Chapter 8 – The Bowl Judgments
Read chapters 15 and 16
In Apocalyptic writing the numbers 3 and
7 are often used to mean completeness, perfection or finality. Certainly John
has brought us to this place of completeness with the three groups of judgment.
There were the Seven Seals followed by the Seven Trumpet judgments and now we
have the Seven Bowl judgments. We are introduced to seven angels who have seven
plagues to be poured down on the people who have accepted the Mark of the Beast.
These new plagues will bring to mind the plagues brought upon Egypt in order to
set the people of Israel free. They were isolated to that individual nation of
Egypt and did not affect the whole world. Then we were introduced to the
plagues from the Trumpets and Seals. But those judgments affected only part of
the earth. Here we have the completion of the judgments against those who
refused to accept God. We should note that those who have received the mark of
God as opposed to the Mark of the Beast are exempt from the judgments that are
inflicted on a person. Just as God has provided for those who are faithful when
the Mark of the Beast refused those same folks to not be able to buy and sell,
God will provide for those who are left to face these final judgments. It does
not say in scripture that the faithful will not face pain and suffering when
food and water supplies get short. We are reminded that our reward will be
great in heaven.
As we await the pouring of the bowl
judgments upon the earth, we see the Saints standing on a sea of glass (see Rev
4:6) with fire mixed in it and they are singing. They are singing the Song of
Moses and the Song of the Lamb. The Song of the Lamb is sung by those who are martyred
for God throughout time while some say that they are the martyred from the
Tribulation period alone. The Song of Moses (see Exod 15) was introduced to us
when Moses and the Israelites had successfully crossed the Red Sea and they celebrated
the drowning of the Pharaoh’s Army by God. It is a song that has been sung
repeatedly throughout the history of the people of Israel, used in the
dedication of the new Temple after the Babylonian Exile (Psalm 118) and then at
major holidays since till our present day. It is a song of celebration of what
God has done. The song of the Lamb is also a celebration to God. But we should notice
that at no time in the words of the song is anyone other than God praised.
In verse five we are told that the
angels come from within the Temple of the Tent of Witness. John may well have has
pulled this descriptive from the Old Testament understanding in Exodus when the
Temple of God was a tent with the Israelites in the wilderness before Solomon’s
Temple was built (Numbers 9:15; 17:7; 18:2). The Temple fills with smoke (see
Isa 6:4; Ezek 10:4) as God moves within it and the Angels come forward to do
God’s bidding. One of the four living creatures we were introduced to in the
beginning of John’s Revelation hands the bowls to the angels. Remember that the
four living creatures represent the best in heaven. The seven bowls are filled
with the full wrath of God. What we glean from this is that these judgments are
the final judgments against the people, the demons and the Beast who have
aligned themselves with the lawless one.
The first angel steps forward and
unleashes the first bowl on the people of the earth who have taken the Mark of
the Beast. They develop painful sores that cause them to desire to be dead and
yet they cannot die. We are reminded of the 6th plague in Egypt (Exod.
9: 8-12) and the story of Job (Job 2:7). The second Angel steps forward and
pours the second bowl into the sea. Some would argue that this is strictly the
Mediterranean Sea but most would argue that at this point the plagues are world-wide.
Imagine the stench and the destruction of food supplies and world-wide commerce
when all the animals of the oceans die and rise up to the surface. We are
reminded of the 1st plague that God brought upon the Egyptian people
(Exod. 7: 14-25). The third Angel pours the third bowl into the waters of the
world’s rivers and springs and they turn to blood. Our water supply for crops,
drinking and other uses are now ruined. We are told that this in retribution
for the blood of the Saints who have been martyred by the world. Now we come the
fourth Angel and the fourth bowl. This will be the final bowl judgment upon the
living people directly. The bowl is poured out and the sun becomes dangerous to
those exposed to its light. Imagine for a moment that without water the world
becomes a parched, hot, and hostile environment. Some have argued that these
are all done through nature as God has continuously done throughout the history
of the world. We have red tides (see news for Florida in September 2014) where
algae contaminates the water, killed off sea life, and left a blood like look
to the water. Some might point to the current dangers of Global warming as the
fulfillment of this prophecy of the sun. I suspect that these are all future
events since even the Preterists cannot point to specific events in the past
that align themselves with the Bowl Judgments.
We now reach the point where God will
turn the wrath of God on the Beast and the Dragon. The fifth bowl is poured on
the very throne of the Beast. It brings total darkness to the residence of the
evil force John calls the Beast, also known as the Anti-Christ. There is some
discussion here about exactly where this will be. If we are Preterists and we
believe that Nero was the beast then we should be able to look back and find an
event that fits this during his reign. Some say it is when Rome burned and the
sun was obliterated by the smoke. Futurists on the other hand point to this as
a future event but argue whether the throne will be in rebuilt Babylon near
present day Baghdad, Rome or even Jerusalem. Saddam Hussein had in fact begun construction
at the site of ancient Babylon, the capital city of the Babylonian Empire. For
those pointing to Jerusalem they argue that the Anti-Christ taking up resident
in the Temple is the true desecration of the Temple described in Luke 21: 20-21.
Preterist’s look to Antiochus IV but this was well before Jesus prophecy. This
reminds us of the 5th trumpet and the 9th plague on Egypt
(Exod 10:21-23) We are told that men curse God but that no-one repents.
The sixth bowl is poured out on the
Euphrates River and it dries the river up. The people of the John’s time would
look to the Euphrates as the edge of the known civilized world and as a natural
barrier to the forces that lived beyond it. Here we are introduced to two new
actors in this vision, the False Prophet and the King of the East. The False
Prophet is believed to be the little horn in earlier prophecy (Daniel 7:8; Rev 13)
and most folks believe this to be either symbolism for the Roman Catholic
Church or the Head of the church during Tribulation. The king of the East may
be a literal presence or symbolism for the evil forces that will gather depends
on your world view at this point. Futurists take this literally and believe
that this will be a King from China with an army that moves towards Israel. At
this point the Dragon and the Beast are desperate so they deceive the armies of
the world to begin to assemble to go to war with God in a place the NRSV calls
Harmagedon. Literally that would mean the Mountain or Hill of Megiddo which is
a real place. The valley of Megiddo has been the center of battles throughout
history with at least 34 major battles for control of the trade routes to the
East and Middle East. In Biblical times we have the stories of Barak (Judges
4), Gideon (Judges 6:3), Saul’s death (1st Samuel 31:8), and then in
history Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century, Napoleon and
battles in World War I. Napoleon described the valley as the most natural
battlefield in all the world. Here the
final confrontation will occur. I dare not call it a battle since you will see
that it is one sided in favor of Jesus. (Zechariah 12 & 14; Zephaniah 3:8; Isa 24)
The seventh and final bowl judgment is
poured out on the air. It is the final bowl judgment and the final of the 3
groups of God’s wrath. Ephesians 2: 2 describes the Devil as the Prince of the
Air. It is quite likely that John is aware of that description here. In that
moment there is a great earthquake in the great city. Again there is disagreement
whether this is Rome, Babylon, or Jerusalem. The city is torn in thirds and all
the cities (probably a reference to all the major cities) of all nations will
fall. The people are then confronted with large hailstones weighing as much as
100 pounds (7th plague on Egypt Exod 9:22-26) that cause them again
curse God without repentance.
So ends the judgments
phase for those living.
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