Bowl Judgments of Revelation
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