The Seven Bowls of God's Wrath

The interlude is over, and now the stage is set for the final judgments on the earth. In chapter 16 we will see God's final judgments poured out on the earth.
²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.  Matthew 24:22
The final judgments will be for a short time because they are so terrible, no one would survive if they went on for too long. 




¹ Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
 ² The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
 ³ The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
 ⁴ The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. ⁵ Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
   “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
   you who are and who were;
⁶ for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
   and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
 ⁷ And I heard the altar respond:
   “Yes, Lord God Almighty,
   true and just are your judgments.”
 ⁸ The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. ⁹ They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
 ¹⁰ The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony ¹¹ and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
 ¹² The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. ¹³ Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. ¹⁴ They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
   ¹⁵ “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
 ¹⁶ Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
 ¹⁷ The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” ¹⁸ Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. ¹⁹ The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. ²⁰ Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. ²¹ From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,^[a] fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.


The time has now come for the angels to pour out the seven bowls of God's judgment. In the last chapter, we see that all is prepared and the angels are given the bowls of wrath. Now we hear a voice tell the angels to go and pour out the bowls on the earth. These bowl judgments are referred to as plagues, and they seem to parallel the plagues of Moses on Egypt.
The first bowl is poured out and all those that have the mark of the Beast break out in festering sores. 
⁸ Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. ⁹ It will become fine dust over the whole land of Egypt, and festering boils will break out on people and animals throughout the land.” Exodus 9:8


The second bowl is poured out onto the sea, the sea turns to blood and everything in the sea dies.
The third bowl is poured out on the rivers and streams and they too turn to blood.
¹⁹ The LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels^[a] of wood and stone.” Exodus 7:19


The fourth bowl is then poured out on the sun. The sun scorches people, but they still refuse to repent and turn to God.
¹⁸ Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now. ¹⁹Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, and they will die.’” Exodus 9:18
This plague seems to be on the forces of nature which are turned against man.


The fifth bowl is poured out on the throne of the Beast and brings darkness. This seems to indicate that Babylon, the throne of the Beast will be plunged into an unnatural darkness, that was so pervasive that people went crazy with fear. The darkness is like being in a sensory deprivation chamber, you can almost feel the darkness pressing down on you.
²¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.”  Exodus 10:21


The sixth bowl is poured out on the Euphrates river and it dries up in preparation for the final battle of Armageddon. The kings of the east, representing all the kings of the world; will be able to march their troops to the plains of Megiddo for the final battle. We also see evil spirits, represented as frogs that come from the mouth of the Dragon (Satan), the Beast (Antichrist) and the False Prophet. These evil spirits will go throughout the world and gather the kings of the world for the final battle. 
⁵ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” Exodus 8:5


Now we hear the voice of Jesus. ¹⁵ “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
² for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. I Thessalonians 5:2
Jesus is urging the reader to repent and to turn to Jesus before it is too late.


Now the final bowl of God's judgment is poured out into the air. A loud voice from heaven says "it is done". There is incredible thunder and lightning and the largest earthquake ever in mankind's history rips Babylon into three parts. All the other great cities of the world are destroyed. Every mountain and every island is destroyed. Giant hailstones fall to the earth and the people cursed God instead of repenting.