14, where the Lord Jesus stands triumphantly on Mount Zion among His
people.
If this is
true, then this is not a description of a literal military battle in which
these armies fight against the armies of God . It is unlikely that the
Christian church will ever have an army like this! What we have
here is an image of the kings of the earth being
gathered together by the dragon Satan to
wage war against Mount Zion, which is symbolic of the church of Jesus Christ.
The big looser on this occasion will be
Satan and his allies. It is the same event of which we shall read later in Rev.
19:19-21, where John sees the beast
and the false prophet being thrown into the lake of fire. It is also described
in Revelation 20:9-10, where those
deceived by Satan, after he is released
from the Abyss, “marched up over the
broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved
city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, [10] and the devil
who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the
beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night
forever and ever.”
It is certainly correct to think
of Armageddon as the final and ultimate battle between Christ and his enemies.
But this battle has nothing to do with the plains of Meggido, the nation of
Israel, or the armies of the world fighting against Christ and his
physical army. John is giving us an
apocalyptic vision of Satan’s final assault upon the church (also known as Mount Zion, Har Magedon, the Mount of
Assembly), an assault which is crushed
by Jesus Christ at his return to earth in judgment – simply with the breath of
his mouth (2 Thess. 2:8). Martin Luther said in his hymn “ A Mighty Fortress
is our God” … concerning Satan : “ one
little word shall fell him!” And so
it shall be that on that day,
Satan and all his associates together with the kings and nations who
serve them, will be thrown into the lake of fire.
This is judgment day, when God’s
wrath is completed. It will be the end of the world as we know it.
The seventh
bowl judgment (16:17-21) begins with these words : “The
seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of
the temple , from the throne, saying, `It
is done!’ Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of
thunder and a great earthquake,” already mentioned in Rev.
6:12-14. (cf. Zechariah 14:3-5 ). It is an
unequalled earthquake that causes
the city of rebellious man,
metaphorically called Babylon to
split into three parts , along with the cities of the nations and indeed the whole world . From the sky huge hailstones of about a
hundred pounds each fell on people. And they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.
The seventh
bowl describes
the destruction of Babylon , and John
will speak about this in greater detail in chapters 17 &18 .
The final outcome of this battle is clear – even though it is tense to begin with. Just when it
appears
as if Satan will overcome the church with an
overwhelming army , Jesus Christ will
return and destroy the dragon and his allies , casting them all in the lake of
fire where they will be tormented forever and ever. Satan’s ambitions will die
where the Lord Jesus died
- on Mt Zion - the Lamb of God ,
slain for our sins , will receive His
accounting .
APPLICATION
·
God’s people, (the
spiritual Zion) must remain alert ,
ever watching for the Lord’s return.
· We must avoid the seductive ways of the great prostitute , lest we be caught naked and
be shamefully exposed on the day of Christ Jesus.
·
Jesus Christ will return like a thief and crush all his enemies
and deliver his people from Satan.
·
With the saints in heaven, we will finally rejoice , “Yes,
Lord God the Almighty, just and true are your judgments.”
WHAT YOU
MUST DO IN THESE DAYS :
Jesus says : “Watch
and pray” ( Matt 24,25).
Keep your eyes in the Bible and be
alert. Pray always . Make sure that your
eyes are focused on the Lord Jesus and
not on the world. Stay close to the Word.
Make sure that you obey God’s precepts ; don’t compromise ; keep short accounts with sin ; use the
protective network of the church ( Mt
Zion) to stay encouraged . Don’t be
distant from the church. Be a faithful worshipper. Learn
from faithful Bible exposition
and always pray with your
brothers and sisters in the Lord that you may not fall into temptation, and
that you may not fall asleep ( i.e.
become apathetic / or fall away) at this time.
[1] This, of
course, means that the return of Jesus Christ is the day of final judgment, a
point which is very problematic for pre-millenialists, who believe that the
final judgment does not occur until the thousand years (the millennium) are
over.
[2] All those who have not believed
in Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world.
[3] Israel’s enemies Assyria and Babylon had lived beyond the
Euphrates. In the time of John, the Euphrates was regarded
the eastern
border of the Roman empire, and therefore, the edge of civilization itself.
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