These are the final expressions of God’s wrath in human history, paving the way for the final judgment and the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Wes
This is Episode 22 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast entitled The Seven Last Plagues, where we’ll discuss Revelation 16:1-22. I’m Wes Treadway, and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Oh, my, Revelation 16. The seven bowls of God’s wrath poured out on the earth resulting in without a doubt the greatest ecological disaster that has ever happened on planet earth. These are terrifying judgments that as we read them, I take and I think we must take if we are serious about the Bible, must take literally. These are not metaphors or symbols. There are symbolic aspects, but I believe this is the consummation of the link between the human stewardship of the physical planet that was entrusted to us and the curse that has come on that planet because of human sin. That began with Adam’s sin, “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17). Now, it cursed the entire planet and all of its ecology because of you. That’s the consummation of what’s going on here. It’s terrible, the dreadful judgments that will come on the entire ocean and on all drinking water and on the earth itself. We’re going to walk through that today.
Wes
Let me go ahead and read chapter 16 in the book of Revelation for us as we begin.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.
And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!”
And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
And 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. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
(“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
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!”
And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe.
Andy, what means does God use to pour out his judgments in this chapter?
Andy
Well, he uses angels. And the angels are holding bowls, and the bowls are poured out. And again, it’s the same image as we have with the seven seals and the seven trumpets is that heaven initiates these things. Heaven is in charge. And so, these things come as a direct response results of human sin, but also directly of God’s judgments. And he sends the angels to do these things. And it’s important for us to realize the angels simply obey what God tells them to do without any hesitation, without any questioning. Frankly, quite the opposite. No hesitation and questioning. They’re celebrating, they’re worshiping the glory of God while they do it. They are not questioning him at all, but they uphold his justice and say that it is right for what he’s doing to them. So, he sends created beings, angels to bring this judgment on earth.
Wes
How does this final onslaught of plagues begin and what’s the significance of this voice from the temple?
Andy
So, the onslaught begins with a loud voice coming from the temple, commanding the angels to pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth. Now, we don’t know who speaks that loud voice. Sometimes in the Book of Revelation loud voices are given to mighty angels to speak. Sometimes it’s God’s voice. But at any rate, it is the initiation of what God intends to do. It all starts with the sovereignty of God. They’re told to do it, and they go as a direct response to an order given from heaven.
Before we start walking through these seven bowls of God’s wrath, I want to just say in general where we’re at now in our society and culture, there’s a tremendous amount of concern about the ecology and about green this and green that, et cetera. And I think to some degree people who do not share our worldview, who don’t share our convictions about abortion, they don’t share our convictions about worshiping God and serving Christ and about the inerrancy of the word of God. They don’t share our worldview at all. They have a very different view of sexuality and different view of freedom than we do. But part of that worldview package is a concern about the devastation of the earth and about ecology and things like that.
We should be concerned about the destruction of the earth. The earth is a beautiful thing that God made.
And they’re concerned about clean drinking water. They’re concerned about carbon emissions. They’re concerned about all of these things and in one sense, it’s a reflection of the image of God in them. We should be concerned about the destruction of the earth. The earth is a beautiful thing that God made. And it should destroy us in our hearts, it should devastate us when we see the effects of human sin on the ecology. We don’t want to see sewage or garbage floating in rivers or see the effect of human industry destroying beautiful landscapes and mountains and rivers and valleys. We don’t see that at all, and we’ll definitely not see that in the new heaven and the new earth.
But for all of that, there is no ecological disaster that anyone could ever conceive of that’s greater than what happens in this chapter. I mean, there’s nothing that the carbon emissions could ever do to the earth that even comes remotely close to what God’s going to directly do to the earth here in this chapter. So in the first angel pours his bowl out and as he pours the bowl on the land, ugly and painful sores we’re told break out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. So keep in mind, there are genuine believers in Christ walking the earth at that point who will not suffer this plague.
Because they have not received the mark of the beast and are not worshiping his name. So, God makes a distinction. Same thing as during the plagues, during Moses, God made a distinction between the Jews and between the Egyptians. And so, we see the same thing here. But those that have received the mark of the beast, we already know they’re destined for hell. They’re going to begin their suffering early, a foretaste of the eternal conscious torment that they’ll have in hell. And that is ugly, painful, sores break out on those people of the mark of the beast and who worship his image.
Wes
What did the second bowl judgment do, and how will this affect those living on the earth?
