The
Seven Bowls – Part I
I
saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign:
seven angels with the seven last plagues –
last, because with them God’s wrath is
completed. (Revelation 15:1)
The
seven last plagues (the seven bowls) are a
fascinating study. Every discussion on the
character of God should include Noah’s flood,
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the
destruction of Jerusalem, the death of Christ on
the cross, and the seven bowls because of all the
events highlight certain components of God’s
character. Yes, a God of love has vengeance. Paul
wrote, “Do not take revenge, my friends,
but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is
written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’
says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19) Vengeance
is defined by Webster as retribution (justifiable
action) for a wrong or injury. In this sense, the
seven last plagues will be justifiable and they
will be poured out without mercy. The seven bowls
will be God’s response on people who (a) willingly
and knowingly rejected God’s truth,
righteousness, and chose to do evil, and (b)
approved and /or participated in torturing and
hurting people who stood for truth and
righteousness. The seven last plagues will be
indescribably painful and they will befall every
person who receives the mark of the beast. Before
we examine these horrible plagues, here is a
short review.
I
believe the seven last plagues will last seventy
days; that is, each plague unfolds over a period
of ten days. The phrase, “seven last
plagues” suggests the presence of “seven
first plagues.” Indeed, the seven first
plagues of the Great Tribulation are called
seven trumpets. First, the seven trumpets are
redemptive in nature, whereas the seven bowls are
totally destructive. People can repent and be
saved during the seven trumpets; however,
salvation will not be possible during the seven
bowls because the offer of mercy closes on the 1,260th
day of the Great Tribulation. Second, the seven first
plagues are called “seven trumpets” in
Revelation because these redemptive judgments are
designed to shatter the religious paradigms of
the world much like a military trumpet shatters
the silence of early dawn with Reveille.
The seven trumpets will enable people to
thoughtfully and intelligently consider the
testimony of Jesus, which the 144,000 will give.
On the other hand, the seven last plagues are
called “seven bowls” because people
receiving the mark of the beast will be forced to
“drink and swallow” their medicine, the
bitter dregs of God’s wrath that comes in
each bowl.
The
seven bowls are punitive in nature. God will
force the wicked to suffer, in part, for the
suffering they imposed upon His innocent people.
There will be no mercy from God when the seven
bowls are poured out because the wicked will
knowingly reject the demands of the Holy Spirit.
Each of them committed the unpardonable sin.
Furthermore, the people who receive the mark of
the beast will become the property of demons and
like them; they will be cruel and violent. Get
this straight! There will not be any “good
people” having the mark of the beast. When
the seventh bowl is completed, God’s wrath
will be completed. Earth will be left in a
desolate condition – the saints will be with
Jesus in Heaven. All the wicked will be dead and
birds will eat their flesh. (Revelation 19:19-21)
Last,
but not least. When the seven bowls begin, the
devil will be on Earth masquerading as Almighty
God. The devil will sit on his throne claiming to
be God, and billions of wicked people will
believe that he is God. The Antichrist will urge
his wicked followers to continue destroying God’s
saints because he will claim, ”they are of
the devil.” How clever! Understand that
billions of wicked people will believe the devil
is God and that the God of the saints and the 144,000
is the devil. Keep this twisted deception in mind
as we examine the specific purpose and nature of
each dreadful bowl.
1.
Revelation 16:2 – The fist angel went out
and poured his bowl on the land, and ugly and
painful sores broke out on the people who had the
mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
The
fist plague is the outpouring of painful boils.
Remember Job’s boils –huge, tender,
inflamed, puss oozing sores – all over his
body? These sores will befall every person who
receives the mark of the beast. There are two
great ironies here. First, many people will
receive the mark of the beast thinking that they
can avoid further suffering, but the first bowl
inflicts a suffering on them that is beyond
description! Here is the scenario: When the
composite beast (Babylon) rises from the sea, it
will demand obedience to its laws. Anyone who
dares to rebel against Babylon’s authority
will suffer the severest penalties. During this
time of persecution, billions of people will hear
the testimony of the 144,000, which requires
everyone to reject the demands of Babylon, but
few people will have the courage to stand for
righteousness and truth. Many people will
capitulate to avoid suffering and separation from
their families. They will obediently submit to
the blasphemous and arrogant laws of Babylon.
Then, when the devil physically appears –
masquerading as God, the wicked will easily
submit to the devil’s authority in an effort
to save their lives! However, their escape from
suffering will be temporary because everyone who
worships ‘the devil and receives his mark”
will receive the first bowl! There will be no
escape from the first bowl. Painful boils will
cause the wicked to writhe in relentless pain and
this is the second irony. When the first bowl is
poured out on the wicked, they will be engaged in
an intense campaign to find and kill the few
saints of God who remain alive. The first bowl
painfully interrupts their plans. Evil men and
women, covered with boils from head to foot will
not be able to stand or sit, mush less chase
after a few saints who are hiding in remote
places.
