The first four bowls of wrath destroy the economic infrastructure of the “beast,” and punish those who took its “mark” – Revelation 16:1-9.
The first four bowls target the economic
structures necessary to support commerce and otherwise maintain the economic
health of society. Since the “beast” has deprived the followers of the “Lamb”
of the means to participate in economic life, so its followers will now suffer
economic loss.
Old Testament imagery is employed throughout the
“seven bowls of wrath,” including the plagues of Egypt, the exodus from Egypt,
the defeat of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, the “Song of Moses,” and the “Tent
of Testimony.” Each of the seven “last plagues” corresponds to one
of the ten plagues of Egypt.
The first four “bowls” form a distinct
group. Like the first four trumpets, the first four “bowls of wrath”
inflict plagues on the earth, the sea, and celestial objects; basically, against
the economic infrastructures needed for the prosperity of the “inhabitants
of the earth.”
FIRST BOWL. The first angel “poured out” the contents of his bowl. The verb translates
the Greek term ekcheō, used in the
Greek Septuagint version of Leviticus
for the ashes from the burnt offerings that were “poured out” outside the camp
of Israel.
In Revelation,
ekcheō occurs only in the series of
the “seven bowls” whenever one of the angels “pours out” his bowl,
and when God was praised for punishing those who “poured out the
blood of the saints and the prophets.” That is the verbal link to the image
of the martyrs “under the altar” in the “fifth seal.” Since the wicked have “poured out” the blood of the
martyrs, God has poured out “blood for them to drink” - (Leviticus
4:12, Revelation 6:9-11).
The “noisome
and grievous sore” alludes to the sixth plague of Egypt, the plague of boils inflicted
on that ancient nation. Thus, the men who took the “mark of the beast” are marred
by “grievous sores”
- (Exodus 9:9-11, Deuteronomy
28:27, Revelation 7:1-3).
SECOND BOWL. The description of the next “bowl” employs
language from the first Egyptian plague, where the waters of Egypt were turned
to blood and its fish killed. Here, the “sea” becomes like the
blood of a dead man. Previously, the “second
trumpet” turned a third of the “sea”
into blood, destroying a third of its living creatures. The
contents of the second “bowl” turn the entire sea
into blood, killing every living thing in it.
In Revelation, the “sea” symbolizes
the mass of humanity that is hostile towards God, the nations from which the “beast
ascended.” It is conceptually parallel to the Abyss, the
source of the “beast” - (Daniel
7:1-2, Revelation 7:1-3, 9:1-10, 12:12, 13:1, 20:8).
The destruction of sea life means the
cessation of the sea-borne commerce that is so vitally important to the economic
health of nations. This plague anticipates the later judgment dirge against “Babylon,”
she who sits on “many waters,” on “peoples, multitudes, nations,
and tongues” - (Revelation 17:6-15,
18:6, 18:23-24).
The cessation of maritime commerce means
economic loss and hardship. The contents of the second “bowl” point to economic
upheaval in the kingdom of the “beast.”
THIRD BOWL. The third “bowl” also echoes the first
Egyptian plague, but it affects all sources of fresh water,
and it turns the “sea” into a place of death. Once again, the sea is
necessary for maritime commerce, and fresh water is vital for agriculture and
the life of society.
“ANGEL OF THE WATERS”. An interjection is made. The third angel emptied
his “bowl” on the “fountains of the waters,” and now is called the
“angel of the waters.” The declaration sums up the justification for the
first three “bowls”; the men who took the mark “were given blood to
drink, because they poured out the blood of saints and prophets.” These words
anticipate the judicial pronouncements against “Babylon” for her persecution
of the saints, and because she caused the nations of the earth to drink the “wine
of her fornication” - (Revelation 16:17-21).
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| Photo by Chester Ho on Unsplash |
“They are worthy.” This refers to the martyrs, not to followers of the “beast.” Because the martyrs overcame, they are vindicated by the “last plagues” unleashed against their persecutors.
God is the one who “is and who was,”
the same appellation assigned to Him previously, the One “who is and who
was and who is coming.” However, here, the third part of
the statement is dropped, for no longer is God “coming.” The final
judgment has arrived with the “seven bowls of wrath,” in which His wrath
will be “finished” - (Revelation
1:4, 1:8, 4:8, 11:17).
God is the “righteous and holy one who judges.” These
words echo the
plea of the martyrs
found “underneath the altar” when the fifth seal was opened (“How long, O Master, holy and true, do you not
judge and avenge our blood”) – (Revelation 6:9-11, 8:3-5).
Fourth Bowl. The fourth bowl alludes to the ninth plague
of Egypt, when the sun was darkened. But this “bowl” causes scorching
heat that burns the followers of the “beast” - (Revelation 16:8-9).
Rather than repent, the “inhabitants of
the earth” continue to blaspheme the “name of God who had power over
these plagues,” and they deny that their sufferings are due to His
sovereign acts.
The term “blasphemy” or “slander”
connects the “inhabitants of the earth” to the “beast from the
sea”; they have taken on its nature, for previously, the “beast” had
engaged in “slander” or “blasphemy” against “those who are
tabernacling in heaven,” that is, against the “saints” - (Revelation
2:9, 13:6-7).
“They repented not.” The refusal
of the “inhabitants of the earth” to repent despite the destruction
unleashed by the first four “bowls” evidences the righteousness of God’s
judicial acts. Previously, the “plagues” unleashed by the “seven trumpets” only
harmed a “third” of the earth, sea, fresh water, and vegetation. The purpose
was to drive men to repentance. But despite the
pain of those
“plagues,” the “inhabitants of the earth” still
refused to repent of the “works
of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and
of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor
hear, nor walk, and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of
their fornication, nor of their thefts.” Their
complete destruction by the “bowls of wrath” is fully justified – (Revelation
9:20-21).
The stage is now set to complete the “wrath
of God.” The final three “bowls of wrath” will impose judicial sentence on the empire
of the “beast,” the “kings of the earth” who allied themselves
with it, and “Babylon, the great city,” the economic powerhouse behind
the “throne.”