a study by Rev. Paul A. Bartz

16:1-2 - The first bowl -- We first note that these "bowls" are judgments ("bowls of God's wrath"). The first bowl affects those who are the servants of the antichrist ("people who had the mark of the beast"). This bowl affects those on the earth as opposed to those on the sea. Commentators generally take these plagues to be spiritual, rather than physical diseases, since they do not affect believers.

The language here is remarkably similar to 8:6-12, where we read of God's judgments specifically directed at false teaching and belief within the church. As is our experience today, there is no false philosophy that has any popularity in the world, that does not also find its promotion within some part of the church. Yet, our text promises that these judgments shall not touch the faithful. The answer is that the faithful are part of the invisible Church, while those promoting false ideas within the walls of the church are not. When the faithful find themselves within a church where unfaithful ideas and practices are taking over, they may stay for a while to make their witness, but they will eventually search for another church that is faithful to the Word of God.

These spiritual sores that break out sound like skin ulcers which fester and then the rotteness that is within is clearly seen. In the spiritual realm, there are many false ideas which appear to be gentle, loving and positive. But when they bear fruit -- once the ideas are widely accepted, and life is ordered by them, show themselves to have been repulsive and disgusting, not to mention worthless.

16:3 - The second bowl -- The second bowl is more powerful than the first in that it brings death. It also leaves the sea as no escape for those trying to escape the first plague.

16:4-7 - The third bowl -- The third bowl is even more drastic than the second and strikes at the very sources of life for mankind. One astute commentator notes that in the spiritual realm this may be referring to the streams of life and thought, good common sense and knowledge. When these become cloudy, God's order for the basics of human life, the family followed by society, begins to disintegrate. This, then, may be referring to secular humanism for this accurately represents both the cause and effects of humanism.

The second and third bowls remind us of the plagues that God sent upon Egypt. Those plagues we specifically designed to show that the God of Israel was stronger than all the false gods of the Egyptians (see Exodus 12:12). Likewise, the bowls of judgment here in Revelation may be identifiable as spiritual diseases designed to show the utter powerlessness of humanly devised systems which challenge the divine order that God has given us.

The suggestion that secular humanism may be one of the "false gods" whose followers are being punished with these bowls begs us to look at the fruits of the values espoused by secular humanism where its ideas have been implemented. Notice that the blood of the second bowl (16:3) and presumably the blood of the third bowl was like "that of a dead man" -- rotting and unhealthy. Again, what was at first attractive, is revealed in judgment to be repulsive. Evolution, touted as scientific and rational, the opposite of the "dark ages," has produced the most amoral -- immoral -- generations this earth has witness in centuries. Teenagers are shooting each other because one wants another's jacket or shoes. So-called "valueless" sex education has, rather than solved the problems it claimed to address. only made them worse, not only here in the United States, but in every other country where it has been tried. Many can't figure out what is wrong with partial birth abortion, or any abortion whatsoever. Homosexuality is, in many circles, a virtue. Goddess worship has been taking place for several years under the sponsorship of many of the mainline Christian denominations. None of this looks any too healthy.

The angel reminds us that these judgments are just, and that the blood judgment is especially fitting since those being judged are also responsible for shedding the blood of God's people. We should keep in mind that Israel, during its periods of unfaithfulness, shed the blood of the prophets God sent them. Likewise, those in the visible church, during periods of unfaithfulness, have shed to blood of faithful teachers and witnesses sent to them by God. The Roman Catholic church shed the blood of many faithful teachers sent to them, beginning about a century before Luther and continuing during the Inquisitions. Today in China, the leadership of the officially recognized Christian church aids the Chinese leadership in persecuting and killing those faithful believers and pastor who refuse to join the compromised government church.

16:8-9 - The fourth bowl -- The fourth bowl compounds the torture of the first three. We are reminded of Psalm 121:5 ff.: "The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil." Note the self-righteousness of those being punished: rather than repent, they rather curse God because of their punishments.

16:10-11 - The fifth bowl -- The fifth bowl strikes the seat of the beast itself who, remember, is in the religious realm on earth, supposedly representing Christianity. Darkness is a Biblical symbol of ignorance, which can be highly self-righteous. But yet there is no repentance, even under the awesome judging hand of God. The reason for this is always self-righteousness. Since anything which is contrary to God's Word is self-destructive, this punishment, while deliberate on heaven's part, may also be seen from earthly perspective as the natural outcome of opposition to God's Word.

