We’re going to look at the final seven judgments of the Tribulation, the vial judgments (also called the bowl judgments), all of which are presented to us in Rev. 16.
Bullinger would point out that eleven times in this chapter we have the word great. I would add that this is great in the sense of absolutely EPIC, cataclysmic, literally Earth-shaking, which culminates in nothing less than the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself.
With respect to Rev. 16, some commentaries, like H.A. Ironside, would say we don’t know how much is literal and how much is symbolic in this chapter. I’d argue it’s all literal. In fact, we’re going to see in this article that most of these judgments mirror the plagues of Egypt. God is connecting His first deliverance of Israel to His final deliverance of Israel. This is designed to teach us that as we took the plagues in Egypt literally, so too, we should be taking all these final judgments literally. Bullinger would write, “Indeed, six out of the seven Vials are just the same as the plagues of Egypt, and God has again and again declared that their final judgments should be like, yea, should be worse than, those (Ex. 34:10). Just as we took the plagues of Egypt literally, there’s no reason to not take any of these seven judgments literally.” Exactly.
Not only that, we’re going to see that many of these judgments are also connected to the Trumpet Judgments, which means that all of those judgments should’ve been taken literally as well. For example, in the Trumpet Judgments, 1/3 of the oceans, lakes, and rivers turn to blood. In this article, we’ll read that God turns ALL the oceans, ALL lakes, and ALL rivers into blood. What began in the Trumpet Judgments will reach their logical conclusion in these bowl judgments. God’s wrath began in the first half of the Tribulation. We’ve seen His wrath intensify over time until now His wrath will be fully poured out.
First Bowl Judgment
Rev 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. Rev 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
I suspect that this great voice is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, because we will read later, when the seventh bowl judgment is poured out, this same great voice will say in vs. 17, It is done. The same great voice that cried out from the cross at Calvary, It is finished, is the same great voice that will here declare It is done when the wrath of the lamb has been fully poured out.
So these angels are instructed by the Lord to go down to the Earth to pour the vials on certain areas. They go down one at a time. The first angel pours his vial upon the Earth, that is, upon the land of the Earth, and what happens is that there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, which connects this judgment to the plague of boils that happened in Egypt. Here, they’re described as noisome and grievous sores.
Webster would describe noisome, not that they cause men to make noise because they’re in so much pain, although that will happen, but noisome here is in the sense of “Noxious to health, hurtful, insalubrious (unhealthy), destructive.”
In Deut. 28, when the Lord described the kinds of curses He would give Israel for any disobedience to the law, he spoke in vs. 35 of a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. Similarly, I suspect that the sores these unbelievers who took the mark will receive, isn’t a one-time judgment. They will have these sores until their deaths.
Here’s a question. If God is going to, at His Second Coming, wipe out all those who took the Mark, why give them sores now? This is an immediate fulfillment of the warning the third angel gave them about taking the Mark of the Beast. They would have no rest day or night, and that lack of rest begins with these noisome and grievous sores.
Second & Third Bowl Judgments
Rev 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. Rev 16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. Rev 16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. Rev 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. Rev 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
First, we would point out that God is connecting His first deliverance of Israel to His final deliverance of Israel. Just as Moses had smitten the waters of Egypt with his staff and all the waters turned to blood and it stank and everything died and that bloody water got into everything in Egypt in the first plague, so too, God carries out a greater global calamity – ALL oceans, ALL lakes, and ALL rivers now turn to blood.
Further, the second and third bowl judgments have their counterparts in the second and third trumpet judgments in Rev. 8. In those trumpet judgments, a third of all waters turns to blood. Now ALL water turns to blood.
We also understand now WHY God did this. The angel of the waters would say in Rev 16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. This was a judgment upon all the unbelievers of the world for murdering the saints of God. This wasn’t simply for the death of believers within the city of Babylon or because the leadership in Babylon instructed the world to kill all believers, which every nation carried out. These nations weren’t killing believers simply because Babylon told them to. They were already killing believers and they wanted to keep on killing believers. Now God is avenging the blood of His saints by giving the world blood to drink. No more water for you. Only blood. Under the Mosaic law, God’s judgments often corresponded to the crime: eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. And here, it’s blood for blood, as if to say, if you are bloodthirsty for my saints, then I’ll literally give you blood to drink. What perfect justice.
Here’s a question. How will believers survive if there’s no water? This is where Mark 16 comes into play. Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe… and this is anyone who believes in the Tribulation Mar 16:18 …if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them...
Here’s another question. How will all those people who make up the goat nations survive to the end if there’s no water to drink? I suspect that there would’ve been a massive effort to store potable water when a third of the oceans and lakes turned to blood, and I’m not sure potable water, potable water tanks, all the existing bottled water would be affected. They just won’t get any new water to drink.