Andy
Yeah, it’s a simple verse. It’s Revelation 16:3 but look at it. The second angel pours out his bowl in the sea and it turned into blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. So, the entire sea, not a third of it as in Revelation 8, but this time the entire sea is killed. Every living thing in it is killed. At this point, the human race itself cannot endure much longer after that. Why is that? Because we get a huge percentage, maybe like 70% of our oxygen comes from seaborne algae with the photosynthesis and the creation of turning CO₂ into oxygen and all that. It doesn’t come primarily from the rainforest or from trees, it comes from the ocean. And if the ocean is killed, we will die soon thereafter.
Secondly, like 83% of our drinking water comes from the sea, as salt water evaporates, leaving the salt behind, but bringing drinkable water over that then moves in the form of clouds and then sprinkles drinking water on the earth. So, this is a devastating judgment. We’re told that almost a quarter of a million different species live in the ocean. All of them die. And why? Because of human sinfulness. They haven’t done anything. They’re innocent. They’re just animals. They’re sea creatures and what have they done? But they’re all going to die. And they’re turned into blood like the sea itself is turned into blood and they cannot live. So, this is the end of planet earth. This is the end of the human race, although not immediately.
Wes
Now, lest we think well, at least the rivers and the springs of water escaped judgment. The third angel comes in verse 4, pours out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood. What is the significance of the angel’s statement concerning this terrible judgment in verses 5 and 6 that follow?
Andy
Wow. So, two things. The judgment itself, no drinking water left. I mean, every river and spring and all that… Again, there’s no way the human race can last long. The amount of agony that this will bring, the great intensification of heat that’s going to come with the fourth angel and the sores that they’re already experiencing, it’s almost like hell on earth at this point. The heat, the pain, the suffering. I mean, remember for example the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And so, the rich man’s in hell and in torment and he sees Abraham far away with the poor beggar Lazarus in comfort at his side. And what does he beg for? Please send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I’m an agony in this fire. So, this is a little bit of a foretaste of that agony.
There’s nothing to drink. Also, keep in mind, I believe this is what initiated the beginning of the reshuffling of the national deck that probably led to the Antichrist ruling over the entire world. And that is that a third of the drinking water was polluted at that point. Now it’s all polluted. And so whatever solutions the Antichrist had to that drinking water shortage, now its completely gone. The judgments have come on the earth. Now the second question you ask is, what is the angelic response to this? They are actually celebrating and worshiping the justice of God in all of this, and it comes in two senses. First, they say, “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were the Holy One.” So that’s God in his holiness, he is the exalted God, the creator and sustainer and ruler of the entire universe. You are just in doing this because you have done it.
God is the ultimate standard of justice. …God can never be anything but just.
That’s effectively what they’re saying, because you have so done so. In other words, whatever you do is just because you are just. And what that means is God is the ultimate standard of justice. So, if you wonder about whether something God did is just or not, you don’t need to wonder because if he does it, it’s just. God can never be anything but just. But the second level is fascinating too. Because they shed the blood of your people, your saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink as they deserve. So, this is what I think. This is a very deep theological principle. First of all, God is the standard of justice. But second of all, both angels and humans are created to be like God in some sense. The angels are not said to be created in the image of God, but they certainly act like God in many senses and in this case, they do.
They’re able to evaluate God’s actions and give approval or disapproval. All right? So, we know that wicked angels called demons give disapproval of God, and so also wicked human beings. But us, created human beings, created in the image of God, we evaluate and we do so from a basic framework of rationality and there’s just a rightness to what God’s doing here. It just makes sense. It’s like the law of you reap what you sow, what goes around comes around. Like Job’s friends did with them. It’s like you get what you deserve. And there’s many times in the Bible we see examples of this.
The one who digs a pit will fall into it, all right? The measure you use is the measure you’ll receive. Or Haman builds a gallows to hang Mordecai on and he ends up hanging on it. There’s just a rightness to it. Also, I want to extend this. I had a conversation I think literally yesterday about infants who die in infancy. And I just believe that all human beings like fetuses, unborn children that are aborted or stillborn babies or infants that die in infancy, before what theologians generally call the age of accountability are all going to spend eternity in heaven. And why is that? Because judgment day is a public display of the justice of God in a way that resonates with his creatures.
And they’re always judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. But these infants didn’t do anything. There are no works that they’ve done, no moral works. Because they don’t understand right from wrong. They don’t understand the existence of God, they don’t understand the commands of God, they haven’t sinned in that sense. And therefore, it’d be more than just a head-scratcher. It would feel unjust if God were to condemn them. And so that’s why I have a sense that they will all be there because of the depictions of judgment, but also because of this statement. There’s a sense or a feeling of the rightness of the justice of God here.
Wes
Andy, in light of all of this, what is the significance of the answer that comes back in verse 7?
