Chapter Sixteen

Vision of the seven bowls of the final plagues; first—severe wounds upon sinful people (1–2); second—turning the water of the sea into blood (3); third—turning the water of the rivers into blood (4–7); fourth—unbearable heat of the sun (8–9); fifth—darkness in the kingdom of the beast with the impenitence of sinners (10–11); sixth—appearance from the mouth of the dragon of three unclean spirits like frogs, gathering the kings of the earth to the place called Armageddon (12–16); seventh—great earthquake and destruction of the city of Babylon, falling of hail the size of a talent (17–21).

Revelation 16:1. And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven Angels: go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. Revelation 16:2. The first Angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth: and there came grievous and evil sores on the people who had the mark of the beast and were bowing down to his image. The voice undoubtedly belonged to God Himself (see Rev 1:10; Ezek 9:1), for it proceeds from the temple itself. This voice commands to pour out the bowls upon the earth. By earth here we must understand the whole universe, both sea and dry land, and all those who were to undergo the plagues of God’s wrath, that is, all belonging to the kingdom of antichrist and those who rejected Christianity. Upon the pouring out of the first bowl upon the earth—the dry land—there appeared upon all people severe and loathsome sores (see Exod 9:9-11). This plague cannot be understood merely as a symbolic image. The historical example of a similar Egyptian plague vouches for the fact that its repetition on a larger scale is possible. And since the depicted event pertains to the last time, near the final upheaval in the world, extraordinary and exceptional phenomena in human life and human nature are entirely possible and permissible, parallels to which we may not encounter in the present time.

Revelation 16:3. The second Angel poured out his bowl into the sea: and it became blood like that of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died. The second bowl is poured out into the sea—the actual sea, filled with living creatures. Evidently, a large mass of seawater became congealed and dark blood in color, and furthermore foul-smelling. Such a mass was unfit for the life of living creatures in it, and therefore John remarks that all living things in the sea died. In light of this, there is no basis for giving this plague an allegorical meaning. This is a new physical disaster that strikes the antichristian world and the nature of that time; a disaster, moreover, not temporary and quickly ending, but, as must be seen from Rev 16:9 and Rev 16:11, continuing constantly together with the disasters of the other plagues until the very end of the world.

Revelation 16:4. The third Angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of waters: and they became blood. Revelation 16:5. And I heard the Angel of the waters, who said: righteous are You, O Lord, Who are and were, and holy, because You have judged thus; Revelation 16:6. because they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, You have given them blood to drink: they are worthy of this. The third plague stands in close parallel with the first Egyptian plague, by which the waters of the Nile River turned into blood (Exod 7:19-21). In favor of a literal understanding of the third plague, besides the parallels with the previous ones, is the note in the text that these waters, having become blood, people were to use for the quenching of their thirst. The Angel of waters, as governor of a particular element, praises the Lord for His justice, for His immutability, and for His faithfulness to His being, all-holy and righteous. The necessity to drink blood instead of water is a terrible and unimaginable plague, for the antichristian world it is a just retribution (v. 6) for its terrible and incomprehensible cruelty toward Christianity and against the faithful guardians of it.

Revelation 16:7. And I heard another from the altar speaking: yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments. This Divine justice is confirmed from behind the altar of burnt offering by those slain and martyred, who also praise the Lord for the firmness and the invariableness of His judgment and for its justice.

Revelation 16:8. The fourth Angel poured out his bowl on the sun: and it was given to him to scorch people with fire. By the first three plagues people themselves, the sea, and the rivers were struck; now, in the fourth plague, to complete the striking of physical nature and the conditions of earthly life, the sun itself is struck. Understanding it literally, as we do the previous three plagues, by the striking of the sun we must understand that then, with the general disturbance of nature, the sunlight will change its beneficial warmth into unbearable heat.

Revelation 16:9. And people were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues, and did not repent, so as to give Him glory. As the sufferings of the antichristian world from God’s plagues increased, its impiety, obstinacy, and impenitence became more and more evident.

Revelation 16:10. The fifth Angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast: and his kingdom became dark, and they bit their tongues because of pain, The fifth bowl of God’s wrath is poured out upon the very throne of the beast. The beast—this is antichrist, his throne—the sphere of his authority, his subjects, constituting his kingdom. His kingdom became dark. The force of the plague is not so much in the darkness as in the impression it produces: it is the impression of terrible physical pain, which causes even the gnashing of teeth. This plague must be viewed as a natural consequence of the previous plague. The terrible heat of the sun, spoken of in the fourth plague, as a result of the overheated air and the destruction of vegetation, and as a result of a mass of evaporation, must necessarily have produced a dark and threatening state of the atmosphere. Besides and as a result of this, the kingdom of antichrist will become dark in the sense that people will have such a mood of spirit as can be called dark—a mood of malice and despair.

Revelation 16:11. and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and their plagues; and they did not repent of their deeds. By these disasters this malice increases more and more, and at the same time the time of final recompense and eternal torments draws ever closer.

Revelation 16:12. The sixth Angel poured out his bowl into the great river Euphrates: and the water in it dried up, so that the way was prepared for the kings from the sunrise. A new step toward this final limit is the sixth bowl of God’s wrath. It was poured out upon the great river Euphrates, as a result of which the water in the river dried up and a free path was opened for the eastern kings. The river Euphrates, mentioned in Rev 9:14, is represented in Holy Scripture as the boundary between the Jewish kingdom and the hostile eastern nations. Now, by God’s action, the waters of the river dry up and the barrier to the activity of a hostile force is destroyed, and thus a free access is opened to the eastern kings so that they might cause new violence to the faithful Christian society. In the sixth plague, evidently, there is an indication of the general intensification of anti-God activity against the Christian Church of the last time. Then it will be possible to have unity of action of all forces hostile to Christianity. However, the drying up of the Euphrates speaks only of this possibility, while what this possibility will manifest itself in is spoken of in the following verses.

