| THE FIRST FIVE BOWLS OF WRATH |
|---|
| The seven bowls of wrath correspond to the seven trumpets, and describe the work of the Angels to bring God’s wrath on those who do not obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ. |
| Trumpet | Bowl of Wrath |
|---|---|
| ① hail and fire | sores on those who worship the image and receive the mark of the beast |
| ② sea | sea (baptisms/salvation of death in false churches) |
| ③ rivers and springs | rivers and springs (the lawless drink a bitter spirit called Wormwood) |
| ④ sun, moon, and stars are darkened (matches the fifth Bowl of Wrath) | scorched by the sun; “then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun” (Matt 13:43) |
| ⑤ release from the bottomless pit | the kingdom of the beast is darkened |
| ⑥ Armageddon | Armageddon |
| ⑦ flaming fire and judgment | flaming fire and judgment |
| 1 I heard a loud voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth!” |
| Rev 16:1 a loud voice – the voice of the Spirit of Christ, as the Archangel, Rev 1:10, who directs the seven Angels. out of the temple – that is out of the end time Sanctified Church. |
| 2 The first went, and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became a harmful and evil sore on the men who had the mark of the beast, and who worshiped his image. |
| Rev 16:2 (First Bowl) those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image – the changing of the Sabbath Day and the Trinity doctrine. These are two great blasphemies of the beast that arose in the fourth Century, we discussed in Chapter 13. The sores are the discomfort of those who try to maintain these doctrines. These sores are metaphorically inflicted by the hail and fire of the first trumpet. |
| 3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man. Every living thing in the sea died. |
| Rev 16:3 (Second Bowl) poured his bowl into the sea – As mentioned “the sea” represents man’s salvation throughout the Book of Revelation. The baptisms of those who worship the image of the beast, and receive his mark, result in spiritual death. every living thing in the sea died – why is there a difference from “a third” of the creatures in Chapter 8, and “every living thing” in Chapter 16? The focus of Chapter 8 is the effort of the Angels to remove the lawlessness from the kingdom of heaven, and the deliverance of God’s people from the plagues. But Chapter 16, purely describes the wrath on the kingdom of the beast. This is obvious in the first and fifth bowls of wrath. |
| 4 The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and it became blood. 5 I heard the angel of the waters saying, “You are righteous, who are and who were, you Holy One, because you judged this way. 6 For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.” 7 I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.” |
| Rev 16:4 (Third Bowl) into the rivers and spring of waters and they became blood – as we discussed in Rev 14:6, the rivers and springs of water throughout the Bible and especially in the Gospel of John, and Revelation, refer to the holy spirit. Those in the kingdom of the beast will not be drinking the holy spirit, but a very unholy spirit. Rev 16:5-6 Righteous You are…You have given them blood – “righteous” emphasizes the spiritual nature of this blood. This is the judgment of the “lawless” who continue to embrace false teachings. to drink – this is the drinking of a bitter spirit whose name is Wormwood, see Rev 8:11. This spirit results in “blood” the spiritual death of the lawless. The “drinking of the holy spirit” is explained in John 4:14. |
| 8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9 Men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They didn’t repent and give him glory. |
| Rev 16:8 (Fourth Bowl) the sun – Jesus described the final conquest of the end time saints, when He said, “then righteous will shine will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt 13:43). The sun describes the saints that are clothed with the spirit of God, as in Rev 12:1, “clothed with the Sun.” The Spirit of Christ, the body of Christ, has a face “shining as the sun” in Rev 1:16 (see also Matt 17:2). to scorch men with fire – Dan 7:10 describes the “river of fire” that proceeds from God to consume the kingdom of the beast. This is the spirit of God, the spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father. John 16:8 tells us: “He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” they blasphemed the name of God – perhaps referring to the true name of God, as they have worshiped the false name of the God of the Trinity. This may be a blasphemy of the name of Jesus, which Trinitarians cannot understand as the name of God; they believe the name of God to be Yahweh, Yahu, Yehovah, etc. In the fifth bowl of wrath, when the kingdom of heaven is completely cleansed, they will blaspheme God Himself, as they abandon their false religion. |
| 10 The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores. They still didn’t repent of their works. |
| Rev 16:10 (Fifth Bowl) poured his bowl on the throne of the beast – meaning the power of the beast is now completely taken away, as described in Rev 19:20. The kingdom of heaven has been fully cleansed after 1,000 years. In the next bowl of wrath, Satan will be released from the bottomless pit to gather the nations together. his kingdom became darkened – this is equivalent to the fourth trumpet; the sun, moon and stars are darkened as the final lawlessness is removed. they gnawed their tongues – this is likely a reference to the false “praying in tongues” in the kingdom of the beast. Rev 16:11 they blasphemed the God of heaven – not only His name now, but God Himself. Those in kingdom of the beast have completely lost all reverence for God, as they abandon their false religion. |