Andy
Well, here’s the thing. The angel that pours out or that has charge of the waters, that has this judgment is celebrating it. And the altar resonates and says, yes, you are just in these judgments. True and just are your judgments. And I think it’s because to them it makes sense. God does it. It’s right and it lines up. We are the ones who think it’s unjust. And you look at the wicked in this chapter as happened earlier, they are gnashing their teeth and enraged at God. And I think this is going to be one of the judgments of the reprobate, of the damned. They’re not going to see the justice of God in it. They’re going to think God is unjust in what he’s doing there. But fundamentally, I think this is for our benefit. God doesn’t need to be reassured. Its like, is this the right thing to do? I don’t know, I mean… He’s not insecure at all. God’s a perfectly secure being. He knows that what he’s doing is right, but the creation resonates here. The altar resonates and says, yes, true and just are your judgments.
Wes
What does the result of the fourth bowl teach us about the power of God given to angels and God’s sovereign control over the universe? And what happens in the hearts of sinful humanity that’s instructive for us here?
Andy
This is amazing. The sun. The sun which is the center physically of the solar system. The sun, which is a raging ball of nuclear fire, 93 million miles away. I think my studies have shown in the past that the sun makes up 97% of the mass of the solar system. So, it includes massive Jupiter and Saturn and all that. That’s all 3%, added all up. And the sun’s 97%. The closest any manmade object has ever gotten to the sun is 3 million miles away. And then it was destroyed. It was incinerated by the heat. This is the raging ball of fire that is the sun. God creates it and sustains it.
It’s in the center of his hand, in the palm of his hand. He controls it. He does what he wants with it. It says nothing. We can’t even look at it for a second and a half or we’ll start to be blinded. That’s the power of the sun. And the sun’s a creature to God. He creates it and sustains it. And so furthermore, he controls its impact on the earth. He’s able to dial it up, he’s able to ramp up its heat. And so, as the angel pours out the bowl on the sun, it’s just a sense of God’s absolute sovereign power over every created thing.
And as a result of the angel pouring out his bowl on the sun, the sun was given power, we’re told, to scorch people with fire. So, he ramps up the effect of the sun. Now the sun already can burn us, we can get sunburned. You’re out there any length of time, your skin gets all red. But it’s been carefully controlled. The earth is exactly the correct distance from the sun for life to exist. Think about the north and south poles are very cold. The equator much hotter, but it’s just the right distance. But God ramps up the power of the sun to bring heat on the earth. And as a result of this terrible scorching that people have, they’re being burned by the sun, by sunlight.
They are seared with this intense heat. And again, there’s no drinking water. So, they’re in absolute agony and they’re cursing the name of God who had control over these plagues, but they won’t repent and glorify him. And so again, you are not going to be saved. No human being is going to be saved apart from the sovereign grace of God granting repentance and faith. And he does not grant these people repentance and faith.
Wes
Now, what’s the significance of the fact that the fifth angel pours out his bowl directly onto the throne of the beast? And what similarities do we see here with the reaction again from the people on earth?
Andy
Well, keep in mind that we learn in 2 Thessalonians 2, that the Antichrist declares himself to be God. And God is saying, no, you’re not. I’m in charge. And so, the beast, the Antichrist cannot do anything about this. He’s along for the ride. “I raised you up for this very purpose”, says God to Pharaoh, “That I might display my power in you that my name might be reclaimed in all the earth” (Romans 9:17). So, God raises Antichrist up for the same purpose to show his power. And this is very much like the ninth plague, the one right before the dreadful plague on the firstborn. And so, Egypt was plunged into a plague of a darkness we’re told, a darkness that could be felt. It was a pervasive, dripping, thick darkness. And so, the angel pours out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and as a result of that, his kingdom is plunged into darkness.
And so, there’s no light, they can’t… Flashlights don’t work, matches don’t work, candles don’t work. There’s just darkness. And this is again, a foretaste of hell. They’re cast into outer darkness. Light is a gift. Let there be light, God said. And there was light. And light involves white light, and it involves colors, red and orange and yellow and all those beautiful colors, the blues and all that. You don’t see any of that. There’s no light. And furthermore, light gives knowledge. It tells you what’s in the room.
And so, as a result, people are banging and crashing into things and they’re gnawing their tongues in agony because they’re hurting themselves with the physical stuff that they can’t see. And they’re gnawing their tongues in agony because of this plague. And again, they’re cursing God. They curse the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. But again, they don’t repent. We have the same thing with the fourth plague and the fifth. So again, people in hell will not be sorry for what they did, yearning for… None of that. They will just be cursing God forever for the judgments they think that they don’t deserve.
Wes
And verses 12-16 are an extended depiction of what takes place as a result of the sixth bowl. What is the nature and result of this sixth bowl that’s poured out?
