Revelation 16:1-2; Plagues Like Those in Egypt (2)

Revelation 16:1-2 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and uponthem which worshipped his image. 

First, as sinners harden their hearts, reject God’s warnings, refuse to repent, and even curse the God of heaven (Revelation 9:21; 16:9, 11), they face doom and destruction. Truly God’s judgments are just (v7).

Revelation 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. 

Revelation 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 

Revelation 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. 

Revelation 16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous arethy judgments. 

Second, the seven bowls form the last cycle, which needs no interlude as was the case in the preceding cycles of seals and trumpets respectively (Revelation 7:1–17; 10:1–11:14).

Revelation 7:1-17 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there weresealed an hundred andforty andfour thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph weresealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin weresealed twelve thousand. After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and aboutthe elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, beunto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

Revelation 10:1-11 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow wasupon his head, and his face wasas it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and hisleft footon the earth, And cried with a loud voice, as whena lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go andtake the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. 

Revelation 11:1-14 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty andtwo months. And I will give powerunto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred andthreescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall liein the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. 

Third, after the outpouring of the sixth and seventh bowls, John shows in detail how the followers of the Antichrist face the severity of their punishment (chapters 17 and 18).

Fourth, a degree of overlapping seems to allude to a measure of simultaneity in the pouring out of the bowls. For example, the boils of the first plague are still active at the time of the fifth plague (v11). This suggests that at the end of time, haste is God’s mode for accomplishing his judgments.

And last, although the parallel of trumpets and bowls is striking, we would not expect John to present mere repetition without progress. The Apocalypse from beginning to end reveals progressive parallelism.

 Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Vol. 20, p. 439). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.