Revelation Revealed, #24: Rev. 16:1–11 | Jim Hammond
Recap
Pastor Jim gave his 24th teaching in his series entitled, “Revelation Revealed.” In this installment, he went over the first 11 verses of this 21-verse chapter. He described this chapter as being the most intense, as it describes what happens to the inhabitants of earth when the seven bowl judgments are poured out onto the kingdom of man. The bowl judgments will be a terrifying experience for those who missed the rapture. For that reason, Pastor Jim emphatically stated the importance of having knowledge of end time events in order to keep people from experiencing the tribulation!
Dive Deeper
First Bowl Judgment is poured out…
In Revelation 16:1, the first angel poured out his bowl on the earth and those with the mark of the beast got “grievous” sores on them. This bowl judgment is very similar to the sixth plague when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt (Exodus).
Second Bowl Judgment is poured out…
In Revelation 16:3, the second angel poured out his bowl upon the sea and it became as blood. Every living soul in the sea died. For comparison, in the second trumpet judgment, only one-third of the creatures in the sea died with a third of the sea turned into blood.
Some commentators say that this is an ecological tragedy. Those who believe this are mostly “millennialists” who believe there is no rapture and that the church is going to take over and govern the world and welcome Jesus back.
Third Bowl Judgment is poured out…
In Revelation 16:4, the third angel poured out his bowl upon the rivers and fountains of water and they all became blood. After this, those that worship the beast and who have taken the mark will not have any drinking water.
Pastor Jim is confident that all the Christians are dead at this point because they will all have been made martyrs.
So in addition to having terrible boils on their bodies, they will now have no water to drink.
Fourth Bowl Judgment is poured out…
In Revelation 16:8, the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun so that the sun scorched men with great heat. Pastor Jim says these people will know that this is God’s wrath being poured out upon them, because their reaction was to blaspheme the name of God. They blamed Him for it. Yet, through it all, they refused to repent of their sins. This is reflective of the dire state of the world.
In addition to having terrible sores and no drinking water, they will now be burned with scorching heat.
Fifth Bowl Judgment is poured out…
In Revelation 16:10, the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the seat of the beast, who is Antichrist. The result of this bowl judgment is that Antichrist’s kingdom will be full of darkness. There will be no light. It says they will gnaw their tongues because of the pain.
Pastor Jim said, “For someone to gnaw on their tongues, that’s serious ‘out of control’ pain, where you can’t even control yourself.”
The “seat of the beast” would be where Antichrist’s religious headquarters are located. It could very well mean Jerusalem.
Read About It
Rev. 16:2–11, “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image. 3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. 4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. 5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. 7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. 8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”
Discussion Questions
Suppose you met some people that were frightened about experiencing the tribulation…
1. What would you say about how they could miss it?
2. What would you say to comfort them?
3. How would you describe the rapture event?