We have seen God’s wrath unleashed on earth in a series of two sets of judgments, each set progressively worse and more devastating as time goes on. Here, we will explore the third set of judgments, the bowl judgments, and their worldwide effects. Finally, we will take a look at the fall of commercial and political Babylon.
Three Angels and a Voice from Heaven
In Revelation 14:6-13, John sees three angels, each bringing a different message from Heaven relating to what is in store for the earth’s inhabitants. The first angel’s message is one of Good News; this angel preaches “an eternal gospel to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people” (Revelation 14:6). This message is another attempt by God to convince those left behind to repent and accept His Son. It also fulfills Jesus’ prophecy of Matthew 24:14 that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
The second angel announces the fall of Babylon. Babylon, generally, represents man’s rebellion against God stemming from the incident at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). “Prophetically, ‘Babylon’ sometimes refers to a literal city, sometimes to a religious system, sometimes to a political system, all stemming from the evil character of historic Babylon.” (Walvoord) We saw in Revelation 17 that Babylon referred in that chapter to a one-world apostate religious system and also to a city.
The third angel’s message concerns those who are following the beast (the Antichrist). This angel warns that if anyone “worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or hand” he will drink the cup of God’s wrath for eternity. It is evident that there is a connection between worshiping the beast and receiving a mark. No one will casually take the mark. If someone gets the mark, they have rejected God and chosen to follow Satan. The mark will be an eternal choice. Revelation 14:10-11 leaves no doubt that there will be suffering in hell, and it will be eternal.
John then contrasts those who worship the beast and take his mark with those saints who persevered during this time through keeping the commandments and their faith in Jesus Christ. A voice from Heaven says of these Tribulation saints who are martyred, “they may rest from their labors, for the deeds follow with them.” (Revelation 14:13). This eternal rest is very different from Satan’s followers, who receive eternal torment.
Final Reaping on Earth; Three More Angels
God’s final wrath is pictured through a grain harvest and then a grape harvest. The grain harvest represents the bowl judgments, and the grape harvest represents the Battle of Armageddon. In the parable of the tares, Jesus also uses the idea of a harvest to explain His Second Coming and the final wrath of God (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43).
In Revelation 14:14, John sees someone like a son of man sitting on a white cloud. This is a picture of Jesus that we first saw in Daniel 7:13-14. In John’s vision, he has a victor’s crown on his head and carries a sharp sickle representing quick judgment. God gave Jesus authority to execute all judgment (John 5:22, 27) because He is the Son of Man.
An angel then comes out of the temple and appears to Jesus, appealing to Him to reap because the earth’s harvest is ripe. The reaping is of the ungodly people of the world; they will be gathered and judged. Jesus then begins to swing His sickle and reap the earth.
John then describes another harvest, but this time an angel swings the sickle, not Jesus (Revelation 14:17-18). A second angel comes from the temple with a sharp sickle and then is joined by another angel from the altar calling to the angel with the sickle, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” (Revelation 14:18). Then the angel swings the sickle, gathers the clusters, and throws them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. The grapes are trodden, causing blood to flow from the winepress all the way up to the horses’ bridle for a distance of 200 miles. This vivid description represents the final Battle of Armageddon outside of Jerusalem.
The Seven Bowl Judgments
Revelation 14 generally describes the end of all things, but Revelation 16 goes back and describes them in more detail. John sees seven angels with seven plagues which are the last of the judgments. Before we are told the details of these judgments, we are given another description of Heaven in Revelation 15. John sees “something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name” holding harps and singing the song of Moses, the victory song of Israel after their deliverance at the Red Sea from the Egyptian army (Revelation 15:2-4). Here, this song also represents the delivery of the saints by Christ from sin and death.
Next, out of the temple come the seven angels with the seven plagues who are given seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God (Revelation 16:2-21). These bowls of judgment are the third woe of Revelation 11:14. See the illustration below.
There are similarities between some of these judgments and the judgments on Egypt during the time of Moses. The first bowl is similar to the plague of boils in Exodus 9:8-12; the second bowl to water turning to blood in Exodus 7:14-25, and the fifth bowl to the darkness of Exodus 10:21-29. Also, like the Egyptians in Exodus, the judgments cause the inhabitants of the earth to harden their hearts; they still refuse to repent.
