Revelation Chapter 16

Revelation 16:1

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."

Several times before we have read that there was a voice, even a loud voice from heaven that gives direction. Until now we could not determine the source of the voice but it appears that at least this time, it is God Himself speaking. Another interesting note is that while these bowls are pretty terrible and it is very obvious that they are coming from God, not a lot of time is given to them. As we’ve studied through this book of prophecy, the visions involving God and His Lamb have taken up the bulk of scripture with the terrible things being described breezed by fairly quickly. Knowing God and realizing exactly who He is and how He acts seems to take precedence over the punishment inflicted upon His creation. He gives us much info about Him and then bluntly and quickly tells us about the warnings we should heed that involve destruction. Other than that the only massive amount of text devoted to someone outside of God is in the next few chapters when John discusses the prostitute and the beast and the fall of Babylon. Even though so much is said regarding this subject, we often still look at it wrong and will possibly be tricked and deceived when the destruction of Babylon becomes complete. Until then these verses will seem to go quickly as the bowls are poured upon the earth.

Revelation 16:2

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.

More so than the seals and trumpets, it does seem that the bowls move very swiftly or happen closer to one another then the previous groups of 7 we’ve encountered. As for the timing of this bowl it seems to come directly at the end of Leviathan’s reign on earth. Sores came upon those who worshiped the image or those who bore his mark. As stated in a previous lesson these two groups of people may not be inclusive of one another as in some that receive the mark may not be included in the number who worship its image. Nevertheless all of these receive sores for their work with Leviathan. Since the beasts are still reigning on the earth there are other questions that arise as to how God times all these things out. Remember that the two witnesses are most likely continuing to preach outside the temple and destroying people with fire from their mouths. Also they are infecting the earth with plagues and shutting up the sky as often as they like. So while the beast is making life miserable for the faithful, the witnesses are causing trouble for everyone else. In addition to that,an entire nation had been previously wiped off the map and this is not including all the other terrible events and plagues that have happened that have wiped out approximately half of the population of the earth. Sometimes when we study the book of Revelation we need this little reminder about how bad things actually get because we sometimes see them as individual events and fail to put them into the context of one continuous storyline. And despite all this; if Jesus has not come back until later on in the bowls saga, then people are still going on with their lives, buying and selling, marrying and being given into marriage. This is the context we find ourselves in.

Revelation 16:3

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.

Moving through the wrath of God we see the second bowl poured out. The bowl is poured into the sea and it became like dead blood and every living thing died. This is a little different than the second trumpet we saw a while back, when a third of the sea became blood. At that time only a third of the life in the sea died, along with a third of the ships being destroyed. This is not that for now everything in the sea is dead. From this point forward we will no longer see the sea as we now know it. Everything is dead in the sea on this earth and it shall remain this way for about 1000 years when the sea finally gives up all the dead that lie within. After that will come the new heaven and the new earth and there will be no sea. The resting place for Leviathan no longer sustains life and never will again. The timing of this bowl is something that we need to remember as we move into the next chapters because it will talk about all who make their living off of the sea and those in ships discussing the fall of Babylon. If we try to put this into a linear timeline in Revelation it simply would not make sense. As we draw closer to the explanation we receive about Babylon’s fall we must remember that it has already taken place at the beginning of the reign of the beast from the sea (Leviathan) and will just be a retelling of this event. For now just know that the time for repentance on this earth is drawing to an end. Worshipers of the beast have received painful sores along with those who received its mark and now every thing in the sea has died. There is also a distinction made between the sea and fresh waters becoming blood as we will see in the next lesson.

ref: Revelation 11:6, 8:8-9

Revelation 16:4

The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.

There is a distinction made between the seas and fresh waters of the earth. Not only is the distinction made by them having separate bowls but also separate plagues. We didn’t really discuss it much in the last lesson but the the sea became like the blood of a corpse. This is different from becoming the blood of a corpse, but in this plague it says the rivers and springs actually became blood. I wish I could speak intelligently about what God means by making the sea like the blood of the dead. After some research, really the only thing that seems like it may help is that blood begins to turn toxic as the blood cells begin to split open and release the toxins within but I don’t know if this is what He wants us to learn from this. What is made clear in the next several verses is that the fresh water becomes blood. In a natural sense we would tend to think that this is crazy and begin to explain it away, especially in light of the second bowl, but there is no other explanation. God has a purpose for turning our drinking water into blood and we will explore the motive behind this in the coming lessons.

