Revelation 16: Judgments and Their Recipients

Welcome Prayer Music Silence Revelation 16. part I February 4th 2018 Meat

Okay, so we left off finishing chapter 15, which was a preamble to the last of judgments to be poured out – the vials or bowls. Let’s re-read our text and then see what view best supports its contents.

The Bowls of Wrath

Revelation 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. 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. 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. 8 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. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Analyzing the Recipients of Judgments

Alright, back to verse one:

First and foremost, who is the recipient of the judgments in this chapter? The first fifteen chapters present a lot of evidence that the target of God’s wrath was Israel, or more specifically, the capital city of Jerusalem. However, some suggest that there may be evidence that Rome was the target going so far as to breaking Revelation up into essentially two sections with the Trumpet Judgments being meant for Israel and the bowl judgments and the bowl judgments are meant for the Roman Empire. However, total fulfilment believers like David Chilton, Kenneth Gentry, and others believe that first-century Israel is designated for judgment throughout the entire book (with the exception of judgment upon the beast that is described in Revelation chapter 13:10, 16:10, and 19:20).

Interpretation of "The Earth"

So we read here in verse 1:

Revelation 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.

In our study of Revelation thus far, we have suggested that many of the references to “the earth” in the book of RevelationA symbolic prophecy fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not a prediction of future global events. are not meant to be taken as worldwide in scope, but as dealing instead with the land of Israel/Palestine. There appears to be some twenty instances in the Revelation where this is proven. We also note, since we are talking about the bowl judgments that there are similarities to the trumpet judgments but there are some distinct differences.

FIRST, the effects of the trumpet judgments are often only partial (affecting one-third of the earth, trees, green grass, sea, ships, springs of water, the sun, moon, and stars–see Revelation 8:6-12), whereas the…

Understanding the Bowl Judgments

The effects of the bowl judgments are total. Revelation 15:1 told us last week that the bowls judgments are the seven last plagues. So it seems that “the trumpets describe the preliminary calamities that fall upon Israel during the Jewish War, but the bowls present plagues associated with the final and utter devastation of Jerusalem.”

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. This plague could be symbolic of the emotional or psychological pain the people experienced in this age, but there is evidence that literal boils and rashes were present due to the lack of proper sanitation in the besieged city of Jerusalem.

We have to remember, there were thousands of dead bodies and the streets were loaded with blood and sewage, making disease rampant and a perfect place for boils and perhaps skin inflammations like impetigo, or mersa (if it existed then). We also know that these judgments were used, in part, to cause people to return from their ways and so while the hour is late, there still seems to be a chance to reform. We will also see that in verse 11, the people who were still afflicted remained unrepentant of their sin—which was their rejection of Christ.

I think it’s also important to remember that the plagues in this first bowl judgment parallel the plagues that Moses brought down on Egypt in Exodus 9:8-12.

Parallel Judgments

• TRUMPET JUDGMENTS
• BOWL JUDGMENTS
• CORRESPONDING PLAGUES ON EGYPT

1. On the LAND; 1/3 earth, trees, grass burned (Revelation 8:7)
   On the LAND, becoming sores (Revelation 16:2)
   Boils (6th Plague: Exodus 9:8-12)
2. On the sea; 1/3 sea becomes blood, 1/3 sea creatures die, 1/3 ships destroyed (8:8-9)
   On the sea, becoming blood (16:3)
   Waters become blood (1st Plague: Ex. 7:17-21)
3. On the rivers and springs; 1/3 waters become wormwood (8:10-11)
   On rivers and springs, becoming blood (16:4-7)
   Waters become blood (1st Plague: Ex. 7:17-21)
4. 1/4 of sun, moon, and stars darkened (8:12)
   On the sun, causing it to scorch (16:8-9)
   Darkness (9th Plague: Ex. 10:21-23)
5. Demonic locusts tormenting men (9:1-12)
   On the throne of the Beast, causing darkness (16:10-11)
   Locusts (8th Plague: Ex. 10:4-20)
6. Army from Euphrates kills 1/3 mankind (9:13-21)
   On Euphrates, drying it up to make way for kings of the East; invasion of frog-demons; Armageddon (16:12-16)
   Invasion of frogs from river (2nd Plague: Ex. 8:2-4)
7. Voices, storm, earthquake, hail (11:15-19)
   On the air, causing storm, earthquake, and hail (16:17-21)
   Hail (7th Plague: Ex. 9:18-26)

Second Bowl: The Sea Becomes Blood

In Deuteronomy 28:27, 35 we read the following from Moses to the COI:

The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
Then seven verses later Moses adds:
The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
These were the punishments God promised to them if they were to become disobedient and unfaithful to His covenant.

