STUDY IN REVELATION 26
The Pouring Out of the Seven Bowl Judgments
Revelation 16: 1-21
There is an absolute horrifying judgment on the way. Never before has man’s imagination dreamed up anything that can compare to what we are about to witness, in chapter 16 of the book of Revelation.
The most horrible movie you can think of will not even come close in comparison to the coming judgment of God.
This will be the final judgment and it takes place right at the very end of human history. We have seen two of the three judgments of Revelation. Do you remember what they were?
1. The seven seal judgments, which take place before the great tribulation, during the period of time Christ called “the beginning of woes.”
When the first four seals were broken we saw the four horsemen of the apocalypse charging on to the scene.
a. The first seal we saw a rider coming in on a white horse. We discovered that the rider was not Jesus.
The rider was given a crown and Jesus already has a crown. The rider was given a crown of a conqueror and
Jesus wears the crown of King of Kings.
b. When the second seal is broken we see a red horse and rider come thundering in. He is the rider who was given
a great sword. He is the one that will take peace from the earth so that people will literally begin to kill each
other.
c. The third seal is broken and we see a black horse with rider. This rider also seems to be the antichrist with his
power to control the economy and distribution of food.
d. The fourth seal is broken and there is another explosive scene as we see the pale horse and rider come charging
in. The rider has a name. Death is his name and sitting right behind him is hell.
e. The fifth seal is opened and John saw the souls of martyrs under the altar, who were crying out for justice.
f. The sixth seal is broken and we see the beginning of God’s wrath or His judgment upon the universe.
There is a great earthquake.
g. When the 7th seal is broken there is absolute silence. No one is speaking, no one is moving; not even Jesus.
We’re told that the silence lasted for ½ hour.
2. The seven trumpet judgments were the next to take place. These take place during the great tribulation period.
a. When the first trumpet sounds we see a terrible storm that fell on the land.
1/3 of all the trees and grass were destroyed.
b. The second trumpet sounds and we see the destruction of 1/3 of the world’s ocean.
c. The third trumpet sounds. We see destruction of 1/3 of the world’s fresh water supply.
d. The fourth trumpet sounds. We see strange happenings in the second heaven. Read Rev. 8:12
e. When the fifth trumpet sounded John said that a star fell from heaven. This star, or satan is given a key that
unlocks the bottomless pit. When he opens the pit horrible creatures come pouring out from the smoke.
f. When the sixth trumpet sounds the four angels, who have been held back are set free to kill 1/3 of the
ungodly population.
g. As soon as the seventh trumpet sounds, the 24 elders fall on their faces in worship of the one true God.
There will be a huge difference between the previous judgments and what is about to come. Those that have already come were only partial judgments. These last seven will bring complete animation of what is left.
v.1: The voice calling out “Go pour out the wrath of God upon the earth.” is God.
God alone has the authority to give such an order.
v.2: The first bowl judgment brings a horrible disease to
€all the people €just animals or €the antichrist and those who worship him.
We are not told exactly what kind of sore this is but we are told that is very painful. These sores are
incurable and there will be no relief for the pain.
v.3: The second bowl is poured out upon the sea.
Some believe that this judgment is poured out on the Mediterranean Sea and not all of the oceans of the world.
The reason they give makes sense, as God will still be protecting those who have not given their lives to the antichrist.
Remember that the center of the antichrist power will be in the Middle East or in some European nation, which was part of the old Roman Empire. Most, if not all of those who worship the antichrist will probably be somewhere in that region.
Again, we are not told exactly what this red contamination is. We are told that the sea will become “as the blood of dead men:” We are also told that every creature in the sea will die, because of the contamination.
W. Alderman, Pastor of Statesboro Bible Baptist church said something in one of his sermons that I thought was very interesting. “The ocean has just enough water spaced out with the right chemistry to provide for oxidation, for environmental cleansing, for a proper mineral balance. There have been studies made to determine whether our world could survive as it is now without the proper ocean to land ratio and it could not.
When the waters of the ocean become as a dead man, it will be apparent that the world chemistry involving the oceans has been drastically changed. With this being so, the first thing that will be affected is the death of the marine life. Once this happens, there will be a terrible stench that will cover the earth. The diseases from this will be overwhelming and the natural biological processes will go into a state of confusion. The air chemistry and the land chemistry will immediately begin to change.”
vs. 4-7: The third bowl is poured out upon the fresh waters.
Some believe this to be localized, also. The reason for this is that there would be no drinking water for the godly, which are still here. Could it be possible that the God who spoke everything into existence could actually sustain what He created?
Whether you believe that the second and third bowls are poured out on the whole sea and all of the fresh water, one thing is for certain. When the second and third bowls are poured out, things will only get worse.
Let’s compare the second and third trumpet judgment with the second and third bowl/vial judgment.
The second trumpet judgment ‚½ of the worlds oceans were destroyed ‚All ‚1/3
The second bowl judgment, according to verse 3, the sea became as the blood of a dead man and every living thing died that was in the sea.
The third trumpet judgment ‚½ of the world’s fresh water supply is destroyed ‚All ‚1/3
The third bowl judgment is poured out in the rivers and fountains and they became as blood. I think that covers the fresh water supply.
Why would God destroy the earth? Why would God punish people, so harshly?
1. The antichrist will launch the most horrific holocaust the world has ever seen. Every believer, every Jew, every man, woman, boy and girl who refuse to worship the antichrist will be murdered. Millions will die for what they believe.
