End Times #9 Seven Bowls (Rev 15-16)
Today we are going to step back and take a look at what John has painted for us.
And I think you will have enough information to be able to answer the
question: Am I living in the end-times?
But first we must consider the vision of the Bowls.
These are the Bowls of thumos, which is that Greek word for wrath.
The Bowls are our final series of 7.
Revelation 15:1 and 5-8 (MSG)
I saw another Sign in Heaven, huge and breathtaking: seven Angels with seven disasters. These are the final disasters, the wrap-up of God's wrath. …
Then I saw the doors of the Temple, the Tent of Witness in Heaven, open wide. The Seven Angels carrying the seven disasters came out of the Temple. They were dressed in clean, bright linen and wore gold vests. One of the Four Animals handed the Seven Angels seven gold bowls, brimming with the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. Smoke from God's glory and power poured out of the Temple. No one was permitted to enter the Temple until the seven disasters of the Seven Angels were finished.
[
This imagery is from the Tabernacle days and the Temple days of Israel’s worship. (Exodus 38:21; Numbers 9”15-18, 10:11, 17:7; Acts 7:44
In the center of the Holy of Holies within the tent of witness and later the Temple was the Ark of the Covenant. I think this is a reminder to us of God’s faithfulness to his covenant to Abraham.
The angles are adorned in priestly and royal grab.
Bowls conjure up a wrong image in the modern mind. Bowls refer to a drinking up.
“Let me pour a bowl for you.”
That no one could enter the Temple is an indication that nothing can stop what is about to take place. No intercession shall prevail. As we noted previously “Time is up to repent.”
]
We know that the end-time is a time of trauma and crisis.
Up to this point all disasters and catastrophes have been limited.
Now they appear to be unrestrained.
The difference between orge and thumos,
Those words translated as wrath.
Seem to indicate that Repentance
is no longer possible.
[Rev 11:13 we see the last report of people repenting]
Things have been unbelievably and unbearably bad,
They are going to get worse.
For the plague of the Bowls John draws heavily from Exodus.
And they follow a similar pattern as the Trumpets.
Revelation 16:1-4 (MSG)
I heard a shout of command from the Temple to the Seven Angels: "Begin! Pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on earth!" The first Angel stepped up and poured his bowl out on earth: Loathsome, stinking sores erupted on all who had taken the mark of the Beast and worshiped its image. The second Angel poured his bowl on the sea: The sea coagulated into blood, and everything in it died. The third Angel poured his bowl on rivers and springs: The waters turned to blood.
Bowl 1 brings a plague on people.
Boils break out on all those who worship the beast.
This is similar to the account of boils on the Egyptians in Exodus
9(:10-11.)
Remember the purpose of the Egyptian plagues?
The purpose was to motivate Pharaoh to let God’s people go.
These boils also remind me of the result of the stinging locust/scorpions of
Rev 9 when the fifth trumpet is blown.
If you have ever had a boil or an abscess you know the pain that they can
inflict.
Sin is a boil or an abscess on your soul.
You don’t notice them at first, but they suddenly erupt.
That’s what happens to those who fall in step with
a godless culture.
They didn’t even realize their sin problem until it
causes them pain.
Conformity to the culture creates cancer in the soul.
Bowl 2 brings a plague to the ocean and seas.
When the second trumpet sounded a third of the sea was destroyed.
Here John sees the oceans have turned to blood,
And everything in them dies.
The ocean and the seas is the place from which the Beast came.
But it is also the 1st century’s best means of commerce.
The sea trade was a money making machine.
What I see here is blood money.
The Kingdom of the Beast makes money through the exploitation of
the poor.
It robs from the poor and gives to the rich.
It taxes and takes and defrauds,
And cheats.
I have a spin on exploitation.
Exploitation keeps the poor, poor.
There is not option for the poor to advance in
society.
If my hunch is correct this is a final judgment on how the
world makes money.
The financial system collapses
Bowl 3 brings a plague upon all the fresh water.
This reminds us of Exodus 7(17-21) when Moses struck the waters of the
Nile and turned them to blood.
Also this looks like an intensification of the 3 Trumpet (Rev 8: 10)
Where the drinking water became bitter and deadly to drink.
