Revelation 16
“Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” And that’s how Revelation 16 starts.
MRSA – Centers for Disease Control – US Government
Revelation 16 is pretty much straight forward and easy to understand. The first angel poured out his bowl full of wrath and it caused festering sores on people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. For those who know anything about open sores that get infected, you know they can stink. Now just think of a large part of the population smelling of infection.
The second angel poured out his bowl and the sea turned to blood and the sea life died. After that the third angel poured out his bowl and caused the springs and rivers to turn to blood. Revelation 16:6 explains why all the blood. Now there’s the smell of infected sores and of blood and dead things.
I remember years ago my wife and I were driving through Idaho, when off in the distance I saw a black animal laying in the middle of the road. What was it? A dog that’s been hit by a car, maybe? I couldn’t tell. As we got closer I could see a white stripe on the black fur. Oh no! Somebody had hit this poor animal and killed it. Now there’s a dead skunk laying in the middle of the road, and we have to drive by it!
Now I know there was a funny song back in the 1970s call ‘Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road‘ but this was horrifying! Even though I never hit that animal, we could still smell that thing for miles.
Sun Spots and Solar Flares – NASA
When the fourth angel poured out his bowl of wrath on the sun, it caused the sun to scorch the people with heat. This does two things. One, it makes life very miserable. Think Texas and Arizona gets hot? People then, may wish for that cooler climate. The second thing it would do is to make the first three bowls of wrath stink more. Like my Dad would say “It’s enough to gag a maggot.”
Now think of the hottest day you can imagine. There is a strong stink of blood, dead animals and dead fish, plus the smell of infected sores. Now imagine all this with the sores on you. What’s amazing is after all this, people still won’t repent. They refuse to stop their sinning. They cursed God. Revelation 16:9
Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. His subjects ground their teeth in anguish In pain people still cursed God and still refused to repent. I wonder about the darkness. Will it be just over Jerusalem because that’s where the anti-Christ will be, or will it be over the whole world? The Lord has done this before to the Egyptians shortly before the Israelites left Egypt. Exodus 10:20-22
When the sixth angel poured out his bowl the Euphrates River dried up so the armies of the east could march across. What’s interesting is in Revelation 16:13, John said that three unclean or evil spirits came from the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, looked like frogs. I remember many years ago someone said they saw a demon and it looked like a shadowy frog. But someone else said they saw what looked like a shadowy blob. It left the person, moved across the floor and out the room.
Revelation 16:15 is the reason why many people say that Jesus will not come until after the anti-Christ gets here. I really hope He comes long before that. However we must remember Jesus said in Matthew 25:13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.” So be ready.
Revelation 16:16-21 talks very briefly of the world’s armies meeting at Armageddon. But things don’t go very well for them, or anyone else. Horrifying earthquakes that will turn cities into rubble. Imagine New York City, Hong Kong, Mexico City, and many others laying in complete ruin. Guam and Hawaii and other islands, gone. And to make it worse, they get 75 pound (34 kilogram) hailstones falling on them. And the people still cursed God. Amazing.
My Thoughts 