1. Last week we saw how God’s wrath was unleashed upon creation. How the first four bowls of his wrath were poured out upon the dry land, the sea, the rivers and springs, and on the sun. And how this would lead to the destruction of the kingdom of the beast, which is ultimately the kingdom of Satan.
2. Today we actually see this destruction. As we do, we must remember that the people of God, His true church have already been gathered together in heaven. This happened at the first harvest in Revelation 14.
3. Today we come to Armageddon. The last battle ever to be fought in this world. The last event in the long history of this earth.
4. And as we take a look at what happens, it is interesting how God uses even the forces of evil to bring upon His judgement upon those forces themselves. Remember that the first bowls of wrath took away the peace and prosperity by which the antichrist was able to maintain his authority and control over the nations. That he who had deprived God’s people from God’s blessings would not be deprived of those blessings himself.
5. We have all heard much about Armageddon. Yet we might be surprised to learn who is actually fighting in this battle .
6. Let us look at our passage. The fifth bowl is poured out upon the throne of the beast and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. The throne was the seat of his authority and power to rule. When the kingdom is plunged into darkness this probably does not mean a darkness upon the lands of his kingdom, as that would contradict the intense heat of the scorching sun of the fourth bowl. Rather the meaning of this darkness is that his glory is diminished, he loose his power, his appearance now longer inspires awe and confidences.
7. The people start to loose their trust in the beast. In a sense, the kingdom starts to experience political unrest. And of course, this is all due to the effects of the plagues of the first four bowls. The suffering will intensify. People will gnaw their tongues in agony and curse God. As we saw last week, they will refuse to repent.
8. The sixth bowl is poured out upon the great river Euphrates. This corresponds to the sixth trumpet at which the angels who were bound at the Euphrates were released and they gathered the heathen, monstrous armies from the east to battle the nations which were considered Christian. At that time we mentioned how the Euphrates river was the eastern boundary of the nation of Israel at its greatest. The bowl dries up the Euphrates to prepare the way for the kings from the east. A river such as the Euphrates would not have prevented these kings with their armies from attacking, so the drying up is not to be taken literally.
9. There are nations which used to be considered Christian nations. We could consider these to have been the nations that either are or were considered to be nominally Christian or the civilized nations. These are the nations that are then the main or proper antichristian nations upon which the antichrist has his rule. Perhaps it is one of the nations where the seat of power, the throne is actually situated. Because of the darkening of the kingdom and the unrest, the rest of these civilized nations rise up against the throne of the beast and free themselves from his rule. The seat of power has lost its hold of these nominally Christian nations.
10. But there are other nations. The ones that live outside of the area of these nominally Christian area. They are represented by the kings from the east in part and to a larger extent the kings of the world in verse 14. This is what was considered to be the pagan world - Africa, Asia. These nations had gained from the prosperity of the antichrist’s dominion and while they outwardly subjected themselves to his rule, they continued in their pagan customs and religions. They lived in separation and alienation, more or less.
11. They will rise up against God almighty to do battle with Him. As we said the Euphrates represented the boundary line between the Christian and the pagan nations. At this time it is the boundary between the Antichrist and the so-called pagan nations. And its drying up means that the armies of the nations of ecah side are now ready to fight each other.
12. But there is something else that takes place.
Rev 16:13-14 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
These evil spirits came from the mouths of the false trinity - Satan, the antichrist and the false prophet. They go forth to the kings of the earth, to the pagan nations to try and convert them to follow the antichrist. In a similar but perverted way that we have attempted to convert the nations to follow Christ. This anti-Christian missionary work is symbolized by the unclean spirits proceeding out the mouths of the dragon, the antichrist and the false prophet
13. Vs. 15 is a word from Christ to us, His church. He delays showing the vision to John. He lets us know that what is about to be revealed is a great event - the destruction of the world. And we need to remain faithful and true so that we will show ourselves to be true believers. This will all take place and while it may be a long time, it will be sudden. Christ will return. The time is coming fast .
14. We must be ready. As I grow older, I notice that time passes quicker. After my first year at school, when I was six years old, summer seemed to last forever before I had to go back to school. Now it passes with the blink of any eye. Same with the world itself. Things are going at a faster pace. We now undergo more changes and advances in a year than the world underwent a thousand years ago in a whole century. The vast majority of all discoveries ever made have been made in the past five decades. And in this sense also, Christ’s return is fast approaching.
15. The antichrist gathers these pagan nations together so they will become part of his kingdom. But God uses this occasion for another purpose. He is still calling the shots, He is the ultimate director of all that will happen. For this battle will take place on the great day of the Lord.
16. There are the non Christian nations - those that were considered pagan and the antichristian nations (formerly Christian nations that the antichrist now rules). Remember the spirits are sowing seeds of hatred toward God among the non-Christian nations, for the non-Christians nations are suffering from the plagues.
17. They gather together to fight against the throne of the beast. They think that they are fighting the true kingdom of God, but in reality it is the false or anti-kingdom they are about to fight. And so the armies of the antichrist and the non-Christian nations meet to do battle. All the nations will be gathered.
18. They gather at Armageddon. Literally this means Mount Megiddo. It is a mount situated on the great plain of Esdraelon in Isachar, near the valley of Jezreel. It was one of the great battle fields of Canaan. It was there that Josiah, the God-fearing king of Judah, was killed when he went off to war against Egypt. It was there that Ahaziah, king of Judah, was killed by Jehu. But why this site is significant to us, is that it was there that Deborah and Barak had their great victory over the Canaanites who had opposed the people of God. Whether this last battle will literally be fought on this site or not, what is important is that this battlefield represents the defeat of the enemies of God.
19. It is the unclean spirits themselves who gather together the armies of the nations for their final defeat. The devil ends up being an instrument in God’s hand to work his own destruction.
20. And as this terrible battle takes place, the seventh bowl is poured into the air.
21. And a loud voice from the throne is heard. This is not the first time that this voice said these words. For it is the voice of Christ who says "It is finished!" He had cried out these words from the cross when in effect the battle had already been won by His death. He had fought the battle as the suffering servant and finished it. And He rose from the grave, to complete the work of establishing His kingdom. To bring into being that which had been won
Eph 1:22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body,
22. Christ has controlled history for the purpose of establishing His church. And now the last scene is being played out and He says again "It is finished." The stage is set for the descent of the New Jerusalem.
23. The pouring out of God’s wrath is into the air, the place or home of the demons. They are defeated forever.
24. And nature itself displays its fury. And as if the battle is not enough, God wrath brings more. Lighting, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. The greatest earthquake that has ever been.
25. It will split Babylon, the capital city of the beast into three. Just what destruction this will mean will be seen in the next two chapters. The devastation will be complete. The cities of the nations will collapse. The islands will disappear and the mountains will not be found. It is hard to imagine how that can be. But so great and furious will be the wrath of God.
26.Ezekiel prophesied this event:
Ezek 38:18-23 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'
27. And even then there will huge hailstones falling from heaven, crushing mankind.
28. The end has come. So hard to believe that even then man will curse God. And yet perhaps it will be appropriate. For it will be that attitude of cursing God and rejecting Him that has led to their wickedness and ultimate doom.
29. Thank God that He has chosen us to be His children, to avoid this great and terrible day.
