The Bowls of Wrath

Revelation chapter 16. As we continue to make our way through this incredible study, we find ourselves in the 16th chapter, The Bowl of Wrath. It was R. C. Sproul who said these words: There is probably no concept in theology more repugnant. to modern America than the idea of div wr. That's true. The Bible is a book of hope, but the Bible is also a book of horror. For those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, for those who have never given their lives to Christ, horror awaits them. The horror specifically described in Revelation chapter 16.

In fact, over in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, let me describe for you what the Apostle Paul has said, and we've read this numerous times.

Amount of times, but let me read it again. 2 Thessalonians 1, verse number 6. For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. and to give relief to you who are afflicted, and to us as well, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. In fl fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.

when he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day, and to be marvel at among all who have believed, for our testimony to you was believed. What Paul said in 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 comes to fruition in Revelation chapter 16 with the bowls of wrath. The events which immediately precede the return of Christ. And although the return of Christ is not recorded until chapter 19. Revelation chapter 16 explains to us those things that immediately happen before he returns. And these plagues, these judgments, complete the wrath of God against the world that has rejected him and his message.

His hatred of sin is seen most clearly in Revelation chapter 16. Let me read to you the first 11 verses because that's what we're going to cover this evening.

And I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven bowls of wrath of God into the earth. And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image.

And 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. And 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 water saying, Righteous art thou. Who art and who wast, O Holy One, because thou didst judge these things. For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. They deserve it. And I heard the altar saying, Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. And 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.

And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened. And they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains. And their sores, and they did not rep of their deeds. Two main points this evening: the comm. and the consequences. The command to pour the bowls of wrath upon the earth, and the consequences of those bowls being poured out. Upon the earth. First of all, point number one, in verse number one of Revelation 16, two things you need to see about the command: its volume and its.

Violence. The text says, and I heard a loud voice, or a great voice. Some commentators have called Revelation chapter 16 the great chapter. The word meg is used 11 times in Revelation chapter 16. So they've called this the great chapter. But the text says that there was a loud voice or a great voice. That's a phrase used 20 times in the book of Revelation. Whose voice is that? Well, go back with me to Revel chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1, verse number 10. John says, I was in the Spirit of the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice.

Like the sound of a trumpet, saying, Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thy, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstand, and in the midst of the lampstand, one like A son of man. A loud voice. The same loud voice that John would hear in Revel chapter 1. It says over in verse number 17 of Revelation 16, and the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, It.

Is done. If you go back up to chapter 15, we note that that temple is the place in the presence of God Himself. There's a command given, and the volume of that command is with great intensity. When God operates, He operates loudly. We've said it, if not once, we've said it a hundred times. It is the key word in the book of Revelation. God likes loud. We don't like loud. We want our kids to be quiet. We want our house to be quiet. We want our worship to be quiet. God, on the other hand, likes lots of noise.

He makes lots of noise. And he likes it loud because the Lord of glory, the psalmist tells us, thunders. And so, with a loud voice, the Lord God speaks. This is the last act on the earth. as it now exist. This is the last things that happen on this earth before the king returns and there is then a renovation of the earth. For the preparation of the millennial kingdom in which he will reign for a thousand years. And then, of course, when that is over, there will be another battle because Satan will be released.

And Christ will destroy this heaven and this earth and recreate a new heaven and a new earth. So, what happens right here in Revelation 16 are the last things that happen on this earth as it now ex. So God speaks. He speaks to seven angels, a voice which originates. From the temple, which according to verse number 8 was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. These angels have already received the bowls of wrath. Now they are commanded to pour these b of wrath. Now these bowls are like huge sauc.

They're not like, you know, a bowl that's deep. You know, when you eat your frosted flakes or your corn fl, you know, you like those big, deep bowls. I do, man. I like to get as much in there as I possibly can. The shallow bowls do me no good. Because every time I scoop it up, it goes off the side. I like those deep bowls. This is not what the saucers are in Revelation chapter 16. They are huge, round, shallow saucers. Not very deep at all. And once they are poured, everything just runs right off of it.

