Revelation 16 - Where is Armageddon and What Is It's Significance?
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16 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” 2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. 3 The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died. 4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5 Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, O Holy One, you who are and who were;6 for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your 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.”
A loud voice from heaven, probably one of the four living creatures, commanded the seven angels to pour out the seven bowls on God's wrath on the earth. Each wrath gets successively worse. The first plague is festering sores that break out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped its image.
Because they are described as the wrath of God, they are chastisements (with the purpose of bringing repentance) as much as punishments (with the purpose of dispensing justice). As such, we usually think of these as occurring at the end of the seven-year period, immediately before Jesus’ return. (Guzik)
Are the plagues described in this chapter symbolic? Perhaps we can’t envision all that these words mean. However, God’s judgment of this world will not be a symbolic judgment. We can remember that the reality behind a symbol is always more real – and in this case therefore more terrifying – than the symbol itself.
The second plague from the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and everything in the sea turned into blood. As such every living thing in the sea died.
The sea doesn’t necessarily become blood, but as of a corpse’s blood. It will match the appearance and sickening character of the blood in a dead body. - (Guzik)
Similarly, the third angel poured out the third bowl of judgment on the rivers and springs of water and they similarly turned to blood.
When these judgments come, the time must be very short until the return of Jesus. With ecological disaster such as this, the human race cannot survive long. (Guzik)
John's statement at the end of these verses is confusing to me. He says the judgments poured out on the waters of the earth were in response to the blood of the prophets and martyrs. But it is not retribution to the creatures that live in the sea but on those who will drink the blood water. Whatever the case may be, these judgments were fair and just repaying those who killed the martyrs and prophets.
It is completely fitting that those who delighted in shedding the blood of the saints should now be forced to drink blood. They refused the Living Water, and now will be given death to drink. (Guzik)
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 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.
The fourth angel's bowl moved from the waters to the sun. Usually we can withstand the sun. We often wear suntan lotion with a high SPF to protect our skin. But not in this case. The sun was "allowed" to scorch people with fire. This reminds us that God is omnipotent and all the aspects of Creation he organizes and maintains so we can live on this planet. We know if the moon or sun were to be moved in one direction or another it can cause cataclysmic effects on the earth.
Despite the intensity of this plague somehow people still managed to refuse to repent. This shows how strong the human will is. It is no wonder even today some people, including our family and friends, refuse to repent and trust in Jesus.
The failure of men to respond with repentance shows that knowledge or experience of judgment will not change man’s sinful condition. Those who are not won by grace will never be won. (Guzik)
10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
The fifth angel's bowl was poured out on the throne of the beast, which causes the beast and his kingdom to plunge into darkness. Since the beast had authority over the earth, we can probably assume the earth was plunged into darkness causing people to continue to experience agony, yet they still refused to repent.
The darkness of the fifth bowl is a preview of hell itself, which is described by Jesus as the outer darkness (Matthew 25:30). Those under the judgment of this fifth bowl stand, as it were, on the shores of the lake of fire. (Guzik)
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” 16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The sixth bowl is different than the previous five bowls. The bowl was poured out on the Euphrates river, which dried it up. Why was this important? Apparently it prepared the way for kings from the East, who would play a role in the final judgment of mankind. What is the significance of the Euphrates River in John's time?
The Romans considered the Euphrates River to be a secure barrier against invasion from the empires of the east. In that day it was 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) long and anywhere from 300-1200 yards (275-1,100 meters) wide.
If the Euphrates were dried up and made a road, massive armies from the east (nations such as China, India, and Japan) could move westward with ease.
i. Some speculate on the reason these armies of the east come westward. Some think it is to wipe out Israel, or to rebel against a European-based world leader (the Antichrist). Ultimately, they come to do battle against God and His Messiah (Psalm 2). (Guzik)
Three impure spirits came out of the the mouths of the major agents of evil in the final tribulation and end of the world. The dragon (satan), the beast (the antichrist), and the false prophet the second beast).
Why did they look like frogs?
If the Euphrates were dried up and made a road, massive armies from the east (nations such as China, India, and Japan) could move westward with ease.
i. Some speculate on the reason these armies of the east come westward. Some think it is to wipe out Israel, or to rebel against a European-based world leader (the Antichrist). Ultimately, they come to do battle against God and His Messiah (Psalm 2).