Revelation 16:13. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits, like frogs: Namely, John sees three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming from the mouth of the dragon (the devil), the beast (antichrist), and the false prophet (the beast from the earth). For evil spirits a symbolic form is taken—the image of frogs. And this, of course, is because whoever is possessed by an evil spirit with the properties of a filthy animal—a frog—the soul and activity of that person must be filthy in a moral sense, weak and pathetic in its aims and manifestations, but at the same time proud and presumptuous. Concerning the manner of appearance of the frogs, John remarks that they go forth. This image must be conceived by us as mockery, which fully corresponds both to the external appearance of frogs and to the view of the dragon, antichrist, and the false prophet.

Revelation 16:14. these are demonic spirits, performing signs; they go out to the kings of all the earth of the whole world, to gather them for battle in that great day of God Almighty. These evil spirits become the inspirers and guides of the earthly kings, and through them the forces of those states and nations over which these latter reign. In this sense it is said that the evil spirits gather the kings for battle. The battle is the final world war, the final expression of the anti-God force’s striving to destroy Christ’s Kingdom on earth.

Revelation 16:15. Behold, I come like a thief: blessed is the one who watches and keeps his garment, so that he does not walk naked and so that they do not see his shame. The words “Behold, I come like a thief...” come to John’s mind at the mention of the great day of the Lord, and he expresses them in his own name, reminding of the well-known saying of the Divine Teacher Himself. Like faithful and diligent servants, all Christians should await the coming of their Lord, should keep their garments, the garments of their salvation (1 Thess 5:8), so as not to appear before the eyes of the Lord-Judge naked, devoid of all virtues (see Rev 3:18).

Revelation 16:16. And he gathered them to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. Revelation 16:17. The seventh Angel poured out his bowl on the air: and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying: It is finished! After this recollection and reminder, John returns again to the account of the unclean spirits. By the expression “he gathered them” are meant the same unclean spirits (as if led by the devil), at the suggestion of which the kings of all the earth together with their people gathered at the place called Armageddon. In Holy Scripture we do not find any locality called Armageddon. The word Armageddon is certainly compound, double, from “ar” and “Megiddo.” “Ar” is a Hebrew word meaning plain, and Megiddo is a historically known geographical place in Palestine, which served as a field of battle between Barak and Sisera and Necho with the Jewish king Josiah. Thus the valley of Megiddo appears as a monument of victory and defeat, both joyful and sorrowful. Consequently, the Apocalypse, calling the gathering place of the armies of antichristian kings Armageddon, speaks of the fact that this gathering will end in glorious victory and terrible defeat. The seventh Angel pours out his bowl into the air. This signified the striking, the damage of the element which constitutes an essentially necessary condition for all living things on earth. The seventh trumpet was thus the last trumpet, heralding the end of the world and the coming of a new life. If the air itself was struck, then not only the external conditions of earthly human life were struck, but the former conditions of their moral life were destroyed as well. In view of such importance of what is announced by the seventh bowl, its pouring out is accompanied by a special significant heavenly voice: “It is done.” This voice is more correctly attributed to God Himself. The word “It is done” brings to mind the same word which came from the lips of the Lord dying on the cross. As that word was the sign of the ending of the Old Testament, so also the voice of God in verse 17 is the sign of the ending of the New Testament. And here “It is done” refers not only to the seventh bowl, but to all the preceding plagues, to the whole dispensation of New Testament salvation of mankind.

Revelation 16:18. And there came lightning, thunder, and sounds, and a great earthquake occurred, such as had never happened since people have been on the earth. Such an earthquake! So great! The same phenomena occurred as after the seventh trumpet (Rev 11:19); but now the earthquake, as a sign of the approaching end, the final and decisive upheaval, was so powerful that John finds no words to express its force and destructiveness.

Revelation 16:19. And the great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, so as to give it the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. By the great city that split into three parts as a result of the earthquake, we can understand even Jerusalem, although in Holy Scripture it is not called by this name. But here is meant the city of the future antichristian kingdom, regardless of what name it will be called. Then also, at the earthquake, great Babylon was given to drink the cup of the wine of the fury of God’s wrath. Babylon here is named the same great city, but not simply as a geographical entity, but as the central point of the future antichristian kingdom (see Rev 14:8). The name Babylon is used here as if to designate the anti-God impiety with which people of the last time will live. This impiety is now remembered by the Lord, and for it all the impious must drink the cup of God’s wrath (see Rev 14:8).

Revelation 16:20. And every island fled, and mountains were no more; Revelation 16:21. and great hail, the size of a talent, fell from heaven on people; and people blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because the plague from it was very severe. As a result of the earthquake, as usually happens, the outline of the land will change, and some islands will disappear altogether, sinking into the sea; and thus all of nature will be completely ruined and disfigured. But people will not remain untouched either: hail the size of a talent will fall upon them. However, experiencing such punishment and realizing that the cause of it lies in the wrath of the Lord God, not only do they not repent, but directly blaspheme God, blaspheme Him as the all-powerful ruler of the world. What remains for them now? There remains the final terrible judgment, the pronouncing of the final verdict and the beginning of eternal torments. * * * Kliefoth, Hengstenberg, Suller, Ebrard. Ephrem the Syrian. Ebrard, Kliefoth, Suller.