In this message we consider the 7 bowls of wrath that are poured out from the Preterist perspective, as God’s judgments upon the apostate nation of Israel.
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The 7 Bowls of the Wrath of God
Revelation 15:1 – 16:21
Revelation 14 depicts the glory of Heaven and the horror of Hell. It points us to the final eternal destiny of all men. The glory of Heaven is seen in 14:13 where we are told “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.” Heaven consists of our eternal rest and rewards for faithful service to Christ.
It also points to the horrors of Hell in 14:9-11. There Hell is depicted as being eternal conscious torment, where sinners face the wrath of God in its full strength.
These two eternal realities are seen also in the final vision where the righteous are harvested by Christ, as wheat is reaped and stored up in the barn. At the same time the clusters from the vine are gathered and thrown into the great wine press of the wrath of God. Heaven and Hell.
That brings us Revelation 15. We studied this chapter over a year ago, so we won’t do it again in detail. I will simply summarize what we find here. In 15:1 and 15:7 we read of seven angels which have seven plagues of the wrath of God. In between these two verses we see a vision of those who had been victorious over the beast standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. I believe this is a picture of true believers in Jesus Christ who worship Christ, and refuse to give their ultimate allegiance to the State. In the first century, the State would be the Roman Empire with their Caesars which were given a god-like status by the people.
What are the saints doing in this vision? They are singing the song of Moses. What is that? It is the song that we have recorded in Exodus 15. When God redeemed the children of Israel from the Egyptian armies, and destroyed them in the Red Sea, then Moses and the sons of Israel sang the song of Moses, giving God glory for their deliverance. When these saints in heaven sing this song, it is also called the song of the Lamb, because the redemption of the sons of Israel in the Old Testament was a shadow of our ultimate deliverance from sin, death and Satan by the work of Jesus Christ.
At the end of chapter 15, the seven angels are given seven bowls full of the wrath of God. In chapter 16, those seven angels pour out these bowls of wrath.
My approach this morning is to try to give you the big picture. I want to look at the forest, not every tree in the forest. I think that if we step back and take a look at the big picture, it will help us to understand these seven bowls of wrath much better than if we try understand every nuance of these visions.
There is close parallel between the 7 trumpet judgments in Revelation 8 and 9, and the 7 bowl judgments in Revelation 16. The trumpet judgments were warning blasts about what was to come and an opportunity to repent. That’s why they came in measures. They were about 1/3 of the earth burned up, 1/3 of the trees burned up, 1/3 of the sea became blood, 1/3 of the creatures died, a star fell on 1/3 of the rivers and springs of waters, 1/3 of the sun and moon and stars were struck. Now as we come to the bowl judgments, it is not partial but total. The trumpets were partial expressions of judgment, but the bowls bring about a full and complete and final expression of judgment. The trumpet blasts warned people that God’s wrath was coming and this was their last opportunity to repent and get right with God.
Another thing we need to keep in mind is that in Deuteronomy 28, God pronounced the blessings and the curses that would come upon Israel if she kept or broke God’s covenant. In Dt. 28:49-57, God warned them that if they broke the covenant, He would bring a nation against them from afar which would besiege them, and they would starve and be destroyed by their enemies. This is exactly what happened to Israel in the first century AD.
Notice in 15:8 that these seven bowls of wrath that are poured out are referred to as the seven plagues. When God sent His judgments upon Egypt in order to deliver the Israelites, they are referred to as plagues (Ex.9:14). In addition, many of the plagues that God sent on the Egyptians are repeated here in the bowls of wrath: boils, water turned to blood, darkness over the land, and hail. Furthermore, remember that Revelation chapter 16 comes on the heels of Revelation chapter 15 which describes the redemption of God’s people as the ultimate Exodus. So, Revelation 15 and 16 are filled with visions that recall the plagues on Egypt and the deliverance of God’s people from their enemies. Revelation is speaking about another Exodus. Just as their were plagues associated with the first exodus, there are plagues associated with this exodus. This is a greater exodus. In 18:4 a voice calls, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.” Historically, the church came out of Jerusalem, and fled right before the Romans attacked and destroyed the city.
All of that would lead us to the conclusion that Revelation 16 is describing God’s judgment on the enemies of His people, just as He brought His judgment on the Egyptians that oppressed the Israelites. Well, who were God’s people when John penned the book of Revelation? It was not the unbelieving Israelites. Rather, it was the Christians living in the first century. And who were the greatest persecutors of the Christians of the first century? The Jews.
Remember, that three times in this book John tells us that the things described in it were soon to take place, the time is near, and that this book should not be sealed up because the time was near. So, we should ask ourselves if there was any great judgment of God brought to pass in the first century. And the answer is a resounding “Yes”! In the years 67-70 the Romans invaded the land of Palestine, and made war against the Jews. Finally, in 70 A.D. they were successful in destroying the city and the temple, and killing over a million Jews. The Levitical priesthood, and the sacrificial system ceased to operate from that time forward.