Revelation 16:5

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.

The previous times we have encountered the phrase “who was and who is” it was accompanied with , “who is to come”. We notice that this extension is blatantly missing in the words of the angel implying to us that He no longer is to come but has actually come indeed. Not that He was absent before but it seems that from this point forward, God is very much in the mix and also that we will be very much aware of the fact that He is the one shaking things up. There may no longer be doubt among anyone that He is the one who was and who is.

Next let’s look at the testimony the angel is giving. While on earth, Jesus spoke extensively and constantly about His Father. In one such discourse He stated, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.” This is mind blowing; to think that Jesus needs something but He basically says that He needs a witness of Himself so that His testimony is true. No witness, no true testimony. There is another who bears witness to Jesus and that makes the testimony true. It looks as if He is speaking of John the baptist here but if we look at another verse that says, “the Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. We also know this is true because Jesus says, “Not that the testimony that I receive is from man...but the testimony that I have is greater than that of John.” So though John’s witness might make Jesus’ testimony true and is valid enough that Jesus references it in relationship to saving them; He does not rely on John as a witness. Instead, “the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.” So while John’s witness was appreciated, Jesus had another witness in the very works He was doing. Now we have two witnesses. Then He goes on and says that His Father also is a witness for Him. The truthfulness of His testimony is secured firmly through the threefold witness of God, man and works but as I stated earlier the witness of man is not needed so what remains is Father, Holy Spirit and the Son’s works; all bearing witness to His testimony. I mention this because now we see an angel testifying about the justice and holiness of God. What a honor this must be to be a witness for God in this way and I don’t believe this privilege can be understated. About John it was said that among men born of women, none were greater than John (I presume because He became a witness for Jesus); but the least in heaven are greater than he. I don’t think for a minute that God is in need of this witness from the angel but is showing us that He is completely consistent. God testifies about Himself, Jesus had testified always about His Father and now it seems His works are testifying to Him as well. For this reason He no longer is to come but simply...is. Praise and glory be to you, Almighty God.

ref: John 5:30-47; 1 John 5:6

Revelation 16:6

For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!"

The journey through scripture is an odd thing. Sometimes it seems like the biggest question or obstacle the unbeliever has is why would God do this or that. When you finally begin studying you begin to unravel these mysteries about why God acts the way He acts, and mostly you can attribute it to Him being Holy and us being desperately wicked. The frustrating part is often you have to pick out and pay attention to what is actually being done in order to find out the motive behind this. For instance, many people try to discredit God by saying things like, "Why would God have Israel go through and kill the men, women, babies and everything else when they entered the promised land?" Even though the bulk of these types of actions didn’t occur until the book of Joshua, about 6 books in, God gives us the answer to it early on in the first book, Genesis. He promises Abram this land and tells him that his descendants are going to be slaves for 400 years and after that they will come out “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” So while we are looking at it like it is a terrible thing, God tells us that He is giving these people 400 years to get it right; but when they don’t they will be destroyed. On the flip side we see a passage like this that spells out exactly the reason for the plague and it ought to scare us to our very core. The people of the earth are responsible for the shedding of the saints and prophets’ blood and in return God has made all the drinkable water on earth turn into blood. As harsh as it sounds, it is what they deserve. So why would He be so discreet in the information about the Amorites and point blank in His explanation of the water to blood? I once heard a teacher say that God is very specific and thorough when it involves the description and punishment of those that are His. We are 16 chapters into Revelation and yet we have seen no rapture of His people, whether they be Jew or Christian; so I would say it's safe to say that Christians will also be subjected to this bowl as well. Never before in scripture has an entire book been written outlining the destruction of people God had no intention of saving, so why would we think that Revelation would be any different? If we are supposed to be raptured into heaven way back in chapter 4, why on earth would we care or be so caught up with seals, trumpets and bowls the way that we are? This is a warning for us that we might prepare ourselves for these events and in turn live pious and blameless lives before God. As for having all of our water turned into blood for us to drink; this is what we deserve and far worse I’m afraid. Glory be to God and may He continue to show us mercy.

ref: Genesis 15:1-16

Revelation 16:7

Then I heard someone from the altar say: Yes, Lord God, the Almighty,

true and righteous are Your judgments.

