Read with Me
Revelation 16:1-7 (HCSB)
Then I heard a loud voice from the sanctuary saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.
The second poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like a dead man’s, and all life in the sea died.
The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. I heard the angel of the waters say:
You are righteous,
who is and who was, the Holy One,
for You have decided these things.
Because they poured out
the blood of the saints and the prophets,
You also gave them blood to drink;
they deserve it!
Then I heard someone from the altar say:
Yes, Lord God, the Almighty,
true and righteous are Your judgments.
Listen with Me
The first of the bowls of God’s wrath were attacks aimed at three key aspects of life and well-being. First was an attack on the physical health of all those who worshipped the beast and had his number on their foreheads. This harkened directly back to the sixth plague God brought on Egypt: painful boils (Exodus 9:8-12). Remember that the emperor was considered a god, or at the very least a man who had influence with the gods and whose influence would provide blessings and prevent problems. So, this outbreak of ulcerated sores would throw doubt in the people’s minds on the power of their leader.
The second bowl poured out God’s wrath on the sea. To John’s readers, this would be the Mediterranean Sea, not the whole ocean. With the Mediterranean at the very heart of the empire, as well as being the main mode of transportation of goods and armies, Rome’s control of the sea was vital. But John saw that the control of the sea would be wrested from the hands of Rome in bloody battles that would cut off not only vital access to transportation and trade, but which would also cut off a vital supply of food.
The third bowl poured out on the rivers and springs signifies horrific battles that would defeat Rome’s armies slaughtering them in such numbers that their blood would flow into the rivers and streams tainting the water for miles downstream. This is one of only two plagues that bring forth a response from heaven. In this case, the angel of the waters cries out that this is an absolutely just judgment. The leaders and the people of the empire had spilled so much blood of the saints, that it was only proper that their blood should be poured out as well, leaving only blood tainted water for them to drink.
This declaration called forth a powerful “amen” from someone at the altar in heaven. God’s judgments are deemed both true and righteous. The fact that they are true declares that they are exactly in line with what God promised and warned of. And the fact that they are righteous declare that they are entirely deserved by those on whom they are falling.
Pray with Me
Father these really are such dire judgments that it would be hard to imagine how You could shelter Your people from the fallout in the midst of them if we did not have examples of this throughout the Scriptures. This is not only true of Your shielding Your people from the Ten Plagues in Egypt, but also of You delivering the righteous into captivity in Babylon instead of requiring them to die by plague, starvation, and execution in Jerusalem. I thank You, Lord, for Your power on behalf of Your people to shelter us, not necessarily from persecution, but from Your wrath. Amen.