“The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, yet they did not repent of their actions. The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle of the great day of God, the Almighty. “Look, I am coming like a thief. The one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame is blessed.” So they assembled them at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. Then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the sanctuary from the throne, saying, “It is done!” There were flashes of lightning and rumblings of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since man has been on the earth — so great was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; He gave her the cup filled with the wine of His fierce anger. Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. Enormous hailstones, each weighing about 100 pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.” (Revelation 16:10-21 HCSB)
Life is full of decisions. Chocolate or vanilla? Sweet or savory? Sporty or family-friendly? Performance or economical? Shall I do this, or shall I do that? Some decisions are simple, like chocolate or vanilla. But others are much more complex, like the job opportunity that results in a major move and life redirection. Which choice gets me what I want, and will that choice truly satisfy me? Is this what’s best for me and my family? And for Christians, does this fit within God’s will? Some are simply personal preference while others have a lifelong impact on you and everyone around you. Ultimately, some decisions have an eternal impact. The second half of our study on Revelation 16 and the seven bowl judgments will focus on these decision-making struggles we face, especially the eternal ones.
After the first four bowl judgments, John tells us “they [those who rejected God, took the mark of the beast, and worshiped his image] blasphemed the name of God, who had the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.” Our culture is full of contradictions when it comes to its relationship with God. Gallup polling reports that when last polled in 2022, 81% of Americans believe in God. That figure is down from 87% in 2017 and way down from 96% when that question first appeared in a Gallup poll in 1944. When asked about their certainty regarding their belief in God in 2017, the results are much more dismal and cynical with only 64% being certain God exists. For 2022, the certainty of belief in God falls to about 54% for Americans. Above, I said our culture contradicts itself regarding God and its relationship with Him and, by that, I mean we want to believe but we don’t really want His authority over us or His will directing us. Ultimately, I think we want a God who just does things our way, but miraculously fixes the stupid choices we make. That’s not God; that’s a genie.
This fifth bowl of God’s wrath is poured out on the “throne of the beast,” and his kingdom is thrown into darkness. The text doesn’t clearly tell us whether this is a literal darkness where the scorching sun from the fourth bowl is “turned off” or whether this is figurative. I think it is likely more figurative, and the darkness is a deeper and more pronounced spiritual blindness on the people. This would seem to fulfill Isaiah’s call: “Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise, they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed (Is. 6:9-10).”
The truth of the Gospel has been proclaimed across the vast reaches of this planet, and God Himself has stated, “If you seek Me, you will find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” The bowls of God’s wrath in this chapter are the result of God reaching the end of His long-suffering patience. Man questions God’s existence, denies God’s authority, questions the truth of His Word, and rejects His Son and the gift of grace. How much further could we fall? All the way down into the depths of the Dragon’s lair, to the throne of the beast where he worships the image of a false god. No wonder these bowls are filled with His unmitigated wrath.
If you can, imagine being suddenly overwhelmed by absolute darkness. No, not a cloudy day, but absolute and total darkness. It would be paralyzing and would throw you into a complete state of panic. While I think the darkness is likely figurative and not the sun becoming physically dark, it doesn’t change the effect. In fact, I think a spiritual darkness would even ramp up the effects upon our minds, our confidence, and our fears. Notice, John says that because of this, the people gnawed their tongues because of their pain and blasphemed God but refused to repent. If you look back at John’s vision, all of the seals, trumpets, and even these first five bowls seem to center on the intent of God causing people to see the truth, believe His word, and repent of their unbelief.
With the sixth bowl, we are confronted by an idea that has brought fear and trepidation to mankind since it was given, Armageddon. The effects of the sixth bowl cause the Euphrates river to dry up, which prepares “the way for the kings of the east.” But there’s still more preparation work to be done. Three unclean or evil spirits, resembling frogs, come from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. John clarifies that these spirits are demons, as if we had any doubts about that, who perform miraculous signs. These spirits then engage the “kings of the whole world,” and they assemble for the battle of “the great day of God, the Almighty.”
The name Armageddon is a transliteration of the Hebrew term “har magedōn” and means Mount Magedon or Megiddo. There isn’t a mountain by that name, but Megiddo has long been used to reference the Valley or Plain of Esdraelon in Palestine and has been the site of many great Biblical battles. When we speak of Armageddon, we all recognize it means the battle that brings an end to the world as we know it. It is the battle to end all battles. Why? Because it is the showdown between the forces of evil and the human army they have mustered and God Almighty. It is called “the great day” or “that great day” of God for a reason; there has never been nor ever will be another day like it.
