(Chapter 16)

As we consider the tremendous Wrath of God which is described in chapter sixteen; please remember that Jesus has not yet come back! ALL faithful Christians have, during the great tribulation period, been martyred for Christ; and the last trumpet was revealed in Chapter eleven. The dead in Christ have been raised; and they and the Bride (protected in the desert place or wilderness) have been caught up to Christ (Jesus) and are now dwelling with Him!

However - the ‘Lightning’ coming which Jesus referenced - has not as yet occurred. He is now RULING earth from the Heavenly’s - and will soon return - and start Ruling with His rod of Iron! But first - because the majority of the earth accepted Satan and his deceptions - first we have the Wrath of God being poured out. Wrath upon all those who rejected Christ - God’s perfect son. The one who DIED for us; to allow our sins to be forgiven - so that we can dwell in God’s marvelous presence. Jesus’ lightning coming is seen in Chapter nineteen - but here in Sixteen - only those who rejected God and worshiped a created being - Satan or the anti-Christ are living and alive on earth. And on these - all who remain alive on earth - God’s tremendous wrath is about to be poured out . . .

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” (Rev 16:1 - 7)

WRATH is going to be poured out. SEVEN bowls of WRATH. Complete, and total; the number Seven indicates finality; and the Judgement decision - with no possibility of change or mercy.

Terrible wrath is poured out on those who WORSHIPED the image; and on those who received the MARK; and on those who received the Mark and also Worshiped the image.

As previously stated if you ‘ONLY’ worship the beast OR his image - you ARE eternally condemned!

And if you ‘ONLY’ receive a ‘mark’ from the beast (anti-Christ) - you ARE eternally condemned!

And, of course - if you do any of the above - you will also do the others. But, we really need to get away from this perception and teaching that if you only ‘take the mark’ - you are condemned. PEOPLE!! Please! This is a time of massive, massive deceptions! Satan will have written on his thigh - “King of Kings; and Lord of Lords!” [see R19:16 for what Jesus will have written on HIS thigh as well . . .]

Do you think that God will somehow prevent him from writing this (statement and name) on his thigh?? Get real. As previously pointed out - Satan will be writing NUMEROUS names on his followers. Just as Jesus ultimately will; and Satan will be ‘ruling with a rod of iron.’ He WILL be mimicking what God has declared. My teaching, and beliefs - are that Jesus will NOT come (as of Lightning) - before ALL Christians have already risen and been joined to Jesus - in Heaven.

But - what if I am Wrong?? What then? What if Jesus comes during the tribulation period, or before - (as the anti-Christ is going to do; and declare that he is the Christ) and starts ruling?? Are you going to refuse to worship the one true God (Jesus) because of my erroneous teachings?? Are you going to be eternally damned and condemned - because Jesus has come back - and you refuse to acknowledge him as LORD?

Now, I am NOT wrong in my understanding of this subject. But the truth is - we must be INTIMATE with GOD - to be protected against falsehood and deception. We must learn to HEAR the Spirit of God; and to Obey the Holy Spirit!

If you are not deeply, deeply INTIMATE with God; and KNOW his VOICE - you are ripe for deception. I sincerely hope that my commentary, teaching, and understanding of this glorious prophecy - helps prevent you from being deceived. But one ultimate truth - is that each of us - individually - must be very, very INTIMATE with GOD - before this huge tribulation period comes upon us - or we will have a tremendous possibility of falling away; and being deceived. And this deception - has no mercy or grace attached to it! There is no turning back; or repentance from it . . .

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (John 10:14 - 16)

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)

The first bowl of God’s wrath causes Ugly and Painful sores to break out and cover those who are left on the earth. All Christians (or those who Knew Jesus) are now with Him. Only the unsaved, and condemned remain alive, and are dwelling on earth. Wrath is poured onto all peoples; and this first - causes tremendous illness, and skin afflictions.

The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. (R16:2)

The Greek words used (translated as Ugly & Painful) are: kako;n & ponhro;n respectively. The definitions are as follows:

G2805: evil, wicked, wrong, bad, a perversion of what pertains to goodness; as a noun, an evil thing can refer to any crime, harm, or moral wrong {for the reader - courtesy reference: (Strong’s:#2556)}

G4505: bad, the negative quality of an object; evil, wicked, crime, the negative moral quality of a person or action opposed to God and his goodness; (n.) wicked deed, wicked thing; the Evil One, a title of Satan {for the reader - courtesy reference: (Strong’s:#4190)}

Notice that neither of the two above definitions include any context or idea of ugly or painful.