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. Woooo! Woooo! I think this passage is really tough to explain on the surface for a Preterist. All a futurist has to say is: “Did this happen.” Let’s talk about it.

First notice the parallel with the first plague in Egypt, i.e. the Nile turning to blood in Exodus 7:17-21. However, the blood is not free-flowing, like a river or roaring sea with waves, it is like the blood in the body of a corpse, or dead man “clotted, coagulated and putrefying.”

Now, if we are to be literalists, then it's really hard to say anything other than, “No, this has not happened. Every soul in the seas on earth have not died.” However, if we take all the other evidence in the Book of Revelation that clearly points out that we are speaking of geographical and therefore limited destruction upon Judea, we can work with this passage.

So let me re-read the passage: 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. We have to ask, what sea?

The Sea as Symbolism in Historical Context

We have to ask: was this an actual sea or what this figurative? Some suppose it speaks of the activity in the brazen sea at the front of the temple. Others suggest that it is Judea as an emblem, and others the Dead Sea or Sea of Galilee, and speaks of all the humans whose bodies made it to its waters. I don’t think comparing Judea to a sea is fair since we have always likened water and seas to invading Gentile armies. And I think the brazen sea is a little bit of a stretch (but more viable than Judea), so I am left with the actual Seas of Judea.

Josephus writes of a battle that took place on the Sea of Galilee in which the Romans overtook the fleeing Jews in boats and massacred them in the water (this is found in his “Wars, III: 10:9). Here is one recitation of what happened in that day taken from historical summaries. “In early spring 67 AD, which was 3.5 years before Jerusalem’s final downfall, Vespasian first entered Judea with a 60,000-member army. In the campaign which was to follow, he destroyed at least 150,000 inhabitants of Galilee and Judea, along with many towns. One of the first towns Vespasian crushed was Joppa, because its inhabitants had provoked his men by their frequent piracies at sea. The Jews there tried to flee from Vespasian on their ships, but Vespasian was helped by a tremendous storm that blew in just as they began to flee. Their vessels were crushed against each other and against the rocks, and when this slaughter was complete more than 4,200 bodies were strewn along the coast and a very long stretch of the coast was stained with blood. (That is from a paper written by one Adam Maarchach).

The Symbolism of Blood in Historical Accounts

To me this is a reasonable answer to verse 2 and the sea although how the sea itself became as the coagulated blood of a dead man I cannot say. Perhaps the explanation can be found in translational differences. I say this because in Young’s Literal translation the passage reads: Revelation 16:3 (YLT) And the second messenger did pour out his vial to the sea, and there came blood as of [one] dead, (and the line) and every living soul died in the sea (speaking to the men who were in the sea that were put to deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God.). That makes sense and seems reasonable to me.

4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. (Again, literal, figurative, total, partial?) Verse

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.” (which gives us two witnesses according to the Law of God).

Where it reads and they became blood it means “streams of blood” which are well documented during the siege of Jerusalem, as blood flowed freely in the streets and polluted the water sources. Again, from Maarchalk- The Romans then hoisted their own idol-covered banners at every key point of the temple area, and plundered and burned the houses in the city. They murdered by the sword every Jew they could find, man, woman, and child. Their only compassion was for the dead, whom they encountered in mass numbers in many of the houses, mostly victims of the famine. Josephus writes, “But although they had this commiseration for such as were destroyed in that manner, yet had they not the same for those that were still alive, but they ran every one through whom they met with, and obstructed the very lanes with their dead bodies, and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fire of many houses was quenched with these men’s blood” (The Wars Of The Jews, 6:8:5).

Revelation and Historical Interpretation

The amount of blood that flowed, not only in Jerusalem but also throughout the surrounding region, could possibly bring to mind a passage like Revelation 14:19-20, which says, “So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood.

The Consequences of Judgment

Flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia [about 184 miles].

We recall (as repetition is the mother of memory) Josephus saying:

Now, this destruction that fell upon the Jews, as it was not inferior to any of the rest in itself, so did it still appear greater than it really was; and this, because not only the whole of the country through which they had fled was filled with slaughter, and [the] Jordan [River] could not be passed over, by reason of the dead bodies that were in it, but because the Lake Asphaltitis [the modern Dead Sea] was also full of dead bodies, that were carried down into it by the river. And now, Placidus…slew such as had fled to the lake, insomuch that all Perea had either surrendered themselves, or were taken by the Romans, as far as Macherus (Josephus, “Account of the Lake Asphaltitis,” War of the Jews 4:7:6).