Another point to be made about these passages is the reference in vs. 5 to the angel of the waters. There seems to be angels with authority over all the different elements of the Earth. We have here the angel of the waters. You remember that before the 144,000 were marked we read in Rev_7:1 that John saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Bullinger would write, “The expression, ‘angel of the waters,’ shows that angels have their spheres and offices; that the operations of nature are not left to blind chance, but that He who made what men call ‘the laws of nature’ has a mighty and capable executive to see that those laws, and God’s will, are carried out.”
When this angel of the waters speaks, he praises God for who He is and the rightness of His ways. He says in Rev 16:5 …Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. He speaks of the rightness of His judgment in the framework of His eternal nature. God isn’t doing what He’s doing now because His nature has somehow changed since the beginning of creation. He will be as He is now as He always was – holy, just, right, true in all that He does. When we looked at the scene in the Throne of God in Rev. 4, the 24 elders praised Him for many things, including His eternal nature. Twice we were told that they worshipped God who liveth for ever and ever. We’re now for a third time seeing praise to God for His eternal nature, because that will always be a source of comfort. Everything that takes place hinges upon the fact that God is unchangeable, incorruptible, and eternal in His essence. His eternal essence provides comfort to His creation because we know He will always do what is right, because He will always be what He is. Then we hear another voice in Rev 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. Whose voice is it coming out of the altar? I suspect this could be a voice from one of the souls under the altar or a voice projected out of the horns on the altar, which are the prayers of the believers on the Earth. Either way, this voice represents believers acknowledging that they understand why God is doing what He is doing and that what He is doing is a just, righteous judgment as retribution for martyred saints.
Fourth Bowl Judgment
Rev 16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. Rev 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Now we would associate the brightness of the sun with intense heat, but I don’t think that’s the case here. In the next judgment, we’re going to read about thick darkness over the Earth, and so I suspect that what’s happening here is an intense heat from the sun without the intense light, and this heat like all the other judgments will continue to the end of the Tribulation.
So this fourth angel pours out his vial onto the sun itself causing this unbearable heat on the Earth. We don’t have any counterparts in the Egyptian plagues or in the Trumpet Judgments. When the fourth trumpet was sounded, only a third of the sun was smitten. Here, the sun gives off blazing heat. Yet, signs in the sun is integral to prophecy so that the people will know that they’re getting closer to the return of Christ. In Isa. 24:6, Isaiah wrote of when “the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left”. Mal. 4:1 says, “Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble.” Not to mention the fact that the Lord Himself said in Luk 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Luk 21:26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Luk 21:27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luk 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. We’ve now reached that point in the Tribulation in which the believers are seeing those signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars when men’s hearts will literally stop working because due to overwhelming fear, and this is the point where believers will know it’s time to start looking up. The Lord’s coming draweth nigh.
But this is more than enduring unbearable heat. Unbelievers will be scorched with fire. They’re not burned alive. They’re merely scorched, burnt on the surface. Their clothes may burn up. The skin of these unbelievers will be excruciatingly burned, which is one of the most painful torments imaginable. And their reaction to this is that, in Rev 16:9, they blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. They double down on hatred and to continue living in their state of unrighteousness and curse God. Even if God had granted another opportunity to repent and be saved, no one will take it. They slapped the hand that offered reconciliation before these judgments would ever be carried out. And now that God’s doing what He said He would do, all these murderers of saints around the globe, who are so corrupt, they’d rather curse God than repent of their sin.
Fifth Bowl Judgment
Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
So, in addition to lack of water, excruciating boils, scorched skin, now a thick darkness has come over the Earth, which has its counterpart in the ninth plague of Egypt, except now this is completely global and this new darkness upon the Earth is far more severe. Vs. 10 tells us his kingdom was full of darkness, which means that since the antichrist kingdom is global, the darkness is global, and just like Pharaoh, the antichrist has now lost control of everything. Just as Pharaoh lost all control over Egypt and could accomplish nothing because of the plagues that ravaged Egypt, especially when darkness fell over the land, so too, the antichrist kingdom has now been rendered powerless.
This darkness over the Earth was also prophesied by Joel when he wrote in Joel 2:2, “A day of darkness and of gloominess; A day of clouds and thick darkness.” When the darkness came over Egypt, the Lord told Moses in Exod. 10:21 that the people would be able to feel this thick darkness. You’re moving about in a thickness of darkness permeating everything around you. You can feel the cold chill of the thickness of this darkness everywhere you go, a darkness so dense, it’s otherworldly. In this darkness, you’re aware that you haven’t gone blind but that the world has become so thickly dark that light can barely penetrate it. A flashlight will barely help you. You can just barely read the numbers on your digital watch. It’s a thickness of darkness that can literally drive a person mad.
