Then I heard a loud voice        
    from the sanctuary say to the seven angels,

    “Go
    and pour on to the earth
    the seven bowls of
    the wrath of God.”

    So the first angel went away
    and poured his bowl on to the earth

    and it brought:

    noisome and grievous sores upon the men
    who had on them the mark of the Wild Beast
    and worshiped his statue.


    The second angel poured his bowl
    into the sea,

    and it became blood,
    like a dead man’s blood,
    and every living creature in the sea died.

    The third angel poured his bowl
    into the rivers and springs of water

    and they became blood.


    And I heard the angel of the waters say:

    “Righteous are You,
    who are and was,
    the holy One,
    because You have thus executed judgment.
    For they poured out the blood of Your people
    and of the prophets,
    and in return You have given them blood to drink.
    And this they deserve.”

     And I heard a voice from the altar say,

    “Amen,
    O Lord God,
    the Ruler of all,
    true and righteous are Your judgments.”

    Then the fourth angel poured his bowl
    on to the sun, and
    power was given to it to scorch men with fire.

    And the men were burned
    by a fierce heat;

    and yet they spoke evil of God
    who had power over the plagues,
    and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.

    The fifth angel poured his bowl
    on to the throne of the Wild Beast

    And his kingdom became darkened.

    People gnawed their tongues in anguish,
    and yet they spoke evil of the God in heaven
    because of their pains and their sores,
    and did not repent of their deeds.


    Revelation 16

16:1  Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the
seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”

  • Revelation 15 & 16 – the Seven Bowls of Wrath – the most intense time of human history.  And the author of the
seven bowls of wrath is the man we love:  Christ Jesus.  And the issue of these seven bowls of wrath – they are called bowls
because Jesus pours them out – or the angel does at His command – he pours them out in fullness like a deluge.  The idea
of pouring means abundance – swift – coming – like all at once.  And they do come in rapid succession – one after the other.  
  • The seventh trumpet begins the time when the empires of this world – the nations of the earth – the kingdoms of the
earth – come under Jesus’ manifest leadership.  The seventh trumpet is the time
  • The seventh trumpet initiates the events – that is the key phrase:  events.  The events related to the rapture.  The
seventh trumpet initiates those events because the reason I say events is because most people when they think of the
rapture – the catching up to meet the Lord in the air – they have a very wrong idea that one afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Jesus
appears and if you ask somebody where they always assume over their house!  They are going to look straight up because
Jesus will come – even to six billion people on the earth – why wouldn’t he come to your neighborhood first!  It is the same
rationale that the little kid thought Santa Claus came to their house first – it is the same thing.  I’ve asked people what will it
be like when the Lord returns.  They think it’s going to be “me and Him”.  But here is what the scripture says:  He is going to
appear to every eye – every eye of the earth -  of every longitude and latitude – every single human will see Him.  And you
won’t see Him simultaneously – He is going to come in the height of a man – disguised as a man – and He is going to cover
every longitude and latitude of the planet – it won’t happen in one second.  Your body will be transformed in one second –
when He appears over you.  But He is going to cross the earth – and I don’t know how long it is going to take – but it is not
going to take – it is going to be more than a minute – it will be several days – He is going fast – but He is not going so fast –
because every person has to be able to see Him with their eyes – and they will mourn – they are going to be raptured if they
love the Lord – they will be caught up to meet Him.  But the majority of the earth will mourn and say, “Oh, no” – because
they will make sense of what is going on.  
  • A loud voice – a great voice – God the Father (JFB)
  • The voice of God Himself (Z)
  • This is the voice of God since no other heavenly being could enter the heavenly temple ‘till the seven plagues of
the seven angels were completed’ (NCBC)
  • The author of the seven bowls of wrath is the Man we love:  Christ Jesus
  • Though everything was made ready before, yet nothing was to be put in execution without an order from God; and
this He gave out of the temple (MH)
  • Unpalatable as the work of judgment may be, it is inseparable from a moral universe.   Symbolical as the details of
  • these plagues are, they denote terrible realities.  (Z)
  • Nothing can be done without the permission of God, and in the manifestation of justice or mercy by divine agency
there must be positive command (AC)
  • Revelation 16 is the pinnacle – the most severe judgments that God will ever release on the whole earth
  • They are called bowls because they are poured out – poured out in fullness like a deluge.  The idea of pouring
  • means abundance – swift – coming – like all at once.  And they do come in rapid succession – one after the other.  
  • The overthrow of Jericho, the type of the anti-christian Babylon, after which Israel, under Joshua (the same name as
Jesus), victoriously took possession of Canaan, the type of Christ’s and His people’s kingdom, is perhaps alluded to in the
seven trumpets, which end in the overthrow of all Christ’s foes, and the setting up of His kingdom.  On the seventh day, at
the seventh time, when the seven priests blew the seven ram’s horn trumpets, the people shouted, and the walls fell flat;
and the ensued the blood-shedding of the foe.  (JFB)
  • We don’t understand severe means because of severe problem of sin – it’s a mystery – the depth of problem of
human heart
  • The major difference here is that in the previous visions the punishments for sin were partial, and there was hope
  • for repentance.  In the bowls vision, the wrath of God is poured out on the whole heedless, ungodly world.  The purpose
    is to enlist the natural order in the service of divine retribution. (TB)
  • Bowls = fullness; trumpets = warnings
  • The flask judgments are God’s final and complete judgments upon the earth.  The end has come.  There are many
similarities between the flask judgments and the trumpet judgments, but there are three main differences:  (LB)
    1.        These judgments are complete where the trumpets are partial
    2.        The trumpet judgments still give unbelievers the opportunity to repent, but the bowl judgments do not
    3.        Mankind is indirectly affected by several of the trumpet judgments but directly attacked by all the bowl
    judgments
  • Earth – Here ‘earth’ is used in a general sense, and is not restricted to the dry land, as it is in verse 2.  (Z)

