THE BOWL JUDGMENTS (Revelation 16:1–21)
Some writers have seen these bowl judgments as repeating the seal and trumpet judgments. There are similarities, but many more differences, especially in the degree of devastation. The bowls are universal, more intense than the previous judgments, and are called “the last” judgments (15:1), showing they do not go back in time to repeat earlier plagues.
The First Bowl
"Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image." (Rev. 16:1–2)
As judgments began to unfold, John “heard a loud voice from the temple.” The startling impact of loud voices is heard twenty times in Revelation. The Greek word translated “loud” appears six times in this chapter (usually translated “great”), again emphasizing the magnitude of the judgments recorded here. His loud voice is heard again after the seventh bowl is poured out (verse 17).
The seven angels were given the seven bowls containing the final judgments. God commands all seven of them, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” As are all the judgments, the seven bowls will be supernatural acts of God. The text does not accept a natural, scientific explanation, as some commentators propose. The judgments will hit far too rapidly for any explanation other than that they come from God Himself. In fact, there is only a brief pause, just long enough for one of the angels to affirm that the bowl judgments are just and righteous (verses 5–7).
Responding immediately to God’s command, “the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth.” As shallow saucers, their contents are not slowly, gradually poured out, but dumped all at once. The sloshing out of the first bowl results in a sore that afflicts people. “Loathsome and malignant” translate two general Greek words for evil. Used together, they stress that the sores will be festering, painful, and incurable. These sores will bring unrelieved physical torment to those who have rejected Jesus Christ.
The sores will not affect believers, whose names have been “written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain” (13:8). They will come only upon those who chose to follow Antichrist, received his mark to show their allegiance (13:16–17), and worshiped his image (13:12).
The Second Bowl
"The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died." (Rev. 16:3)
One of the reasons the bowl judgments will be so devastating is that their effects are cumulative. Before the sores of the first bowl could heal, “the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died.” This judgment is similar to the first plague in Egypt (Exodus 7:20–24) and the second trumpet judgment (8:8–9), but this time the effects will be much more intense. Since the oceans cover approximately 70 percent of the earth’s surface, the effects of this judgment will be worldwide.
Exactly what supernatural means God will use to destroy the oceans is not revealed, but the effects will resemble those of the phenomenon known as the red tide, concentrated, toxic species of algae kill higher forms of marine life, including shellfish, fish, and marine mammals. The stench from the dead, decaying bodies of every living thing in the sea (only partial death occurred at the second trumpet) will be unimaginable. The transforming of the world’s seas into putrid pools of stinking death will be graphic testimony to the wickedness of man and a reversal to the day when God originally gave life to all sea creatures (Genesis 1:21).
The Third Bowl
"Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” (Rev. 16:4–7)
When the third angel poured out his bowl, the same appalling judgment that affected the oceans was visited on the rivers and the springs, as they too “became blood.” By the time the third bowl is poured out, freshwater will be in critically short supply. The third trumpet judgment (8:10–11) will result in the poisoning of one third of the world’s freshwater. Additionally, the two witnesses will “have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying [the last three and a half years of the tribulation]; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood” (11:6). The temporary restraining of the earth’s winds (7:1) will also cause drought. With no wind to move clouds and weather systems, the hydrological cycle will be disrupted and no rain will fall.
The destruction of what is left of the earth’s freshwater will cause unthinkable hardship and suffering. The scene is so unimaginably horrible that people will wonder how a God of compassion, mercy, and grace could send such a judgment. And so there is a brief interlude in the pouring out of the judgments while an angel speaks in God’s defense.
Appropriately, it is the angel of the waters who defends God’s righteous judgment in song in 15:3–4. In contrast to the curses and blasphemies of men (verses 9, 11), the angel declares, “Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things.” God’s judgment of sinners is unquestionably righteous because He is the Holy One. And although His wrath is terrifying and deadly, it is a just and appropriate response to sinners’ rejection of Him.
Fittingly, those who have spilled so much innocent blood will be given blood to drink. In the angel’s chilling words, “They deserve it.” God is just and holy and will execute vengeance for His people (Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30). Having willfully rejected the knowledge of the truth (Hebrews 10:26), there is nothing left for the unbelieving world but to receive what they deserve, “a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:27).
Then the apostle John heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” The personified altar echoes the sentiments of the angel with words similar to 15:3. It may be that the very altar under which the saints were earlier seen praying for vengeance (6:9–11) now affirms that God’s true and righteous judgments are the answer to those prayers.
The Fourth Bowl
"The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory." (Rev. 16:8–9)
In contrast to the first three angels, who poured out their bowls on the earth, the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun. Searing heat exceeding anything in human experience will scorch men so severely that it will seem that the atmosphere is on fire. Those who will be scorched with the sun’s fierce heat are the same “people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image” (verse 2).
Another serious consequence of the sun’s intense heat will be the melting of the polar ice caps. The resulting rise in the oceans’ water level will inundate coastal regions, flooding areas miles inland with the noxious waters of the dead oceans. Widespread damage and loss of life will accompany that flooding, adding further to the unspeakable misery of the devastated planet. Transportation by sea will become impossible.
One would think that the unparalleled disasters of the first four bowl judgments would cause people to repent. Instead “they blasphemed the name of God.” Until this point, only the Antichrist has been described as blaspheming (13:1, 5–6); here the world adopts his evil character. Neither grace nor wrath will move their wicked hearts to repentance (cf. 9:20–21; 16:11). In 11:13 the earthquake brought some to repentance, but not in this series of judgments. Such blind, blasphemous hardness of heart is incredible in the face of the devastating judgments they will be undergoing. But like their evil leader, Antichrist, they will continue to hate God and refuse to repent, which would give glory to God as a just and righteous Judge of sin (cf. Joshua 7:19–25).
