The first four “bowls” destroyed the economic structure of the World-Power; the fifth “bowl” targets the political dimension – Revelation 16:10-11.
The destruction of the economic and political
power structures of the “beast” sets the stage for the final “war”
between the earthly forces of the “Dragon” and of the “Lamb,” the
“battle of the day of God Almighty” at Armageddon. That will occur when
the sixth “bowl of wrath” is emptied - (Revelation 16:12-16).
- (Revelation 16:10-11) – “And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works.”
Previously, the “beast” received its “throne
and power and great authority” from the “Dragon.” It is the agent
and vassal of the Devil. The real battle is between the “Dragon” and the
“Lamb.” The “beast from the sea” rules from Satan’s throne and
does his bidding – (Revelation 13:2).
“Satan’s
throne” was referred to in the letter to the church at Pergamos, and
Revelation wants the reader to make this connection. That city was the
administrative center of the provincial government and the regional center of
the Roman imperial cult dedicated to the veneration of the emperor and the
goddess Roma, the patron deity of the city of Rome:
- “I know where you dwell, even where Satan's throne is; and you are holding fast my name, and did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells” - (Revelation 2:13).
“Darkness.”
The plague of “darkness” targets the political authority of the “beast”
– his “throne.” The term provides a literary link to the sounding
of the “fifth trumpet” when the sun was “darkened” by the “smoke from the Abyss.” The imagery is drawn from the ninth plague of
Egypt:
- (Exodus 10:21-22) – “And Yahweh said to Moses: Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days.”
Likewise, the “pain” that caused men to “gnaw their
tongues” echoes the earlier plague of “locusts,” where the followers of
the “beast” were “tormented five months.” So here, also, the “inhabitants
of the earth” who gave allegiance to the “beast” are tormented by “their pains and sores.” The plague affected
both the “beast” and the “inhabitants of the earth” who
worshiped its image - (Exodus
10:21-29, Revelation 9:1-3).
As with the “sixth trumpet,” despite the torment,
the men who took the “mark of the Beast” refused to repent. Instead, they
“blasphemed the God of heaven.”
In Revelation, “blaspheme” denotes “slander,”
false accusations and charges made against the “saints.” The behavior is
another link between the “beast” and the “inhabitants of the earth,”
for the “beast” also “slandered the
name of God, and his tabernacle, even them that tabernacle in heaven” - (Revelation
2:8-9, 13:6-7).
Especially under attack in the “fifth bowl
of wrath” is the political power center and structures of the “beast,”
the authority necessary for the maintenance of its power. With the destruction
of the economic and political means, the final downfall of the World-Power
becomes inevitable and imminent.