The voice of a second witness comes from the altar and reiterates the holiness of the acts we are seeing. “And You — You are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You? From heaven You pronounced judgment. The earth feared and grew quiet when God rose up to judge and to save all the lowly of the earth. Even human wrath will praise You; You will clothe Yourself with their remaining wrath.” Once we finish this Revelation study and continue our study through the rest of the word it is amazing how many instances are prophesied about what we will learn. Here in the Psalm, it predicts this very moment. The writer speaks about God channelling His wrath and no one being able to enter the tent until the plagues are completed. He goes on to pronounce judgement from heaven. Then the earth feared and grew quiet when He rose up. It is at this point, when the voices are speaking from heaven, that I wonder if the earth has grown quiet. We would have endured the waters turning to blood and that should give us pause and yet going forward we see that people refused to repent from their wickedness. They have gone quiet in calling out to God. But this may also explain why these two voices have chosen to speak at this point; for something similar has been referenced in history before. When Jesus entered in to Jerusalem on a donkey many came and began to praise Him in a loud voice for what He had done. The pharisees came out and wanted Jesus to rebuke them and Jesus explained that there had to be praise and if they didn’t do it the rocks would cry out. Now we fast forward to this verse where the earth has grown silent and so the angel and another voice has cried out in praise to God for the works He is doing. While it has not come to pass just yet the psalm does explain that the human wrath will come to praise Him as well when the time comes that He saves all the lowly of the earth.

ref: Psalm 76:7-10; Luke 19:36-40

Revelation 16:8

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. He was given the power to burn people with fire,

Back in verse 5 we encountered an angel who had authority over the water. It was not made clear whether or not this was one of the angels who poured out the second or third bowls onto the earth. Today we see this fourth angel being given the power to burn people with fire. In 14:8 there was an angel that came from the altar and it was said of him that he had authority over the fire, so I can’t help but wonder if this is the same angel. Either way something slightly different is happening here than in the previous bowls. The first bowl brought sores on those who worshipped the beast or received the mark. The second turned the sea to something like the blood of the dead while the third turned the springs and such into actual blood. So at first glance it looks as if this bowl is poured on the sun and it burns people with fire. Some translations even say that it was allowed to scorch people. However in the original text it says that the angel was given power to burn the people with fire. Now I do concede the sun is most likely the source of this fire but it is the angel who is doing the burning. You might also see another difference when looking upon different translations. The angel was not allowed to do this, as if he was acting upon his own will or instincts; but was in fact given this power to do so. This is a big distinction in my book, between being allowed to do something and being empowered to do something. We often say and teach in this same manner when we say God allows such and such, when it may very well be God Himself doing or bringing the action about. Here the angel is taking a personal role in the judgements of God and is possibly the one deciding who gets burned and who doesn’t. I say that because it seems there is a strategy taking place in who he burns and who he doesn’t. The goal of this is not necessarily punishment as in the first bowl or vengeance as in the second and third; but the desire for repentance.

Revelation 16:9

and people were burned by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who had the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.

They blasphemed the name of God. The simple definition of this is speaking evil about the name of God, calling good evil. Though the punishment is extremely great, the actual act of blaspheming is frighteningly simple. This is what Jesus was being accused of when He said, “..from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Blasphemy is also what the man crucified with Jesus performed as he mocked, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Even writing this, I think it is difficult to grasp how sacred the name of God is. The protection of it was even included in the ten commandments but we tend to gloss over it and redefine the commandment just as we do with everything else that is Holy. The command is to not carry the name of the Lord God in vain. We are not to misuse His name and treat it like any other word. We are not to mock and ridicule His name and misuse or misspeak it. Now that may be taking it a bit far but Hebrew scribes and teachers were deathly afraid of even mispronouncing His name to the point of when they would read scripture and come across His name they would not pronounce it but simply say “the Name”. Why all the caution; because the command also came with a punishment, “for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that carries His name in vain.” The breaker of the commandment will be guilty as spoken by the Lord Himself. So is the sin of these people. They blasphemed His Name and refused to repent and give Him glory. The glory was already His, since they knew He had power over the plagues but they wouldn’t give it to Him. It seems they hate Him for sending these plagues, knowing full well He is the one who sent them. God is desperately trying to get us to turn to Him but we simply won’t. The troubling aspect of this is that Christians seem to be involved as well. The angel sends the intense heat and fire to burn people. There is no specification that says he left out a certain group. In the first bowl there was mention that it was specifically meant for a certain people but no mention is made of that here. God desires repentance and if we are not willing to proclaim it in the good times, it appears that we will refuse it in the bad times. And as the day draws closer to the final warning of God, we can almost hear the echoes of Jesus’ preaching, “"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