We see too that where the second and third trumpet judgments of Revelation 8 cause partial contamination of the seas and freshwater, the second and third bowl judgments will result in total contamination. And where the fourth trumpet judgment causes the sun, moon, and stars to darken for most of the day and night, resulting in coldness, the fourth bowl judgment scorches men with fierce heat, and the fifth bowl judgment plunges the world into complete darkness.
In Revelation 16:12, the sixth angel pours out the sixth bowl judgment drying up the waters of the river Euphrates in preparation for the final battle of Armageddon when kings from the east will march across the dry land towards Jerusalem.
After the sixth bowl, John sees demons that look like frogs coming from the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet. These demons perform signs and go out to the kings of the world to gather them for the final battle.
Finally, the 7th angel pours out the seventh bowl judgment in the air while saying “It is done,” meaning that this bowl will complete God’s wrath during the Tribulation. This judgment causes a massive, worldwide earthquake “such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth” (Revelation 16:18). This earthquake splits Jerusalem into three parts, and Babylon is remembered explicitly before God and given the cup of His wrath. As a result of this judgment, every island and mountain disappear, huge hailstones, one hundred pounds each, come down from Heaven on men, and they still do not repent (Revelation 16:20-21).
Political/Commericial Babylon Destroyed
Babylon symbolically represents man’s hostility towards God; the world system sets itself up against God religiously, politically, and commercially. However, Babylon is also a literal city, the seat of Antichrist’s power. We saw religious Babylon, the one-world religious system, the great harlot of Revelation, destroyed in Revelation 17. Now, in Revelation 18, God will destroy political and commercial Babylon also.
Jeremiah and Isaiah both go into great detail about the city of Babylon’s ultimate doom. Babylon will never be inhabited again but be completely desolate; nothing will be left of her (Jeremiah 50:13, 26). Arabs will no longer pitch their tents there, and shepherds will not bring their flocks there (Isaiah 13:20).
Revelation 18 begins with an angel declaring that “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. The system of commercial Babylon draws the unbelieving world in by its materialism (Revelation 18:2-3). Just like religious Babylon, the world becomes drunk with her immorality.
God then calls His people out of Babylon just like he called Lot out of Sodom before its destruction. God says that Babylon’s sins have “piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.” This reference brings to mind Babylon’s original tower, the Tower of Babel, a monument to reaching Heaven not through God but through man’s own efforts. Just like original Babylon was judged, so shall be the final Babylon.
Babylon’s sins include glorifying herself, living sensuously, and boasting that she is beyond reproach. Babylon’s judgment will be her destruction by plagues, pestilence, mourning, famine, and fire in one day (Revelation 18:7-8).
In Revelation 18:9-24, instead of repenting, the wicked mourn the burning of Babylon. The three different groups lament the burning of Babylon, the kings because they see their source of power destroyed (vv. 9-10), the merchants because their source of wealth is destroyed (v. 11), and the shipmasters because their source of income is destroyed (v. 17). Interestingly, note that a source of the merchants’ wealth are slaves and human lives (v. 13). This speaks to the widespread human trafficking and prostitution we see today.
In Revelation 18:20, Heaven, the saints, apostles, and prophets are called to rejoice, not because of the destruction of Babylon and her inhabitants but because God’s justice and righteousness will have prevailed.
Finally, a strong angel takes a stone and throws it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.” This brings us back to Jeremiah’s illustration in Jeremiah 51:61-64, where he also uses a sinking stone to illustrate Babylon’s fate. Jesus also used a stone to illustrate what would happen to anyone who leads others to sin. He says in Matthew 18:6, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” This aptly applies to Babylon because Babylon led the nations into sin (Revelation 18:23).
Revelation 18 ends with the reiteration of why Babylon fell. First, Babylon’s merchants controlled the world. Second, Babylon deceived the nations with her sorceries and led them to sin. Finally, Babylon killed God’s prophets and His saints (v. 23).
All of these judgments have prepared the way for the return of Christ to return to earth and defeat Satan in the Battle of Armageddon before Christ sets up the millennial kingdom. We will discuss the final battle in the next installment.