Revelation 16:5-7 (MSG)
I heard the
Angel of Waters say,
Righteous you are, and your judgments are righteous, The Is, The Was, The
Holy. They poured out the blood of saints and prophets so you've given them
blood to drink— they've gotten what they deserve!
Just then I heard the Altar chime in,
Yes, O God, the Sovereign-Strong! Your judgments are true and just!
To understand what John means by the Angel of the Waters you need to know
about some other books that were written but not included in the Bible.
A book called Enoch, indicates that after the prophet Malachi wrote
there was a development in Jewish thought that saw nature
under the jurisdiction of various angels. (Mounce, p. 294)
[
Enoch is part of a group of writing known by scholars as the Pseudepigrapha, which means writing under a pen name. The books of the pseudepigrapha all claim to be written by some great hero of the faith of history. They are noncanonical, which means that the early Christian church deemed them not important enough to include in the list of books we have today that comprise the Bible we hold as authoritative. This website http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm offers you more information if you are interested.
In Hebrew thought every natural force--the wind, the sun, the rain, the waters--had its directing angel. These angels were the ministering servants of God, placed in charge of various departments of nature.(Barclay's Daily Study)
]
What John is doing is drawing imagery from the things his readers
were already familiar with.
If you have ever been thirsty and there was nothing to drink you know how
your own thoughts can begin to torment you as everything fades away
except the desire to quench your thirst.
If you drink from the wells of the world you will thirst again.
But there is one who is the source of living water.
It is the Lamb who is the Shepherd who leads people to
streams of living water in Rev 7:17.
Where there is no water there is no life.
Once again we see that God is hailed as the One who Is and The One who Was.
In Rev 1:8 and 4:8 God is praised as the One “who was and is and is to
come.”
That the last part, “is to come,” is missing reveals that his
arrival in imminent.
The voice from the Altar can be none other than those we learned about in Rev 6:9,
The voice of the Martyrs calling out for justice,
Here they are praising God because the God is setting things right.
They are praising God for His act of divine retribution.
Bowl 4 brings a plague of blistering heat and a scorching sun.
Fire used in this context is a symbol for judgment.
(Deuteronomy 28:22; 1 Corinthians 3:13; 2 Peter 3:7)
We all know the pain of being burned and blistered.
It is unrelentingly painful.
Using our language metaphorically,
I think this is how judgment feels.
This is the result of following the Beast,
You are burned and blistered.
Revelation 16:9 (MSG)
Burned and blistered, they cursed God's Name, the God behind these disasters. They refused to repent, refused to honor God.
Bowl 5 brings a plague of darkness upon unrepentant humanity.
In Exodus 10(:21-23) Pharaoh’s kingdom is plunged into darkness,
With the 4th Trumpet only a third of the lights went out,
Now its complete.
Somebody turned out the lights cause the party is over.
[
There is no spiritual light to walk by at this time. Jesus said that He was the light of the world (John 8:12). Jesus told Nicodemus: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19 (NIV). There is no spiritual light shinning.
]
Those who walk in darkness are destined to stumble and fall.
You can’t find your way in the dark.
I have been underground in a cavern system and turned out the
Lights in seconds you are lost and disoriented.
Without a guiding light, your case is hopeless.
[Matthew 6:22-23]
Those who abide in Christ walk by the light of His word.
Those living a holy life are always in the light.
Revelation 16:10-11 (MSG)
Mad with pain, men and women bit and chewed their tongues, cursed the God of Heaven for their torment and sores, and refused to repent and change their ways.
What this figurative interpretative stance tells me is that there is no way you are
going to make it through without being a fully devoted follower of Jesus.
You must abide in Christ, not merely believe.
Living a holy life without compromise,
following the Lamb where ever He leads;
becoming a perfect sacrifice,
one without spot or blemish;
one who speaks truth with their life.
Bowl 6 brings a plague to the Euphrates river.
In recorded history there has always been a Euphrates River.
Today it is approximately 1700 miles long,
With headwaters in Turkey,
Running through Syria and Iraq,
And spilling into the Persian Gulf.
[
The Euphrates is the eastern most border of the land God promised to Abraham.
(Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 1:7-8)
]
In the vision of the 6th Trumpet we read about the 200,000 million member
cavalry that is unleashed from the Euphrates. (Rev 9:13-15)
The plague on the river causes it to dry up.