Remember that in Revelation 11:8, Jerusalem is referred to as the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt. Why would Jerusalem becalled Sodom and Egypt. Well, both Sodom and Egypt were places of wickedness and oppression of God’s people. Remember also, that there was an Exodus of the righteous from Sodom (Lot and his daughters). There was an Exodus from Egypt (the Israelites). And there would be an exodus from Jerusalem (Christians). The exodus took place before God’s judgment fell upon those places.
Is there any reason to believe that this event was brought about by God? Yes, there very definitely is. Luke 21:20-22 says, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled.” Isn’t that interesting?! The things surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD were the fulfillment of things which were written (prophecies) in the Old Testament.
So, are these “days of vengeance”, days of God’s vengeance? Luke 19:41-44, “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Now, there is a lot to consider here! Why was Jesus weeping when He entered Jerusalem? Because He knew that a time would soon come when the city and her people would be destroyed. They did not know the things which make for peace. And what were those things? They did not recognize the time of their visitation. What did Jesus mean by that? He meant that the Jews were visited by God in the person of Jesus Christ who was their long awaited Messiah and Deliverer. But rather than believe in Him, follow Him, and worship Him, they would mock Him and crucify Him. And because of that, their destruction would follow.
In Matthew 23, Jesus calls woes upon the scribes and Pharisees and repeatedly calls them hypocrites. At the end of Matthew 23 Jesus tells these religious leaders of Israel that God will “send them prophets, wise men and scribes, but they will kill and crucify and scourge and persecute them from city to city… so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mt. 23:34-39)
Did you hear what Jesus was saying? He was saying that because they would persecute and murder the prophets and servants God would send to them, God would put the guilt of all the righteous blood the Jews had shed on earth during Old Testament times. All that guilt would come upon that particular generation. As a result, “your house” which was a reference to the temple would be left desolate. In other words, it would be destroyed. Not one stone would be left standing upon another.
The Jews for centuries had persecuted and mistreated the prophets God sent to them. Then when Jesus, the Son of God appeared, they killed Him. Then when God sent them apostles and prophets to testify of the redemption in Jesus Christ, the scourged and killed them. The result? God’s vengeance. He would stir up the Romans to come and destroy the holy city, the temple, and the Jewish people who were the enemies of the Christian church.
Is there anything else in Revelation 16 that might indicate that the judgments being spoken of here, were judgments of God poured out in the destruction of Jerusalem? Yes, I believe so. Let’s look at some of the details of this chapter.
The Command: 16:1
I heard a loud voice from the temple. This loud voice is the voice of God. It comes from the “temple” which refers to the holy of holies, the inner sanctum, the very throne of God. This is a command coming from God to seven of His angels to pour out His wrath.
- The First Bowl of Wrath: 16:2. Loathsome and malignant sores. The bowl was poured out on the earth or land, just as the first trumpet had reference to the earth or land. One of the curses that Moses warned would come upon the Israelites if they broke God’s covenant was boils, scabs and tumors (Dt.28:27,35). Revelation 16 is reminding us of God’s warnings to Israel that they ignored, and now God’s curses are coming upon her. This plague harkens back to the 6th plague poured out on Egypt.
- The Second Bowl of Wrath: 16:3. This bowl also parallels the second trumpet blast in which a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood and a third of the creatures in the sea died. This bowl of wrath recalls the plague in Egypt in which the waters were turned to blood.
- The Third Bowl of Wrath: 16:4-6. This bowl of wrath parallels the third trumpet blast in which a great star fell from heaven burning like a torch on a third of the rivers and springs of waters, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. Notice the reason for this judgment of God. “For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” The reason why God is pouring out this bowl of wrath is because they persecuted God’s saints and prophets. That is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 23:34-39. He said that God was going to send them prophets, wise men, and scribes, but because they would persecute, scourge and crucify them, God would bring judgment upon Jerusalem and leave their house (temple) desolate. And, that’s exactly what happened in 70 AD. The temple was left desolate, and Jerusalem was destroyed.
Notice vs. 7 “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” Back in 6:9-11 the souls under the altar were those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they maintained. They cried out “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Now those same voices see God’s judgments on their persecutors and say that God’s judgments are true and righteous.
- The Fourth Bowl of Wrath: 16:8-9. This bowl parallels the fourth trumpet blast in which a third of the sun, moon, and stars were struck so that they did not give forth their light. The warning was that the light of the sun would be eclipsed. But now, the sun comes forth in its searing white hot power. Conspicuously absent is the glory cloud which would shield the Israelites from the scorching sun. But now, God is not protecting them. Instead the whole universe is against them, sun was scorching them.