ref: Matthew 26:64-65, 27:29-40

Revelation 16:10

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

When we are dealing with the plans of God, specifically with kingdoms and powers being set up and thrown down, nothing is unplanned or happens by accident. Revisiting the beast’s kingdom I want to point out again that it is done under the authority of the Almighty God and is a part of His plan. Paul wrote, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” We often use terms like “God allowed” such and such to happen when in actuality He is the one instituting these kingdoms into existence for His purpose and we are to be subject to them. This agrees with what is said earlier in Revelation, “If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed.” Speaking about the kingdom He instituted for the beast He said, “He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." Now to be clear at this moment Leviathan is not fully punished as is prophesied in Isaiah 27:1 but it is his kingdom that is plunged into darkness and likely the subjects within. People gnaw their tongues because the kingdom to which they belonged is now in ruin and it is the Lord’s pleasure to do this. He gave a similar vision to the prophet concerning a potter and clay saying, “And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do…‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done?..If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it...And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it…” To be sure He was speaking to Israel about them doing good or evil and not the beast’s kingdom specifically but the same principle still applies. At any time of His choosing He can build and plant a kingdom and then He can at any time pluck it up, break it down and destroy it. At this point this kingdom is broken down and destroyed so to speak and the kingdom’s subjects gnaw their tongues in agony because of the works the Lord is doing.

ref: Romans 13:1; Revelation 13:10; Job 41:34; Jeremiah 18:1-12

Revelation 16:11

and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

First Babylon fell. The people could not believe that this has happened and they cried out from far off basically due to financial ruin. The one who helped destroy the prostitute came to their rescue selling land and having them take the name of the beast or the number of a man in order that they can continue to buy and sell. Times are good for this group of people as long as they don’t try to harm the two witnesses in Jerusalem, they don’t have much to worry about. Then wrath begins to pour upon the earth giving them sores upon their bodies and blood to drink. I imagine then they turn to their savior but as it turns out his kingdom is plunged into darkness. They begin to gnaw their tongues from the pain of their sores and can’t believe what has transpired. The sad part in this story is that they cannot claim ignorance. They know who is causing this and curse the God of heaven for their plight. They don’t believe Buddha or Allah has done such a thing. The text doesn’t say they believed Baal has done this or perhaps some other so called god. No, it is the God of heaven that will be cursed. What’s worse than this, is that knowing full well who has the power to cause all of these events to happen, they refuse to repent of their deeds. To be clear, their fate has already been sealed for they have worshipped the image of the beast or received the mark but it’s still noteworthy enough for John to comment that they did not repent. Knowing God is not enough. These people know Him and have a working knowledge about Him and the things He is capable of and yet refuse to repent. So this goes out as a warning to us as well, “Watch out, brothers, so that there won't be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God.”

ref: Hebrews 3:12

Revelation 16:12

The sixth 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.