16:12-16 - The sixth bowl -- The sixth bowl is communicated in highly symbolical language (pure literalism here results in nonsense and even Millennialists are not purely literal in their treatment of this text). But some of the symbols are familiar -- Verse 13 the three unclean spirits like frogs -- who are false teachers (note that they perform "miraculous signs"). The Old Testament classifies frogs as unclean (Leviticus 11:10). Scripture in many places talks about the tremendous rise of false teachers in the visible Christian Church as we draw closer to the end. Verse 15 reinforces the idea that these "frogs" are against the pure Gospel (although under the guise of religion) since He warns believers about being ready that we may be found clothed (with His righteousness) so that we are not seen in the shame of our sins.

This time in which self-righteous false teachers will be most effective at misleading many will not only be a time of severe testing for the faithful. It shall absolutely cause the falling away of the lukewarm, or else cause them to repent of their lukewarmness and become "hot" for the Lord. It is thought that the period described here is the same period described by our Lord in Matthew 24:4, 5, 11, 24.

Luther, with some humor, wrote of these frogs, "They croak much against the Gospel, but accomplish nothing and remain frogs." (Prefaces to the New Testament, Revelation 1546 [1530]).

16:15 repeats encouragement for believers, indicating that this will be a trying time for believers.

16:16 -- Armageddon is probably HAR-Mageddon: Literally "The hill of Megiddo." Megiddo is a plain that dominates the main pass that goes through the hill country from the plain of Sharon to the Valley of Jezreel. As such, it is strategically located and thus the site of many battles for thousands of years. It is mentioned in Judges 5:19 and 31 where Deborah and Barak sing of the overthrow of the Canaanite kings by the "waters of Megiddo" and add, "Thus let all thine enemies perish, O Lord." It is also mentioned in 2 Kings 23:29 as the place where Pharaoh Neco defeated and killed King Josiah. Pharaoh Thutmose III defeated the Canaanites there in 1486 BC. In 1917 the British defeated and ended the rule of the Turks in Palestine at this valley. Mt Carmel, where Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal is very close to the plain of Megiddo.

Using the imagery supplied by Scripture, the most we can say is that Harmageddon is significant, not as a location, but as a symbol of complete eternal defeat and destruction of all (spiritual, religious, political) forces of evil. This is the end of the final and most bold and open opposition of God to man. This is based on the fact that what is described as a hill or a mountain in Revelation (if indeed it is the same place), is, in fact, a strategically located valley. This suggests figurative language, of which the point of comparison is the strategic location.

Millennialists who interpret Revelation politically take this battle as the battle which ends the world. They variously see it as a battle between the Jews and the Arabs, and/or Russia or the U.S. against Red China, or all of the world's nations against God's angels who bare the sword against them to defend believers.

16:17-21 The seventh bowl -- Here we have the final temporal punishment of the faithless and apostate. God remembers their sin (16:19) and shakes the earth as it has never been shaken before, destroying all. This reference in 16:19 is spiritually significant because it is the nature of apostate religion to teach that God will pass over sin, even if there is no repentance. Apostate Christianity stresses "God is Love" (1 John 4:8) as if this passage canceled every other truth in Scripture. As some have actually stated, the judging God of the Old Testament has been replaced with the loving God of the New Testament. The consequence of this teaching is that it is finally taught that there can be forgiveness without repentance, you can have a Savior without commitment, and there is salvation without faith -- all because after all, God is love. The result of such demonic religion is seen in the text: In their self-righteousness creaturely man curses Creator God because of His punishment.

In truth, the God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament, and He does not change. His message to man has always been a message of both law and Gospel, inviting love toward those who hear, believe, and rejoice in His good gifts and judgment for those who stubbornly reject Him. Here, that rejection bears its own fruit as these who are judged condemn God.

If we compare the seventh bowl with the sixth trumpet (6:12-16), we find a great similarity of language. The great earthquake and other horrific destruction, coupled with the falling stones (hail here, the stars falling from the sky in 6:13), plus the words, "It is done." make clear that this is yet another description of the final judgment, bringing reel six to a close.

1. Many today believe that since "God is love," He will not judge. At the same time, they wonder how there can be so much trouble and injustice in the world. They conclude that God is distant from us and not concerned about every tiny detail of our lives. Our reading so far in Revelation should at least begin to show some of the flaws in this thinking. Which flaws have you detected?

2. As some commentators have noted with reference to the second and third bowls, there have been many philosophical and religious movements that have looked attractive to many at first, only to reveal later that they were ugly rebellions against God and His people. What are some examples of such movements?

   How were they first appealing, and in what ways did they later reveal their true natures?

3. In what ways did the movements mentioned in the answer to #2 prove to sort out those "hot" for Christ from the "lukewarm"?