Revelation 16:1–21

16:1–2 A voice from the temple instructs the seven angels to pour the seven bowls containing God’s judgment on the earth to complete his wrath (cf. Rev. 15:1; cf. also Jer. 10:25; Ezek. 14:19; Zeph. 3:8). In Isaiah, the Lord likewise punishes his enemies from the temple: “The sound of an uproar from the city! A sound from the temple! The sound of the LORD, rendering recompense to his enemies!” (Isa. 66:6). The first angel pours his bowl on the land, inflicting its inhabitants—i.e., those who accepted the mark of the beast and worshiped its image—with painful sores (Rev. 13:15, 16). We are reminded of the sixth plague on Egypt, in which boils broke out on the Egyptians while the Israelites were spared (Ex. 9:8–12; cf. Deut. 28:27, 35). Given the apocalyptic character of Revelation, it is unlikely John is depicting a literal outbreak of boils. Nevertheless, those who turn away from the true and living God will experience agony because they have refused the one who offers life.

16:3 The second bowl, like the second trumpet, afflicts the sea. In the second trumpet judgment, one-third of the sea became blood and one-third of its creatures died (Rev. 8:8–9). But in the second bowl judgment, the entirety of the sea becomes like the blood of a corpse, and every single creature in the sea dies. The severity and intensity of the judgment suggest this event comes near the final judgment, when the entire world is collapsing. Everything sustaining the world begins to fall apart.

16:4 The third bowl affects the same realm as the third trumpet. In the third trumpet, a third of the rivers and springs were embittered, leading to the death of many (8:10–11). In the third bowl judgment, all rivers and springs become blood, echoing the first plague on Egypt (Ex. 7:17–20). Once again, the severity and intensification of the judgment points to the time of the end. Water is the source of life, and thus God is eradicating in judgment what is vital for life.

16:5 The next three verses interrupt the sequence of the bowl judgments and comment on the suitability of the judgments. The angel superintending the waters (showing the close connection between angels and the world of nature; cf. Heb. 1:7) declares God is righteous and holy in judging the wicked. John’s audience might question the severity of the judgments, but the angel assures us the recompense is fitting and right. The Lord is identified here as the one “who is and who was,” paralleling 11:17, another final judgment text. In other similar texts, God is designated as the one who is, who was, and who is to come (Rev. 1:4, 8; 4:8). The omission of “who is to come” suggests the bowl judgments are part of a complex of events culminating in the final judgment. In other words, God is coming and bringing his kingdom in these very judgments.

16:6 The rightness of God’s judgments is now explained. God has turned the rivers and springs to blood because the wicked have spilled the blood of the saints and prophets (cf. 2:13; 6:9; 17:6; 18:24; 20:4). The punishment fits and accords with the crime (cf. Isa. 49:26; Rev. 11:18), and thus this is an expression, not a miscarriage, of justice. Those who have inflicted suffering on believers will themselves suffer.

16:7 The altar now speaks (cf. 9:13), perhaps representing the voice of an angel. The altar speaks to add its witness on behalf of the saints slain under the altar (6:9), affirming that the judgments of the Lord God Almighty are true and righteous (cf. 15:3; 19:2). John is sensitive to those questioning the judgments and emphasizes that they verify God’s justice. The Holy One of Israel always does what is right. Even though life often seems futile and meaningless and irrational, in the end God will make everything right.

16:8–9 A third of the sun, moon, and stars were stricken in the fourth trumpet (8:12), but here the judgment of the fourth bowl appears to make the sun more intense, for by it people are scorched, experiencing something like a very painful sunburn. This punishment is not literal but reflects the intense punishment experienced by those who reject the Lord. Those affected are certainly unbelievers, responding with fury to the God who exercises his sovereign authority to bring these plagues upon them. They are convinced they do not deserve these punishments and thus blaspheme and revile God for punishing them, complaining the judgments are unfair and calling into question his character. John has just emphasized the justice of the punishments, and thus their response is irrational and false. God’s judgments and plagues should have provoked them to repent and give glory to him, acknowledging their guilt for what they have done. Instead, they are angry at what God is doing, ironically confirming the justice of their judgment.