What is the greatest moment that we cannot wait to experience? If we give the church answer it would be something along the lines of the return of the Lord Jesus. I say the church answer because speaking from a biblical perspective this is simply not the case. Bowl one gave sores to the worshipers of the beast along with those who received the mark. Bowl two turned the seas into something like a dead man’s blood, killing everything in the sea. Bowl three turned the rivers and springs into actual blood so that the people of earth had to drink blood. Four was on the sun as the angel was given power to burn people with fire. The fifth plunged the throne of the beast into darkness. As the sixth bowl of wrath is poured out, the purpose of this bowl more than the others is to prepare things for the Lord. A single river was dried up in preparation for the kings of the east. In the next lessons we will continue to talk in detail about this but He is making the paths straight for the Lord. Preparation has begun for Jesus to return to this earth. There is no longer any talk of repentance or forgiveness. If what we want is for Jesus to return, God says, I will make it easy on you. He will remove a great river so there will be no hindrances for you to meet His Son. But we say that it will not be this way for us but only for those who don’t want the Lord to come, we want the Lord to return and speedily, and that sounds great. But in contrast God says, “Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord! What will the Day of the Lord be for you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion only to have a bear confront him. He goes home and rests his hand against the wall only to have a snake bite him. Won't the Day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?” He asks what the day of the Lord will be for those who can’t wait for it. It will be darkness. It will be like escaping a lion only to come face to face with a bear. It will be like finally getting to rest only to have a snake bite us. It will be like gloom without ANY brightness. As Christians we need to stop asking for things we don’t fully understand. Even as Jesus was on His way to the cross, He paused for a moment to talk about this time and to teach about the way we should feel about this bowl. Jesus said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children. Look, the days are coming when they will say, 'The women without children, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed, are fortunate! ' Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us! ' and to the hills, 'Cover us! ' For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" We’ve already experienced those saying “fall on us”, and “cover us”. Then He says if they will crucify Him while things are good, can we imagine what will happen once the river is dried up? God has performed many signs and wonders and things have been awfully bad for the Christians up until this point. What will happen once we no longer have anything to drink? Gloom sets in. This day is nothing like what has been taught in church where His coming is bright and glorious but He Himself says there will be no brightness. The way is made to prepare for battle. Prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus.

ref: Luke 23:28-31; Amos 5:18-20

Revelation 16:13

Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon's mouth, from the beast's mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet.

We’ve entered into another verse of which it seems we can only speculate about. What does it mean that there were 3 unclean spirits like frogs? There is not a lot to pull from biblically speaking from which we can interpret this. Besides here, the only place in scripture that mentions frogs is in relationship to the plagues in Egypt and found in Exodus and the Psalms. For sure John does not say that they are frogs but are like frogs, so does scripture say anything about that? “He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.” We find out these “frog” spirits go out to assemble the kings of the earth for battle, so it may symbolize that they are sent to gather the kings for destruction. Other than that I have little to say, but do want to highlight one other note. There is something that has been missing from scripture for a while now, that has now come back into play. We have not seen or heard from the dragon since he gave his power over to Leviathan but now has shown back up. We don’t really know his role or whereabouts during all this time. I think it would be irresponsible however to sit all of what we have seen and read on his shoulders. He gave his power over to the beast, then it was the beast and false prophet who have caused havoc on God’s people. It is possible for Satan to also have a hand in this but he will not receive a permanent punishment yet as the other two will. This may be because there will still be a work for him to do later. The dragon did receive worship from the earth for giving his power over to the beast, but from that point on it is the beast who is uttering haughty words and blasphemies. But for now he sends one of the three unclean spirits from his mouth, sharing in by gathering the armies against God.

ref: Psalm 78:45; 2 Thessalonians 2:9

Revelation 16:14

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.

The unclean spirits like frogs go out performing signs to the kings in order to assemble them. The plans of God are mind blowing when you stop and think about them. Here we have demonic spirits who are able to perform signs, that have one purpose; to gather the kings of the earth. These kings (like all of them) are picked specifically by God and to be used for His purposes. What if before this point, they believed in Jesus? I only say that because of the works of these spirits. If these kings had already worshipped the beast, then their fate would be sealed. If they had received the mark of the beast or the number of a man then they have no future to look ahead to. If they had done these things it seems strange that they would need spirits coming to perform signs for them. If they are followers of the beast and false prophet then it seems all they would need is a word from them to muster their armies. I may be off on this assumption but the beast(s) have spent the last 3 ½ years ruling over the earth so it seems out of place that the kings would need to be deceived in this way if they were his followers; but it may be so. One thing is for certain though; these spirits are sent forth with the approval of God, for their destruction is also set up by the Lord with the approval of those in heaven. We know this because we saw another very similar situation take place back when Ahab was king over Israel after Judah had split into a separate nation. The Lord had decreed disaster for the king and Micaiah had told him about a scene that he had witnessed in heaven where all the heavenly host were standing around throwing around ideas about how to entice Ahab to go off to war to the place he was to be destroyed. Then a spirit came forth and declared he would be a lying spirit in the mouths of all the prophets. The Lord agreed that this would work and in perhaps one of the scariest of all the scriptures declares, “You see, the Lord has put a lying spirit into the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has pronounced disaster against you.” God can and will use whatever He deems fit to use in order to make His word and plans sure.

ref: 1 Kings 22:13-28

Revelation 16:15

"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!"

