[Chapter 16-1] The Beginning of the Plagues of The Seven Bowls (Revelation 16:1-21)
(Revelation 16:1-21)
“Then
I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go
and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’ So the first
went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome
sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who
worshiped his image. Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the
sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in
the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and
springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the
waters saying:
‘You are righteous, O Lord,
The One who is and who was and who is to be,
Because You have judged these things.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,
And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due.’
And I heard another from the altar saying, ‘Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.’
Then
the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to
him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and
they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and
they did not repent and give Him glory. Then the fifth angel poured out
his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of
darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and
did not repent of their deeds. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl
on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the
way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For
they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings
of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of
that great day of God Almighty. ‘Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed
is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they
see his shame.’ And they gathered them together to the place called in
Hebrew, Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the
air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, ‘It is done!’ And there were noises and thunderings and
lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great
earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the
great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations
fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup
of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away,
and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon
men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God
because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly
great.”
Exegesis
Verse 1:
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels,
“Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”
With
the plagues of the seven bowls of wrath, God will bring His wrath upon
the servants of the Antichrist and his people who are still living on
this earth. All the creatures and men will be swept up by the storm of
God’s wrath, exploding after so many years of His patience, and they
will suffer from the great plagues that will be poured over them during
the remaining period of the Seven-year Great Tribulation. At this time,
this world will be reduced to ashes as it is broken apart, smashed to
pieces, and destroyed into oblivion.
Revelation
16 is the chapter where the plagues of the seven bowls are poured.
Those who, until this final moment, have neither known nor believed in
the gospel that bears the testimony of salvation, which would have
allowed them to be lifted up to the air by the Lord—that is, the gospel
of the water and the Spirit—will all be destroyed by these plagues.
Verse 2:
So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul
and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped his image.
The
plague of the foul and loathsome sore that God would pour through His
angel will descend on those who have received the mark of the Beast.
This plague of sore is an incurable skin disease that would fester on
the skins of the inflicted, whose infection would also spread around
beyond the festering skins. How great would the suffering be, when the
inflicted are to be tormented by this plague of the foul and loathsome
sore until their death? But God will not only pour down the plague of
sore on all those who received the mark of the Beast, but He will also
pour down six more plagues on their heads afterward. As such, all must
find the way to escape from these plagues in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit, and avoid these fearful plagues by believing in this gospel
right now, at this very moment.
Our
Lord says that He will pour down six more plagues on those who worship
the Beast and his image. What is the sin that God hates the most? This
sin is making images after something or someone other than God, deifying
them, and surrendering to them. We must therefore know exactly who our
Lord God and Jesus Christ are, and believe in and worship Christ Jesus.
Nothing and no one in this whole universe, other than the Lord God
Himself, can ever be our God.
If
you really want to avoid the plague of sore and the additional six
plagues, learn about and believe in the gospel of the water and the
Spirit given by the Lord. A countless number of people who have stood
against God in their everyday lives, and who have refused to believe in
the gospel of the water and the Spirit, will all suffer from these
plagues until they are ultimately destroyed.
Verse 3:
Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became
blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.
The
second plague is where the sea turns into the blood of the dead. God
will kill off all the creatures in the sea with this plague. From this
plague of the second bowl poured by God, the sea will rot away and all
its creatures will no longer be able to live in it. No man will
therefore be able to eat the sea’s harvests when God brings this second
plague. Through the second plague, God will make it manifest that He is
alive, and that He is the Lord over all life.
This
second plague is God’s judgment rendered on all the people of the world
who, rather than worshipping the Lord God for His creations, instead
bowed to the image of the Beast, God’s enemy, and shed the blood of the
saints. This second plague is also most appropriate. God shows us that
He will thus take away the richness of nature from those who do not
thank the Lord for all its creatures made by God.
Verses 4-7:
Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of
water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters
saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who
is to be, Because You have judged these things. For they have shed the
blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink.
For it is their just due.” And I heard another from the altar saying,
“Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
The
third plague that would turn the rivers and springs of water into blood
is indeed one of the most terrible plagues. This plague, coming as the
punishment for the sins of all those who do not believe in God, will
turn springs into blood and make it impossible for them to live on this
earth. God will turn all the springs and rivers on this earth into
blood. This plague, too, is the judgment rendered on the people of the
world as the price and punishment of their standing against God, who had
given them water, the root of all life.
The
reason why God would bring this plague on those who had stood against
Him is because they had murdered His saints and prophets while on this
earth. They are the ones who had not only refused to believe in God as
God, but also stood against Him in union with the Antichrist.
Overwhelmed
by the power of the Antichrist, those who stand against God’s love in
this world will persecute and murder God’s most beloved saints and His
servants. Those who do not believe now in the gospel of the water and
the Spirit, which our Lord has given us to deliver the people of this
world from sin, will murder many saints and prophets of the end times
and shed their blood. God will therefore pour His third plague on this
world where His enemies are living, turn its water, the root of all
life, into blood, and thus destroy them.
