Revelation 15 and 16
The Seven Bowls are Poured!
This is the pinnacle; the climax of our study! It is what we have been waiting
for! Rome has tortured and persecuted for so long, and faithful Christians have
suffered and waited patiently on the Lord. Finally, God’s wrath will be poured
on them! We have seen teasers of his anger, but each was held back to some
extent, offering people last chances to turn their souls and hearts. Now,
finally there are no more chances. This is it…….the 7 bowls of God’s wrath will
be fully poured out!
In revelation we have learned that seals reveal. We learned trumpets warn. Now
we learn that bowls bring wrath and judgment! You really cannot separate ch. 15
and 16, as they truly go together. So, let’s get into the word:
Chapter 15
V1- this is the 3rd time John has seen a “great and marvelous sign” in
heaven. Just for kicks, can you remember the first 2?? (THE WOMAN
ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH, AND THE DRAGON WHO ATTEMPTED TO KILL THE CHILD). This 3rd
sign involves the finished judgment of God upon Rome, in my opinion. It says his
wrath is complete, or filled up…this is it! The announcement of judgment is made
in this chapter and the execution of it in the next. However, before it is
carried out, John pictures God’s faithful being protected by him.
V2-3-4- What has been the primary purpose of seas so far in Revelation?
The same is portrayed here: SEPERATION. Here the separation pictured is between
God’s sealed and those who’ve pledged allegiance to the emperor. It also says
the sea of glass was mixed with fire. Any theories on what this could
stand for? It could just be symbolic for the painful judgment that is
about to come on those who were not faithful. It could represent all of the
fiery trials that His faithful had come through. It says they have harps,
indicating that God is being praised!! And the multitude breaks out into 2
songs: “The Song of Moses” and “The Song of the Lamb”. It expresses thanksgiving
and victory! I find the lyrics a perfect example of how we should worship. Pay
close attention to the facts that they ascribe no glory to themselves…ALL praise
goes to God!!!!! John acknowledges God’s ultimate supremacy. ALL nations and
peoples will fear him, glorify him and worship him!
V5- This Temple was in heaven. It was truly the “holiest of holies”. It is
called the “tabernacle of the testimony”. This comes from the OT (Numbers), and
was erected by Moses and was named so because within it rested the Ark of the
Covenant which contained tablets of the law, often called “the testimonies”,
which God gave to Israel. John painted this same picture in Ch.11 vs 19. So the
picture would have great meaning to the people of this time. The significance is
that God keeps his promises!
V6- The 7 angels from vs 1 are now pictured as agents of God’s wrath! They came
out of the temple…directly from their presence of God!
V7- The cherubim are back again! They hand the bowls of wrath over to the
angels. Control, enough to carry out God’s will, is now handed over to the
Angels completely.
V8- The background of this verse is probably found in the OT Day of Atonement.
John pictures that so much smoke was in the temple that even the High Priest
couldn’t enter. This paints a TOTAL PICTURE of a “no turning back” attitude.
Any ideas why? With no High Priest in, there could be NO prayers of
intercession. That is the main point I believe!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is too late
for intercession! God’s judgment is already in process. It is too late
for them to pray for him to “change his mind!” Rome WILL now pay for her
disobedience!
Chapter 16
V1- Whose voice do you think gives this command? It comes from
within the sanctuary…and I believe it to be the voice of God! What must that
have sounded like!?!??!?!?!?
V2- The first bowl is poured….bringing on ugly and painful sores.
***Important note- Only those who worshiped the emperor (and had the
mark of the beast) were affected! In that time the thought was that impurities
in one’s body will many times break out in sores or boils. So here, the many
impurities of Rome are pictured as breaking out!
V3- The 2nd bowl is poured…..and turns the seas to blood killing all life in it.
What would be possible significances of this?
V4- The 3rd bowl is poured….and does the same to all the fresh waters. God is
judging Rome from EVERY angle!!!!
V5-6- The angel is affirming the justness of God’s punishment. Sin demands
punishment!
V7- The voice from the alter joins in the conversation, adding its support and
testimony. Their pleas have been answered.
V8- The 4th bowl is poured….turning the sun into a source of blistering heat and
pain. The source of light God created to warm, give life, guide, and cheer is
turned into an instrument of pain. It would be hard to hide from this misery!
(this is in great contrast to those in the Lord who in C. 7 “the sun will not
beat upon them nor any scorching heat”…this must have been foreshadowing!)
V9- Here we see the intense stubbornness and wickedness of the Romans. Instead
of repenting and calling on God, they continue in rebellion! It shows the true
nature of their hardened hearts!