In the midst of all that is going on, Jesus decides to speak. He reiterates the warnings He gave to the churches of Sardis and Laodicea. “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” What will our reputation be at this time? Will we be doing as Jesus said when He was on earth saying to ourselves, “'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”? We’ve been waiting for Jesus to return for a long time now and we are growing impatient. Do you eat and drink with drunks? Do you hold the words of Jesus that you have received? Are your works complete in the sight of the Almighty? Do you repent? Here we see repentance taking a role again. Over and over we saw that people were refusing to repent and now Jesus reiterates our need to repent. If we do not He then says, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” In this time of the beast’s reign will many Christians grow rich? Will we be indistinguishable from the world and find ourselves prospering, not needing anything? We need to wake up and buy from our Lord the type of clothes that will cover our shameful nakedness. The mystery of this timing comes when He says He comes like a thief. We have read very specific instances of what will be happening and yet we do not know when the master of the house will come. But it is better for His slaves to be doing what He said when He does finally come. If He comes and does not find faith in us, it truly will be the rapture we have been waiting for. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

ref: Revelation 3, Matthew 24:48-51

Revelation 16:16

And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

The spirits like frogs have gone and gathered the kings of the earth and their armies to the place called Armageddon. Once again we often view the bible as symbolic rather than literal and we misjudge what scripture may be saying. Armageddon is not some made up place somewhere but an actual place on earth where these armies are assembled. One thing I do want to point out is that Revelation never says there will be a “battle” in this place but simply that is the place where they have gathered and may or may not be the place where the slaughter is. I say battle loosely because scripture does not really paint a picture of what we would consider a battle but that Jesus, I dare say single handedly, takes care of these forces; but we will discuss that when the time comes. The thing that continually brings these types of studies to realization is that we are able to go to the internet and see these actual places where these events take place. We are able to look at the valley’s surrounding Megiddo and wonder what they will look like filled with troops who want to kill the Lamb and somehow, at least to me, it makes these events even more real. If we look at this place now, it seems like such a peaceful place where nothing inherently exciting happens but at some point it will be teaming with the enemies of God. You can back out of the map and see how crucial it is in placement for the gathering of all these armies that are mostly north and northeast of Israel and that this is the staging place for what they hope will be an assault on Jerusalem. We see the Euphrates river and why it was important for it to be dried up in the last bowl because beyond it is where many of Israel’s enemies call home. Destruction is coming into this world and I pray that the saints of God are able to endure until that day.

Revelation 16:17

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!"

If we remember back to the end of chap 15 there was smoke that filled the temple because of the power of God and His glory and no one could enter it until the 7 plagues were finished. Now this loud voice from the temple is revealed to be the almighty, speaking from His throne saying, “It is done!” It is at this point that Jesus is most likely on His way or has arrived. Everything that has transpired has been made ready for this moment in history. The earth is as ready as it can be for the arrival of the King of kings. The verses that close out chap 16 point toward the arrival of Jesus on the earth for everyone to notice. What may also be “done” at this point is the fulfillment of those of whom it was spoken about, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” It seems to be that those that die after this time are made to wait another 1,000 years before they are to be judged and He may not be accepting any further deaths that fall into this “blessed” category of people. As we finish up this chapter, we need to understand that the next two chapters are going to be a re-telling of things that have happened before this moment in time. After we learn about the arrival of Jesus we will be discussing in great detail, the prostitute and the beast that she rides along with their relationship.

Revelation 16:18

And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.