G2805 is used 50 times in all of scripture. Examples of translation usage would be: evil (25x); wrong (8x); harm (3x); bad (2x); ill effects (1x)

G4505 is used 78 times in all of scripture. Examples of translation usage would be: evil (47x); wicked (11x); bad (7x); more wicked (2x); sinful (1x); crimes (1x); evil one (1x)

I bring up these examples as a gentle reminder of the tremendous disservice and internal self deceptions with which we deceive ourselves - when we ‘study’ the Greek and or Hebrew. And in using these ‘studies’ we then declare that ‘so and so’ word is wrong; because it is plural . . . The case is masculine and not feminine; Jesus is not God because of so and so . . . etc. etc. etc.

Studying is GOOD! God rewards us for being diligent and studying! But declaring the meaning, and interpretation of prophecy; from Studying is wrong. We must first learn to HEAR; and acquire the meaning from listening to GOD - and not looking up definitions - before we declare the meaning - because we have ‘studied’ the Greek or the Hebrew - and this word is past tense at this point; and not future tense . . . Ugh!!

I have absolutely no problem with the translation of Revelation 16:2 referencing Ugly and Painful sores. I thought to dwell on this for just a bit - since the definition and meanings of the two Greek words used - have NOTHING to do with physical beauty; your skin condition; or how much pain or illness you are experiencing . . . And yet - the use of the English terms Ugly & Painful - is quite apt. At some point we must trust that God has truly guided man in his translations of the scriptures; and the MILLIONS of man hours spent over the centuries - has resulted in translations which are for the most part - faithful and true.

The essence and significance of scripture is found in learning to HEAR our very personal teacher and instructor - the Holy Spirit; as we give Him the time necessary to instruct us in the nuances and meanings of what HE wrote.

As a further example; the following are from various translations of (R16:2); given in no particular order:

poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men (KJV)

his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men (NKJV)

his bowl on the earth, and foul and painful ulcers (sores) came on the people who (AMP)

and poured out his flask over the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on everyone (TLB)

poured out his bowl into the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore upon the men (NASB)

poured his bowl on the earth, and foul and evil sores came upon the men (RSV)

pour out his vial upon the land, and there came a sore - bad and grievous - to men (YLT)

poured out his bowl on the earth; and there came an evil and grievous sore upon the men (DARBY)

Continuing with the Wrath of God described in Chapter Sixteen:

The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” (Rev 16:3 - 7)

The Second & Third bowls removes all life from the sea, and rivers. The well spring sources of water - the river Heads, and Ground springs - are totally destroyed. Water no longer sustains life; and turns quite red - or possibly becomes actual blood. Whether it is actual blood or not - is not the focus of the prophecy. The focus is the WRATH which God is now pouring out - because EVERYONE who is alive on earth - REJECTED His Son, and accepted Satan! And rejoiced in the killing of innocents, prophets, and of all who remained faithful to Jesus. So, however it happens - the water turns red; and everything in the sea - dies! And these judgements and the judgements which are still to come - are declared to be ‘true and just’.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. (Rev 16:8 - 14)

Remember R8:12; where God struck the sun, and shortened the days - making a day be 16 hours instead of 24?? This was done, as you may recall - for the sake of the elect. (see Mark 13:20) Well, now all Christians or the elect are gone! We have been mocked, and killed for the testimony of Jesus. We remained faithful and true to Jesus; not denying Him - in the face of massive, massive deceptions; and your friends and family betraying, embarrassing, mocking, ridiculing, torturing you - etc. Calling you a FOOL for not turning to the ‘One True God’ . . . ALL of the elect are now with Jesus! The last trumpet has been blown; and the dead in Christ; and the Bride of Christ - all arose and met Him in the air! In glorious, indestructible bodies! (see R11:12,15 & 14:16)

Only those who rejected God and His Son, are inhabiting the earth. And God takes the Sun, and shakes it again! It is now made to burn with a fervent heat - and all inhabitants of the earth are seared by the intense heat. Yes, Global Warming or Climate Change is coming. But, NOT for any of the reasons which are loudly proclaimed . . .

The fifth bowl of wrath plunges this kingdom into darkness! The bowl is poured out onto the THRONE of the beast. The throne is his seat of power; and God strikes the symbol of his false, and deceptive power.

Now, Satan is dark. He may appear as an angel of light - but he is filled with deceptive darkness, and depravity. By definition - any Kingdom which Satan has - is DARK BLACK! So, what does it mean when scripture states his kingdom is plunged into darkness??

God is striking his power base. One of the reasons people rejected Christ (not listening to God - since the anti-Christ declared that he was Christ returned) was so that they could buy and sell . . . Now, his kingdom is plunged into darkness. His throne is struck. ALL electrical power is destroyed. God changes the laws of physics; and NO electrical device functions. Cars, boats, planes, stores, homes, etc. NO electricity flows.