But before the kings can assemble, the Lion of Judah speaks to us: “Look, I am coming like a thief. The one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame is blessed.” This blessing from the Son of God hinges on our alertness and preparedness for His coming. This Revelation beatitude closely mirrors Jesus’ parable in Matthew 24/Luke 12 and Paul’s reminder in 1 Thessalonians 5. I referenced Him as the Lion of Judah here because He came the first time as the sacrificial Lamb, but He comes the second time as the conquering Lion.
Pay attention to His words: be alert, and be clothed. But not just any old clothes, clothes that are able to hide our nakedness and shame – robes of righteousness that only the Lamb is able to provide. I might be making too much of this analogy, but I don’t think so. If you know Jesus as the Lamb of God, then you will never be confronted by Him as the Lion of Judah. If you are confronted by Him as the Lion of Judah, then you’ve never known Him as the Lamb of God. If you are clothed in His righteousness, you have no fear of being naked and shamed at His coming. Stay alert to the work of the frog-like unclean spirits and their deceptive efforts to mislead and destroy us.
Note: The frog-like evil spirits or demons in our passage are able to use miraculous signs to misdirect faith and worship. I believe there are many things today that may appear as “signs” and draw people away from belief and trust in God. We live in the midst of a scientific and technological revolution that often feels like miracles and these signs point us towards false gods. We also live in a culture that surrounds us with false, materialistic gods of wealth and power who are vying for our devotion and worship. And I see a significant increase in spirituality that is not God focused or Biblical. Let me be blunt. Spirituality is often not an attempt to find the One true God, but an attempt to become a god unto yourself. Your search to find the One true God will always result in encountering Him. Whether you choose to believe and follow Him, is a choice you have to make. Be alert, be dressed in Jesus’ righteousness and be blessed.
Now we reach the seventh and final bowl in the series. This bowl is poured out into the air and God responds, “It is done!” That’s followed by lightning, thunder and the worst earthquake the world has ever seen. John then tells us that “the great city” is split into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. “Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; He gave her the cup filled with the wine of His fierce anger.” John then tells us that God’s wrath is such that it’s like He reaches down and swipes His hand across the face of the earth. The islands fled, and the mountains were laid flat or disappeared and then enormous hailstones begin to fall, weighing about 100 pounds each while the people blasphemed God.
The phrase “it is done” is the perfect form of the verb “to become” (Gr: ginomai). It could be translated, what was is now or what was to be has now become. In the past, we’d only heard about this but it is now our reality. But what is IT? It is that day when everything that was hidden becomes visible. When everything possible becomes reality. When everything we’ve either hoped for or dreaded moves from ideas, fears, dreams, or prayers into our present reality. For Christians, it is when our faith becomes sight. For unbelievers, it is when their doubts, fears, and questions become their undeniable reality. This is THAT day!
I began this by talking about choices we make. Some are simple, others are complex. Some affect the moment, others affect the future. Some are fleeting, others are forever. The decisions we make about God are all of these things combined. In some ways, faith is simple. We make decisions based on trust all the time. Each time you sit, you’ve made a decision to trust the object you sit on. It is often an unconscious decision because that object has never failed to hold and support you. If it does fail, then that decision suddenly becomes much more complex.
The recipients of John’s letter face just such a decision. Are they willing to simply trust God with very difficult and complex decisions? If you think the decision is difficult and complex then you’ve begun to make faith more complex than it was ever intended to be. That statement might surprise some of you but Jesus told us that faith in Him must be child-like. Not childish faith, child-like faith. If a child stands on the edge of a step and his father, standing below him, says: “Trust me, jump!” The child won’t hesitate if he trusts his father, he’ll jump. What happens as we grow? We begin to introduce other factors into our decisions. Maybe we question his strength or ability to catch us. Maybe we question his motives or his focus. I think you get the idea. My point is really that child-like faith is exercised when we don’t doubt or question God.
To the Christians of Asia Minor, Jesus was calling them to trust Him and He is doing the same for us. Don’t take all these issues you’re facing and make them more complex than they need to be. Who am I? Do you trust Me? Will you walk with Me, listen to Me, follow Me? Will you obey Me even when the world tells you that you’re crazy to do so? Let me borrow words from John’s vision: “It is done!” What are you going to do now? Will you walk with God in the belief that what has been promised will be made your reality? When the evil spirits of these demons put up some miracle for you to see and it causes you to question things you thought you knew, will you believe Him who is Truth or will you fall for their lies?
It all comes down to this, who will you choose to believe, trust, and follow? It’s a choice that sets your destiny. It’s a forever choice. Choose Him!
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