Revelation 16

Seven angels pour out seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth. These are the last and fullest judgments, and they echo the plagues of Egypt. Again and again people suffer and still refuse to repent, until God’s judgment on Babylon the great arrives at the end.

Revelation 16:1

A loud voice from the temple, which is God’s own dwelling, commands the seven angels to empty their bowls on the earth. The judgments do not begin by chance or by evil’s own power. They go out from God’s presence and at His word.

BSA: bowls (“a broad, shallow cup”): A wide bowl pours out its whole contents at once, so the judgment comes full and undiluted.

Greek: φιάλας (phialas, G5357) — “broad, shallow bowls.” These were wide bowls used for pouring drink offerings in worship. The judgments are poured out like a sacred act, in full, and not as random disasters.

See also: Revelation 15:7.

Revelation 16:2

The first bowl falls on the earth, and painful, festering sores break out on those who carry the beast’s mark and worship its image. The judgment lands on those who chose to side with the beast. It is much like the sixth plague on Egypt.

BSA: mark (“image or sign”): The mark shows whom a person belongs to, and here it shows who receives the judgment.

See also: Exodus 9:10-11; Revelation 13:16-17.

Revelation 16:3

The second bowl turns the sea into blood like that of a corpse, and all sea life dies. The sea becomes a place of death. This recalls the Nile turned to blood in Egypt, on a far larger scale.

BSA: blood (“as of a dead man”): This is not fresh, living blood. It is the clotted blood of a corpse, a picture of death spreading through the sea.

See also: Exodus 7:20-21.

Revelation 16:4

The third bowl strikes the fresh water, the rivers and springs people depend on to live. These too become blood. Even the water people need to survive is now touched by judgment.

BSA: springs (“sources of water”): The judgment reaches the very sources of drinking water, so nothing is left untouched.

Revelation 16:5-6

The angel in charge of the waters declares God just. The people poured out the blood of God’s people, and now they are given blood to drink. The punishment fits the crime. Even in terrible judgment, God is shown to be righteous and holy.

BSA: Righteous (“just, fair, and innocent”): The angel declares that God is entirely in the right and does nothing wrong. spilled (“poured out, shed”): The same word of pouring is used: they poured out saints’ blood, and now blood is poured out for them.

Greek: ἄξιοί (axioi, G514) — “worthy, deserving.” The word means the scales are balanced. What they receive matches what they did.

See also: Revelation 6:10.

Revelation 16:7

The altar itself answers, agreeing with the angel. This is the altar where the prayers and cries of the martyrs rose to God. Now their cry for justice is answered, and God’s judgments are called true and just.

BSA: Almighty (“all-powerful, having absolute control”): The One who judges holds everything in His hand, so His verdicts cannot be overturned.

See also: Revelation 6:9-10; Revelation 19:2.

Revelation 16:8

The fourth bowl is poured on the sun, and it is given power to scorch people with fire. The sun, which normally gives warmth and life, is turned into an instrument of pain. It is the creation itself serving its Maker’s judgment.

BSA: scorch (“burn, afflict with heat”): The word means to cause real suffering through burning heat, not just warm weather.

Revelation 16:9

People know exactly who controls these plagues, yet they curse His name instead of turning to Him. Their hearts are hardened, as Pharaoh’s was. Suffering by itself does not soften them. Repentance would have given God glory, and they refuse.

BSA: repent (“change their mind, turn from sin”): Repentance is a real change of mind and direction, and these people will not make it. cursed (“blasphemed, spoke evil of”): They did not merely complain. They spoke against God’s own character.

Greek: ἐβλασφήμησαν (eblasphēmēsan, G987) — “they blasphemed, spoke against.” This is where our word ‘blaspheme’ comes from. It means abusive speech aimed at God Himself.

See also: Exodus 8:15.

Revelation 16:10-11

The fifth bowl strikes the seat of the beast’s power, and its kingdom is plunged into darkness. In agony, people gnaw their tongues and curse God, yet still refuse to repent. Their deeds, not just their pain, are what they will not give up.

BSA: throne (“the seat of power and authority”): The attack is on the center of the beast’s rule, the very place where it claims to be in charge. deeds (“works, actions”): What they refuse to turn from is a way of life, not a single mistake.

See also: Exodus 10:21-22.

Revelation 16:12

The sixth bowl dries up the great river Euphrates, making a road for the kings of the East. The Euphrates was a long-standing boundary of Israel’s world and a route for invading armies. God Himself opens the way, preparing for the final gathering.