I am certain that this phrase of “his kingdom was plunged into darkness” has other meanings as well. But taking a dark, dark kingdom - which has as one of its foundational cruxes - buying and selling; and good times - means that all electrical devices and electrical power generation will stop. Period. This takes the Spiritually darkest kingdom which has ever existed and ruled on the earth - and plunges it into the Physically darkest kingdom and time which has ever existed . . . 

The great ‘image’ which men worshiped will no longer work . . . That great prophetic oracle of mankind - giving instructions on how best to have a ‘great’ society . . . That is now silenced.

Then, evil spirits go out to continue the great deception! This was the man/false God whom NO ONE could stand against. (see R13:4) They go to the kings of the earth; and continue the great deceptions! Performing miracles - they rally the ‘troops’; and cause all military might of the world - (now with no functioning war machines) to come together at Armageddon to battle this one last ‘threat’. Probably stating something like this is an alien race from another planet - who is coming against us . . . But we have GOD on our side; and we will prevail . . . Lies and deceptions are the order of the day. The demons still have power; and they enter various men - and remind them of the tremendous ‘power’ they possess; and how can they be overcome??

Speaking of which - during the confrontation of Moses and the magicians of Pharaoh - miraculous false signs were performed by Pharaoh’s magician servants.

Probably, very much the same here as well . . . Yes, the waters are turned to Blood, with the 2^nd and 3^rd bowls of wrath! But, probably Satan ‘purified’ some of the waters - to impress all of the earth! These are just ‘little’ setbacks - don’t worry about it. I’ve got you covered . . . We have a spiritual WAR going on! These are now all unsaved people; who are LOST - but it is still very much a spiritual WAR! Continue the deceptions as much as possible. And that is one of the reasons why the 5^th bowl strikes Satan’s throne . . . significantly reducing his spiritual power and his ability to perform false miraculous signs and wonders.

But, he still has some spiritual power. And with all that he has demonstrated previous; and going out and giving men ‘more’ power - he manages to rally the troops to come to their final earthly battle and destruction.

Also, we should consider and remember that NO global or any functioning electronic communication apparatus - of ANY type exists! The ‘three’ evil spirits going out to the kings of the earth - to gather them - is a direct representation of LISTENING to God. It is what WE should be doing! Instead we spend so much of our time ‘studying’ the scriptures - instead of just PRAYING, and talking with God throughout our day. Turning OFF our televisions; and giving TIME to become intimate with GOD; and learning to HEAR the Spirit of God.

The earth’s inhabitants - who have submitted themselves to the anti-Christ - no longer have a problem ‘hearing’ him! He sends out evil spirits - to the various leaders of the earth - to speak to them (we are supposed to be able to HEAR God remember); and causes them to declare that God has spoken; and all of the World’s armies are to get ready for one last battle to signify their major victory. Instead of space aliens - they might be declaring that they are going to fight against Satan and his evil hoards. Who knows? The point is not who they are going to fight - the point and result - is getting the entire world’s military might (with no functioning machines) - to come together for the great battle at Armageddon.

We arrive at the next scripture. It would appear to be out of context. Why do we have this statement in the middle of all of this . . .?? And yet, we know that it cannot be ‘out of context’ - since God is the one making the statement. And God does not interrupt a meeting; or what God is stating - for erroneous reasons.

“Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.” (Rev 16:15)

This taking of the mark; this worshiping of Satan; the ultimate rejection of God - is so important; and so much against the desire of God for ANY person - that He again reminds us - that this is all going to happen very suddenly!

God does not state in the above - that Christians will be inhabiting the earth - when he comes like lightening. What He does state - is that He is going to come suddenly. Like a thief! When we do not expect Him. All true. And He states that if we stay awake - if we continue to have Faith in God - even as the world descends into a huge moral abyss; if we stay awake; and continue in the righteousness that God gives us - “keeps his clothes with him” - then we will not be naked (found in sin); and shamefully exposed. Standing before the true and righteous judge (God) with our sins. If we stand before the righteous one - with our sins enveloping us - we are ashamed; and condemned.

This scripture - is a short gospel statement. It is a witness for Jesus; that He is the only way to Heaven; and that Jesus controls access to the Father. And, it is a reminder that Jesus is going to come like a thief! All of these events - the terrible judgements; the anti-Christ; the ascension of the saints; the Wrath of God; Christ’s battle return at Armageddon - are ALL very sudden. These events are almost upon us; and yet they will still unfold very fast; and very suddenly!

