1I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!”
2The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and painful sore on the people who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image.
3The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died.
4The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have judged these things. 6For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”
7I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.”
8The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9People were scorched with great heat, and people blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory.
10The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, 11and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works.
12The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings that come from the sunrise. 13I 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, something like frogs; 14for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God the Almighty.
15“Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn’t walk naked, and they see his shame.” 16He gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew, “Harmagedon”.
17The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake such as has not happened since there were men on the earth—so great an earthquake and so mighty. 19The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21Great hailstones, about the weight of a talent, came down out of the sky on people. People blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for this plague was exceedingly severe.
Not Willing that Any Should Perish
17 The seventh poured out his bowl into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake such as has not happened since there were men on the earth—so great an earthquake and so mighty. 19 The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
There is a great biblical truth that all should learn at an early age. My mother taught it to me when I was very young. She would tell me, “Vengeance is mine. I will repay, sayeth the Lord.” (Romans 12:19 KJV) The sooner a disciple of Jesus learns that truth, the better. Otherwise, you’ll go through life trying to even the score when you’re done wrong by others. That is a hopeless cycle of frustration. God is the scorekeeper, and He can keep score better than you and I can. In chapter 16, we are witnessing the end of it all. We are seeing God’s vengeance being poured out on the wicked. It can become tedious to read the Book of Revelation because much of what we read is God pouring out His vengeance on the wicked for their persecution of the saints. As mentioned before, I believe Scripture supports the idea that the believer will not even be here. Hence, as we read this, it is sort of like watching a movie of what is to come. We are mere observers, and not participants. This is the payback God promised. We don’t need to prosecute our rights. In the end, God will take care of all of that.
I might add that when we occasionally see it happen while we’re alive, we should never take joy in it or celebrate it. For likewise scripture tells us, “17 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:18 Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.19 Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked: 20 For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out. (Proverbs 24 KJV) Mind your own business and let God mind others. He will do a far better job of evening out the score than we could ever do. What we read about here sounds something like a super solar flare. Scientists estimate that a super solar flare occurs about every 250-500 years. The sun throws off a flare 150 times more powerful than usual. This hasn’t happened in modern times, but when it does, it will take out all the electronics on the earth. The ancients described such events as “fire and brimstone” coming down. I don’t know what this is, but it scorches men with fire. It could be falling fiery hailstones or meteorites. Whatever it is, it will bring great pain to humanity. And even given such an event, mankind will STILL refuse to repent and give glory to the God who created all.
We read some really horrible things in this chapter. But we must remember that God is a loving God, but He is a just God. He will avenge the martyred deaths of His saints. All people are given a chance to live in this peaceful unity, but mankind is not free to persecute the saints of God without retribution. I know these are strange verses to read. When we read them, just remember that God doesn’t forget His own and will not suffer the righteous to be moved. God covers His anointed. And you and I are His anointed. Those whose lives will end in bitterness suffer not just because they have rejected God, but because of what they have done to the saints of God, and they suffer because that is the path they have chosen. God is not willing or desirous that any should perish, but that all live for eternity in peace with Him under His protection.