2. God is true and just; He is righteous and He will punish the evil, with equal punishment.
a. They imprisoned and tortured millions; therefore, God will punish them with the cancerous sores.
b. They shed the blood of literally millions of innocent people. God will fill the seas, the rivers and the lakes with some kind of bloody red pollution. The angel in charge of the waters declares that God is right in doing so.
Scripture: Rom. 2: 2 * Ps.48: 10 * Ps. 103: 6 * Ps. 119 : 137 * Ps. 145: 17 Is. 45: 21
vs. 8-9: The fourth bowl is poured out on the sun.
Have you said or heard it said, “Summer seems to be hotter than I remember?”
When the fourth bowl is poured out the sun will begin to heat the earth, unlike anything ever known to man.
The ungodly will be in misery and pain, from the tremendous heat. Notice two things will happen.
1. Instead of giving God praise they will blaspheme the name of God.
Blaspheme means to curse, so they will curse God. People do this today, when they hit their finger with a
hammer. Is it God’s fault their aim was bad?
2. They will refuse to repent.
People have always refused to turn to God and nothing will be any different in the end.
Scripture: Acts 7: 51 * Dt. 1: 43 * 2Chron. 24: 19 * Jer. 32: 33 * Jer. 44: 16 * Zech. 7: 11
vs. 10-11: The fifth bowl is poured out “upon the seat of the beast or the antichrist.
The entire kingdom of the antichrist will be in total darkness. This does not refer to spiritual darkness but a physical darkness.
For me, this will be an extraordinary feat. Think about the sun’s light and how it penetrates every corner of the earth, when it rises over the horizon. According to these verses, God will cause pitch black dark to fall on parts of the earth and not on others. WOW!! Can you imagine being in this situation? Here you are, it’s 12 noon and yet there is total darkness…
This will be a terrible time to be alive. The suffering of the sores, thirst, filth, the smell, scorching heat and now it’s so dark that you can’t see a thing.
Yet they still refuse to repent. They still curse God.
Joel predicted this darkness in Joel 2: 1-2
Jesus declared this day would come in Mt. 24: 29
Vs. 12-16: The sixth bowl is poured out upon the Euphrates River.
What happens to the Euphrates River in verse 12?
€It turns into the best drinking water around €overflows its banks €dried up
Verse 12 tells us that this is done in order to prepare the way for the kings of the east.
If we jump all the way down to verse 16 we see why the way is prepared.
What is the word in the Hebrew tongue? Armageddon
When the sixth bowl is poured out we don’t see anything horrible happening to any one. This may be different from anything we’ve seen so far but this is a judgment, nonetheless. It is a judgment of deception instead of affliction and John gives us six facts about this judgment, in verses 12-16.
1. This judgment will completely dry up the Euphrates river. The Euphrates is the longest river and the most important river of western Asia. It stretches 1780 miles long and the width of the great river runs form 300 to 1200 yards across.
Drying up a river may not seem like a big thing to some, since man has been blocking rivers for centuries, to form new lakes. This is how the Santee lakes were formed. When you look at a map of the lower lake you will see an entire community under water. Every structure was left in place and completely covered by water. The “wow” part of this judgment is not the river drying up but why it was done. We also must remember that, during the end time, there will be a tremendous increase in natural disasters. Some say that man will block the river but if the water is useless I don’t see why. Some say that some natural disaster will, such as a meteor strike. My question is why do we try to analyze everything? I simply understand that God is still God and what the angel pours out of his bowl comes from God and will cause the Euphrates river to completely dry up.
2. The reason for drying up the great river is to allow an armed confederation to form and march against Israel.
God is opening a path that will bring every nation to one place for a final showdown.
Scripture: Dan. 2: 44 * Is. 2: 4 * Is. 11: 4 * Joel 3: 9-16 * Zeph. 3: 8 * Zech. 9: 10 *Zech. 12:1-9
3. The driving force, behind this confederation of nations is evil spirits.
The antichrist and the false prophet are given power to manipulate and deceive world leaders.
The result will a gathering of all the armies of the world to a place in Palestine called Armageddon or the valley and mountain of Meggido.
4. The day that all this takes place is called: “the great day of God, the Almighty.”
On this day all the armies of the world will be destroyed all of the ungodly and the evil of this world will be forever destroyed. This is the day that Jesus Himself will bring Godliness and righteousness to the earth. Time and history as we know it will be no more.
5. There is the warning of Jesus, for the people of the earth to be watching and to be prepared. Only those who have kept themselves clean will escape what is to come.
Jesus said that He will be coming like a thief. This means that His coming will be totally unexpected. What does this say about those who are working so hard to figure out the day of His coming?
A number of well known, as well as not so well known men have already missed with their predictions…
6. The place where all this will take place is called Armageddon. The valley of Meggido, which is located in Palestine.
vs. 17-21 The seventh bowl is poured out into the air or the atmosphere.
1. God’s voice comes thundering from the temple and announces, “It is done.”
2. Nature will let go of the most horrific devastation mankind has ever seen. There will be violent storms and earthquakes that will literally affect the entire world.
a. The city of Jerusalem will be so shaken by this earthquake that it will be split into three separate parts. In other words, completely destroyed.
b. Whole cities will collapse in ruin.
c. Babylon will be remembered by God and He will pour out the cup and fierceness of His wrath.
d. Islands and mountains will literally disappear.
e. Storms will rain down hail stone that will weigh as much as 100 pounds.
3. Notice the reaction of the ungodly that remain.
€They quickly repented and turned to the Lord €They dared God to try that again €cursed the very name of God