I used the KJV here for one keyword that is somewhat altered in most other translations: voices. This word often translated as rumblings or sounds that can easily be absorbed in reference to the thunder and lightning or is left out altogether. The word in the greek is translated as voice, speech or sound/tone usually in relationship to musical instruments. I say this simply to point out that something else is happening here and it may not be just on earth. Going back in Revelation we have seen these three situations of voices, thunders, and lightnings before. The first time was coming from the throne and were seen with the seven lamps burning, which are the seven Spirits of God and is taking place before any of the seals and such have been explored. The next time is at the seventh seal when the angel took the censer filled with the prayers of the saints along with fire from the altar and hurled it upon the earth. Next we see them after the blast of the seventh trumpet after the twenty-four elders had given worship to God and declared it was time to judge the dead and reward the servants of God. It seems like too much of a coincidence that the latter two times along with this moment all happen after the last of the sevens. Seven seals-seven trumpets-seven bowls. I said early on that they seem to be coincided with one another and that the throne of God along with voices, thunders and lightnings may be a sign that these events may be happening on top of each other rather than in succession. As we continue this in the next few verses we will notice that this description of this event, if it is the same one, is compounded every time we see it. In chap 8 it was accompanied with an earthquake. In chap 11 we saw an earthquake along with hail and finally in this one we get a more complete telling of the damage all of these elements play. First is the great earthquake like we have never witnessed on the earth before. There is a person who had done things that we have never seen before, that person being Jesus; and He may make an unnoticed and yet very visible entrance in the coming studies.

ref: Revelation 4:5, 8:5, 11:19,

Revelation 16:19

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.

“On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley.” This is the prophecy concerning the time when Jesus will step foot on the Mount of Olives and is very much like the great city (which is formerly referenced as Jerusalem), splitting into three parts. The judgement has fell upon Jerusalem first and then to complete it to the cities of the nations and finally settled upon Babylon, making her destruction complete. The prophecy concerning the nations falling is an interesting one, especially since it seems to be more literal than we realize. A prophecy concerning John the baptist included this falling of the cities as well saying, “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” It would seem everything is made an even plain except where Jesus is seen and has made his valley where the nations come to be judged. Another supporting verse of this incident is, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it.” God has prepared the earth for His Son’s return in order that He bring salvation unto His people. As for the drinking of the cup by Babylon, we will cover that when the great prostitute is discussed.

ref: Zechariah 14:4; Luke 3:5-6; Isaiah 2:2

Revelation 16:20

And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.

“O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His splendor covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was like the light; rays flashed from his hand; and there he veiled his power. Before him went pestilence, and plague followed at his heels. He stood and measured the earth; he looked and shook the nations; then the eternal mountains were scattered; the everlasting hills sank low. His were the everlasting ways.” As we discussed, in the prophecy Zechariah when the Lord comes, He causes earthquakes and the great valley of Jehoshaphat is created. Everything is made low. Here another prophet tells of the mountains going away and the hills shrinking, not to be found. The writer of Hebrews got it correct when He said, “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Apparently this is not only meant for the creatures but for the very earth itself. It looks like there will no longer be any hiding places left on the earth as we saw before when people hid in the mountains and caves. The day of the Lord has come and it is dreadful in our sight.

ref: Habakkuk 3:2-6; Hebrews 4:13

Revelation 16:21

And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Much like with the plagues in Egypt, the thunder of God is accompanied by large hailstones. An even more frightening thought is that God may have had this hail pre-stored for quite sometime now. When He was making a mockery of Job’s knowledge He asked Job, “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?” He holds storehouses of hail for a time such as this or perhaps for this time specifically. The day of battle and war has arrived on the earth and unlike the plague in Egypt, there is no prayer that will halt these events from coming to fulfillment. You’ll also notice that the time for repentance has seemed to lapse. John makes no further mention that those people refused to repent but instead have chosen to curse God. Can you imagine knowing that God exists and deciding in your mind that the right thing to do is to curse Him? To be fair, this is a severe plague that is crushing everything it falls upon. To many, this is not the God they have been warned about in our churches. Many believe that God is completely about blessings and showing us favor. Our God is just in His judgements and if in His judgement He sees fit to drop 100lb hailstones on the residents of earth, then glory to Him who has control over these plagues; even if some of the crushed happened to be Christians. The prophet stated that He was pleased to crush Jesus and so I doubt seriously that He will relent over the death of Jesus’ followers; but instead they stand to receive a greater reward.

ref: Job 38:22-23; Isaiah 53:10