References:  Revelation 15:1; 14:10; 11:19; 16:2; 5:8; Psalm 79:6; Jeremiah 10:25 (Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You,
and on the families that do not call Your name; for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid
waste his habitation); Ezekiel 22:31 (Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their way
I have brought upon their heads, declares the Lord God); Zephaniah 3:8 (Therefore, wait for Me, declares the Lord, for the day when I rise up to
the prey.  Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the
earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal)

    First Bowl:  Loathsome Sores

16:2  So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came
upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.

  • No sooner was the word of command given than it was immediately obeyed.  Immediately the work is begun.  (MH)
  • The sixth plague of Egypt was sores or boils (MB) (Z)
  • The vial falls upon the common people.  They had marked themselves by their sin, now God marks them out by His
judgments (MH)
  • Satan chose boils as the way to strike God’s servant (Job).  God will use boils on satan’s kingdom.  
  • Moses warned the people that rebellion toward God would bring God’s judgment of severe boils
  • These sores will be foul which means revolting or horrid and having an offensive odor (as foul meat is rotten or putrid).  
  • The reason why the sixth Egyptian plague is the first here is because it was directed against the Egyptian magicians,
Jannes and Jambres, so that they could not stand before Moses; and so here the plague is sent upon those who in the
beast worship had practiced sorcery.  As they submitted to the mark of the beast, so they must bear the mark of the
avenging God. (JFB)
  • Could be skin cancer widespread
  • Affliction on the skin due to changes in the atmosphere around us
  • Great lie:  better to go with demons than God

References:  Revelation 8:7; 16:11; 13:15-17; 14:9; 13:14; Exodus 9:9-11 (… And they caused boils that break out in sores on man and
beast. ….); Deuteronomy 28:35 (The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the
sole of your foot to the top of your head)

    Second Bowl:  The Sea Turns to Blood

16:3  Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man;
and every living creature, the creatures in the sea died.

  • The seas become something like the thickened blood of a dead man.  The stench will be unimaginable.  
  • Either meaning blood in a state of putrescency or an effusion of blood in naval conflicts (AC)
  • There will be complete destruction of marine life as compared to the 1/3 destruction in the second trumpet

References:  Revelation 8:8; 11:6; 8:9; Exodus 7:17-21 (…Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams,
over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood.  And there shall be blood throughout all the
land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.)

    Third Bowl:  The Waters Turn to Blood

16:4  Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became
blood.

  • This is an allusion to the first Egyptian plague (AC) (Z)
  • The world will be in a terrifying panic with all of the drinking water defiled.  
  • God gives us the reason for this terrible judgment on the antichrist’s worldwide empire (16:6).  God answers blood
with blood.  
  • The rabbins sentiment is that “whatever plagues God inflicted on the Egyptians in former times, He will inflict on the
enemies of His people in all later times” (AC)
  • The only source of fresh clean eater; springs that rise up from the water table below us

References:  Revelation 8:10; 11:6; Exodus 7:17-20; Psalm 78:44 (Turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink)

16:5  and I heard the angel of the waters saying:

           “You are righteous,
            The One who is and who was, the Holy One
            Because You have judged these things.