2.
Revelation 16:3 – The second angel poured
out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood
like that of a dead man, and every living thing
in the sea died.
The
second bowl is awesome. Every living thing in the
oceans of the world dies. I can think of a
threefold possibility why God would pour out His
wrath on the oceans of the world. First, the
oceans are Earth’s source of fresh water.
The Sun evaporates millions of square miles of
ocean each day. This sterile vapor rises and
becomes clouds. Winds move the clouds over land
and distilled water falls in the form of rain as
condensation occurs. By turning the sea into a
substance like the clotted blood of a dead man,
there will be no more rain. Earth itself will die
without this regular cycle of water. Earth is
doomed; the stench of death and decay will be
everywhere. Second, because a third of the trees
and all of the green grass (including crops) were
burned up during the first trumpet, seafood will
likely become a main source of food during the
Great Tribulation. If so, the destruction of
everything that lives in the oceans means total
famine. Again, life on this planet is doomed
beyond recovery. Last, two-thirds of the world’s
population lives near an ocean. When the wicked
behold this awesome judgment, you would think
that some would question the powers of their God.
This silent plague speaks with deafening
authority. It says, “The glorious and
majestic being which you worship is not God. He
cannot protect you. He can not prevent the
destruction of Earth.”
3.
Revelation 16:4 – The third angel poured out
his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and
they became blood. Then I heard the angel in
charge of the waters say: “You are just in
these judgments, you who are and who were, the
Holy One, because you have so judged; for they
shed the blood of your saints and prophets and
you have given them blood to drink as they
deserve.’ And I heard the altar respond:
‘Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are
your judgments.’
The
third bowl will force people having the mark of
the beast into a sickly spiral that ultimately
leads to an agonizing death. There will be no
recovery from this plague. Human beings cannot go
very long without water. Everywhere the wicked
look for water, but find blood instead. Picture
this if you can. Millions of thirst-driven people
drinking blood in order to survive! It is a
repugnant thought, but it is a true picture.
Helpless people will turn to their God, the
Antichrist, for miraculous help, but none will
come. Lucifer will be powerless to turn the blood
into water. Jesus will not have any mercy upon
these demon-possessed people. Every person was
given a lengthy chance to know God’s will
and worship Him. However, they will fully aligned
themselves with the forces of evil; therefore,
they must suffer the consequence. The angel that
delivers this horrible judgment declares God to
be fair for giving bloodthirsty people blood to
drink! Even the martyred souls under the altar
agree saying, “True and just are your
judgments.” (Of course, martyred souls do
not actually talk, but personification allows
their innocent blood to cry out for justice, as
did Abel’s blood. Genesis 4:10)
4.
Revelation 16:8,9 – The fourth angel poured
out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given
power to scorch people with fire. They were
seared by the intense heat and they cursed the
name of God, who had control over these plagues,
but they refused to repent and glorify him.”
At
this point, thirty days have passed since the
seven bowls began. The misery index is climbing
fast and the wicked people on Earth are
struggling in a great quandary. Why doesn’t
our God (actually, the Antichrist) stop this?
They reason, “Our God can do anything! He
even called fire down from the sky, therefore, he
must immediately stop these awful judgments.”
Then, the fourth bowl is poured out. It is
possible that the fourth bowl will be caused by a
catastrophic solar flare from the Sun or perhaps
a very brilliant gamma-ray burst coming from the
direction of the Sun. Either way, the net effect
is intense, searing heat. Think about this plague
for a moment. If the ambient temperature stays
above 150 degrees for several days, what would be
the effect? There will be no electricity on Earth
at this time since Earth was badly broken up when
the seventh trumpet occurred. (Revelation 11:19)
So, there will be no mechanical relief from the
heat. Furthermore, all of the oceans and rivers
smell like blood. Billions of dead sea creatures
have washed up on the shores. There is no water
to drink; only blood which smells so badly it
causes people to vomit.
In
this setting, the Bible predicts two interesting
things. First, the wicked will curse God of the
144,000 and the saints (who they believe is the
devil). They will do this because Lucifer (masquerading
as Almighty God) and his angels will tell the
wicked people of Earth that these plagues are
from the devil! Think about this: When God
becomes the devil and the devil becomes God,
Lucifer’s deception is complete! Second,
even though the wicked are suffering in the
extreme, the Bible says they will refuse to
change and repent, revealing the depth of their
degradation. They cannot change because there is
no desire within them to change. Torture does not
change the heart! At this time, every wicked
person has committed the unpardonable sin and the
Holy Spirit has abandoned them. This brings
us face to face with a very stark fact: Unless we
give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to change us,
we cannot come to repentance or reformation on
our own. The carnal nature will not permit it.
We will conclude our
study on the seven bowls in the next article.
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