And GOD does not want ANYONE to perish; or to accept the mark of the beast - or to march against Him in the battle of Armageddon. And so - just as He has been constantly repeating Himself in various ways in Revelation - here as He discusses the condemned going out to battle against Him - he gently reminds and PLEADS with you - to remain faithful, and watchful. To turn TO Him; and not away from Him; to be BLESSED; and not condemned . . . to stand before Him clothed in righteousness; and not enveloped in your sins. And so we have another juxtaposition of scriptures . . . A very short version of the gospel; and the consequences of rejecting Christ. Choose this day . . .

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible. (Rev 16:17 - 21)

As we move on from Chapter Sixteen into Seventeen, Eighteen & Nineteen - we will see that these three chapters introduce a ‘new’ subject; and yet - still have substantial repetition. Delving into additional detail and perspectives - on subjects already mentioned and discussed. Chapter Nineteen will come back to the subject of Armageddon and the great Battle - beginning with verse eleven - but really move into where Chapter Sixteen ends - at verse nineteen . . .

So, if you wished to just read along in a straight line flow - you would read from Chapter Sixteen; verse sixteen - and turn immediately to Chapter Nineteen, verse nineteen.

However, God declared and revealed this prophecy - in the way He chose - for our increased understanding! I am pointing out - that again - this prophecy will be moving from Chapter Sixteen; and go backwards in time - to look at additional views and perspectives of what has been declared . . . Keeping this in mind - let us finish up with Chapter Sixteen.

The Kings of the earth and their armies gather together at Armageddon. They gather at Armageddon with their ‘god’ King; to fight whomever he is stating that they need to fight. In actuality - they gather at Armageddon to fight against GOD. They LOSE. Big time. Chapter Nineteen - will give us more detail of that ‘battle’. But Chapter Sixteen - closes with dual identities. Backwards & Forwards. What happens AFTER the battle at Armageddon is finished and completed . . . and what happened before . . .

The Kings and Armies have been destroyed! The anti-Christ or beast; and the false prophet have been thrown alive directly into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The angel declares that it is DONE! And GOD sends an earthquake across the ENTIRE earth. ALL cities are destroyed; and all mountains are totally flattened . . . Men curse God, and attempt to hide from him - in the rocks of the rubble . . . God reigns HUGE hailstones down upon the earth; and men who have utterly rejected the one true God - curse Him because of the plague of tremendous hail . . . Babylon is mentioned as being ‘remembered’ and God giving her the wine of the fury of His wrath . . .

Many, many people discuss Babylon as being a ‘system’. Or Rome, and the Catholic church. Quite frankly - utter rubbish and nonsense. Far, far too many Babylonian references exist describing purely physical events and cultural actions - for Babylon to be a ‘system’. Babylon is a physical place. It is a NATION, and a Country. We will get into the solid reasons for these statements as we consider Chapters Seventeen & Eighteen. However - obviously - a system of beliefs also accompanies the ideas of Babylon. So, in fact - in some ways - a ‘system’ does ‘constitute’ Babylon. However - in the practical application of scripture, and what scripture and the Revelation prophecy is teaching and the Spirit of God is stating - we make a grave error - when we do not realize that Babylon as described in Revelation - is NOT a system - but is an actual physical place . . .

Babylon is a great ‘city’ where all who had ships on the sea - grew rich from her wealth; and the kings of the earth, and the merchants of the earth - grew rich from her excessive luxuries! Not many cargo ships are constantly visiting Rome or the Catholic church!

And considering the Catholic church - yes, she has numerous false doctrines. And encourages individuals to confess their sins to a ‘priest’. Numerous shades of the old testament; and the Mosaic Law. However - in the New Testament we ARE encouraged to confess our sins to one another . . . And the Catholic Church is staunchly FOR Jesus Christ; and AGAINST abortion - which is much more than can be said for numerous ‘Christian’ churches throughout the rest of the world . . . This entire debacle of desiring to vilify the Catholic Church and state that ‘she’ is Babylon is very, very sad! I have never been a ‘Catholic’ and I am not advocating for you to join the Catholic church. But the references to BABYLON in the prophetic book of Revelation - are NOT discussing the Catholic church . . .

*Chapter 15*   *Chapter 17*

"Questions??? Give a shout!"

All Greek/Hebrew definitions (unless otherwise noted) are taken from
The NIV Exhaustive Concordance by Edward W. Goodrick & John R. Kohlenberger III © 1990 by The Zondervan Corporation. ISBN 0-310-436970-7

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, International Version®, NIV84®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Copyright 2011 - Revelation Disclosed Updated 10/14/11

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