Andy
All right, so the sixth angel pours his bowl out on the great river Euphrates. Now it’s a border, a boundary for the northern kingdom of Israel back then. And this was the extent of the promised land, and it was also a boundary. And frequently as in the Book of Jeremiah, judgment pours down from the north down onto Palestine onto the promised land. And so, the Babylonians came from that direction. The Assyrians came from that direction, etc. So now, we have the great river Euphrates, and it’s dried up. And so, the border, the boundary is removed and as a result, the kings of the East are able to come to prepare the way for the kings of the East. Then verse 13, “I saw three evil spirits that look like frogs. They came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and the mouth of the false prophet. And they are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” So, they’re all assembled and they’re not fighting each other.
So, what are they there for? They’re there I think, to kill those who refuse to receive the mark of the beast. So that would be the converted Jewish nation and believers that are alive at that time. They are coming to kill them, to slaughter them, and Jesus is going to come to save them and rescue them and protect them. So that’s the assembling of these kings of the whole world who are met together to fight against Christ and against his people. And so, they’re coming together under the auspices of the Antichrist to fight against Jesus and to fight against his people. They’re coming together to be slaughtered.
And that is the context of the second coming that we’re going to see in Revelation 19 and the great slaughter that comes. And so, they come out there and as a result, they are assembled in verse 16 to a place called Armageddon. And in the middle of that, comes in my red-letter edition of the Bible, some red letters, Jesus speaks suddenly right in the middle of this, “Behold I come like a thief, blessed as he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
And so that is again, Jesus’s warning that he’s coming. He’s going to come without any further warning. You just read about it in the Bible. But he’s going to come and that’s Revelation 19, the second coming. But they come, they’re assembled to this place called Armageddon.
Wes
What happens when the seventh angel pours out his bowl? And particularly what’s the significance of the statement, it is done?
Andy
Well, what is happening here is it’s the end of the wrath of God. And we’re told that in Revelation 15:1, “Then I saw in heaven another great marvelous sign, seven angels with the seven last plagues, last because with them God’s wrath is completed.” So then here is the statement, okay, it’s finished. Once the seventh bowl is poured out, the judgment on planet earth is done.
So that’s the ecological disasters are ended. And again, as you look at the details here, I want to just say hermeneutically or with the science of interpretation, we can’t go just symbolic here. There are specific things that will happen. And if you’re just going to talk about symbolism here, say it doesn’t really tie to anything literal, then the chapter really just doesn’t make any sense. There is symbolism here, but fundamentally these physical things are going to happen. And so, when the seventh angel pours out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple comes this loud voice saying it is done, then as a result, there is this flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and all that, and this terrible earthquake.
And so, the earth is shaken. The actual surface of the earth is shaken, the foundations of the earth that is kind of like the basis, the stage on which the drama of history has happened, it is shaken. And then the city, the great city is destroyed, the main city, capital city, Babylon. But then all the cities of the nations collapse. So, this is the end of everything. This is the end of human society. It’s the end… The destruction. And so, God has remembered Babylon the great, we’re going to talk about that in the subsequent chapters, Revelation 17 and 18. And that’s the world system that’s arranged and ordered and organized against God. And God is going to give her the cup of his wrath, poured full strength, and he’s going to bring judgment on that. This terrible earthquake is the judgment on the entire planet.
Wes
It’s amazing these flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, earthquakes, hailstones. These are all phenomena that we’ve seen associated with the judgment of God before in the Old Testament. But here, the heightening and the intensity of them is really astounding as we consider these last judgments, as the wrath of God is poured out.
Andy
Right. And you mentioned the hail, and I didn’t mention that, but a plague of hail comes. And so, these are chunks of ice that are falling from heaven to earth, killing people. It’s basically like bullets coming from heaven, just taking people out. And it’s such a terrible, severe judgment that the people are in agony. But again, cursing God, not worshiping, not repenting, just cursing God.
Wes
Andy, in your estimation, what effect did this final bowl have on the physical surface of the earth at the end of the chapter here? And what final thoughts do you have on chapter 16 as a whole?
