Joel’s Commentary on Revelation: Revelation 16–The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

In Revelation 16, we have the seven bowls of God’s wrath—these are very similar to the seven seals and the seven trumpets. The only thing to point out here is that the seven seals affected ¼ of creation, the seven trumpets affected 1/3 of creation, the seven thunders (which were passed over) would have undoubtedly affected ½ of creation, and now here, the seven bowls affect all of creation. Throughout Revelation there is a slow, intensification of God’s judgment.

Also, it should be noted that the imagery of “the cup of God’s wrath” undoubtedly comes from Isaiah 51:17-23, particularly verses 21-23:

Therefore hear this, you who are wounded, who are drunk, but not with wine: Thus says your Sovereign, the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people! See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; you shall drink no more from the bowl of my wrath. And I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, “Bow down, that we may walk on you”; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to walk on.

The First Five Bowls
As for the bowls of wrath themselves, it is clear that the first five bowls correspond to the plagues of Egypt during the Exodus:

1. 1^st Bowl: Painful sores (Ex. 9:8-12)
2. 2^nd Bowl: The sea turning to blood (Ex. 7:14-24)
3. 3^rd Bowl: The rivers turning to blood (Ex. 7:14-24)
4. 4^th Bowl: The sun scorches people with fire (opposite of Ex. 10:21-29)
5. 5^th Bowl: The throne of the beast is plunged into darkness (Ex. 10:21-29)

There is an interesting thing to point out concerning what the angel of the waters says in 16:5-6. He says that those who have shed the blood of the saints and prophets “deserve” the blood (i.e. God’s wine of wrath) that God has given them to drink. The word “deserve” really is a bad translation of the Greek word. A better translation of 16:6 would be: “Because they poured out the blood of the holy ones and the prophets, you have also given them blood to drink! That is what they are worthy of.”

Now certainly, “deserve” works here, but if you realize that the angel is saying the ones being judged are “worthy” of God’s wrath, you will see the connection to 5:2, where another angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the scroll?” The point is that just as Jesus is the only one worthy to open the scroll, the only thing those who persecute Christ’s followers are “worthy” of is God’s wrath.

Another thing to point out is that at the end of both the fourth and fifth bowls, the result is the same: the people cursed God and refused to repent. It is ironic that they curse God for the judgment that they brought upon themselves. Just as in the Exodus, when Pharaoh brought the plagues upon himself by not letting the children of Israel go free, so do the worshippers of the beast bring judgment upon themselves by persecuting and killing the saints.

The Sixth Bowl
The sixth and seventh bowls of wrath correspond incredibly with the sixth and seventh trumpets. The sixth bowl (like the sixth trumpet) gives a picture of a great army coming from the Euphrates River. Now, whereas the sixth trumpet only hinted at the fact that this army was ultimately Satanic, here with the sixth bowl there is no doubt: the army is to be gathered by the three evil spirits (that look like frogs!) that come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast from the sea, and the “false prophet” (i.e. the beast from the land).

In ancient times, frogs were associated with evil. Another thing to point out with the sixth bowl is that the armies are gathering for “the battle on the great day of God Almighty.” The Great Day of YHWH was seen throughout the Old Testament as the time when God would come to redeem His people and defeat evil. In the prophets in particular, this was seen as “the 15^th round of the ultimate title fight,” if you will. Just read Zechariah 14 for just one example.

But what is being said in 16:15? “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed!” What does this mean? Simply, this is a warning that falls in line with other warnings in the New Testament about the coming day of the Lord (Matt. 24:3-25:13; I Thess. 5:2; II Peter 3:10). Just as Jesus said in Mark 13:5-8, 21-23, and 13:32-37, his followers aren’t to be taken in by the chaos of the world (i.e. talk of wars and rumors of war). They aren’t to be alarmed by such things because the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night—not with a great, obvious political battle.

In addition, the reference to keeping one’s clothes, so that one won’t go naked when the Lord comes, should call to mind echoes of Genesis 3, when God clothed the man and the woman’s nakedness. It was a form of grace. Now in Revelation, the saints have been given white robes, and the warning is to not let go of God’s grace, and get sucked into the adulteries of Babylon the Great.

Finally, in 16:6, there is that famous reference to Armageddon. Armageddon was an actual, strategic place in Israel during war time (Judges 5:19; II Kings 9:27; 23:29; II Chron. 35:22-25). Anyone invading Israel from the north had to pass through a narrow plain near the town of Megiddo. This, then, was an extremely strategic place, much like Normandy was for WWII. Armageddon, therefore, was for John’s readers symbolic of the battle on the great Day of YHWH. They did not think there was going to be a literal battle at that literal place, just as they did not think Satan was a literal dragon who would vomit up a frog. It was simply a symbolic reference to the ultimate confrontation between YHWH and Satan, between the offspring of the woman and the offspring of the serpent.

The Seventh Bowl
The seventh bowl truly consummates God’s wrath, for it is poured out on the very air—every living, breathing thing will be affected. And the words, “It is finished!” clearly echo the very words of Christ on the cross (John 19:30; Matthew 27:45-53). What happens in 16:18-21 is language that we should be familiar with by now: the lightning, thunder, and earthquake are images associated with the very throne of God (Revelation 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; as well as Exodus 19:16-19 at Mount Sinai). Elsewhere on the Old Testament, the great Day of YHWH was associated with a great earthquake (Ezekiel 38:18-19; Haggai 2:6-7; also Hebrews 12:18-27). The earthquake at the time of Christ’s crucifixion (Matthew 27:51) has to be seen in this light as well. It was the “first tremor” of the ultimate earthquake of God’s coming day of wrath.

Finally, we learn that the great city (i.e. Babylon) is split into three parts, and the cities of the nations (i.e. the ones that followed Babylon) collapsed. There are ultimately two cities in Revelation’s landscape: the New Jerusalem, coming down from Heaven, and Babylon, the head city of all other evil cities on earth. Here we see the Lord God finally giving Babylon the Great the cup filled with the wine of the fury of His wrath. The city of Satan is judged and destroyed.

Why the huge hailstones? All throughout the judgments, beginning with the seals and ending here with the bowls, God’s judgments have intensified. The plagues and judgments of Revelation are an intensification of the plagues of Egypt during the Exodus. In short, everything in the first Exodus is a foreshadowing of the ultimate Exodus here in Revelation.