Revelation Study

Revelation Study — Chapter 16

THE VIALS OR BOWLS OF WRATH

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."

The great voice is the voice of God or Deity. As the voice has, on other occasions, used agents to make it be heard, so it is here. All is in readiness for the fulfilling of the prophecies spoken by Daniel and others. (see Daniel 9:27; 11:36) When the seven vials have been emptied, Israel will be no more. The word "earth" as used here is as it is in other places actually indicating the part of earth or the world in context. Jerusalem or Palestine is the territory of earth where these vials will be poured out.

Vs 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."

When we read of those who "had the mark of the beast" and those who had it not, we are always considering the Jews. The discussion does not involve the people of other nations, only the Jewish communities. So the sore was upon the Jews who HAD the mark of the beast. The emotions run high during a war. Those who were patriotic Jews turned on those who were consorting with the enemy. Remember the strong feelings directed toward "Tokio Rose" during World War 2 and the animosity that arose over Jane Fonda and others like her during the Vietnam War. Josephus describes the situation like this: "A company of deceivers got together, and persuaded the Jews to revolt, and exhorted them to assert their liberty, inflicting death on those that continued in obedience to the Roman government, and saying that such as willingly chose slavery ought to be forced from such as their desired inclinations; for they parted themselves into different bodies, and lay in wait up and down the country, and plundered the houses of the great men, and slew the men themselves and set the villages on fire.; and this till all Judea was filled with their madness. And thus the flame was every day more and more blown up, till it came to a direct war." Many other things could be cited but these show what was a "thorn in the flesh" and a noisome and grievous sore on those Jews that had taken the "mark of the beast."

Vs 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."

Just as the earth of verse 2 is the Palestinian territory the sea is also the same territory. This is perhaps a figure indicating that the bloodshed reached into all the territory whether land or sea. Historians say that a few terrific battles took place in the Sea of Galilee and the Jews were decimated there. More and more blood was shed as the Jews fought in their rebellion against the Romans. Another plague.

Vss 4-6 "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 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. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."

Now we know that literal rivers and fountains did not shed the blood of the saints and prophets but ungodly Jews did this and God's judgment infiltrates all of Palestine -- the earth, the sea, the rivers and fountains. Remember the lament of Jesus over Jerusalem in Luke 23:37-38: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." They had proved themselves worthy of this judgment.

Vs 7 "And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."

Another is evidently referring to another voice: another agent of God echoing that which was stated by the third angel. They are worthy of such judgment so these things happening are true and righteous.

Vss 8-9 "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 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."

They were like the Jews of these present days and so many others. They see all the effects of God's judgments upon man but they will not repent. The indication here seems to be that had they repented, God would have spared them much of their misery. It is said that Titus offered peace under tribute if they would surrender but they refused the offer.

Vss 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, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

Now some loathsome things began to happen to the Roman Empire. The seat of government was Rome and things were in a tumult there. In the closing days of Nero's reign he had become a millstone around the neck of the people and even the Senate was so outraged with his antics that they finally decreed that he should die. He fooled them though, by committing suicide. Turmoil continued. Civil wars and rebellions and trouble with the Goths, Gauls and Celts and they blasphemed God or blamed God for their troubles.

Vs 12 "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."

Going back to the sounding of the sixth trumpet, at that time the Roman border guards at the Euphrates were taken away by Vespasian to assist him in paving the way for his becoming emperor. Now the sixth angel pours out his vial and the water was dried up. Many Jews remained in Babylonia and Parthia, the ancient habitation of the Assyrians and evidently the Jerusalem Jews were hoping for some kind of help from them. Obstacles that would keep them from coming had been taken away. The border guards of the Romans had been removed at the aforementioned time and now some natural phenomena that had made the Euphrates passable, but they did not come.

Vs 13-14 "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. 14 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."

These were not frogs but three unclean or unfriendly spirits probably signifying old Satan himself, the Roman Empire and the pagan forces at their command. These three forces were working together to destroy Judaism which had been a thorn in the flesh for Satan, the empire and the gods of the pagans. So now they were inadvertently being used as weapons of God's wrath upon Israel. Titus, upon his return to take over the forces of Vespasian, gathered troops from all the conquered countries, mostly mercenaries, some bond servants. "The battle of that great day" was not the battle at the end of time but the destruction of Judaism.

Vs 15 "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

I have believed in times past that verses 35-51 of Matthew 24 had to do with the end of time but in my study preparing for this little work on Revelation and endless study with brother Jesse Jenkins, I have come to the conclusion that "perhaps" I was wrong. Verse 15 is very similar to verse 42, "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come," and verse 44, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." No man would know the exact time for departure of the elect from the Jerusalem hardships but the Father, being omniscient, would know, and he would give them signs to watch for, so "watch therefore," and "be ready."

Vs 16 "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

I suppose that as much has been written concerning "the battle of Armageddon" as any other subject in this world. I understand that a movie will soon be released by the name, "Armageddon," a kind of sequel to the one called "Apocalypse." And "the battle of Armageddon" is not even mentioned. Kind of like "the thousand year reign of Christ on earth." Armageddon in Hebrew means, "mountain of Megiddo." The town of Megiddo lay on a mountain overlooking the valley of Esdraelon and Jezreel, the scene of many Old Testament battles. This was to be the gathering place for the troops of Titus. Caesarea was the headquarters of the Roman Empire concerning Judean affairs. It was a seaport and also located on the trade routes of international commerce. The troops would all come through or near Caesarea which was about eight miles from Mt. Carmel, the range of mountains that contained Megiddo. They would then pass through Megiddo into the valley, the plains of Esdraelon. But no battle takes place here. This is just the gathering place. The battle grounds would be Jerusalem and Judea. Most of Palestine has been conquered. The stronghold, the temple town, Jerusalem, remained. Now they are poised and ready and once again we have depicted for the final time, the destruction of Jerusalem.

Vss 17-18 "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. 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."

"It is done." That's what the voice, the mouthpiece of God, says. This great earthquake, accompanied with voices, thunders and lightnings was symbolic of the great upheaval that was taking place. Even though their place of favor had ended at the cross, as long as the Jews practiced Judaism, the other people and the Jews themselves, would consider them as a nation belonging to God. Israel was falling. Judaism in its true form, would not be practiced again. God's nation would no longer be His nation. Nothing as earth shaking as this had ever happened before.

Vs 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."

That great city symbolized as Babylon would feel the fierceness of his wrath. There were three major parts of the city; the upper city, the lower city and a part they called Ophel. The temple area was not considered when they talked of the whole city. There was also chaos among the cities of the Empire. Vespasian had to fight many battles to maintain his position as emperor. And there was unrest among the Jews who had fled to other cities that had to be taken care of.

Vss 20-21 "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 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."

Islands symbolize individuals and mountains indicate those in high places. They are not found. They have lost their identity. They are no longer a people. And the plague of hail wipes out their holy city and still, they blaspheme God. They blame God for seemingly forsaking them. But they are the ones who have forsaken God. (Re-read the statement made by God as recorded in Leviticus 26:14-33.) The Jews of that day and the Jews of this time need to learn the lesson that Peter learned: "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him" (Acts 10:34-35).