Andy
Earth is destroyed. And the only thing greater than this is a description in Peter of the elements themselves destroyed in the heat. So, at that point, the elements, the atoms themselves come apart, but I think that’s part of the second coming. There has to be something Jesus comes to. So, there’s still an earth, but then after that, then the entire physical structure of planet earth is going to be remade by fire, and the way is made and for the new heaven, new earth. So, listen, Revelation 16 is one of the most terrifying chapters one can ever read. But as we look at that, we understand why it is the judgment on earth for human sin. And it’s the preparation beautifully for the new heaven, new earth yet to come.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 22 in our Revelation Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 23 entitled The Great Harlot and the Beast, where we’ll discuss Revelation 17:1-18. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
This is Episode 22 in our Revelation Bible Study podcast entitled The Seven Last Plagues, where we’ll discuss Revelation 16:1-22. I’m Wes Treadway, and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Oh, my, Revelation 16. The seven bowls of God’s wrath poured out on the earth resulting in without a doubt the greatest ecological disaster that has ever happened on planet earth. These are terrifying judgments that as we read them, I take and I think we must take if we are serious about the Bible, must take literally. These are not metaphors or symbols. There are symbolic aspects, but I believe this is the consummation of the link between the human stewardship of the physical planet that was entrusted to us and the curse that has come on that planet because of human sin. That began with Adam’s sin, “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17). Now, it cursed the entire planet and all of its ecology because of you. That’s the consummation of what’s going on here. It’s terrible, the dreadful judgments that will come on the entire ocean and on all drinking water and on the earth itself. We’re going to walk through that today.
Wes
Let me go ahead and read chapter 16 in the book of Revelation for us as we begin.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.
And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!”
And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.
The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
And 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. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
(“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
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!”
And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe.
Andy, what means does God use to pour out his judgments in this chapter?
Andy
Well, he uses angels. And the angels are holding bowls, and the bowls are poured out. And again, it’s the same image as we have with the seven seals and the seven trumpets is that heaven initiates these things. Heaven is in charge. And so, these things come as a direct response results of human sin, but also directly of God’s judgments. And he sends the angels to do these things. And it’s important for us to realize the angels simply obey what God tells them to do without any hesitation, without any questioning. Frankly, quite the opposite. No hesitation and questioning. They’re celebrating, they’re worshiping the glory of God while they do it. They are not questioning him at all, but they uphold his justice and say that it is right for what he’s doing to them. So, he sends created beings, angels to bring this judgment on earth.
Wes
How does this final onslaught of plagues begin and what’s the significance of this voice from the temple?
Andy
So, the onslaught begins with a loud voice coming from the temple, commanding the angels to pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth. Now, we don’t know who speaks that loud voice. Sometimes in the Book of Revelation loud voices are given to mighty angels to speak. Sometimes it’s God’s voice. But at any rate, it is the initiation of what God intends to do. It all starts with the sovereignty of God. They’re told to do it, and they go as a direct response to an order given from heaven.
Before we start walking through these seven bowls of God’s wrath, I want to just say in general where we’re at now in our society and culture, there’s a tremendous amount of concern about the ecology and about green this and green that, et cetera. And I think to some degree people who do not share our worldview, who don’t share our convictions about abortion, they don’t share our convictions about worshiping God and serving Christ and about the inerrancy of the word of God. They don’t share our worldview at all. They have a very different view of sexuality and different view of freedom than we do. But part of that worldview package is a concern about the devastation of the earth and about ecology and things like that.
We should be concerned about the destruction of the earth. The earth is a beautiful thing that God made.
And they’re concerned about clean drinking water. They’re concerned about carbon emissions. They’re concerned about all of these things and in one sense, it’s a reflection of the image of God in them. We should be concerned about the destruction of the earth. The earth is a beautiful thing that God made. And it should destroy us in our hearts, it should devastate us when we see the effects of human sin on the ecology. We don’t want to see sewage or garbage floating in rivers or see the effect of human industry destroying beautiful landscapes and mountains and rivers and valleys. We don’t see that at all, and we’ll definitely not see that in the new heaven and the new earth.
But for all of that, there is no ecological disaster that anyone could ever conceive of that’s greater than what happens in this chapter. I mean, there’s nothing that the carbon emissions could ever do to the earth that even comes remotely close to what God’s going to directly do to the earth here in this chapter. So in the first angel pours his bowl out and as he pours the bowl on the land, ugly and painful sores we’re told break out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. So keep in mind, there are genuine believers in Christ walking the earth at that point who will not suffer this plague.
Because they have not received the mark of the beast and are not worshiping his name. So, God makes a distinction. Same thing as during the plagues, during Moses, God made a distinction between the Jews and between the Egyptians. And so, we see the same thing here. But those that have received the mark of the beast, we already know they’re destined for hell. They’re going to begin their suffering early, a foretaste of the eternal conscious torment that they’ll have in hell. And that is ugly, painful, sores break out on those people of the mark of the beast and who worship his image.
Wes
What did the second bowl judgment do, and how will this affect those living on the earth?
Andy
Yeah, it’s a simple verse. It’s Revelation 16:3 but look at it. The second angel pours out his bowl in the sea and it turned into blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. So, the entire sea, not a third of it as in Revelation 8, but this time the entire sea is killed. Every living thing in it is killed. At this point, the human race itself cannot endure much longer after that. Why is that? Because we get a huge percentage, maybe like 70% of our oxygen comes from seaborne algae with the photosynthesis and the creation of turning CO₂ into oxygen and all that. It doesn’t come primarily from the rainforest or from trees, it comes from the ocean. And if the ocean is killed, we will die soon thereafter.
