Revelation 16:18; A Great Earthquake Such as Was Not Seen Since Men Were Upon Earth

Revelation 16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 

The seventh bowl is the final outpouring of God’s wrath on sinners in this present earth. After it Jesus will come and set up His millennial kingdom. At the end of that thousand-year period, there will be one final act of rebellion, which will be quickly crushed (20:7–10).

Revelation 20:7-10 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom isas the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

But that judgment will not take place in the world as we know it, for the earth will be changed dramatically before the kingdom arrives.

This final judgment of the present era will take place during the time when “the mystery of God should be finished” (Revelation 10:7). It is the last of the “seven last plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God is finished” (Revelation 15:1).

Revelation 10:7 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. 

Revelation 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. 

The seventh bowl will be the worst calamity in the world’s history, the most complete and devastating catastrophe the earth will ever experience. Its effects carry all the way to the establishment of the earthly kingdom of Christ. Like the fourth angel, the seventh angel did not dump his bowl on the earth, but poured it out … upon the air. Its first effects were on the earth’s atmosphere, as if God were cleansing the former domain of Satan and his demon hosts (Revelation 12:9). The earth (v2), the sea (v3), the waters (v4), the sun (v8), and finally the air are the targets of judgment.

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

As the angel dumped his bowl, a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne. The voice is that of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. His solemn declaration “It is done” announces the climax of the final Day of the Lord that will spread doom over the entire globe.

Revelation 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 

The perfect tense verb gegonen (it is done) describes a completed action with ongoing results. It is similar to Jesus’ final words from the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30). God’s judgment of Christ on Calvary provided salvation for repentant sinners; the judgment of the seventh bowl brings doom to unrepentant sinners.

The pouring out of the seventh bowl dramatically affected the atmosphere; there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. Like the seventh seal (Revelation 8:5) and the seventh trumpet (Revelation 11:19), the seventh bowl is introduced with the imagery of a violent thunderstorm. But those earlier storms were mere previews of the mighty storm of wrath that now bursts upon the earth.

Though the seventh bowl was dumped on the earth’s atmosphere, it will also have a devastating effect on the earth itself. God will punctuate this final judgment against sinners with an earthquake (cf. Isaiah 24:19–20; Haggai 2:6), just as He did His judgment of sin at Calvary (Matthew 27:51–54).

Isaiah 24:19-20 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 

Haggai 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; 

Matthew 27:51-54 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. 

This earthquake will be the most powerful one ever to strike the earth; John described it as a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. While there have always been and will continue to be local earthquakes (Matt. 24:7), this great earthquake will be unique in that God will shake the globe, as prophesied in Haggai 2:6 and Hebrews 12:26–27.

Hebrews 12:26-27 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 

The shaking will be so severe that it will renovate and reconfigure the earth in preparation for the millennial kingdom, restoring it to something like its pre-Flood condition (v20).

Revelation 16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 

 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2000). Revelation 12–22 (pp. 151–152). Chicago: Moody Press.