  • The Lord is now no longer He that ‘shall’ come, for He ‘is come’ in vengeance and therefore the third of the three
clauses usually stated is omitted (JFB)

References:  Revelation 15:3, 4; 1:4, 8; 11:17; 6:10; John 17:25 (O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known
You; and these have known that You did send Me)

16:6          For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
           And You have given them blood to drink.
            It is their just due.”

•        They thirsted after blood and massacred the saints of God, and now they have got blood to drink (AC)
•        Just due – worth (NAS)

References:  Matthew 23:34 (Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some
of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city); Revelation 11:18; 18:24; 17:6;Isaiah 49:26 (II will feed those who
oppress you with their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine.  All flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am your
Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob); Luke 11:49-51 (Therefore the wisdom of God also said, ‘I will send them prophets and
apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may
be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to
you, it shall be required of this generation.)

16:7        And I heard the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your
judgments.”

  • “I heard the altar cry” – the significance of the altar itself crying out is that everyone and everything will be praising
God, acknowledging His righteousness and perfect judgment (LB)
  •  On this altar the prayers of saints are presented before God; beneath it are the souls of the martyrs crying for
vengeance on the foes of God (JFB)

References:  Revelation 15:3; 13:10; 19:2; 6:9; 14:18; 1:8

    Fourth Bowl:  Men are Scorched

16:8  Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men
with fire.

  • This is a supernatural act of burning men by the sun, not a natural one.  In other words, God has power over this
judgment.  This is God’s act not the devil’s.  

References:  Revelation 8:12; 9:17, 18; 6:12; 14:18

16:9  And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power
over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.

  • Men blasphemed God and refused to repent revealing the mystery of lawlessness.  These men are demonized
and thus accuse God’s character in this instead of taking responsibility for their sin.  They acknowledge God’s power and
role in this judgment.  They understand that God is the source of this terrible judgment.  
  • More terrible than the plagues themselves, however, is the way in which those on whom they fall are but hardened in
their impenitence. (Z)
  • The moral effect of God’s revelation of Himself to the worshippers of the beast is not remedial.  Instead of repenting
and giving God the glory, they blame Him for their suffering.  Their wickedness is intensified by the judgment, and their
rebellion finds expression in words of blasphemy.  (TB)
  • The unrepentant heart is always hardened in sin and becomes more set in enmity against God.  It perverts God’s
revelation and makes it a means of its own hardening. (TB)
  • Judgments of themselves do not lead men to repentance (W)
  • Affliction, if it does not melt, hardens the sinner (JFB)
  • People knew that these judgments had come from God because they cursed Him for sending them.  But they still
refused to recognize god’s authority and repent of their sins.  (LB)

References:  Revelation 16:11, 21; 2:21; 11:13; Daniel 5:22 (But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew
all this)

    Fifth Bowl:  Darkness and Pain

16:10  Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became
full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.

  • The fifth bowl like the other bowls focuses on the antichrist’s governmental structure.  
  • Upon anti-Christian idolatrous power (AC)
  • The darkness is natural, but with spiritual power in demonic activity heightened in the darkness
  • The darkness was a blindness of the mind; their ‘foolish heart were darkened’ (NCBC)
  • The antichrist can’t answer why he can’t control nature.
  • Throne of the beast – set up in arrogant mimicry of God’s throne (JFB)
  • The dragon’s power at its center is threatened (TB)
  • The darkness symbolizes internal strife, confusion, calamity, disorder, distress and division.  It is a condition of gloom;
its inhabitants are helpless (AC) (TB)
  • The darkness is parallel to the Egyptian plague of darkness, Pharaoh being the type of antichrist (JFB)
  • Darkness is opposed to wisdom and penetration, and forebodes the confusion and folly which the idolaters should
discover at that time.  It is opposed to pleasure and joy. (MH)
  • Reaching the very center of the beast’s influence, and bringing him and his advisers great torture (W)
  • They meditate revenge and are unable to effect it; hence their frenzy.  Those in anguish, mental and bodily, bite their
lips and tongues. (JFB)
  • Hardly on account of the darkness, but because of the continuing pain of the previous plague, which was aggravated
by the darkness (Z)

References:  Revelation 13:2; 8:12; 9:2; 11:10; Exodus 10:21 (…Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land
of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt); Isaiah 8:22 (Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and
they will be driven into darkness)

16:11  They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent
of their deeds.

  • This shows that each fresh plague was accompanied with the continuance of the preceding plagues:  there was an
  • accumulation, not a mere succession, of plagues (JFB)
  • They will be hardened to their ruin.  (MH)

References:  Revelation 16:9, 21; 11:13; 16:2; 2:21