Revelation Chapter 16:8-15

Although not an exact reflection, there is a definite parallel between these bowl judgments, the opening of the seals in Chapter 6, and the trumpet judgments of Chapters 8-11.

While the trumpet soundings were warnings, the pouring bowls bring utter destruction; they are poured out on the land, salt water, fresh water, and the sun.

(Verses are from the *NIV unless otherwise noted)

In contrast to these verses, consider the blessings promised to faithful believers:

Isa 49:10  They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.

Rev 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Matt 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”

Brokenness always follows in the wake of man’s lust for power and self-gratification. Rebellion against God’s counsel inevitably results in the death of peace, faith, hope, and life itself.

There’s a distinct sense of finality as these bowl judgments are poured out. The first four bowl judgments seem to have a more personal consequence:

• The first bowl is poured out on the land, the places mankind lives;
• The Second bowl corrupts the sea, the throng of humanity;
• The third bowl affects the waters and springs, the life-giving sources of refreshment and purity;
• And the fourth bowl is poured on the sun –  rulers and leaders who should be guiding people with justice but instead are darkened by corruption and greed.

The last three bowls seem to have a more universal significance:

• The toppling of the beast’s kingdom;
• A final battle between good and evil;
• The complete collapse of Babylon, a symbol of all things in opposition to God.

Joel, Isaiah, Amos, and Ezekiel employ vivid images to illustrate the eventual fall of evil:

• Earthquakes – the shaking and fall of nations;
• Darkened sun and moon – evil extinguishes the light of good – the darkness that always results from denying God;
• Devouring fire – God’s judgment on those who bow to Satan;
• Falling stars – The fall of rulers, teachers, and leaders who mislead and abuse others.

Joel 2:1  Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand—  2 a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times nor ever will be in ages to come.  3 Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, behind them, a desert waste— nothing escapes them.     

Isa 13:9-10  See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it.  10 The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

Amos 8:9-10 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.  10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

Ezekiel 32:7  When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.  8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Sovereign LORD.   9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among lands you have not known.

Close by the fighting stood the people of Rome like the audience at a show, cheering and clapping this side or that in turns as if this were a mock battle in the arena. Whenever one side gave way, men would hide in shops or take refuge in some great house. They were then dragged out and killed at the instance of the mob, who gained most of the loot, for the soldiers were bent on bloodshed and massacre, and the booty fell to the crowd.

The whole city presented a frightful caricature of its normal self; fighting and casualties at one point, baths and restaurants at another, here the spilling of blood and the litter of dead bodies, close by prostitutes and their like – all the vice associated with a life of idleness and pleasure, all the dreadful deeds typical of a pitiless sack. These were so intimately linked that an observer would have thought Rome in the grip of a simultaneous orgy of violence and dissipation. There had indeed been times in the past when armies had fought inside the city, twice when Lucius Sulla gained control, and once under Cinna. No less cruelty had been displayed then, but now there was a brutish indifference and not even a momentary interruption in the pursuit of pleasure. As if this were one more entertainment in the festive season, they gloated over horrors and profited by them, careless which side won and glorying in the calamities of the state. (Tacitus, Histories, Book 3, Chapter 83)

The phrase “gnashing of teeth” is found in several places in the Bible, usually in reference to the final state of those who reject God. The image communicates pain, especially when the gnashing is combined with weeping. When people experience severe injuries, they commonly squeeze their eyes closed, grit their teeth together hard, and cry out in pain. The Greek phrase for “gnashing of teeth” literally means “grinding one’s teeth together.”

Matt 13:37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. 40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The writer of the Book of Wisdom (The Wisdom of Solomon) observed:

But over them alone was spread oppressive night, an image of the darkness that was about to come upon them. Yet they were more a burden to themselves than was the darkness. (Wis 17:21).

 It’s a terrible irony. As many people recognize their own sin, their response is only more rebellion!

There are generally three sources of suffering in this world: suffering from the persecution of others in body and soul, suffering from sickness and disease, and suffering in spirit because of the sins of the world. There are only two possible ways to deal with such sufferings. Either one humbly accepts them and transforms them into the way of salvation for oneself and others; or one is defeated by them with rebellion and rejection, and so “curses God and dies” both physically and for eternity in the ages to come¹.

The historical significance of this image can’t be overlooked. The two major conquests of the Jewish homeland came from Assyria and Babylon, both of which crossed the Euphrates River.

To the Jews, the historical image of armies attacking from the east is one of conquest and enslavement. Whenever humankind rejects Christ, Satan is loosed to enslave them with fear and deception.

Rev 9:14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”

2 Kings 15:29 In the time of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, Abel Beth Maakah, Janoah, Kedesh and Hazor. He took Gilead and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and deported the people to Assyria.

2 Kings 24:13 As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar removed the treasures from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace, and cut up the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made for the temple of the LORD. 14 He carried all Jerusalem into exile: all the officers and fighting men, and all the skilled workers and artisans—a total of ten thousand. Only the poorest people of the land were left.

This is the first mention of the “false prophet.” This is one more manifestation of Satan’s attacks:

John’s vision continues to mirror the plagues that ancient Egypt faced. During Israel’s bondage in Eygpt, frogs were symbolically related to the Egyptian goddess Heqt and may be used here to recall those dark days of oppression².

• Verse 14 defines the unclean spirits as demons: Hebrew, shed (shade), a demon, devil (malignant)³.
• Greek, daimonion (d̮ai-mo’-niy-on), a demonic being, a demigod⁴.

Ellicott writes:

There are three radical foes of Christ and His righteousness: the dragon, representing the hate of evil spirits; the wild beast, representing the hostility of world-power; the false prophet, representing the antagonism of world-culture and intellectualism—these three send forth each their emissary, appealing to the pride and passions of men⁵.

Ps 16:4 Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more. I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips.

Matt 6:31 [ESV2011] Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

Rom 3:13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

Whether the frogs are symbolic of malignant deceptions or actual supernatural beings, Satan’s lies deny Christ. Erroneous philosophies, false religions, unjust political machinations – all erode trust and deny a merciful God.

1Tim 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.

Philip Carrington explains that in John’s day, the officer in charge of the Temple guards would walk the walls, making sure no one fell asleep. If he found a dozing soldier, he would beat him. If found asleep again, the unfortunate guard’s clothes would be burned, and he would have to go about his duty naked and in shame⁶.

John is being warned that the saints must live exemplary lives at all times, not simply to be ready for Christ’s return, but because that’s the kind of life that will bring peace to the world in the face of a marauding enemy.  In one sense, Christ may return unexpectedly at a time no one can predict. In the more immediate sense, no one knows when their time on this earth will end, and they will come into the presence of the Living God. Blessed are those who are always ready and watching.

Wicked individuals will use cunning tactics to promote their agenda, but the Spirit of Wisdom offers valuable advice. It warns the devoted followers of Christ to remain vigilant against the agents of the devil to prevent themselves from being misled and facing their own ruin.

41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.  42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

1 Thess 5:2-4   …for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

2 Peter 3:8-10 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Footnotes

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1. Orthodox Church in America: Suffering, https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/sickness-suffering-and-death/suffering, retrieved February 28, 2022. ↩︎
2. Michael Rydelnik and Michael Vanlaningham. The Moody Bible Commentary (p. 4994). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition. ↩︎
3. Strong’s H7700. ↩︎
4. Strong’s G1140. ↩︎
5. Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers, Revelation 16:13. ↩︎
6. Carrington, pp. 265ff. ↩︎

*All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™