Secondly, like 83% of our drinking water comes from the sea, as salt water evaporates, leaving the salt behind, but bringing drinkable water over that then moves in the form of clouds and then sprinkles drinking water on the earth. So, this is a devastating judgment. We’re told that almost a quarter of a million different species live in the ocean. All of them die. And why? Because of human sinfulness. They haven’t done anything. They’re innocent. They’re just animals. They’re sea creatures and what have they done? But they’re all going to die. And they’re turned into blood like the sea itself is turned into blood and they cannot live. So, this is the end of planet earth. This is the end of the human race, although not immediately.
Wes
Now, lest we think well, at least the rivers and the springs of water escaped judgment. The third angel comes in verse 4, pours out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood. What is the significance of the angel’s statement concerning this terrible judgment in verses 5 and 6 that follow?
Andy
Wow. So, two things. The judgment itself, no drinking water left. I mean, every river and spring and all that… Again, there’s no way the human race can last long. The amount of agony that this will bring, the great intensification of heat that’s going to come with the fourth angel and the sores that they’re already experiencing, it’s almost like hell on earth at this point. The heat, the pain, the suffering. I mean, remember for example the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. And so, the rich man’s in hell and in torment and he sees Abraham far away with the poor beggar Lazarus in comfort at his side. And what does he beg for? Please send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue because I’m an agony in this fire. So, this is a little bit of a foretaste of that agony.
There’s nothing to drink. Also, keep in mind, I believe this is what initiated the beginning of the reshuffling of the national deck that probably led to the Antichrist ruling over the entire world. And that is that a third of the drinking water was polluted at that point. Now it’s all polluted. And so whatever solutions the Antichrist had to that drinking water shortage, now its completely gone. The judgments have come on the earth. Now the second question you ask is, what is the angelic response to this? They are actually celebrating and worshiping the justice of God in all of this, and it comes in two senses. First, they say, “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were the Holy One.” So that’s God in his holiness, he is the exalted God, the creator and sustainer and ruler of the entire universe. You are just in doing this because you have done it.
God is the ultimate standard of justice. …God can never be anything but just.
That’s effectively what they’re saying, because you have so done so. In other words, whatever you do is just because you are just. And what that means is God is the ultimate standard of justice. So, if you wonder about whether something God did is just or not, you don’t need to wonder because if he does it, it’s just. God can never be anything but just. But the second level is fascinating too. Because they shed the blood of your people, your saints and prophets, you have given them blood to drink as they deserve. So, this is what I think. This is a very deep theological principle. First of all, God is the standard of justice. But second of all, both angels and humans are created to be like God in some sense. The angels are not said to be created in the image of God, but they certainly act like God in many senses and in this case, they do.
They’re able to evaluate God’s actions and give approval or disapproval. All right? So, we know that wicked angels called demons give disapproval of God, and so also wicked human beings. But us, created human beings, created in the image of God, we evaluate and we do so from a basic framework of rationality and there’s just a rightness to what God’s doing here. It just makes sense. It’s like the law of you reap what you sow, what goes around comes around. Like Job’s friends did with them. It’s like you get what you deserve. And there’s many times in the Bible we see examples of this.
The one who digs a pit will fall into it, all right? The measure you use is the measure you’ll receive. Or Haman builds a gallows to hang Mordecai on and he ends up hanging on it. There’s just a rightness to it. Also, I want to extend this. I had a conversation I think literally yesterday about infants who die in infancy. And I just believe that all human beings like fetuses, unborn children that are aborted or stillborn babies or infants that die in infancy, before what theologians generally call the age of accountability are all going to spend eternity in heaven. And why is that? Because judgment day is a public display of the justice of God in a way that resonates with his creatures.
And they’re always judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. But these infants didn’t do anything. There are no works that they’ve done, no moral works. Because they don’t understand right from wrong. They don’t understand the existence of God, they don’t understand the commands of God, they haven’t sinned in that sense. And therefore, it’d be more than just a head-scratcher. It would feel unjust if God were to condemn them. And so that’s why I have a sense that they will all be there because of the depictions of judgment, but also because of this statement. There’s a sense or a feeling of the rightness of the justice of God here.
Wes
Andy, in light of all of this, what is the significance of the answer that comes back in verse 7?