So these plagues, this wrath, That is incorporated in these bowls, just pour out upon the earth in succession. as God judges man because of his sin. From its volume, notice its violence.

It says, Go and pour out the seven bowls Of wrath. Wrath. If you were with us a couple of weeks ago, we talked about the difference between or and thum. Orge was that lingering, settling wrath of God. Thum is the actual outburst of that wrath. And Thum Is used exclusively in the book of Revelation to describe how God pours out his wrath upon man. God's long-suffering is now over. God has been long-suffering, God has been patient, God has been merciful, but now God's justice is en. God's wrath now t over.

God has a long fuse, but when that fuse is ended, His wrath is severe. His wrath is fin. And therefore, those upon the earth will feel that wr. So we move from the comm to the consequences. The consequences, and I just want to go through these with you. I mean, it doesn't take a five bet kappa to figure out what's going on here, but let's just go through them together and look at each of these first five bo judgments this evening.

Here are the consequences of the command that's given, the loud voice out of heaven given by God to the seven angels to pour out the bowls of wrath into the earth. It says, And the first angel went and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped.

His image. Wow, this is an amazing scene. The bull, the first bull. Causes man to have these sores, these ulcers, these can, these running, oozing kind of sores. The text says they are loathsome, they're foul. They are malignant, they are gruesome. If you read Exodus 9, it describes the boil, these oozing sores all over the body. Luke 16, verse number 21, speaks of Lazarus. And the oozing sores he had all over his body. And it says that the whole world is going to be in unbelievable pain. All over their bodies, loathsome, malignant sores up men.

That 's the generic term. Does not refer to the Christian. It does not refer to the Jewish believer. It does not refer to the 144,000. It refers specifically to those who have taken the mark of the beast. Those who have taken the mark so that they might buy and sell and eat. Those who have decided to worship the beast so that their heads are not cut off all of a sudden obtain these sores. All over their b. It says in Deuteronomy 28, let me read to you what Moses said.

He said in verse number 27 of Deuteronomy 28, the Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt. He said, listen, if you't want to obey the Lord, if you want to do your own thing, he lists the blessings, and you'll note that the blessings are minuscule compared to the cursings if you disobey God. The emphasis in Scripture is always overemphasized to the cursing, more so than the blessing. Why? Because you need to understand the consequences of disobedience and sin. So Moses goes into a long dissertation as to what's going to happen if you disobey the Lord.

If you decide to turn your back on him and not follow him, he said this: the Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt, those oozing, running, cancerous, malignant, loathsome sores. And with tumors, and with a scab, and with the itch from which you cannot be healed. Verse number 35, The Lord will strike you on the knees and the legs with sore boil, from which you cannot be healed from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. What a curse. That's what happens in Revelation 16. Man is covered with these malignant swords.

The whole world who has taken the mark of the beast will find themselves in miserable pain. Bowl number two, verse number three.

And 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. No rel from the first bowl. Man is covered with boils all over his body, malignant, oozing, gruesome, loatham sores. From the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. And now the whole sea is turned into bl. As you recall back in Exodus 7, verses 20 to 25, it was only the Nile River that was turned into blood during the plagues of Egypt. Now the whole sea is turned into bl. Go back with me if you would to Revel chapter 8. During the trumpet judgments. As you recall in Revelation chapter 8, it says in verse number 8: And the second angel sounded.

Something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and the third of the sea became what?

Became blood. Now, a third of the sea became blood. And it says, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Now, when you come to the bold judgments, the whole sea turn to blood. And everything in the sea d. If it dies, it floats to the top. Can you imagine the stench? Can you imagine the smell if you've ever been around someone who has died and they have been left in their blood and the thick darkness of that blood and the smell Of that is horrendous. Can you imagine the whole sea? I mean, two-thirds of the earth is water anyway. Now it's all going to be turned into this thick bl. And everything in the sea is going to die.