16:10–11 The fifth bowl is poured on the beast’s throne, his realm (cf. 13:2). His kingdom is darkened, echoing the ninth plague to strike Egypt (Ex. 10:21). The symbolic and apocalyptic language makes the exact nature of this judgment difficult to determine. We would not expect, for instance, people plunged into darkness to “[gnaw] their tongues in anguish.” Whether physical, psychological, or both, this judgment clearly brings torment and anguish. It is fascinating to compare the fifth bowl and fifth trumpet, as we have done with the first four. The fifth trumpet unleashed darkness on the earth (Rev. 9:2) and a demonic presence bringing agony to men (9:1–12). It seems the fifth bowl further intensifies the pain, suggesting John is describing events near the end of history, near the time when God will wrap everything up. The judgments of God, as both the fourth and fifth bowls reveal, are meant to be a precursor and anticipation of what is to come. They are intended to snap people out of their spiritual lethargy and turn them to God in repentance (2:21). Instead, those suffering from their pains and sores (cf. 16:2) are enraged at God, thinking that what has happened to them is completely unwarranted. As the proverb says, “When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD” (Prov. 19:3). Hence, they curse and blaspheme God instead of blessing him, and they do not repent of their evil deeds. The irrational response of human beings underscores the rightness of God’s actions.

16:12 The sixth bowl is poured out on the Euphrates River, drying up its waters so that kings can come from the east. Once again, an illuminating comparison can be made with the sixth trumpet (9:13–19), in which four angels bound at the Euphrates were released and an army of 200 million came forth to kill a third of mankind. In the sixth bowl’s drying up (cf. Jer. 50:38; 51:36) the Euphrates to open a pathway for eastern kings (cf. Isa. 41:2, 25; 46:11), we see a kind of unholy exodus (cf. Ps. 106:9) in which evil kings are enabled to cross the river. Perhaps John was thinking of the Parthians, inveterate enemies of Rome, but the fulfillment is not limited to a specific historical moment, particularly since the Parthians did not succeed in bringing Rome down. Instead this bowl presages, in symbolic terms, the impending judgment on the wicked.

16:13 John then sees the unholy trinity: the dragon (12:3, 9), the beast (13:1), and the second beast, who for the first time is also called the false prophet (19:20; 20:10). Something horrific and repulsive is spewed from their mouths. John repeats the word “mouth” three times, calling attention to the words of these unholy sources. Such a reading fits with the second beast’s being called the false prophet, for he speaks words not from God. What comes from their mouths is as unclean and disgusting as “frogs,” showing that their words defile and destroy (cf. Ex. 8:1–13). The word “unclean” also shows the demonic character of what issues from their mouths, as “unclean” spirits are demonic (Mark 1:23; 3:11; Luke 4:33; Acts 5:16).

16:14 Now we are told explicitly that the unclean spirits are demonic, with the ability to perform signs to deceive the kings of the world (2 Thess. 2:9; 1 Tim. 4:1). We saw earlier the role of the false prophet in doing signs to deceive people (Rev. 13:13–14). Now we see a scene similar to 1 Kings 22, in which Ahab was enticed by a lying spirit to go to battle, where he met his death (1 Kings 22:20–23, 34–35). Here the rulers of the entire world gather for war on the great day of God Almighty (Rev. 17:14; 19:19), but they are deceived into assembling together for a war (polemos) that will bring their own demise. The last battle is the “day of the LORD” that the prophets spoke of so often (e.g., Isa. 13:6, 9; Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 30:3; Joel 1:15; 2:1, 11, 31; Amos 5:18, 20; Obad. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 14; Mal. 4:5). What we read here matches what John says later, that the Devil “[deceives] the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle (polemos); their number is like the sand of the sea” (Rev. 20:8), although it is debated whether the battle of 16:14 is the same as that of 20:8. Clearly, those going to war are deceived, for they are about to enter into a battle with Almighty God (cf. Zech. 14:2)! It is a bit like a tiny impoverished nation going to war with the United States. Demons must be behind a battle that is fundamentally futile and ultimately insane.