Andy
Well, here’s the thing. The angel that pours out or that has charge of the waters, that has this judgment is celebrating it. And the altar resonates and says, yes, you are just in these judgments. True and just are your judgments. And I think it’s because to them it makes sense. God does it. It’s right and it lines up. We are the ones who think it’s unjust. And you look at the wicked in this chapter as happened earlier, they are gnashing their teeth and enraged at God. And I think this is going to be one of the judgments of the reprobate, of the damned. They’re not going to see the justice of God in it. They’re going to think God is unjust in what he’s doing there. But fundamentally, I think this is for our benefit. God doesn’t need to be reassured. Its like, is this the right thing to do? I don’t know, I mean… He’s not insecure at all. God’s a perfectly secure being. He knows that what he’s doing is right, but the creation resonates here. The altar resonates and says, yes, true and just are your judgments.
Wes
What does the result of the fourth bowl teach us about the power of God given to angels and God’s sovereign control over the universe? And what happens in the hearts of sinful humanity that’s instructive for us here?
Andy
This is amazing. The sun. The sun which is the center physically of the solar system. The sun, which is a raging ball of nuclear fire, 93 million miles away. I think my studies have shown in the past that the sun makes up 97% of the mass of the solar system. So, it includes massive Jupiter and Saturn and all that. That’s all 3%, added all up. And the sun’s 97%. The closest any manmade object has ever gotten to the sun is 3 million miles away. And then it was destroyed. It was incinerated by the heat. This is the raging ball of fire that is the sun. God creates it and sustains it.
It’s in the center of his hand, in the palm of his hand. He controls it. He does what he wants with it. It says nothing. We can’t even look at it for a second and a half or we’ll start to be blinded. That’s the power of the sun. And the sun’s a creature to God. He creates it and sustains it. And so furthermore, he controls its impact on the earth. He’s able to dial it up, he’s able to ramp up its heat. And so, as the angel pours out the bowl on the sun, it’s just a sense of God’s absolute sovereign power over every created thing.
And as a result of the angel pouring out his bowl on the sun, the sun was given power, we’re told, to scorch people with fire. So, he ramps up the effect of the sun. Now the sun already can burn us, we can get sunburned. You’re out there any length of time, your skin gets all red. But it’s been carefully controlled. The earth is exactly the correct distance from the sun for life to exist. Think about the north and south poles are very cold. The equator much hotter, but it’s just the right distance. But God ramps up the power of the sun to bring heat on the earth. And as a result of this terrible scorching that people have, they’re being burned by the sun, by sunlight.
They are seared with this intense heat. And again, there’s no drinking water. So, they’re in absolute agony and they’re cursing the name of God who had control over these plagues, but they won’t repent and glorify him. And so again, you are not going to be saved. No human being is going to be saved apart from the sovereign grace of God granting repentance and faith. And he does not grant these people repentance and faith.
Wes
Now, what’s the significance of the fact that the fifth angel pours out his bowl directly onto the throne of the beast? And what similarities do we see here with the reaction again from the people on earth?
Andy
Well, keep in mind that we learn in 2 Thessalonians 2, that the Antichrist declares himself to be God. And God is saying, no, you’re not. I’m in charge. And so, the beast, the Antichrist cannot do anything about this. He’s along for the ride. “I raised you up for this very purpose”, says God to Pharaoh, “That I might display my power in you that my name might be reclaimed in all the earth” (Romans 9:17). So, God raises Antichrist up for the same purpose to show his power. And this is very much like the ninth plague, the one right before the dreadful plague on the firstborn. And so, Egypt was plunged into a plague of a darkness we’re told, a darkness that could be felt. It was a pervasive, dripping, thick darkness. And so, the angel pours out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and as a result of that, his kingdom is plunged into darkness.
And so, there’s no light, they can’t… Flashlights don’t work, matches don’t work, candles don’t work. There’s just darkness. And this is again, a foretaste of hell. They’re cast into outer darkness. Light is a gift. Let there be light, God said. And there was light. And light involves white light, and it involves colors, red and orange and yellow and all those beautiful colors, the blues and all that. You don’t see any of that. There’s no light. And furthermore, light gives knowledge. It tells you what’s in the room.
And so, as a result, people are banging and crashing into things and they’re gnawing their tongues in agony because they’re hurting themselves with the physical stuff that they can’t see. And they’re gnawing their tongues in agony because of this plague. And again, they’re cursing God. They curse the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. But again, they don’t repent. We have the same thing with the fourth plague and the fifth. So again, people in hell will not be sorry for what they did, yearning for… None of that. They will just be cursing God forever for the judgments they think that they don’t deserve.
Wes
And verses 12-16 are an extended depiction of what takes place as a result of the sixth bowl. What is the nature and result of this sixth bowl that’s poured out?
