Welcome back to our study of Revelation chapters 15 and 16. In this second of a three-part series, we’re going to look at the first four of the seven bowl judgments. They are far worse than the seven trumpet judgments. They are the full, undiluted wrath of God. There’s no need to delay. Let’s get into this!

Second in a Three-Part Series
By Karen Thompson

Revelation Chapter 15, 16

The First Four of the Seven Plagues

Rev. 15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The scenario changed again. John begins by saying, “The temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened.” This time instead of seeing angels coming out of the temple, the whole temple opened up. And when it opened up, John saw “seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles” (v. 6). The seven angels are dressed in the usual garments that people in heaven wear, pure and white linen. But what is different is that they are wearing golden girdles around their breast area. Jesus also wore a golden girdle around His breast area when John first saw Him standing in the midst of the seven lamp stands (Rev. 1:13).

Verse six says when the seven angels came out of the temple, they each had one of the seven plagues. But then it says in verse seven, “And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.” In addition to the plague, one of the four beasts gave them a golden vial full of the wrath of God. A vial is a broad shallow bowl. These seven plagues are referred to as the bowl judgments. The bowls are full of the wine made from the grapes of wrath that the angels harvested and pressed in the great winepress of God’s wrath. The wine is the blood that flowed over the winepress that rose up as high as the horse’s bridal and flowed for 184 miles! It’s the drink of the wine of God’s wrath. After that, verse eight says the temple was filled with the glory and power of God. No one was able to enter the temple until all the seven plagues were administered.

THE SEVEN PLAGUES

Now we’ve come to chapter 16 where we see the seven angels administer the plagues and the wrath of God which are contained in the seven bowls. As mentioned before, the bowl judgments are basically the same as the trumpet judgments. Like the trumpet judgments, the bowl judgments have to do with 1) the earth, 2) the sea, 3) the rivers and water sources, 4) the sun, 5) bringing darkness, 6) the Euphrates River, 7) making a pronouncement.

There is, however, one difference between the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments. The bowl judgments are the full strength of God’s wrath. Revelation chapter 14 says those who worship the beast and receive his mark will have to “drink of the wine of God’s indignation and wrath, poured undiluted into the cup of His anger” (v. 10 Amp.). The bowl judgments are undiluted. They will be the undiluted full strength of God’s wrath.

By contrast, the trumpet judgments were diluted in strength and were only one third the strength of the bowl judgments. We know they are only one third the strength of the bowl judgments because the damage done was always one third: one third of the trees were destroyed, a third of the sea turned into blood as well as one third of the creatures in the sea died, one third of the rivers and springs became bitter, the light from the sun, moon, and stars was diminished by one third, and one third of Antichrist’s men were killed. Let’s now look at the seven bowl judgments and see what the full undiluted wrath of God looks like.

The First Vial Poured Out on the Earth

Rev. 16:1 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. 2 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 upon them which worshipped his image.

In verse one John wrote, “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.” The seven angels were given the command to empty out their bowls.

Verse two tells us about the first plague that is poured out: “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 upon them which worshiped his image.” The first angel poured out his bowl upon the earth. The result is that a “noisome and grievous sore” fell upon those who received the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. The word translated “noisome” is the Greek word kakos which means troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, baneful.¹ The word translated “grievous” is the Greek word poneros and it means to be diseased.² This plague will produce troublesome, injurious, disease-like sores.

As a reminder, the trumpet judgments will take place at the middle of Daniel’s 70^th week. The bowl judgments will take place at the end of Daniel’s 70^th week, three- and one-half years after the trumpet judgments are poured out. I wanted to remind you of what will happen when the fourth trumpet judgment is dispensed. The fourth trumpet judgment affected the lights of heaven so that a third the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars did not shine (Rev. 8:12). We talked about the example in history of the year 536 AD when the light of the sun was blocked from shining its full strength for a period that lasted between 18 months to two years. One of the many consequences of the sun not shining was for people to become susceptible to disease. A few years later, the bubonic plague appeared in Europe and spread throughout the world. The plague produced terribly painful open sores, known as buboes. It sounds like the same kind of sore that will be the result of the first bowl judgment: “there fell a noisome and grievous sore.” No doubt these sores will be a result of people becoming deficient in vitamin D as a result of the sun not shining for so long.

Comparison: The first trumpet judgment was poured out on the earth, resulting in a third part of the trees being burned up. The first bowl judgment is also poured out on the earth, resulting in disease-like sores falling on all those that worship the beast.

The Second Vial Poured Out on the Sea

Rev. 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

In verse three, we see the second angel pouring out his bowl upon the sea, and the sea turned into blood. Not just blood, but “it became as the blood of a dead man,” which most likely means it will be rotten and foul smelling. The last part of verse three says, “and every living soul died in the sea.”

Comparison:  If you recall, when the second trumpet judgment was administered, a great mountain fell into the sea and only one-third of the sea became blood and only one-third of the creatures died and one-third of the ships were destroyed (Rev. 8:8). But here we see the full strength of the bowl judgment resulted in all the sea turning into blood and every living thing in the sea died. You can definitely see how the trumpet judgment was diluted compared to the full strength of the bowl judgment.

The Third Vial Poured Out on the Rivers and Fountains

Rev. 16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Now we come to the third bowl judgment. John said, “the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood” (v. 4). This time, all the rivers and fountains of water will become blood. All the water will be contaminated. Not only will the sea turn into blood, but the rivers and fountains of waters will turn into blood as well.

When the third bowl was poured out, John heard a conversation between two angels about this third judgment. John heard the angel of the waters say, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy” (vv. 5–6). Then an angel out of the altar agreed with the angel of the water and said, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” These angels acknowledge that God is righteous and just in giving Antichrist’s kingdom this blood because they themselves will be responsible for the spilling of much blood. It is blood for blood. This is a measure-for-measure judgment.

Comparison: The third trumpet judgment was also poured out upon the rivers and fountains of water when a burning star fell from heaven and it landed on one third part of the rivers and the fountains of water which resulted in one third of the sea and fountains to become poisoned (Rev. 8:10). In the third bowl judgment, all the water in the rivers and fountains of water will turn into blood.

The Fourth Vial Poured Out on the Sun

Rev. 16: And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 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.

Next, we see the fourth bowl judgment is poured out on the sun. John said, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire” (v. 8). In verse nine, John said, “men were scorched with great heat.” Apparently, rising temperatures will be unbearable. This part of the world already has high temperatures, so one can only imagine what it means by the phrase “scorched with great heat.”

Let’s look at the last part of verse nine: “…and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.” Incredibly, through all the torment, they won’t repent. They will continue to blaspheme God. This is extraordinary because these people on the earth will all have heard the messages of the three angels God sent to warn the inhabitants of earth. They refused to heed their warnings and are now experiencing the wrath of God. Knowing this, they refuse to repent. They will have the quintessential “hard heart.”

Comparison: The fourth trumpet and the fourth bowl judgment both have to do with the sun. The fourth trumpet judgment affected the light of the sun, moon, and stars so the light they gave forth was lessoned to one third. The fourth bowl judgment will cause the sun’s heat to intensify to such a degree that it scorches.

Next post, we’ll look at the last of the seven bowl judgments.

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