This, too, is a righteous judgment of God. This is a perfect punishment for the crime. Just as the world was thirsty for the blood of saints, God gave them blood to drink. And now just as Satan’s throne has brought darkness upon the Earth, God has given them thick darkness to dwell in. You want to live in darkness? Here’s some truly thick darkness for you to live in. This darkness is also an attack on the throne of Satan because his throne had brought darkness upon the Earth, and now his throne has been rendered powerless, unable to function, because of the thickness of this darkness in addition to all the judgments that came before this. Since Satan has been called the prince of darkness, it follows that his new kingdom should operate in darkness and that Satan should suffer in darkness in the bottomless pit throughout the Lord’s thousand-year reign.
When this darkness came over Egypt, Exo 10:23 told us, They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. So, too, I think that while the world has been overcome with this thick darkness, the believers around the globe will still have light. I also think believers will be exempt from not only this judgment but all these judgments.
We had also read in vs. 10 that the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast. We last read in the letter to Pergamos that Satan’s Seat was located there. I suspect that was the case at the time of John’s vision (Rev. 2:13) but that now, Satan’s Seat has probably been relocated to Babylon and given to the antichrist (Rev. 13:2).
We’re also told in vs. 10, that the unbelievers of the world gnawed their tongues for pain. Gnawed means to bite off little by little; to bite or scrape off with the fore teeth. This expression is one that conveys the extremities of anguish. In addition to all of this, we’re told yet again, for a second time, that they blasphemed the God of heaven… and repented not of their deeds. O’Steen would write, “Many think that if God would cause supernatural manifestations that men would repent. Christ did many signs before the eyes of the very men that crucified Him!”
Sixth Bowl Judgment
Rev 16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
We’re told here plainly that this sixth angel pours his vial upon the river Euphrates, which dries it up, and frees the land so the kings of the East can mobilize their people and race toward Megiddo for the final showdown with the Lord. We learned last week in Rev. 14 that when the angel thrust… his sickle into the earth, he gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. So the angels will gather all those around the globe who took the Mark of the Beast and plop them down into Armageddon. But there will also be at the same time an influx of millions of people from all around Israel all rushing to that 200-mile expanse where Armageddon will take place so that they all may take a stand against the Lord when He returns, and here, with the angel pouring his vial onto the Euphrates river, he is simply making it easier for all of them, particularly, the middle eastern kings west of Israel to be free to race into Armageddon. This is also prophesied in Isa. 11:15 and Zech. 10:10-11.
It’s amazing to me that with all the pain they’re feeling that they’re even capable of being mobile, but they are. Despite the pain, they’re still driven by hate to fight because they’ve been emotionally manipulated by Satan himself.
Of course, with this judgment, we have a callback yet again to Israel’s deliverance out of the hands of Pharoah. Just as God opened up the Red Sea so Israel may pass to be delivered by God, now God has opened up Euphrates so unbelievers may pass to be destroyed by God.
Look at Rev 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. Rev 16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
First, we’re told that coming out of the mouths of Satan’s wicked trinity of deceit are evil spirits that looked like frogs, which in light of the context of the other judgments, you cannot help but make the connection to the plague of frogs in Egypt, although I found this connection hard to grasp. It could be that as the frogs helped bring down Pharoah, these evil spirits like frogs will bring down every king and every person who joins their cause to fight the Lord. It could be a contrast, too. Pharoah said, “You know, I’d like to spend one more night with the frogs before I make a decision,” but here, the evil spirits that look like frogs are telling the kings, “There’s no time left to make a decision.”
One question I had was, “If God’s angels are gathering those who took the Mark and placing them in Armageddon, why are these evil spirits trying to convince these kings to bring people into Armageddon?” I suspect the issue is that the demons also want at Armageddon as many people as they can who didn’t take the Mark. They want all of them at Armageddon, too, because they want to bring down as many people as possible.
Then we have this interjectional clause, as Bullinger calls it, in which the Lord Himself speaks. So all of this will take time. It’ll take time for God’s angels to gather all the people who took the Mark and bring them to Armageddon. It’ll take time for the kings of the East to mobilize as many people as they can and to cross the Euphrates River to reach Armageddon.
In the midst of this period of waiting, the Lord speaks. He says in Rev 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. We can only assume that it’s the believers on the Earth who will be hearing the Lord speak these words. This is both an assurance and a warning. He is coming, but He is also coming as a thief. They won’t know exactly when. And blessed is the one, rewards will await the one, who keeps watch for His return, which we’ve covered before. Watchfulness is more than just being alert about what’s going on around them. They’re watching for the Lord, and that expression means that they are making way for His arrival by keeping themselves pure, keeping themselves intensely focused upon Christ Himself. They’re also intensely focused upon all His instructions. They’re intensely focused upon maintaining their obedience to His Word in anticipation of His inspection of their works upon His return. If they obey His Word, if they keep their walk clean, then they won’t feel shame when He returns.
