1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
Who is this loud voice? Is it God or Jesus or one of the angels? It is most likely God, ordering the angels carrying these final plagues to the world. His command is simple: it is time to release the final portion of God’s wrath onto the world. The following is a listing of what each of the seven bowls of God’s wrath is and what they mean.
2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
Sores: it is important to note that these sores only affect the people who have both the mark of the beast and worship its image. It doesn’t affect those who belong to God. Remember, this is God’s wrath, and God’s wrath is reserved for those who have made the decision to walk away from God. They have accepted the mark and worship the beast. This speaks to people who are complicit in the beast’s agenda.
3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
The end of the sea: when the angels were blowing their trumpets in chapter 8, you’ll recall that the sea was profoundly impacted, but did not die. 1/3 of the sea creatures and ships on the sea perished. In other words, 2/3 of the sea was still active. This is important because we see God’s mercy in that. It gave people time to accept God and turn from their sin. Now, in chapter 16 we see that the entire sea is gone. There is no more time. Wrath is fully alive now, and the sea, turning to something like congealed blood, is dead.
4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were; 6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” 7 And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
This is different but also connected to the death of the seas. Rivers and springs become blood.The world’s drinking water is contaminated. Because of this particular bowl of wrath, people aren’t going to be able to survive much longer. This part of the wrath judgment is because they, as followers of the beast, as complicit partners, have shed the blood of the prophets.
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
The sun attacks: the sun is something that we take for granted. Now, in this scenario, the people of this time cannot trust even the sun, for the heat is intense and people are seared by its heat. But even this does not sway the people from their position of defiance against God.
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 agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
Darkness for the beast’s kingdom: The kingdom of the beast is alone thrust into darkness. Suddenly not even the day can come, things cannot grow, people must live without the light. This is a preview of Hell and the people, who have sores, have lost the sea and drinking water, are scorched by the sun now also live in a hot darkness. They still do not repent.
12 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. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform 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. 15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” 16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The Euphrates dries up: The Euphrates was a natural barrier in the old world that protected the western kingdoms from those of the east. But with the river now dry, it can allow for those kingdoms to attack. Then frogs come out from the mouth of the dragon. Frogs, to the Jewish people, were regarded was repulsive and unclean. If you recall in the book of Exodus, frogs were an important part of the first six plagues. When the Nile turned to blood, the frogs jumped out of the river and overwhelmed Egypt. It was their death that brought forward the flies and the gnats, that affected livestock and ultimately people. In this case, frogs are unclean spirits that affect the nations of the world to fight against God.
These forces are meant to deceive people. Gather them into battle. Not nations against nations, but nations against God. The Beast is to lead the world against the second coming of Jesus. This of course is the battle of Armageddon, the decisive battle of the end-times. But other biblical battles were fought at this real world place. The battle of Gideon, as recorded in the book of Judges, was fought here, as well as the battle in which Pharaoh killed Josiah. In all, 200+ battles have been fought at this site.
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
It is done: The cataclysmic end to the battle and to the known world. Cities and nations collapse. Babylon is judged with both passion (thymos) and settled passion (ogre). Hail of 100 pounds falls. But the people continued to curse God to their very end. In the next chapter we’ll talk more about Babylon itself, but what we must understand what we are seeing here: we are seeing the judgment of God in physical terms. The spiritual side of God’s judgment continues into the next chapter.