Revelation 16:12-14 (MSG)
It dried up to nothing. The dry riverbed became a fine roadbed for the kings from the East. From the mouths of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet I saw three foul demons crawl out—they looked like frogs. These are demon spirits performing signs. They're after the kings of the whole world to get them gathered for battle on the Great Day of God, the Sovereign-Strong.
Let’s see if we can make sense of this.
During the time John wrote the Euphrates was the border line between the Roman
Empire and the Parthians.
[
Here’s another point of interest the Parthians major tactic in battle was the use of their archer mounted cavalry. Rev 9:13-15
]
John would have been aware of two great civilizations,
the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire.
The Kings of the East is probably a reference to the Parthians.
The dividing line between the two empires dries up,
There is no difference between the two empires both are under
the influence of the Dragon.
Recall that we learned that by the 6th event the lines of loyalty are clearly
drawn. There is no mistaking where you allegiance is.
You are either a follower of Jesus,
Or a follower of the Beast.
I think this is John’s way of saying no one is exempt from the conflict.
We had frogs show up in Exodus 8:5-11.
They are unclean animals in light of Leviticus 11:10.
Their croaking is “the symbol of meaningless speech”
(Barclay's Daily Study Bible)
Out of the Lamb’s mouth comes truth,
Therefore lies come out of the mouths of the unholy trinity.
Through signs and wonders and propaganda
the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet exert an evil influence upon the
kings of the earth and gather them to do battle against God in a
winner take all show down. (Psalms 2:2)
It’s what one would expect in Apocalyptic literature,
The full force of evil facing off with the full force of good,
In one final dramatic collision.
[
We have already seen that that beast is to be identified with the provincial organization for the enforcement of emperor worship. The false prophet, then, stands for the organization which seeks to make men worship the emperor and abandon the worship of Jesus Christ. (Barclay's Daily Study )
]
After the 6th there is an interlude.
During an interlude John tells us what is happening in the Church.
This is the shortest of all the interludes.
Jesus says to his faithful
Revelation 16:15 (MSG)
"Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed."
(Rev 3:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-9)
This again is an admonition to be ready, to except the second coming at any time.
Don’t take a vacation from being steadfast in your faith.
Don’t join into any dalliances with the ways of the world.
Don’t let down your guard for a moment.
Don’t “lose sight of the ultimate issues of life and to assume that security is
to be found on the human level instead of in terms of one’s
relationship to God.” (Ladd, p. 215)
[Don’t be like the church at Laodicea—Rev 3:18]
Instead use Holy Spirit given discernment to cut through the propaganda of
this world so that you can expose it for what it is, the lies of Satan.
In preparation for the 7th Bowl we read
Revelation 16:16 (MSG)
The frog-demons gathered the kings together at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
The kings of the earth are all the little anti-Christ’s,
All those heads of secular governments that defy God and persecute His
people.
The unholy Trinity gathers them all in a place called Armageddon.
[
“Armageddon would mean the city of Megiddo;
Harmagedon would mean the mountain. It is most likely that the latter form is
right, and yet the plain seems a much more likely battle-ground than the
mountains. But there is another strand to add to this. When Ezekiel was
describing the last struggle with Gog and Magog, he said that the final victory
would be won in the mountains of Israel (Eze
38:8;
Eze 38:21;
Eze 39:2,
4;
Eze 39:17). It may well be that John spoke of the Mount of Megiddo to bring
his story into line with the ancient prophecy.
By far the most likely view is that the word is Har-Magedon, and that it
describes the region near Megiddo in the Plain of Esdraelon which was perhaps
the most storied of all battle-grounds in Jewish history.”
(Barclay's Daily Study Bible )
“The exact location of the valley of Armageddon is unclear because there is no mountain called “Meggido.” However, since Har can also mean “hill,” the most likely location is the hill country surrounding the Plain of Meggido, some sixty miles north of Jerusalem. More than two hundred battles have been fought in that region. The Plain of Megiddo and the nearby Plain of Esdraelon will be the focal point for the Battle of Armageddon, which will rage the entire length of Israel as far south as the Edomite city of Bozrah (Isaiah 63:1). The valley of Armageddon was famous for two great victories in Israel’s history: Barak’s victory over the Canaanites (Judges 4:15) and Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (Judges chapter 7). Armageddon was also the site for two great tragedies: the death of Saul and his sons (1 Samuel 31:8) and the death of King Josiah (2 Kings 23:29-30; 2 Chronicles 35:22).