A third of it's already dead. Now, the rest of it's all going to die. Thick, dark bl. Then it says in verse number four, bowl number three, and the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers, the springs of waters, and they became Blood.

Wow. Now the fresh water is destroyed. Now there's nothing to drink. And some people say, wow, man, God is just like vengeful, merciless, graceless, unloving. And yet, as you read on in Revelation 16, and I heard the angel of the water saying, What? Righteous art thou? Righteous. Who art and who was, O Holy One, because thou didst judge these things. In defense of God, listen to what the angel says. He says, you're righteous. You're holy. You're true. The Lord Himself is exonerated. Verse number six: for they poured out.

The blood of the saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. Why is God righteous? Why is God true? Because those who killed the saints, those who killed the prophets, they are deserving of this kind of judgment. That's why. They deserve it. The text says at the end of verse number 6, they deserve it. This is what they deserve. Let me remind you: what is it that man deserves?

He deserves hell. Every man deserves hell. Every man born from the time of Adam till now deserves hell. But because of God's grace, there are some who receive heaven. Right? Praise the Lord for that. So, what they are getting is what every man deserves anyway. Except for the grace of God, there go I, there go you. But these people, what they get, they get what they deserve. They get the wrath. Of God. Verse number 7, it says, and I heard the altar saying, Yes, O Lord God, Almighty, true, and righteous are thy judgments.

The altar? What's the altar? The altar is where the saints have been praying ever since Revelation chapter 6, verse number 7. Yes, Lord, thou art righteous, true. And holy. Then you come to bowl number four, back to Revelation chapter 15. We must hurry. The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with fierce heat. They blasphemed the name of God, who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give him gl.

The sun. I like the sun. I was always hoping one day to live in Southern California. And when God opened the door for me to move here 11 years ago, I didn't even have to pray about it. I knew God wanted me here. I figured if God met, if Moses met God in the desert, then that must be where I need to meet God too, so I'm going to the desert. I love Southern California. I love the sun. I love the warm sun, the warm weather. And we love it when the sun gives us warmth, gives us light, gives us energy.

But now that sun is used in a different capacity. It's used to heat man unlike man has ever been heated before. He is going to ignite the earth. The sun was given to scorch men The fire, fierce he. Now, if you've ever been sunburned by third-degree burns, It's a very painful, painful thing.

This is nothing, or that's nothing compared to what happens here in Revelation chapter 16. And interesting, it says. And they blaspheme the name of God, who has the power over these plagues. They recognize God's in control. They recognize God as all-powerful. They recognize God's involved in this. And it says they blaspheme his name, and they do not repent so as to give him glory. They see the hand of God. They feel the wrath of God. But they won't submit to the will of God. They won't. Bowl number five, verse number 10.

And the fifth angel poured out his bull upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened. Now, what does it mean that the bowl was poured out on his throne? Does that mean a chair? Is there an actual throne where the Antichrist rules from? And that throne is darkened. He's talking about the city of Babylon where he sets up his headquarters. So we'll talk more about that in Revelation 17 and 18. But is that what it's talking about, that that city now is darkened? Or is that a general statement speaking of his dominion?

Answer: yes, to all three. I believe that it's world dark. The entire h system. Run by the Antichrist, is engulfed in darkness. Remember, Joel 2, verse number 2: the day of the Lord cometh. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. The world will be engulfed in darkness. It says over in Mark chapter 13, verse Number 24, but in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. And the stars will be falling from the heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and gl.

God is setting the tone for his appearing. God is darkening the world so much so that when he appears In all of its glory, it shines so bright that man is absolutely blinded by the glory of God and cons by that glory. And what's the reaction of the people? They gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and they did not repent of their deeds. This is the last reference. In Revel to their unwillingness to repent It tells us that these five plagues were designed to bring man to rep.

Even in this, you see the mercy of God. Is it any wonder that Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem? Therefore, know the terror of the Lord, we pers men. So, they don't face what the Bible says.

Let's pray.