The Lord says Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments. The implication being keeping his garment clean, which we had studied before in the Lord’s letter to sinful Sardis. The Lord said there were a few in that city who had not defiled their garments. Of course, the defiled garments are the filthy rags of their sins. One does not want defiled garments when the Lord returns.
Then, finally, in vs. 16, we read, Rev 16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Who gathered them? Ultimately, the Lord is responsible for all the unbelievers being gathered together at Armageddon to fight Him. He allowed His angels to gather everyone who took the Mark around the globe to bring them to Armageddon, and He allowed those demons to go out and persuade kings to bring their people to Armageddon.
The Lord ultimately brought about all these unrepentant, God-hating, Satan worshipping people to be gathered at Armageddon for their destruction. We briefly talked about Armageddon last week. Just as the Abomination of Desolation is a person and an event, Armageddon is both a place and an event. Generally thought to be the valley at the base of Mt. Megiddo but broader than that because it’s a 200-mile piece of real estate.
This land has a long history. Part of the word Megiddo means places of troops and the other cut to pieces. This is a valley that has a long history of slaughter and mourning. Here, Deborah, the prophetess and judge, along with Barak destroyed a Canaanite King by the name of Sisera and his armies in Judg. 5. Here, King Josiah was overthrown by Pharoah-Necho in 2 Kings 23. This is a place of slaughter and mourning, and the last battle to take place here will be the absolute destruction of Satan and his followers at the Lord’s Second Coming.
All this brings us to the final, seventh, vial judgment.
Seventh Bowl Judgment
Rev 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
As we mentioned in the beginning, this is same great voice that spoke during the first vial judgment, and now that the final vial has been poured out, this same great voice says, It is done. And that voice has to be the Lord Jesus Christ. The same mighty voice that cried out from the cross at Calvary, It is finished, is the same mighty voice that will here declare It is done. The wrath of the lamb has now been fully poured out.
And now we’ll be told what happens in this seventh vial judgment. Look at Rev 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. Rev 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. Rev 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
This is the most devastating judgment upon the earth since the dawn of creation. All the judgments starting with the seal judgments have increased in severity until we have reached this last devastating calamity, the fullness of the wrath of God. The Earth literally shakes from a global earthquake more violent than anything that has ever come before it. All the cities of the Earth are gone. Every great city, every small town, every structure standing, now literally wiped off the face of the Earth. Every city is gone. All the islands are gone. Every island submerged in that sea of dead blood. And all the mountains are gone. When the sixth seal judgment was opened, we were told all the mountains were moved, but now… they’re gone.
Babylon, that great city, has been demolished into three sections, probably meant to signify the defeat of Satan’s infamous trinity of deceit. This mention in vs. 20 of great hail connects this final judgment to the first trumpet judgment, which involved the hail and fire mingled with blood, and to the 7th plague in Egypt, the hail, but this hail is great. This hail is each about the weight of a Jewish talent, which is 113 pounds. It’s a miracle anyone would survive this, but many do. This final judgment also corresponds with the seventh seal and seventh trumpet judgments, which were both earthquakes but nothing like this. This final earthquake was also spoken of in prophecy. Ezekiel wrote in Eze 38:20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. Isaiah would write in Isa 2:19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. The Lord Himself would say in Hag 2:21 I will shake the heavens and the earth.
And finally, we’re told in vs. 21 for the third and last time that men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. We were told in vs. 9 that men blasphemed God for the scorching heat. Then we were told in vs. 11 that men blasphemed God because of the pain of the boils. And here, we’re told in vs. 21 that men blasphemed God because of the hail.
Three is a number of completeness, and we’ve seen in these men their complete rejection of God. You remember how in the book of Acts, Paul three times says “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Following that third proclamation, Israel’s setting aside had been complete. Israel would no longer be given preferential treatment to hear the gospel first. Here, in Rev. 16, the three times men blaspheme God signifies the completeness of their rejection of Him, and the complete justness and righteousness of God in His judgments upon them. God’s given them every chance to get saved, and they had consistently rejected Him for seven years, and now that God’s judgment has come, He is right in all He does. These are bad people who spent years murdering saints and worshipping Satan and now they’re being given their just reward for their works. I want to conclude with a happy note.
Consider Rev. 19. In Rev. 17 and 18, we’re given a kind of flashback overview of Babylon, which we already studied, but Rev. 19 picks up right where we left off. In these passages, we’ll read what happens in Heaven following the completion of these final judgments of God.
Conclusion
Rev 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: Rev 19:2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. Rev 19:3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. Rev 19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. Rev 19:5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. The only point I would add to these passages is that WE will be part of the much people in heaven, and WE will be saying along with all the others, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God. Amen; Alleluia.
SUPPLY OF GRACE 