- The Fifth Bowl of Wrath: 16:10-11. The throne of the beast (Rome) was darkened. When you read the history of Rome, you will discover that Nero was believed to go mad. In about 65 AD he set the city of Rome on fire, and blamed the Christians for it. He became more and more crazy as he persecuted and killed Christians. Finally, the authorities in Rome decided that he had to be removed because he was plunging the empire into chaos. The found Nero in Athens and gave him the choice to either kill himself or be killed. He committed suicide. For eighteen months after his suicide, there was no natural successor. Generals and pretenders rose up to make themselves the new Caesar, until they would be killed by the next guy who rose up. In fact, AD 69 was called the “year of the 4 emperors.” That was a year of starvation, civil war, killing in the streets. There was darkness, chaos and confusion in Rome, the throne of the beast during this time.
- The Sixth Bowl of Wrath: 16:12-16. This bowl harkens back to the sixth trumpet in which the angels was to release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates, so that a great army from the east could come and conquer. This mention of the Euphrates river being dried up would immediately recall to mind a historic event that all people were aware of. Cyrus the Persian wanted to conquer Babylon. However, the Euphrates river stood between him and Babylon. So, he built several canals that siphoned off parts of the Euphrates river until it had decreased to a low enough level that his troops could march across it. The Euphrates river ran right through the city of Babylon. Now that the water level had dropped down so low, the soldiers simply walked through the river bed, right under the walls of the city, and attacked and conquered it.
Revelation 16 is talking about the destruction of a new Egypt and a new Babylon. Both of those nations were the enemies of God’s people, who enslaved Israel. This imagery is simply talking about God bringing armies and removing obstacles so that the Romans could besiege and destroy the Jews. The Jews are the new Babylonians, the new Egyptians. Now God is bringing about their destruction.
Three frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, beast and false prophet. This is imagery designed to show that Satan is using words from various sources to rally many different leaders to launch a campaign against Jerusalem.
Har-Megedon means “mount of Megiddo.” Megiddo was a plain in northern Israel, but there was no mount there. Megiddo was famous for the place where Israel suffered a great defeat by Pharaoah Neco, in which King Josiah was killed. So it became infamous for Israel’s defeat in war. The mount refers to the temple mount – the place that will suffer a great military destruction from her enemies.
- The Seventh Bowl of Wrath: 16:17-21. The great feature of this bowl of wrath is the great earthquake, which is the greatest in history. This should not be thought of as a literal earthquake but a metaphorical one. Haggai 2:6-7 describes this earthquake, “For thus says the Lord of hosts, “Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.” Hebrews 12:25-29 gives us an explanation of Haggai 2:6-7. All of the “created things” had to be shaken down. The old covenant had to be shaken down. The temple and city had to be shaken down. What would remain? The kingdom that Christ established. The New Covenant era. All the implements of old covenant worship, the priesthood, the sacrificial system, the temple, all will be set aside.
Great Hailstones. This reminds of the hail in the plagues on Egypt. Interestingly, Joseph describes the Roman catapults casting huge boulders of about 1 talent in weight smashing into the walls and buildings bringing its final destruction.
Conclusion
I have taken the position that Revelation 16 describes God’s judgment upon apostate Israel for her covenant unfaithfulness and her persecuting and killing God’s prophets, saints, and Jesus Himself. So, what can we learn from this chapter?
- The Destruction of Jerusalem came from God. Yes, it was carried out by the Romans, but God in His sovereignty raised up the Romans to bring about His judgment. God is the sovereign Lord of history, who can direct the affairs of pagans and unbelievers to do His bidding.
- The Destruction of Jerusalem Revealed God’s Righteous Character. Notice 16:4, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things.” 16:7, “Yes, O Lord God, the almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” What did God’s judgment on apostate Israel reveal? It revealed God’s righteousness, holiness, power, and truth. God is a God of justice. Those that rebel against Him and oppose Him will experience His justice. God will one day right every wrong, and bring about His inflexible justice upon all sinners at the Final Judgment.
- The Destruction of Jerusalem Reveals The Depravity of the Human Heart. Notice how men respond to God’s judgments. Do they humble themselves, confess their sins and repent? Hardly! 16:9 “they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.” 16:11 “they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds.” 16:21 “men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”
This tells us that neither miracles or judgments in and of themselves can bring sinners to repentance. Only grace can do it. Did you know that repentance is a gift of God, and that He does not give that gift to everyone? In 2 Timothy 2:24-26, Paul tells Timothy that the Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome but with gentleness he must correct those who are in opposition, IF PERHAPS God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. If perhaps tells us that God may or may not grant repentance. My friend, when you see your sin, do you repent? If so, realize that is a gift of God! Many will live and die without repenting. But God’s elect will be given the gift of repentance. If you are a repenter, stop and give God glory, for that came from Him!
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