I think we also have to add in the Hebrews way of hyperbole here. I personally doubt that house fires were doused by the blood of victims – but perhaps I am just ignorant. Bottom line, there was a lot of blood.

The Righteous Judgments

The next set of verses explain why, saying:

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.

Because you have placed this specific judgment upon the people. What specific judgment and why? (verse 6)

6 For they (who are receiving this judgement upon them) 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.” (which gives us two witnesses according to the Law of God).

I’ve mentioned this before but when have we killed the prophets? When have we shed the blood of the Saints? Really? Even quantifiably? THEY did the killing of such, not us, and they were the Nation who were given the Prophets that they killed. Of course the killing of the prophets was among the great sins of Israel.

2 Chronicles 36:15-16, speaking of the nation of Israel says:

“But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”

The Parable of the Husbandmen

Of course, Jesus addresses this specific claim directly and in parables. In the parable of the husbandman He says in Matthew 21:

33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:

34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.

35 And the husbandmen took the householders servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.

36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.

37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.

38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.”

39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.

Now listen to the question Jesus asks these Jews:

40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard (the Householder) cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?

41 They say unto him, “He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus saith unto them, “Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future. shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (A nation of Gentiles)”

44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone (meaning Himself) shall be broken: but on whomsoever it (or I) shall fall, it will grind him to powder.

45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.

46 But when they sought to lay hands on

Persecution of Prophets

Him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

In Luke 13, Jesus said:

34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

And then in Steven’s last speech before becoming the first martyr, he unabashedly said in Acts 7:

51 “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

Condemnation of Hypocrisy

For these reasons Jesus said in:

Matthew 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34 ¶ Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

We will come back to our study of this topic in Revelation 17:6 and also Revelation 18:20.

8 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.

Symbolism of the Sun

These verses probably need to be taken symbolically and I conveniently suggest this because there is no record of increasing heat that was both dangerous and scorching to the people during this time. The sun, however, might be seen in this instance is seen “as a symbol of mighty political leaders.” We can say this for a number of pretty good reasons.

First, according to Roman historical sources, the worship of Sol was introduced by Titus Tatius shortly after the foundation of Rome. And according to Tacitus, Sol had an "old" temple in the Circus Maximus and this temple remained important in the first three centuries AD. Additionally, God declared that He would judge an unfaithful Israel in Deuteronomy 28:22 saying:

“The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.”

Also, note that this heat of the sun is the exact opposite of the blessing the Israelites received in the Exodus when she was shielded from the heat of the sun by the Glory-Cloud. Finally, we also know from our previous studies that many Old Testament warnings were clearly not meant to be seen as literal. And if you are taking notes Isaiah 13:9-11, 19; 24:19-23; 34:4-5; Ezekiel 32:7-8, 11-12; Joel 2:10, 28-32; and Acts 2:16-21 are very good examples of this.

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Now, this verse clearly seems to be pointed at the Roman Empire. Why? The throne of the beast is well thought to be the city of Rome itself. And this is

The Bowls of Judgment

One reason why some believe that some of these bowl punishments were meant for Roman and not Israel. To this Chilton wrote:

“Although most of the judgments throughout Revelation are aimed specifically at apostate Israel, the heathen who join Israel against the Church come under condemnation as well. Indeed the Great TribulationA real historical event fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not a future apocalyptic crisis. More itself would prove to be “the hour of testing, that hour which is to come upon the Land.”

Political Turmoil in Rome

We might strong suggest that the darkness referenced here which comes upon the throne of the beast is symbolically taken to be the political turmoil and overthrow of its leaders, in particular when Nero (the beast in the singular sense) committed suicide in 68 A.D.

We recall that upon his death, the Roman Empire quickly began to crumble, and the following year (69 A.D.) became known as the “Year of the Four Emperors” because of the rise and fall of four more leaders in Rome – Galba, Otho and Vitellius, all of whom reigned for eight months or less.

The Fall of the Roman Empire

Those expositors who see the second half of Revelation as pointing to the fall of the Roman Empire refer to these verses as pertaining to the invasions which led to the ultimate fall of Rome in the fifth century, well after the end of the Nation of Israel as the people of God.

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