BSA: prepare (“to make ready, to get things ready”): Even the drying of the river is part of God’s preparation, so these events do not happen outside His control.

Greek: ἑτοιμασθῇ (hetoimasthē, G2090) — “might be prepared.” The verb is passive, so someone else prepares the way. God is the one who makes the path ready, even for His enemies’ assembling.

See also: Exodus 14:21.

Revelation 16:13-14

Three unclean spirits like frogs come from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They work signs and go out to gather the world’s kings for battle. Deception, not strength, is their weapon, and their words draw the world toward the final conflict.

BSA: frogs (“small amphibians, a sign of God’s judgment”): Frogs were one of the plagues of Egypt, and here they are unclean and come from the mouth, so they suggest filthy words. signs (“indications or tokens of something supernatural”): Miracles are used here to convince people of lies, so a sign alone does not prove something is from God.

Greek: βάτραχοι (batrachoi, G944) — “frogs.” The word is the same as in the Egyptian plague. It adds a note of uncleanness, since frogs were unclean creatures under Israel’s law.

See also: Exodus 8:2-6; Matthew 24:24.

Revelation 16:15

In the middle of the scene comes the voice of Jesus. He will come unexpectedly, like a thief. He gives a blessing to the one who stays awake and clothed, ready for His return, and not caught ashamed.

BSA: awake (“watchful, vigilant”): The call is to alertness of heart, a readiness that continues and does not slip into sleep.

Greek: κλέπτης (kleptēs, G2812) — “thief.” The picture is not about stealing but about timing. A thief comes when no one expects him.

See also: Matthew 24:43-44; 1 Thessalonians 5:2.

Revelation 16:16

The kings are gathered at a place called Armageddon in Hebrew. The name is usually taken to mean the mountain of Megiddo, a famous battleground in Israel’s history. Christians understand the details differently, but the point is a final, decisive showdown.

BSA: Armageddon (“Har-Magedon, the mountain of Megiddo”): The name points to Megiddo, a place of many past battles, as a picture of the great last conflict.

Greek: Ἁρμαγεδών (Harmagedōn, G717) — “Armageddon, ‘Mount of Megiddo’.” The word is a Greek form of a Hebrew name. It appears only here in the Bible.

Revelation 16:17

The seventh bowl is poured into the air, and a voice from God’s throne cries, ‘It is done!’ God’s wrath is brought to its completion. The same voice from the throne marks the end of the judgments and the beginning of the end of evil’s rule.

BSA: done (“finished, completed, brought to an end”): God’s work of judgment reaches its goal and nothing remains to be added.

Greek: Γέγονεν (Gegonen, G1096) — “It has happened, it is done.” The perfect tense speaks of a finished act with lasting results. It is a one-word announcement of completion.

See also: Revelation 21:6; John 19:30.

Revelation 16:18

Lightning, rumblings, thunder, and an earthquake greater than any in human history follow. These are the signs of God’s presence in power, seen at Sinai and repeated through Revelation. The whole earth shakes before Him.

BSA: earthquake (“a shaking of the ground, a seismic event”): The very ground people stand on is shaken, so nothing earthly can offer security.

See also: Exodus 19:16-18; Revelation 11:19.

Revelation 16:19

The great city is split in three, and the cities of the nations fall. God remembers Babylon the great and makes her drink the cup of His fury. Babylon here stands for the proud, God-defying world system that Revelation 17-18 describes in detail.

BSA: remembered (“recalled, brought to mind”): God has not forgotten her long record of sin, and now He acts on it. cup (“vessel”): The cup is a picture of judgment that she must drink to the bottom.

Greek: ἐμνήσθη (emnēsthē, G3403) — “was remembered.” In the Bible, when God ‘remembers,’ He acts on what He has not forgotten. It does not mean He had forgotten before.

See also: Revelation 18:5; Jeremiah 25:15.

Revelation 16:20-21

Islands flee and mountains vanish, and hailstones of about a hundred pounds fall from the sky. The earth’s most solid features give way. Even then people curse God. Judgment that ought to humble them only exposes how hard their hearts are.

BSA: hailstones (“like talents, weighing about a hundred pounds”): A talent was a heavy unit of weight, so these stones are crushing in size. fled (“to flee, run away, vanish”): The islands are pictured as running from the presence of the judge.

See also: Exodus 9:23-24; Revelation 6:14.