V10-11 The 5th bowl was poured….and the realm affected by these plagues moves
from the natural to the moral/spiritual. The picture is of internal decay. It is
political corruption. It is a picture of confusion and anger.
V12- The 6th bowl is poured out….and opens up a path for invading armies to come
in! This relied heavily on the fear we discussed earlier that the Romans had of
the Parthian armies. God causes the water to dry up (which served as a natural
fortification) so external forces could have easier access to Rome.
V13-14- What do you think these 3 evil “frog” spirits represent? I
think it picture all of the allies we have discussed: The devil himself, the
Emperor, and the Concillia…all rallying their final forces to battle the
righteousness of God! Basically, the forces of Satan are being rounded up
together.
V15- Now, out of nowhere a voice from heaven comes into play. Whose voice
is it? It is the voice of Jesus Christ! In the midst of battle
preparation there is the exhortation to “watch” and “keep”. The faithful are
encouraged to stay awake on guard and be ready for Satan’s deceptions! We are
ALWAYS to be ready for the Lord’s return!
V16- Now we are back to the gathering together of the “army”. What did
“Armageddon” mean to the minds of the people this was being written to? Any
ideas? To them it was the same as Waterloo is to the French! It meant
someone’s last battle----the end! *Many think this refers to the final battle of
all time between Jesus and Satan. I do not believe this agrees with the context
here. The context we are studying as you know is the fall of Rome. It is to THIS
end that John is writing…NOT the final end!!!!! In order to FULLY understand
this I think we need to examine the term “Armageddon” (see notes at the end).
V17-21- back to the bowls….the 7th bowl was poured….into the air. What is
the significance of pouring into the air? An airborne virus is the
worst. NOTHING can contain it! This plague will touch EVERY phase of the empire!
The “loud voice”, once again I believe to be God, now declares “it is done!”.
This is a phrase that means it is totally finished, completed and finalized!!!!
Rome’s judgment is finished!
The series of plagues is now completed!
Earthquakes, noises and thunder are all pictured. Rome is in its’ downfall!
What do you think it means by the fact that the great city is split into 3
parts? I am not sure EXACTLY what it means. I think it is clear that the
pagan city is totally demolished. Total destruction is upon them. What Rome has
done to others is now being done to her!
It indicates that there would be NOWHERE to hide, no place for refuge.
(mountains, island etc). And then HAIL hits to drive it home. Hail has always
been used in the Bible as symbols of wrath and judgment. In this chapter the
judgment is broken down into 3 areas: 1)natural disaster 2)internal decay
3)external enemies (a fact that historians say were the actual direct causes of
Rome’s fall!!!)
*Important note: In the final verse I find some of the BEST
evidence that John is NOT talking about the end of time! Read the verse
and see if any of you think you can tell what I mean???? It cannot be
talking about final judgment, because in the end, after the hail, people were
still living who had blasphemed God! THIS WOULD NOT BE TRUE AT
THE FINAL JUDGMENT AT END TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No one will be left. It will be THE END! There will be nothing more behind! John
HAS to be talking about Rome!
Armageddon
The term ARMAGEDDON when translated has a meaning of “Mount of Megiddo”. The
Bible speaks geographically of “Megiddo and its towns” (Judges 1:27), “the
waters of Megiddo” (Judges 5:19), “Megiddo and its 3 heights” (Josh 17:11), “the
valley of Megiddo” (II Chron 35:22, Zech. 12:11). However, the text makes no
mention of a MOUNT of MEGIDDO. The area under consideration is an area
East-Southeast of Mount Carmel. Other terms used to describe this same area is
plains of Esdraelon, and Jezreel. All of these areas are the area east-southeast
of Mt Carmel.
In this area, several important OT battles took place. Deborah and Barak
defeated the Canaanites here in Judges. Gideon and his 300 drove out the
Midianites here. Saul and Jonathan were slain on the east of this plain. And
here, Ahaziah King of Judah died to Jehu the King of Israel. King Josiah fought
against Pharaoh of Egypt here and was slain.
Obviously……..this is a very significant area to students of OT History. Due to
all of these battles, this area came to be a place of “LAST BATTLES” for many
armies. ****I think this is the significance John was stressing! He was simply
saying that God’s judgment is coming on Rome and it will be her LAST BATTLE. She
will fall!! Rome is fighting her “Armageddon”, or her last battle.
I think this is what we are discussing here….just “A” last battle, not “THE”
last battle!!!!