Seven Bowls Full of the Wrath of God

“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!” Revelation 16:15

Revelation 15:1–16:21 – The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost  – October 23, 2022 (am)

When the judgment of God was about to fall on Jesus for the sins of all who believe, He went to the Garden of Gethsemane with His disciples to pray. Mark records that 14:32 … he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And he took with him Peter and James and John, the human author of Rev., and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. 34 And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” 35 And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour [of judgment] might pass from him. 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 37 And he came [back] and found [his closest friends] sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. …” Three times this happened before He finally said: 41 … It is enough; the hour has come…. And His Father’s judgment began to fall.

Our hearts break as we hear this text, frustrated with the disciples that they couldn’t find the strength to stand present with their Lord in prayer at His greatest hour of need, but painfully aware of how often we do the very same or similar things, caving in when it’s time to stand tall, or falling asleep when it’s time to stay awake!

In our text today, judgment is about to fall once again—final judgment, which was anticipated in the judgment that fell on Jesus, confirming that it will surely come. And it’s amazing what believers hear that should be our response to it all. So, what is our calling in the last days? Let’s see.

Preparing for the End – 15:1-8

The whole of cc.15-16 ring with a tone of finality. And c.15 opens with a third great and amazing sign that appeared in heaven (1). The first two were the woman (12:1) and the dragon (12:3). This sign introduces seven new angels that we’ve not met prior. They bring the seven last plagues, called such because they finish the outpouring of the wrath of God (1) on earth.

The sea of glass mingled with fire is quite likely the same as the sea of glass in 4:6 (Ladd 204), and many believe that those who had conquered, who were standing beside the sea (2), are the same as the great multitude that no one could number (7:9-17), those called martyrs by connecting them with the souls under the altar in 6:9 (who were also clothed in white robes [cf. 6:11]) (Walvoord 1983 965-966; Ladd 204). And we believe this is one and the same group with the 144,000 from the first half of c.7, those who were on earth at that time but are then seen in heaven with Jesus in 14:1 (Ladd 204), singing [the] new song (14:3) of the redeemed, joining in with the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders (14:3; cf. 5:8-10).

And if all this is so, they’re continuing to sing (3) as we see them here in c.15. The song of Moses may refer to the song of Moses and Miriam (Exo.15) which celebrated the triumph of God in Egypt, or it may be the song of Moses from Deu.32 that gives a thorough review of God’s faithfulness to Israel. Either way, God’s old covenant and new covenant people are singing together of the salvation both have received in Christ, fulfilling God’s promise to Abram (Gen.12:3)—creating in [Christ] one new man in place of the two (Eph.2:15).

The content of (at least) the song of the Lamb seems to be what follows in the text: 3 … Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! / Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! / 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. / All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. This is then the prelude to His just and final judgments that are recorded in c.16.

The sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven (15:5, 6, 8; 16:1, 17) might be translated the sanctuary which is the tabernacle. The [sanctuary] is “the [tent] of [witness]” as the heavenly equivalent of the tabernacle that was with Israel in the wilderness… (Beale 1999 801). This is the place where God dwells—heaven, the throne room of cc.4-5. God’s Word goes forth from this place.

These seven angels (6) are impressive. Although the color of their raiment isn’t mentioned, it’s called pure, bright linen (6), suggesting unassailable purity (Morris 183), with golden sashes across their chests, suggesting military or priesthood or even royalty, but more, recalling the description of Jesus in 1:13 (Beale 1999 804). The seven bowls full of the wrath of God were doled out by one of the four living creatures (7), the highest order of angels yet identified. And the sanctuary… filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power such that no one could enter… until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished (8). This recalls both the tent of meeting (Exo.40:34ff.) and the temple (1Ki.8:10-11; Isa.6:4).

And now we’re ready for the beginning of the end.

Initiating the End – 16:1-21

C.16 might be called the great chapter because some form of the Greek word μέγας is used ten times in this chapter alone, after already appearing twice in c.15 (great and amazing [1, 3]). There’s the loud voice (1), the fierce heat (9), the great river (12), the great day of God the Almighty (14), another loud voice (17), the great earthquake (18), the great city (19), Babylon the great (19), great hailstones (21), and the severe plague (21).

Another thing that’s hard to miss about these seven bowls is that they mirror the seven trumpets (cc.8-9) so closely.

They both deal with (a) the earth (8:7) or the land (16:2), (b) the sea (8:8; 16:3), (c) the rivers and springs of water (8:10; 16:4), and (d) the sun, moon, and stars (8:12) with only the sun mentioned in the bowl judgments (16:8-9). The fifth trumpet dealt with 967 demon possession with the sun and sky darkened (9:1-3), which is similar to the fifth bowl in which darkness will cover the earth and sores will cause agony among men (16:10-11). The sixth trumpet deals with the river Euphrates (9:13-14), and the sixth bowl will dry up the Euphrates (16:12). The seventh trumpet implies that the Great Tribulation is coming to its end (11:15-19), and the seventh bowl of the wrath of God records a loud voice from heaven, saying, “It is done!” (16:17) with resulting destruction of the earth by earthquake and hail, which is also included in the seventh trumpet (11:18-19) (Walvoord 1983 966-967)—an amazing parallel!