Who is the false prophet?
His purpose is to promote the authority of the first beast with the ability to perform great signs, even making fire come down out of Heaven. This second beast is also called the false prophet. (wikipedia)
His purpose is to promote the authority of the first beast with the ability to perform great signs, even making fire come down out of Heaven. This second beast is also called the false prophet. (gotquestions.org)
The demonic spirits that come out of these three agents of evil are messengers to prepare the kings from the east for the battle on the great day of the Lord.
What is the battle on the great day of the Lord?
Revelation 16 is the record of what will happen toward the end of the tribulation, when an angel pours out the sixth bowl judgment on the earth. The word Armageddon makes its only appearance in the Bible in this passage.
In the midst of the description of the coming battle, there is a warning to be prepared in light of Jesus’ assured victory.
What does it mean to be properly prepared by wearing the right clothes?
Garments are pictures of spiritual and practical righteousness. We are given the righteousness of Jesus as a garment (Galatians 3:27), but we are also called to “put on” the nature of Jesus in terms of practical holiness (Ephesians 4:20-24). Above all, we must not be “naked” – that is, without a covering, or trying to provide our own covering like Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:7), which is like filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6).
What is the significance of the word "Armageddon". This word means the Mount of Megiddo, where many wars were fought through Israel's history.
The exact location of Armageddon is unclear because there is no mountain called Meggido. However, since Har can also mean “hill,” the most likely location is the hill country surrounding the plain of Meggido, some sixty miles north of Jerusalem. Throughout history, armies have fought countless battles in that region: Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, and Crusaders fought in Megiddo, as well as the armies of Napoleon. Megiddo was the site of battles during World War I and the Arab-Israeli War of 1948 (Weintraub, P., “Rewriting Tel Megiddo’s Violent History,” Discover, Sep 30, 2015). In the future, the plain of Megiddo and the nearby plain of Esdraelon will also be the focal point for the battle of Armageddon. (Got Questions.org)
Where is this in Israel?
Megiddo, important town of ancient Palestine, overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon (Valley of Jezreel). It lies about 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Haifa in northern Israel. Megiddo's strategic location at the crossing of two military and trade routes gave the city an importance far beyond its size.
There are various views on whether this battle already happened, whether it is symbolic, or it will happen in the future? For me it is clear it will be in the future, because the day of the Lord has not happened. People have often tried to predict this happening with different super powers or dictators, but they have all been wrong up this point in time!
According to the futurist interpretation of Revelation, which is our view, the Battle of Armageddon will be a real battle in the future, near the end of the tribulation. Demonic influences will cause the kings of the earth to gather their armies for an all-out assault on Jerusalem. The Antichrist will be leading the charge (Revelation 16:13–16) (Gotquestions.org)
17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20 Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21 From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[a] fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
The seventh angel brought the final bowl of judgment to complete the wrath of God in the end times. The loud voice from heaven is probably God saying, "It is done". Then came supernatural natural disasters as has never been seen before. The great city split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed.
Where are these cities?
Once again there is fairly major disagreement in what this city, Babylon the great city represents and where it is located.
Some assume the great city is Babylon, which was the main city of Babylonian empire (modern day Iraq), which conquered Israel and Jerusalem in 586 B.C..
The cup of God's wine of fury is a metaphor that is mentioned many times in the bible. It is also called the "cup of wrath". John continues to describe this apocalyptic scene by describing the islands fleeing away and the mountains disappearing. From the sky huge hailstones fell on the people. Instead of repenting, once again the people curse God.
Charles Spurgeon on the refusal of these people to repent.
Despite all their suffering, many still will not repent. “I have known people say, ‘Well, if I were afflicted I might be converted. If I lay sick I might be saved.’ Oh, do not think so. Sickness and sorrow of themselves are no helps to salvation. Pain and poverty are not evangelists; disease and despair are not apostles. Look at the lost in hell. Suffering has effected no good in them. He that was filthy here is filthy there. He that was unjust in this life is unjust in the life to come. There is nothing in pain and suffering that, by their own natural operation, will tend to purification.” (Spurgeon)
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