A volcano can go for hundreds or thousands of years without erupting - then in one day unleash terrible destruction. That’s what happened in May of 1980 with the eruption of Mt St. Helens in southern Washington State. While we don’t see it - pressure builds up until the breaking point.
In a way, that’s what we see today. The pressure has been building on planet earth - pressure from sin rotting mankind to the core - pressure from Satan trying his best to wrest control from God (a fools errand at best), and pressure from God inoculating planet earth from that evil as He prepares to return and set up His kingdom.
In chapters 16 - 18 the volcano erupts - and the pot boils over. We see lots of turmoil and destruction as God sends His last plagues against the Beast, the last world system spits in the eye of God and ends up being destroyed by the very one who set it up - and finally the forces of evil try to destroy God, and are themselves destroyed. Fasten your seatbelts - it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Verses 1- 2 Bowl 1 - Sores
The first bowl - and in fact, all these plagues, are poured out on those that belong to the Beast. God is becoming more selective in His judgments. All of us suffer because of the curse - but since Jesus removed the curse, those that refuse to believe in Jesus receive God’s wrath.
Verse 3 - Bowl 2 - Dead Sea
Whereas in the 2nd trumpet judgment of chapter 8 only a third of the sea creatures died - here every living thing in the ocean dies. The Tribulation cannot last much longer or the rest of man will simply die for lack of food.
Verses 4 - 7
The 3rd trumpet of chapter 8 saw 1/3 of the inland waters turned to blood - now it all turns to blood. The reason? Those that rebel against God also show that God’s people are their enemies - and so the Antichrist ruthlessly hunts down anyone who becomes a Christian - here they begin to get a taste for their eternal punishment.
But notice that God is just - no one will be able to argue with Him that He is unfair.
Verse 8
The fourth trumpet saw the sun diminished by a third. Now something has happened to the ozone layer that allows solar radiation to reach earth and torment those that have received the Mark of the Beast. Again - as we have seen over and over - they know it is judgment from God yet they refuse to repent - showing that indeed they are God’s enemies.
Verse 9
This is similar to when God plunged parts of Egypt into darkness. This plague is focused on the kingdom of the Beast and his subjects. The darkness is so intense that abject fear breaks out. Some suggest that after flaring up the sun it burns itself out, plunging the earth into darkness. Not sure if that’s the case - but it’s an interesting idea. Even after that, though - they will not repent. It’s a big taste of hell that they are getting - a place of "outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matthew 22:13
Verses 10 - 11
This reminds me of the plagues of Egypt, where God put the Egyptians into darkness - a darkness you can feel. Hell is also called: Outer Darkness. Again - a taste of hell to scare them out of it if possible, I think. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to work.
Verses 12 - 16
Here we see the direct connection between the unholy trinity of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet - and the inspiration for the battle of Armageddon. Some suggest that chapter 9 also pictures the battle - with blood to the horses bridles throughout the land of Israel - but that’s debatable.
Armageddon is actually the Valley of Megiddo in central Israel - where the final series of battles of human history take place - and Jesus Christ intervenes personally by returning to the earth. (Armageddon in Hebrew means "mount of assembly" and though there is no mountain there, it may refer to the assembling of the kings for battle.)
Jesus told his followers to watch for Him - that He would come like a thief - that is, at an unexpected time. The people on earth will not expect Jesus to return - and without Him clothing us, we are indeed naked and exposed before God.
Verses 17 - 20
Once again reminiscent of the plagues of Egypt we have a hailstorm greater than any earth has ever seen - and an earthquake larger than any. It’s like earth is literally coming apart at the seams. 100 pound hailstones - a cubic foot of ice weighs 56 pounds - so each stone is approximately two cubic feet. Just to give you an idea of the damage they will inflict: even they were going only 30 miles an hour - the impact would be about 8 tons.
And yet - despite all this, man still will not repent.
Chapter 17
A warning here - we could spend hours and hours pouring over all the nuances of this chapter - but for the sake of understanding Revelation as a whole we will hit the high points - so at this point don’t get bogged down in a lot of the symbolic language here.
Verses 1 - 6
The woman represents a world-wide system, controlled by the Antichrist - that is more evil than anything we have ever encountered - and more sinful and more opposed to God. It is man’s ultimate system without God. God calls it a prostitute and sexually immoral because worshipping anything other than God is often called sexually immorality and prostitution. God called Israel a prostitute on many occasions when they fell away from God (Isaiah 1:21, for instance).
When John sees the woman, he marvels. Such unhidden evil is a marvel to behold - but isn’t really. For instance, when we see Satan at the end, we’ll really be surprised that this was the being that caused us so much trouble. The woman has "mystery" written on her forehead - it means something hidden is now revealed. The real purpose of the enemy - to oppose God and anything that belongs to Him - is revealed in the final world power.
