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Revelation 16

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The Seven Bowls of Wrath Begin 1–11

1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go ye, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God into the earth. ​
2
And the first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men that had the mark of the beast, and that worshipped his image. ​
3
And the second poured out his bowl into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, even the things that were in the sea. ​
4
And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and it became blood.
5
And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge: ​
6
for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy. ​
7
And I heard the altar saying, Yea, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. ​
8
And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire.
9
And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory. ​
10
And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, ​
11
and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.

The Sixth Bowl and Armageddon 12–16

12
And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. ​
13
And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: ​
14
for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. ​
15
(Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) ​
16
And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon. ​

The Seventh Bowl: The Final Judgment 17–21

17
And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done: ​
18
and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men upon the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. ​
19
And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. ​
20
And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. ​
21
And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down out of heaven upon men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Revelation 16

Verse 1

pour out the vials of the wrath of God — The 'vials' (phiale, a shallow bowl) are the 'seven golden vials full of the wrath of God' given in 15:7. The voice comes 'out of the temple', which was filled with smoke so that none could enter 'till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled' (15:8). Ps 79:6 had asked, 'Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee'.

Verse 2

a noisome and grievous sore — Helkos, an ulcer or sore, the word of Lazarus's sores in Luke 16:21. It recalls the 'boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast' of Ex 9:9–10. The sore falls only on 'the men which had the mark of the beast' and worshipped his image, the people described in 13:16–17 and 14:9.

Verse 3

as the blood of a dead man — The first Egyptian plague turned the river to blood so that 'the fish that was in the river died' (Ex 7:20–21). Here 'every living soul died in the sea', where the second trumpet had killed 'the third part of the creatures which were in the sea' (8:9). The limit of one third is gone.

Verse 5

the angel of the waters — Angels are given charge of elements elsewhere in Revelation: the four winds (7:1) and fire (14:18). The waters have just become blood (vv.3–4), and the angel confirms the verdict: 'Thou art righteous', dikaios, as 'the LORD is righteous in all his ways' (Ps 145:17). The title 'which art, and wast' echoes 1:4 and 1:8.

Verse 6

thou hast given them blood to drink — 'Shed' is ekcheo, the verb translated 'pour out' in v.1: those who poured out the blood of saints and prophets are given blood to drink. Isa 49:26 has the same penalty for oppressors, 'they shall be drunken with their own blood'. 'Worthy' (axios) is the word used of the saints in 3:4, here turned to judgment.

Verse 7

another out of the altar — The altar is where 'the souls of them that were slain for the word of God' were seen in 6:9, and their question was how long the Lord would delay to judge. The answer is 'true and righteous are thy judgments', words repeated at 19:2. They also echo the song of 15:3, 'just and true are thy ways'.

Verse 9

they repented not to give him glory — 'Give glory' is the command of the first angel in 14:7, 'Fear God, and give glory to him', which is refused here. The men 'blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues', and they did the same in vv.11 and 21. After the earthquake of 11:13 the survivors 'gave glory to the God of heaven'; here there is only blasphemy.

Verse 10

the seat of the beast — Thronos, the throne the dragon gave to the beast with 'his power, and his seat, and great authority' (13:2). 'Full of darkness' (skotoo) and 'gnawed' (massaomai) each occur only here in the New Testament. The darkness recalls Egypt's, 'darkness which may be felt' (Ex 10:21–23).

Verse 12

the great river Euphrates — The river already seen in 9:14, where four angels were bound. 'Dried up' is xeraino, the word rendered 'ripe' for the harvest in 14:15. 'Kings of the east' is literally 'kings from the rising of the sun' (Isa 41:25). The Euphrates is also the boundary of the land promised to Abram (Gen 15:18), and Jer 51:36 says of Babylon, 'I will dry up her sea'.

Verse 13

three unclean spirits like frogs — Batrachos, a frog, found only here in the New Testament; frogs were the second plague of Egypt (Ex 8:6). The three mouths are the dragon (12:3), the beast (13:1) and the false prophet, 'that wrought miracles before him' (19:20), who is the beast from the earth in 13:11–14 and 'spake as a dragon'.

Verse 14

spirits of devils, working miracles — 'Miracles' is semeia, signs, the word of 13:13, 'he doeth great wonders'. The spirits go 'unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world' (oikoumene, as in 12:9, where the dragon 'deceiveth the whole world'), 'to gather them'. The gathering is seen again in 19:19 and 20:8, 'to gather them together to battle'.

Verse 15

Behold, I come as a thief — Christ's own words, as in 3:3 and Matt 24:43–44. This is the third of the seven beatitudes in the book (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). 'Watcheth' is gregoreo, the verb of Matt 24:42. The 'garments' recall the counsel of 3:18, 'white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear'.

Verse 16

Armageddon — The name is given 'in the Hebrew tongue', as 'Abaddon' is in 9:11, and occurs only here. It is usually read as Har-Megiddo, 'mount of Megiddo'. Megiddo is where 'the kings of Canaan' fought (Judg 5:19), where Josiah was slain (2 Kgs 23:29), and where Zech 12:11 places a great mourning, 'in the valley of Megiddon'.

Verse 17

It is done — The voice comes 'from the throne', and the same words are spoken by the one on the throne at 21:6, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega'. The seventh bowl goes 'into the air', which Eph 2:2 calls the realm of 'the prince of the power of the air'. The temple voice also speaks at v.1, so the series begins and ends with it.

Verse 18

a great earthquake — Earlier earthquakes come at 6:12, 8:5, 11:13 and 11:19; this is the last and greatest. 'Such as was not since men were upon the earth' echoes Dan 12:1, 'a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation', and the hail on Egypt, 'such as there was none like it' (Ex 9:24). 'Voices, and thunders, and lightnings' are those of the throne in 4:5.

Verse 19

great Babylon came in remembrance before God — 'The great city' is named as Babylon, and 17:18 says 'the woman which thou sawest is that great city'. 'Remembrance' (mnaomai) is answered in 18:5, 'God hath remembered her iniquities'. The 'cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath' is the cup of 14:10; both 'wrath' words (thumos and orge) appear.

Verse 20

every island fled away — The sixth seal had 'every mountain and island… moved out of their places' (6:14); here they flee and are 'not found'. At the great white throne 'the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them' (20:11), using the same two verbs, 'fled' and 'found'.

Verse 21

the weight of a talent — Talantiaios, a word found only here, from talanton, the talent, a heavy measure of weight. The hail recalls Egypt's 'thunder and hail' (Ex 9:23–24) and the 'great stones from heaven' at Beth-horon (Josh 10:11). The men 'blasphemed God', as they did in vv.9 and 11; this is the third time.