We are tempted to only want smooth things preached to us, yet that would ignore the whole counsel of God, including some things we might rather avoid. Let’s now look at the seven bowls or vials of God’s wrath and begin to understand why God is angry with sin, in Revelation 16.
Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Whose is the great voice? We are not told. The trumpets and vials (bowls) have this in common, the last three are worse than the first four. Why is God’s anger aroused? It is against ungodliness, unrighteousness and suppression of truth (Romans 1:18).
God’s wrath is also against those who mock His messengers (2 Chronicles 36:16). It was against Israel for not believing God, nor trusting His salvation (Psalm 78:21-31). It is still because of unbelief (John 3:36). It is because of hard and unrepentant hearts (Romans 2:5). It is because of things like sexual immorality, impurity, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry (Ephesians 5:5-7; Colossians 3:5-7).
1st Vial
Revelation 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
Much like Job’s ulcers or boils this could refer to physical pain, but also spiritual affliction.
2nd Vial
Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.
This seems similar to the plague in ancient Egypt, where the fish in the river died (Exodus 7:20-21). In the sea, every living thing dies.
3rd Vial
Revelation 16:4-7 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
The plague is extended to the water sources. This angel praises God for His judgment, unlike some who may falsely label God’s judgment as spiritual abuse. The angels have witnessed how human sin has hurt humanity since the beginning, and because of their experience seeing human misery throughout history, they know that God’s judgment is right and good.
Is God vengeful? Not in a human sense. The Godly purpose would be to teach the kind of lesson that only the one can teach, who can take and also give life back. It’s as if God is saying this is what it is like to have blood to the full. Will they learn?
In contrast to much human criticism of God’s judgments, those who really know are those who have witnessed the depravity of the entirety of human history, and they understand how true and righteous His judgments really are.
4th Vial
Revelation 16:8-9 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Is this global warming, a military power scorching beast worshipers or something else? There has been much wild speculation down through history. One thing is certain, this punishment does not produce the desired result, but men continue blaspheming God and do not have a change of heart to give Him glory.
5th Vial
Revelation 16:10-11 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Darkness with pain is also similar to one of the Egyptian plagues (Exodus 10:21-22), and the result is similarly disappointing. Men still refuse to repent.
6th Vial
Revelation 16:12-14 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Three unclean spirits represent Christianity’s foes of the demonic world, the political world and counterfeit religion. These gather anti-Christian world leaders to the battle of the great day.
Revelation 16:15-16 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
This describes a diligent night watch, who keeps his clothes on. This watcher is clothed in the righteousness of faith (Philippians 3:9). This location of the battle of the great day of God Almighty is either literal or symbolic or both. It literally describes the hill of Megiddo, or Tel-Megiddo which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel, where many historic battles took place, and is symbolic of the final defeat of evil.
7th Vial
Revelation 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
It is done. The plagues are finished.
Revelation 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great.
An unprecedented great earthquake occurs (Haggai 2:6; Hebrews 12:26-27).
Revelation 16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
Which is the great city? It is not mentioned. Speculation abounds that it may be Rome, Babylon or Jerusalem. In the next chapter we are introduced to the great whore who has the name of Babylon written on her forehead. However, let’s not become dogmatic about it or sidetracked by speculation. The meaning is found in what is clear. What is clear is that God is angry with any civilization that sets itself against Him.
Revelation 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
Even the isolated islands and mountain retreats of this evil system are destroyed.
Revelation 16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.
These hailstones weigh about 75 pounds, 35 kilograms each. The incredible destruction does not have its desired effect. Stubborn hearts remain unrepentant, even in death.
Evil brings its own self-destruction. Sin hurts us and our families first, and destroys everything it touches. God’s destruction of all evil is for humanity’s own good, but those enslaved to sin find it hard to let go. The last plagues are upon those who refuse to repent. We who have repented need not fear God's wrath. In the end, those on God's side win.