This
is the just judgment of God, and for it the saints in the air will all
rejoice. Why? Because with His righteous judgment rendered on the
enemies who had killed the saints, God would avenge the saints’ death on
them. As such, the saints and servants of God must not fear, but
instead defend their faith in the Lord God, and look toward God’s
promise and His power when they face their martyrdom.
Verses 8-9:
Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was
given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great
heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these
plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
As
the fourth angel pours out the bowl of the fourth plague on the sun,
people would be burnt to death from its scorching heat. God will bring
the plague of the sun’s scorching heat to those who have stood against
Him. Because this earth orbits around the sun precisely, if the earth
were to deviate from this orbit and get closer to the sun even by the
smallest distance, its inhabitants would all be burnt to death. As such,
when this fourth plague is poured, people still living on this earth
will all suffer from burning.
Yet
they would still not repent of their sin of standing against God. Why?
Because by standing against the gospel of the water and the Spirit, they
had already been destined to destruction. As soon as possible,
therefore, everyone must now prepare their faith that can allow them to
escape from the wrath of God. This faith is to believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit as one’s salvation. Everyone must therefore
believe in the truth of the water and the Spirit.
Verses 10-11:
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast,
and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues
because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
The
plague of the fifth bowl is one that brings darkness and pain. God will
pour out this bowl of the fifth plague on the throne of the Antichrist
and bring the plague of darkness and pain. From this plague, people will
gnaw their tongues because of its pain and suffering. God will make
sure to avenge the saints’ sufferings on them with twice as great pain.
God
will make them suffer, in other words, just as much as they had made
the saints suffer before. And yet they would still blaspheme God and not
repent, even as they suffer from their sores. As such, they are to
receive the eternal punishment of hell burning with fire and brimstone.
Verse 12: Then
the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and
its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might
be prepared.
The
plague of the sixth bowl poured by God is the plague of famine that
would dry up the Euphrates River. Mankind will face its greatest
suffering from this plague. The plague of famine is the most frightening
plague for everyone’s life. This plague, which will be poured on those
who had rejected the gospel of the water and the Spirit given by the
Lord, shows us just how great the punishment is for those who had
rejected God’s love and stood against Him. Later on, God’s army of
Heaven and Satan’s army of this earth will wage the final war on this
battlefield. Satan and his followers, however, will be seized upon and
destroyed by God.
Verse 13:
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of
the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet.
This
verse shows us that the works of all unclean spirits and demons
originate from the mouths of Satan, his beast, and the false prophets.
The works of demons will prevail throughout the world when its end
nears. The demons will deceive the people and lead them to their
destruction by performing miracles and signs through Satan, the false
prophets, and the Antichrist. The world of the end times will thus
become a world of demons. But their world will all be brought to its end
with the plagues of the seven bowls poured by Jesus Christ and His
second coming.
Verse 14:
For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the
kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle
of that great day of God Almighty.
The
spirits of demons will incite the hearts of all the kings of the entire
world to gather together in one place to battle against God. In the
world of the end times, everyone’s heart will be ruled by the spirits of
demons, and he/she will thus be turned into Satan’s servant doing the
Devil’s works.
Verse 15: “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
The
Lord will come to this world like a thief, and those who defend their
faith and preach His gospel until the pouring of the plagues of the
seven bowls are greatly blessed. Our Lord tells the saints living in the
end times’ world that they must live by their faith in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit given by Him and defend this faith until their
last day. Those who defend their faith in the Lord before the pouring of
His plagues of the seven bowls will receive great rewards from Him. Our
Lord will surely come again to find those on whom He would bestow His
blessings.
Verse 16: And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
The
Bible prophesizes that the final war between Satan and God will be
waged on a place called Armageddon. But because God is omnipotent, He
will triumph over Satan and throw the Beast into the lake of fire and
brimstone. We must realize that Satan has always been a deceiver, and we
must keep our faith in the Lord in steadfastness until the day we stand
before God.
Verses 17-21:
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud
voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is
done!” And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there
was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not
occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided
into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon
was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains
were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone
about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague
of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great.
As
God pours the plague of the seventh bowl into the air, thundering and
lightning will ravage the sky, while a great earthquake and great hail,
the likes of which have never been seen before, will strike this earth.
With these disasters, the first world will disappear without a trace.
After this, the saints will live in glory with Jesus Christ on this
renewed earth for a thousand years to come.
When
the thousand years pass by and the time to fulfill God’s promise of the
New Heaven and Earth for the saints comes, God will make the first
world disappear and give the saints the second heaven and earth. The
saints will then reign with God in this New Heaven and Earth forever.
The saints must believe that they are to live in Christ’s Kingdom of one
thousand years and then live forever in glory in His New Heaven and
Earth. They must live in this hope, waiting for the Lord’s return.
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