God Speaks
Then I heard a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, “Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.”
2 So the first angel left the Temple and poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue.
3 Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died.
4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs, and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel who had authority over all water saying,
“You are just, O Holy One, who is and who always was,
because you have sent these judgments.
6 Since they shed the blood
of your holy people and your prophets,
you have given them blood to drink.
It is their just reward.”
7 And I heard a voice from the altar, saying,
“Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty,
your judgments are true and just.”
8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, causing it to scorch everyone with its fire. 9 Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory.
10 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, 11 and they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. But they did not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God.
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies toward the west without hindrance.13 And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.
15 “Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed.”
16 And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!” 18 Then the thunder crashed and rolled, and lightning flashed. And a great earthquake struck—the worst since people were placed on the earth. 19 The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath.20 And every island disappeared, and all the mountains were leveled. 21 There was a terrible hailstorm, and hailstones weighing as much as seventy-five pounds fell from the sky onto the people below. They cursed God because of the terrible plague of the hailstorm.
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection
In this chapter seven angels pour out seven containers (various translations use bowls, flasks, vials) of plagues, the wrath of God poured out on the earth. The contents of the first container caused horrible, malignant and painful sores to break out on all the people who had pledged allegiance to the beast, worshipped him, and verified it by receiving his mark. The contents of the second caused the water in the oceans to turn to blood, killing all of the fish and other sea creatures. The third turned bodies of fresh water blood-red as well with the same result. The contents of the fourth caused the sun to be so hot it scorched people (and everything else). The fifth container was poured over the seat of government, plunging it into darkness. With the sixth, the Euphrates river was dried up allowing a vast army from the East to cross and join the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet for a great battle on the plain of Megiddo. The seventh bowl resulted in the shout of “Done.” from the Temple and an unprecedentedly devastating earthquake.* This was followed by giant, life-destroying hail which caused people to curse God even more. Through all of this destruction, people refused to repent and turn from their sins to the true and living God their creator.
* [This reminded this blog’s author of Jesus’s, “It is finished.” and the earthquake at the crucifixion.]
Prayer
Dear God, You are the source of all justice, wisdom and righteous. I echo the statement, “You are just in sending this judgment, O Holy One, who is and was, for Your saints and prophets have been martyred. [Besides that, more than 61,000,000 innocent lives have been ended by abortion in the USA since January 22, 1973.] I further assert, “Yes, Lord God Almighty, Your punishments are just and true.” You will come unexpectedly, like a thief. You said, “Blessed are all who are awaiting me, who keep their robes in readiness and will not need to walk naked and ashamed.” But people still refused to change their attitudes and cursed God instead. They “cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores, but they refused to repent of all their evil deeds.” There will come a time when You, Lord, will say, “Enough,” This means that the rebellion of mankind is complete, and You will take action. The statement by Dr. Weirsbe is true. “Jesus Christ may return at any time, and it behooves us to keep our lives clean, to watch, and to be faithful.”* Only by Your power, Holy Spirit, can we do so. AMEN
*Warren W. Weirsbe, The Weirsbe Bible Commentary, Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook 2007, p. 1072.*
* All other quotations are from The Living Bible (TLB) Revelation 16.
Action
(Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will confess my personal sins to the Lord and receive the forgiveness made available to me by the cross.
- I will confess the sins of my family and lineage and receive the forgiveness made available to us by the cross.
- I will confess the sins of my community, people group and nation and receive the forgiveness made available to us by the cross.
- I will work in cooperation with other people and the Holy Spirit to replace these evil attitudes and actions with positive, God and people-honoring ones.
Share
I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.