The first four “bowls” targeted the economy of the World Empire, and the fifth destroyed its political power. Now, the sixth “bowl” unleashes demonic forces that gather the “kings of the earth” to the final battle of the “Great Day of God the Almighty,” namely, “Armageddon.”
This climactic “battle” will be the last desperate attempt by the “Dragon” to unseat the “Lamb,” and he will execute it by attacking the “saints.”
Several Old Testament images are employed to portray this final battle, including the drying of the Red Sea, the Egyptian plague of frogs, the rerouting of the Euphrates River to create an entry point into the city of Babylon, and the predicted assault by “Gog and Magog” against Israel. The “sixth bowl” also includes verbal links to earlier passages in Revelation.
- (Revelation 16:12-16) – “And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates; and the water was dried up, that the way might be prepared of the kings who were from the east. And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three impure spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, doing signs, which are to go forth to the kings of the whole habitable earth to gather them to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief! Happy is he that is watching and keeping his garments, lest naked he be walking, and they see his shame. And he gathered them to the place that is called in Hebrew, Har-Maggedon.”
The Old Testament images are combined to create a complete picture. The conflict culminates in the destruction of “Babylon” when the “seventh bowl” is emptied on the earth.
THE EUPHRATES
The Euphrates River is the traditional eastern boundary of the Promised Land, and historically, the direction from which invading armies attacked Israel. Thus, the final “battle” is poised to commence - (Genesis 15:18, Exodus 23:31, Deuteronomy 1:7, 11:24, Joshua 1:4).
The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted that Persia would take Babylon by drying up the Euphrates River, which was fulfilled in October 539 B.C. when the Medo-Persian army redirected the river, enabling it to enter the city along the riverbed.
The image of the “kings of the east” leading a large force from beyond the Euphrates uses imagery from the prophecy of “Gog and Magog” recorded in Ezekiel - (Isaiah 44:24-28, 41:45, Jeremiah 50:38, 51:36).
In Revelation, neither the “Euphrates River” nor “Babylon” is a literal geographic reference. In chapter 17, Babylon “sits on many waters” that represent “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.” And if “Babylon” is not an actual geographic reference in chapter 17, then neither is the “Euphrates River” in the present passage - (Revelation 17:1-15).
KINGS OF THE EAST
Demonic spirits are sent to gather the “kings of the whole habitable earth” to the war of the “great day of God.” The description employs language from Ezekiel’s vision of “Gog of Magog”:
- (Ezekiel 38:3-10) - “I will turn you back and put hooks into your jaws, and I WILL GATHER YOU AND ALL YOUR ARMY… Be prepared and prepare yourself, you and all your company that are gathered unto you…in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel... You shall ascend and come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your bands, and many people with you.”
These demons employ “signs” to compel the “kings of the east” to attack. Likewise, in chapter 13, the “False Prophet” performs “great signs” to deceive the “inhabitants of the earth.” The verbal parallel is deliberate. The demons work through Satan’s earthly agents to mislead the nations into attacking the “saints” - (Revelation 13:13).
The “kings from the east” and the “kings of the whole earth” are identical, the latter interprets the former. Moreover, what is portrayed is NOT a battle between national armies, but the global attack by all nations against the “Lamb,” the anointed king of Yahweh, just as predicted in the second Psalm:
- (Psalm 2:1-4) – “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh and against his anointed.”
THE BATTLE
Although the “kings of the earth” believe they are assembling to destroy the “saints,” in fact, they are gathered at the instigation of God in order to destroy “Babylon.” Then they themselves are destroyed along with the “Beast” and “False Prophet,” just as Yahweh caused the army of “Gog and Magog” to invade Israel so He could destroy it on the “mountains of Israel” - (Ezekiel 38:3-10, 39:1-3, Revelation 16:19, 17:16-17, 19:17-21).
Demons “gather the kings of the earth to the war.” This is the same “war” waged against the “Two Witnesses” by the “Beast from the Abyss,” the “Dragon” against the “seed of the woman,” and the “Beast from the Sea” against the “saints” - (Daniel 7:21, Revelation 11:17, 12:17, 13:7).
The “kings from the east” join the “Beast” in its final confrontation with the “Lamb.” But God’s purpose in this is to destroy “Babylon” - He has put it in their hearts to do His bidding - (Revelation 16:19, 17:16-17).
Thus, the “sixth bowl of wrath” is a symbolic picture of the final confrontation between the forces of the “Lamb” and the “Dragon.” The passage reinterprets the Old Testament images - “Gog” and its armies become the “kings of the whole habitable earth,” unrepentant humanity united by the “Beast” against the “Lamb” and “his army” – the “saints.”
And at this point, the voice of Jesus interjects - “Behold, I am coming as a thief!” The final battle will culminate in his arrival from heaven. Overcoming believers who “keep their garments” will find themselves “blessed” when he appears, but his arrival will also mean “shame” for the unprepared.
In the present passage, the promised “blessing” reiterates the exhortations and promises given to the churches at Sardis and Laodicea - (Revelation 3:2-5, 3:17-18).
The name “Armageddon” transliterates the Hebrew term for “mountain of Megiddo” (the prefix ‘har-’ means “hill” or “mountain”). No such city in Palestine is called by that name. Historically, “Megiddo” referred to the “valley of Megiddo,” or to the town of that name located in a broad plain where no mountain or sizable hill exists - (Judges 5:19, 2 Kings 23:29-30, Zechariah 12:11).
Revelation has combined two Old Testament passages - Zechariah 12:11 and Ezekiel 39:2-4. In the former, Yahweh seeks to “destroy all the nations gathered against Jerusalem…in the valley of Megiddon.” In the latter, He causes “Gog of Magog” to gather “upon the mountains of Israel” for destruction.
The same final battle with “Gog and Magog” is portrayed again in chapters 19 and 20 of Revelation. This “war” is global in scope, and the attacking force is identified as the “nations from the four corners of the earth” assembled by Satan for his final effort to annihilate the “camp of the saints” - (Revelation 20:7-15).