(http://www.gotquestions.org/battle-Armageddon.html)
Find a map of modern day Israel. Make a rectangle with the lower left corner in Hafia, The top left corner just south of Akko, run a line between Akko and Nazareth to the Jordan River. From the Jordan run a line down to the borders of the West Bank and the state of Jordan, then back towards Hafia and you get a rough idea of where this valley is.
]
Now there are interpreters of this verse that teach that Armageddon refers to the
valley of Megiddo.
Locking this final confrontation in on a GPS co-ordinate.
But we will do much better if we understand Armageddon to refer simply to the
final showdown between good and evil.
As we will see Armageddon will become
“symbolic for the final overthrow of all the forces of evil by
the might and power of God.” (Mounce, p. 302)
With the 7th event comes the end
Revelation 16:17-21 (MSG)
The seventh Angel poured his bowl into the air: From the Throne in the Temple came a shout, "Done!" followed by lightning flashes and shouts, thunder crashes and a colossal earthquake—a huge and devastating earthquake, never an earthquake like it since time began. The Great City split three ways, the cities of the nations toppled to ruin. Great Babylon had to drink the wine of God's raging anger—God remembered to give her the cup! Every island fled and not a mountain was to be found. Hailstones weighing a ton plummeted, crushing and smashing men and women as they cursed God for the hail, the epic disaster of hail.
John is going to reveal more to us about the 6th and 7th events,
but I think we have enough to attempt to see what John has
painted for us in all these series of sevens.
I want to start trying to see the big picture with considering the interludes and the
7th event.
I told you that between the 6th and the 7th events John tells us of the fate of the
church.
During the Seal interlude,
All those on earth who abide in Christ are sealed with the Mark of God’s
faithful. (Rev 7:3)
And the faithful in heaven shout an acclamation of salvation. (Rev 7:10)
During the Trumpet interlude
The witnessing Church is overcome and killed by the Beast. (Rev 11:7)
In a short time the Beast’s victory party is cut short.
Revelation 11:11-12 (NIV)
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
Please note that the church on the earth and the church in heaven are now united.
I told you if you are looking for what some call the “Rapture” of the Church,
It is during the interlude that it will occur.
I see this gathering up of the faithful as what occurs immediately before the
Second Coming.
If you recall I rearranged the material in Chapter 14,
Always something to be suspicious of when a teacher rearranges Biblical
material.
I placed Rev 14:14-16 the vision of the grain harvest,
Which I again said symbolizes the faithful being gathered up by Jesus.
Before the second vision of the 144,000 Rev 14:1-5
Which reinforces the notion that just prior to Christ’s return Jesus draws the
faithful to Himself.
If you allow this then what we have is a picture of the Church united.
No longer are there faithful on earth and faith in heaven.
Now all of God’s people stand before the throne singing a new
song.
During the Bowl interlude all we have is a statement from Jesus.
Revelation 16:15 (NIV)
“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."
Jesus is again telling his disciples to live ready.
To conduct the affairs of their life with a sense of expectancy.
Now lets consider the end, with the 7th event comes the completion.
This is what John has painted for us so far.
Revelation 8:1 (NIV)
When he opened the seventh seal,
there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
Revelation 11:15 (NIV)
The seventh
angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
"The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and he will reign for ever and ever."
If chapters 12 through 15:4 where written as a series of sevens, the 7th event is the singing of those who are victorious over the Beast.
Revelation 15:2-4 (NIV)
They held
harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the
song of the Lamb:
"Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."
Revelation 16:17 (NIV)
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!"
Now there is more to come, Chapter 19 :11 through the end of the book,
but this is what we have so far.
I am persuaded that with the 7th event the
second coming of Christ occurs.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (NIV)
According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Let’s consider the 1st through 5th events.
With the seals we have the four horseman of the Apocalypse,
War, Famine and Death being lead forth by the Conqueror,
When the 5th seal is opened the martyrs cry out How much longer will
this go on?
I understand the Conqueror to be egoism.
