16
1 And I heard a loud voice from the sanctuary saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the bowls of God's fury on the earth.”
The first bowl
2 So off went the first one and poured out his bowl on the earth, and a foul and malignant ulcer* Even now a chip the size of a grain of rice is being planted under the skin of volunteers. The battery contains a substance that, if it leaks out of the chip, will produce “a foul and malignant ulcer”. Notice that ‘ulcer’ is singular, one per person, precisely those who have the ‘mark’. A word to the wise… appeared in the people who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.
The second bowl
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood, like a dead person's; so every living soul in the sea died.† The resulting stench would qualify as a plague of reasonable severity.
The third bowl
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “How just You are! The One who is and who was, the holy One, because You have judged these things. 6 Because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink.‡ That is right. Where are people going to find water to drink, let alone for washing, etc.? They deserve it!” 7 And I heard one from the altar saying: “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty! Your judgings are true and just!”
The fourth bowl
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was granted to him to burn the people with fire. 9 So the people were burned with severe burns, and they blasphemed the name of God, who has authority over these plagues. And they did not repent to give Him glory.§ They are no longer pretending that God does not exist, but they refuse to submit to Him, so they have no excuse.
The fifth bowl
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the Beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness; so they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.* Apparently this is a different kind of darkness, evidently quite painful. 11 And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains, and because of their ulcers; yet they did not repent of their deeds.
The sixth bowl
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way for the kings from the sun's rising might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 (“Watch out, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who watches and guards his clothes,† So what might the “clothes” be? Presumably these are spiritual clothes, perhaps having to do with our walk with God, maintaining our personal sanctity or holiness, ‘without which no one will see the Lord’. “Watch” and “guard” are up to us—watch out for and guard against the world's values. so that he not walk about naked and they see his shame.”)‡ Verse 15 is an interjection from the glorified Christ. 16 So he gathered them to the place called in Hebrew, Armagedon.
The seventh bowl
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a great voice came out of the sanctuary of heaven, from the Throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 and there were lightnings and thunders and noises. And there was a tremendous earthquake, a terribly severe earthquake such as had not occurred since mankind existed on the earth. 19 So the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.§ Such a monstrous earthquake will doubtless produce monstrous tsunamis which could well inundate many coastal cities—between the earth and the water the destruction will be massive. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath. 20 And every island fled, and mountains were not found. 21 And huge hailstones, weighing about a talent,* That would be around 90 pounds each (a Roman talent = 93.75 pounds). The surviving people are ‘punch-drunk’ by now, but the hailstones are so incredible that they provoke another round of blasphemy. Such hailstones can destroy any normal dwelling. fell out of the sky on the people; and the people blasphemed God on account of the plague of the hail, because its plague was exceedingly severe.

*16:2 Even now a chip the size of a grain of rice is being planted under the skin of volunteers. The battery contains a substance that, if it leaks out of the chip, will produce “a foul and malignant ulcer”. Notice that ‘ulcer’ is singular, one per person, precisely those who have the ‘mark’. A word to the wise…

†16:3 The resulting stench would qualify as a plague of reasonable severity.

‡16:6 That is right. Where are people going to find water to drink, let alone for washing, etc.?

§16:9 They are no longer pretending that God does not exist, but they refuse to submit to Him, so they have no excuse.

*16:10 Apparently this is a different kind of darkness, evidently quite painful.

†16:15 So what might the “clothes” be? Presumably these are spiritual clothes, perhaps having to do with our walk with God, maintaining our personal sanctity or holiness, ‘without which no one will see the Lord’. “Watch” and “guard” are up to us—watch out for and guard against the world's values.

‡16:15 Verse 15 is an interjection from the glorified Christ.

§16:19 Such a monstrous earthquake will doubtless produce monstrous tsunamis which could well inundate many coastal cities—between the earth and the water the destruction will be massive.

*16:21 That would be around 90 pounds each (a Roman talent = 93.75 pounds). The surviving people are ‘punch-drunk’ by now, but the hailstones are so incredible that they provoke another round of blasphemy. Such hailstones can destroy any normal dwelling.

© 2016 Wilbur N. Pickering, ThM, PhD