Revelation 16:8-16

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. (16:8-9 cf. Deut. 28:22)

The fourth bowl is poured out “on the sun” and men are afflicted with fiery heat. Throughout this age, from John’s time to ours, there have been many periods of global warming and global cooling which are recorded in history. Some historians even point to these as causes of wars and revolutions. Over the past twenty years, we have heard a great deal about global warming, but when scientists, and especially politicians get hold of this, it would seem that they haven’t read history. Didn’t I hear that Al Gore said a year or so ago, that global warming has “nothing to do with the sun”? Well, I’ll look that up, but for now, maybe the politicians aren’t proposing the right solution for this problem. Maybe, instead of telling us that we are bad people who should pay more in costs and taxes and lower our lifestyles, they should be telling us to repent and turn to God…

But alas! Scripture tells us this isn’t likely; men will simply curse God instead.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. (16:10-11; cf. Na. 3:11; Hab. 3:12-14; Rev. 17:9 ff.)

When the great powers of this world fall, there is despair; this is the record of the age in which we live. There have been many great, powerful and glorious empires, but they all fall apart eventually. The beast and his Satan-given power cannot overcome God, and for this reason, it cannot overcome His Church.

The sixth angel 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 impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. (16:12-14)

As the sixth bowl is poured out, the river Euphrates dries up. Keeping in mind that Revelation is not intended to be understood literally, we have another symbol of this world in that famous river so closely associated with the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. When this happens, the way is opened for all of the nations of the earth to make war on God’s Church. Next, John sees demons come forth from the mouths of the dragon and the two beasts. Remember that the dragon is Satan, the first beast represents anti-Christian governments and the second beast represents anti-Christian philosophies and religions, thus everyone is being filled with evil and monstrous ideas, and preparing for battle with God. In other words, this is the culmination of Satan’s ages-long conflict with God; he’s putting everything on this one last roll of the dice.

“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (16:15; cf. Matt. 24:29 ff.; 1 Thess. 5:4; 2 Thess. 2:8; 2 Pet. 2:10)

All of a sudden, out of nowhere and completely without warning, Jesus returns “like a thief” (unexpectedly). Would you be ready if He came today?

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. (16:16)

The stage is set for the pouring out of the seventh bowl; first, a brief note about Armageddon: So much has been written about Armageddon, so much speculation has been given… and there is so much to say. Since it is dealt with in more detail later, I’ll save my remarks on it for our discussion of Rev. 19 and 20…

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible. (16:17-21)

Satan has gathered all of his forces together for one last push to destroy God’s eternal purpose, and out of nowhere Jesus appears on the scene and the seventh bowl is poured out. Satan, his allies, friends and unwitting tools are obliterated; evil of every form and kind is terminated and God’s judgment is complete. From this point forward, the earth no longer has any consequence of sin or death, there is no pain or suffering, and God’s people reign with Christ forever.