Now we’re ready for the vials or bowls judgments, the last judgment program of the tribulation. As chapter 16 begins, John gets with the program and things go pretty fast. “Then I heard a mighty voice coming from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and empty out on the earth the seven bowls of God’s indignation.” (Verse 1) Most translations have “wrath” where I use “indignation above. The word is thumos and carries with it the idea of “an agitated condition of the feelings, an outburst of wrath from inward indignation” (Vines Expository Dictionary). Indignation is an emotion or passion that comes from something viewed to be unjust or unworthy. This is different from orge, usually translated “anger”. Thumos is a temporary emotion, where orge is not. This word choice shows God’s attitude towards a people who have only increased their resistance towards Him in the face of His past judgments. So, He is dealing with them in the harshest of ways to end this once and for all.
This is the first bowl judgment. “So the first angel went and emptied his bowl on the earth, and foul-smelling, painful sores came on all the people who were marked with the stamp of the beast and upon all who worshipped his image.” (Verse 2) You will find the parallel plague in Exodus 9:8-12. Verse 9 explains what happened with reference to the sores. The KJV says, “shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man”. Here the word “boil” is shechin, a severe inflammation causing one to have fever, the affected part becoming a burning pustule. Then, “blains” is ababuoth, which means, “to burst forth”. These are large, painful, pus-filled, smelly, open sores. And can you see the contrast this judgment creates? These sores come only on those who have given their allegiance to the Antichrist.
“The second angel emptied his bowl into the sea and it turned into blood like that of a corpse, and every living thing in the sea died.” (Verse 3) Again, “the sea” is a particular sea, in context to everything else that has been explained already, the Mediterranean Sea. This is similar to the 2nd trumpet judgment (Revelation 8:8-9), but instead of only one-third of the sea being affected, now it’s all of it. The blood of a corpse is both thick and foul smelling. Now a major food source is completely taken away.
“Then the third angel emptied his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood.” (Verse 4) Again, a parallel in found in Exodus 7:19-24. When you read this passage you’ll see that all the fresh water (even including what had been drawn and taken into homes for use) was turned to thick, foul smelling blood. So, now there is no water to drink.
There is one question that comes to my mind that I cannot answer for sure. In the first bowl judgment it is clear that the sores affect only those who have rejected God and are following the beast. In the second all the sea is turned to blood and everything dies. In the third all the fresh water is turned to blood. My question is, what about all those who have not followed the beast? They don’t have painful sores, but do they have water to drink? If you look at the plagues in Exodus, at least in some, the Israelites were not affected (Exodus 9:26, 10:23).
Now we see this in verses 5-7, “And I heard the angel of the waters say, Righteous are You Who are and were and always shall be, O Holy One, because You have judged them this way! They have poured out the blood of Your saints and of the prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They’re getting what they deserve! And I heard another out of the altar answer, Yes, Lord God Omnipotent, Your judgments are true and righteous!” What can I say? Amen and amen!
“The fourth angel emptied his bowl on the sun and it was allowed to burn people with fierce heat. And they were severely burned by the fiery heat, and blasphemed the name of God, Who had brought these plagues upon them. And they refused to change their ways or recognize God’s authority over them.” (Verses 8-9) In the 4th trumpet judgment (Revelation 8:12) God partially darkens the sun. Here He intensifies it. Try if you can to imagine the physical pain experienced by those who have open, painful, smelly sores all over their body, are maybe a little hungry, very thirsty and now are dealing with severe sunburn.
“And the fifth angel emptied his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom was plunged into total darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for the excruciating pain. And yet they continued to blaspheme the God of heaven because of their great anguish and the sores, and they still refused to change their ways.” (Verses 10-11) John specifically tells us this plague is limited to the kingdom of the Antichrist. This is yet another reference to tell us these judgments are not worldwide as some suppose, but limited to the old Roman Empire territory as previously discussed.
There is an interesting term used to describe people’s condition at this time. Verse 10 says people “gnawed their tongues for the excruciating pain”. The word translated “gnawed” is masaomai meaning, “to bite or chew”. This is probably describing the general condition of these people who are experiencing so much mental and emotional distress, along with terrible physical pain, that they go into convulsions.
“Then the sixth angel emptied his bowl on the mighty river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to make ready a road for the coming of the kings to the east.” (Verse 12) Now we’re getting ready for Armageddon and the end of the tribulation. It may have occurred to you that this verse says the “water” of the river was dried up. But you remember that the rivers have been turned to blood. If you also remember the description of this plague in Exodus 7, verse 21 tells us it lasted for 7 days. In fact, all the plagues in Egypt probably lasted only 3 to 4 weeks all together. We don’t know how long the affects of the third bowl judgment lasted, but it is evident that at some point the blood was turned back to water again as in Egypt earlier. This prepares the way for the kings of the east to come to Palestine to join the Antichrist at Armageddon. There will be more on that later.