But there are also differences. In the trumpet judgments, generally speaking, a third of the earth or heaven is afflicted, whereas in the bowl judgments the effects of the judgments are on the entire earth and are much more severe and final in character (Walvoord 1983 967). But I’d say that is precisely the intent of this comparison, namely, the trumpets were preliminary and therefore partial in their destruction, and the bowls are final, and therefore complete. Accordingly it seems best to follow the interpretation which has long been held in the church that the seven bowls are an expansion of the seventh trumpet, just as the seven trumpets are an expansion of… the seventh seal. The order is climactic and the judgments become more intensive and extensive as… the second coming of Christ approaches. All indications are that the bowl judgments fall with trip-hammer rapidity on a world that is already reeling under previous judgments and… world war (Walvoord 1983 967).

The first… bowl brought judgments in the form of harmful and painful sores afflicting the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image (2).

The second… bowl killed every living thing in the sea by poisoning the salt water such that it became like the blood of a corpse (3), recalling the first plague in Egypt.

The third… bowl continued this theme turning the fresh water to blood (4). And this reference to the angel in charge of the waters (5) is unclear but the Jews did believe that angels were responsible for specific areas of the universe (Morris 186). And the words of this angel affirmed complete agreement with the judgments that were falling, judgments that the martyrs under the altar had been longing for (6:9-10). 5 … Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. 6 For they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve! There’s that meticulous measuring of these judgments! 7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

The fourth… bowl allowed the sun to [burn] people with fire (8). But look at this. 9 They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. Think of the absurdity—cursing your Tormentor as He’s demonstrating absolute power!

The fifth… bowl targeted the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness (10). And it brought painful sores such that people gnawed their tongues in anguish (10). The cause of the darkness and sores isn’t mentioned here, but if we look back to the fifth… trumpet (9:1-6), we may get an idea. There these things happened when the 9:1 … star fallen from heaven to earth … was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 2 He opened [it], and… smoke [arose]…, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke…. 3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth (demons), and they were given power like… scorpions…. 5 They were allowed to torment [those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads]…, and their torment was like… a scorpion when it stings…. Perhaps this is context for 16:10-11. So, how did these people respond? Once again 11 [they] cursed the God of heaven… and did not repent of their deeds.

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. No one really knows who these kings are. A survey of 100 commentaries of the Book of Revelation reveals at least 50 interpretations of [their] identity… (Beale 1999 968). But almost certainly this is talking about removing the natural barrier on the east side of the promised land leaving God’s people vulnerable to the pagan hoards from that direction (Beale 1999 968; Ladd 212-213). The simplest and best explanation… is that this refers to kings or rulers from the Orient… who will participate in the final world war (Beale 1999 968). But the image changes quickly from pagan kings to Satan, his demons, and his earthly helpers confirming that all of these are in league together against the Lamb. 13 And I 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 (the first time he’s called this in this letter [also 19:20; 20:10]), three unclean spirits like frogs (the second plague in Egypt [Exo.8:6]). 14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. … 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon, just as foretold by the prophet Zechariah (cf. Zec.12:11). Now, here’s what God’s people need to know—back then, today, and until Christ returns. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! [at an hour you do not expect {Mat.24:43-44}] Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked [unprepared] and be seen exposed!”) This is always the instruction for believers awaiting Jesus’ return!

The seventh… bowl is the end. 17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne (explicitly connecting these two), saying, “It is done!” 18 And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. We’ve seen this before (4:5; 8:5; 11:19). 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath (cc.17-18). 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and how did they respond? Just as we’ve seen: they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Conclusion

So, what are God’s people—what are we—to do? Jesus Himself tells us right here. 16:15 … Blessed is the one who stays awake…. This doesn’t mean we can never go to sleep. It means that we live in a state of readiness for Jesus’ return. We look for it. We long for it. We receive every evidence of the sinfulness of our surroundings as a reminder that this world is not our home. We receive every indicator of His in-breaking judgments—hurricanes, hailstones, earthquakes, even thunder and lightning—as a reminder that He will indeed return. And we exhibit our confidence in His return not by trying to read these signs and figure out when He’s coming, but by living in a state of readiness, as though it could be today—by staying awake!

As each of the other gospel writers recorded Jesus own sermon on His promised return, they wrote down the same thing John recorded here. Mat.24:42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Mar.13:35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Luk.21:36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Keep awake! (1Th.5:6) That is our calling.

That’s our calling.

So, what does this look like? How do we stay awake? I heard about it this past week with a text thread that was circulating among some of our women, one encouraging the others with passages that remind us Jesus has [saved] us from the wrath to come (1Th.1:10; 5:9; Rom.5:9).

Similar communications happen among our men via text or phone conference during the week, stirring up one another (Heb.10:24) to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Col.1:10) between Sundays.

That’s what we’re trying to do in our Awana ministry mid-week, and our Youth Ministry, as we disciple kids in supplement to the Christian homes. We’re helping them learn to stay awake, to understand the implications of the fact that the gospel is true! Jesus is real! And coming judgment is inescapable—either it falls on Jesus on your behalf, or it falls on you—no other option!

Keep awake! (1Th.5:6) That is our calling.

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Resources

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NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: Fallen, Fallen Is Babylon the Great!, Revelation 17:1-18:24