Andy
All right, so the sixth angel pours his bowl out on the great river Euphrates. Now it’s a border, a boundary for the northern kingdom of Israel back then. And this was the extent of the promised land, and it was also a boundary. And frequently as in the Book of Jeremiah, judgment pours down from the north down onto Palestine onto the promised land. And so, the Babylonians came from that direction. The Assyrians came from that direction, etc. So now, we have the great river Euphrates, and it’s dried up. And so, the border, the boundary is removed and as a result, the kings of the East are able to come to prepare the way for the kings of the East. Then verse 13, “I saw three evil spirits that look like frogs. They came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and the mouth of the false prophet. And they are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” So, they’re all assembled and they’re not fighting each other.
So, what are they there for? They’re there I think, to kill those who refuse to receive the mark of the beast. So that would be the converted Jewish nation and believers that are alive at that time. They are coming to kill them, to slaughter them, and Jesus is going to come to save them and rescue them and protect them. So that’s the assembling of these kings of the whole world who are met together to fight against Christ and against his people. And so, they’re coming together under the auspices of the Antichrist to fight against Jesus and to fight against his people. They’re coming together to be slaughtered.
And that is the context of the second coming that we’re going to see in Revelation 19 and the great slaughter that comes. And so, they come out there and as a result, they are assembled in verse 16 to a place called Armageddon. And in the middle of that, comes in my red-letter edition of the Bible, some red letters, Jesus speaks suddenly right in the middle of this, “Behold I come like a thief, blessed as he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
And so that is again, Jesus’s warning that he’s coming. He’s going to come without any further warning. You just read about it in the Bible. But he’s going to come and that’s Revelation 19, the second coming. But they come, they’re assembled to this place called Armageddon.
Wes
What happens when the seventh angel pours out his bowl? And particularly what’s the significance of the statement, it is done?
Andy
Well, what is happening here is it’s the end of the wrath of God. And we’re told that in Revelation 15:1, “Then I saw in heaven another great marvelous sign, seven angels with the seven last plagues, last because with them God’s wrath is completed.” So then here is the statement, okay, it’s finished. Once the seventh bowl is poured out, the judgment on planet earth is done.
So that’s the ecological disasters are ended. And again, as you look at the details here, I want to just say hermeneutically or with the science of interpretation, we can’t go just symbolic here. There are specific things that will happen. And if you’re just going to talk about symbolism here, say it doesn’t really tie to anything literal, then the chapter really just doesn’t make any sense. There is symbolism here, but fundamentally these physical things are going to happen. And so, when the seventh angel pours out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple comes this loud voice saying it is done, then as a result, there is this flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and all that, and this terrible earthquake.
And so, the earth is shaken. The actual surface of the earth is shaken, the foundations of the earth that is kind of like the basis, the stage on which the drama of history has happened, it is shaken. And then the city, the great city is destroyed, the main city, capital city, Babylon. But then all the cities of the nations collapse. So, this is the end of everything. This is the end of human society. It’s the end… The destruction. And so, God has remembered Babylon the great, we’re going to talk about that in the subsequent chapters, Revelation 17 and 18. And that’s the world system that’s arranged and ordered and organized against God. And God is going to give her the cup of his wrath, poured full strength, and he’s going to bring judgment on that. This terrible earthquake is the judgment on the entire planet.
Wes
It’s amazing these flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, earthquakes, hailstones. These are all phenomena that we’ve seen associated with the judgment of God before in the Old Testament. But here, the heightening and the intensity of them is really astounding as we consider these last judgments, as the wrath of God is poured out.
Andy
Right. And you mentioned the hail, and I didn’t mention that, but a plague of hail comes. And so, these are chunks of ice that are falling from heaven to earth, killing people. It’s basically like bullets coming from heaven, just taking people out. And it’s such a terrible, severe judgment that the people are in agony. But again, cursing God, not worshiping, not repenting, just cursing God.
Wes
Andy, in your estimation, what effect did this final bowl have on the physical surface of the earth at the end of the chapter here? And what final thoughts do you have on chapter 16 as a whole?
Andy
Earth is destroyed. And the only thing greater than this is a description in Peter of the elements themselves destroyed in the heat. So, at that point, the elements, the atoms themselves come apart, but I think that’s part of the second coming. There has to be something Jesus comes to. So, there’s still an earth, but then after that, then the entire physical structure of planet earth is going to be remade by fire, and the way is made and for the new heaven, new earth. So, listen, Revelation 16 is one of the most terrifying chapters one can ever read. But as we look at that, we understand why it is the judgment on earth for human sin. And it’s the preparation beautifully for the new heaven, new earth yet to come.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 22 in our Revelation Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 23 entitled The Great Harlot and the Beast, where we’ll discuss Revelation 17:1-18. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