Verses 7 - 8
Basically this is describing a world system of evil, created and supported by Satan, and everyone who despises God and has rejected Jesus - and so are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The "it was, is not, and is to come" could be either a parody of Jesus Christ "who was, and is, and is to come" (Rev 4:8) or describes Satan - who tempted Eve and gained control of the world, was limited by Jesus on His death, and will be let go for a short time to have total control over the earth.
Verses 9 - 10
Many possible interpretations here about the 7 hills and 7 kings and 5 having fallen with one more to come. Obviously Rome - built on 7 hills - might be an obvious choice - but why would John say "this requires wisdom?" It could represent the 7 world kingdoms - The first five would be Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece (they had already fallen), the one that is would be Rome (present-tense for John’s day), and the one yet to come would be the final kingdom of the Antichrist. This one runs into problems in verse 11. It could simply represent the completeness of man’s reign on earth - but why all the math then?
Verses 11 - 14
The 8th king here is Satan or the Antichrist himself - he not only represents evil, he is evil incarnate. The ten kings represent the final world power - a 10 nation confederation (see Daniel 7 for more on that). These do the bidding of the Antichrist - placing their authority into his hands. It seems inconceivable that countries would do this - but it will happen. Perhaps all the natural disasters will force it - or perhaps just by the sheer power and charisma of the Antichrist.
They have power for only 1 hour - a very short time. They try to conquer the Lamb of God - but Jesus, upon His return - destroys them!
Verses 15 - 18
Here the true nature of evil is revealed - the Beast has all along hated the prostitute. Satan hates humans because they are made in the image of God - and because God loves them - Satan hates everything God loves. So Satan - and his followers on the earth - will turn against the world system and destroy it.
Jesus said: Matthew 12:26 And if Satan casts out Satan , he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
God uses evil to judge evil. Now we’ll see that destruction actually take place in chapter 18.
Chapter 18
Chapter 18 is a series of proclamations and laments - over the destruction of Babylon - both a city and symbolic of a worldwide system that is evil through and through.
Verses 1 - 3
The reason that Babylon falls is described here: idolatry, sexual immorality, greed, and oppression.
Verses 4 - 8
The angel says "come out" - that can mean physically or to keep themselves from being influenced by the evil society. It reminds me of the angel telling Job to get out before Sodom was destroyed. It reminds me of how God will take his church out of the world before the time of the Tribulation. But it’s also good advice for us as well - be in the world, not of the world. God says that it is finally pay back time for all the evil those that reject God have done.
Now various groups mourn Babylon’s fall.
Verses 9 - 20
Three groups provide the funeral dirge for Babylon - kings, merchants, and ship owners. Kings gained political power from this system, and merchants and those in trade were made rich.
This system, which was founded on greed, sin, and evil - collapses suddenly - and as the economy collapses, so do all those who got rich off of it. What happens when sudden tragedy comes your way? Do you shake your fist at God - like we’ve seen the people on earth during this time do? Or do you realize that any real lasting thing that is good comes from God - and that what we have here on earth is only temporary?
Notice in verse 20 that not everyone weeps - in heaven there is rejoicing because God has finally paid back the evil that has been done to His servants.
Verses 21 - 24
To me, verse 23 holds the key - "all nations were deceived by your sorcery." Evil doesn’t present itself by its true nature - causing mourning, suffering, and death. Evil presents itself as something shiny, something fun, something that feels good and is good for you. But it’s a deception.
I’ve said this before in this study - Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10).
Anything that goes against God’s character is sin. And sin has a payment - death.
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ESV
If you haven’t allowed God to pay the payment for your sins - do it now - by bowing your life to Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for you on the cross. If you have done that - then don’t let the enemy steal your joy and effectiveness for the Lord.
"Put to death the deeds of the body." That means to live by the Spirit - have an active relationship with Him and let Him invade your life.
Another lesson we learn from this is to have light fingers. The Bible says we are tourists here - "sojourners." Don’t put your roots down so deep that it’ll take two angels to drag you off the planet at the Rapture!
That doesn’t mean you don’t work or own businesses or make money - it just means, don’t be owned by those things.
So this ends the bad stuff - Halleluiah! From now on most everything in the book is good news. Evil has been eradicated and now we celebrate the coming of the Lord, the setting up of His kingdom on earth and eventually our transference to eternal joy in heaven.
Conclusions
1. The human soul without the redemptive power of God is evil. If you were there, the people of Babylon and its system would try to kill you. (Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?)
2. We all have natural needs - intimacy, security, self worth, and the need to worship. Without God, those natural needs turn unnatural - and we end up with Babylon. Having God should be enough. (Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.)
3. Would you weep if all your possessions and things you deem important on earth were wiped out? Food for thought. (Matt 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.)
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