16:15 The narrative is interrupted by an exhortation from Jesus. He announces he is coming like a thief, a phrase echoing the rest of the NT (Matt. 24:42–43; cf. 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10). Just as thieves do not announce when they will strike, so the time of Jesus’ return will be a surprise. Jesus then announces one of the seven blessings in the book (cf. Rev. 1:3), declaring a blessing for those who stay awake and keep their garments on. The blessing is reserved for those who stay morally alert and live righteously. These words are rooted in the Gospel tradition (cf. Matt. 24:43; Luke 12:37) and are a staple of NT exhortation (cf. 1 Thess. 5:1–11). Those who are naked (cf. Rev. 3:18; Ezek. 16:37, 39) and give themselves over to evil and idolatry will experience eschatological shame, being destined for judgment rather than salvation. Promise of coming judgment is not merely a word for unbelievers; it is an urgent reminder to the church of Jesus that they must not join forces with the wicked. If they do so, they will face the same fate.

16:16 John resumes the thought of verse 14 after the exhortation of verse 15. The nations deceived by the dragon, beast, and false prophet assemble for a final war against the Lord’s Christ. It seems this is the same battle as that of 19:11–21 (cf. esp. 19:19), where the beast, kings, and their armies gather to make war against the Lamb. From an amillennial perspective, the battle in 20:7–9 is another description of the same incident. The reference to Armageddon, meaning Mount Megiddo in Hebrew, is quite curious, for it is obvious that Megiddo is not a mountain but a plain (2 Chron. 35:22; Zech. 12:11). Anyone familiar with the land of Israel would know this, and thus John must be making a symbolic point. John provides a clue that he writes symbolically by calling a well-known plain a mountain! Many important battles took place in Megiddo in which Israel was attacked by its foes (Judg. 5:19; 2 Kings 23:29), and here we have a scene of the last battle presented in figurative terms.

16:17 The seventh bowl, like the sixth seal (6:12–17) and seventh trumpet (11:15–19), signifies the end of history. When the seventh angel pours his bowl into the air, a voice from the temple (cf. Isa. 66:6), God’s throne, declares that everything is accomplished (cf. Rev. 21:6). The end has arrived.

16:18 As we hear that the end has come, a massive thunderstorm breaks out (cf. Ex. 9:24). At the same time, an earthquake unparalleled in its magnitude takes place (cf. Dan. 12:1; Joel 2:2; Matt. 24:21). We have seen in Revelation that thunder, lightning, and earthquake symbolize the arrival of the end (6:12; 8:5; 11:13, 19; 19:6). They also symbolize God’s awesome holiness and the terror of entering his presence, especially for those not forgiven of their sins (cf. the thunderstorm in God’s throne room; 4:5 and comment).

16:19 The “great city” stands for the “city of man,” symbolically identified as Babylon—the great enemy of the people of God (cf. Isa. 13:1–14:23; 21:9; 47:1–15; 48:20; Jer. 50:1–51:64; Dan. 4:30). The city’s split into three signifies its disintegration and fragmentation; it has lost its supremacy, and the end is at hand. The plural “cities” should not be distinguished from the singular “city.” John’s point is that the cities of man are all Babylon; they have strayed from the ways of God. God has now remembered his promises, for the judgment of Babylon is about to commence (Rev. 14:8)—a theme to be elaborated in 17:1–19:5. God exhibits his justice by making Babylon drink the cup of his wrath (cf. 14:10; 18:6; cf. also Jer. 25:15–17), and at the same time he saves his people from the city of man that is oppressing them.

16:20 The world as we know it vanishes, for the islands are gone and the mountains disappear. John regularly signals that the end has come by portraying displacement in the natural order. We see this clearly in a number of key texts in Revelation. For instance, in 6:14 (the sixth seal judgment), “Every mountain and island was removed from its place.” When God judges on the “great white throne,” “from his presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them” (Rev. 20:11). When the new creation dawns, “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (21:1). The disintegration of the natural world means the end is at hand.

16:21 The final judgment has already been described in terms of a thunderstorm and an earthquake, and now John adds the trope of a hailstorm, one of the plagues that devastated Egypt (Ex. 9:13–26). As usual, the language is apocalyptic; the world is imploding as hailstones of about a hundred pounds each are wreaking havoc on humanity. As strange as it might seem, even in judgment there is one more chance for mercy. But instead of repenting and turning to God, people curse and revile him in their great suffering, continuing to be convinced they do not deserve the suffering they face. Instead of acknowledging their sin, they continue to be infuriated with God, verifying again the rightness of the punishment they receive.