Mans desire to be God, and because of this desire has lead
War, Famine and Death across the pages of history.
The first four trumpets herald ecological disaster upon the earth.
A third of the land, sea, fresh water and heavenly lights are
grievously effected.
All serve as warnings to the human race that things are not right between
them and their Creator, the one who made the land, seas, water and
stars.
But the warnings go unheeded,
man continues in defiance of God,
Bringing destruction upon himself.
The pain he inflicts upon himself just grows.
John also reveals to us that there is an enemy of mankind whose
seductions are only preludes to ultimate disaster.
This is represented by the locusts with the scorpion tails.
Then in chapters 12 John fully introduces the enemy of the human race.
Satan the dragon, desperately trying to destroy God plan to redeem man.
The Beast, Therion, from the Sea, the Anti-Christ,
Secular government that crushes all who do not give their
allegiance over to it.
The second Beast, the one from the earth, in Chapter 19 given the
name the False Prophet.
Religion used in support of the secular government to
control the people.
The world they influence man to create is called Babylon.
Everything that is wrong about the human race finds its home in her streets.
In Chapter 17 she is called the mother of prostitutes and abominations.
This is Godless human civilizations.
Then as we considered the bowls,
We see that unrepentant man has come to the end of God’s patience.
The infection in the soul of man becomes visible
He is corrupt from the inside out.
Mankind’s home, the earth turns against him.
As everything that supports his life is taken from him.
Before we move to the 6th event,
Let’s see how much of this madness touches true believers,
Those who both know about and know God,
Those who abide in Christ,
Who are living holy lives.
Living their lives to the full.
I believe that God’s people are protected from the events revealed in the 5th
And 6th event described in the vision of the Trumpets and Bowls.
The demonic locusts, the 200,000 million demonic horses can not
afflict God’s anointed.
The agony in the darkness doesn’t not effect those who
walk in the light.
Also believers would be spared the consequences of the 1st bowl,
The rotted soul.
Believer’s walk through the end times like Jesus;
a journey of love that leads to death,
which leads to a Resurrection and victory.
When the 6th event occurs everything goes from bad to worse.
Civilization collapses. (Rev 6:15)
There is death everywhere (Rev 9:18)
And unrepentant man is going to face off with God one
final time.
What we see here in this picture is an indictment against the human race.
Way back in the Garden of Eden,
Man choose to be the arbitrator of his own morality.
Eating from the tree of the knowledge of God and Evil,
Rejecting any standard of truth except what works in the
Moment,
He chooses what is right and what is wrong.
Eventually such a system must collapse in upon itself.
Egoism, that propensity to put ones own interests ahead of all else,
to be served, to rule, to conquer, to exploit, to enslave, to kill,
breeds exactly what John has written about.
Galatians 6:7-8 (NIV)
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
You’ve got the big picture.
You should now be able to answer the question we’ve been asking for
yourself?
Am I living in the end-time?
I am of the opinion that when you let the Book of Revelation speak for itself,
You must conclude that you are living in the end-times.
I believe that the end-times started on that first Easter Sunday morning.
The Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Marks the beginning of the end.
With great expectation we await the consummation of His kingdom,
Which begins with His parousia, His second coming.
You know the event that marks his imminent return.
That event with special caveats we’ve called the Rapture of the
Church.
The times in which we live are the times between the resurrection and the
second coming.
Those times are the end times.
Since we are living in the end times, how should we live?
We know that the way the Church is to go through the end-time is by following the
example of Jesus.
Ferocious love, that brings the kingdom to others, regardless the cost,
is the way all those in Christ are to live their lives.
We’ve called living this way:
Living a holy life, living life to the full, abiding in Christ,
A fully devoted follower of Christ,
Keeping in step with the Spirit.
Being sanctified.
The doorway into this way of living is the ABC’s of the faith.
Accept the fact that you won’t make it through the end-time on your own.
Believe that Jesus is the only guide who can lead you out of the city.
Commit yourself to following Jesus out.
Maturity in your journey, spiritual adult hood occurs when you have battled with
egoism, your selfish way of living, and ask God to rectify your attitudes
from being self-centered and ego controlled, to Christ centered and
spirit controlled.
So here we all are stuck in the End Times.
The question I leave you with today: Are you on the journey out?