Seven Bowls of Wrath - Part 2

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I invite you to turn with me to with me to Revelation chapter 16 as we continue to make our way through this amazing chapter. Just to remind you of the theme of this chapter that we began last time. This is the message of the chapter: chapter 16 describes a series of staccato-like, powerful, severe divine judgments that finish God’s wrath and prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus. These intense, rapid-fire judgments come at the very end of the Tribulation and immediately proceed and usher in Christ’s return to the earth. The image is of a bowl or even a shallow saucer and it powerfully describes these judgments not coming slowly and deliberately poured out of some long-necked vessel, but rather being dumped all at once onto the earth in a sort of rapid act of judgment as God unleashes His judgment on the world. This is the final hour of the Day of the Lord. 

Chapter 16 begins with a command and it’s God’s command that initiates the seven bowls in verse 1. We looked at that last time and then beginning in verse 2 and running down to verse 21, the seven angels then, in response to the command of God, pour out the seven bowls of judgment. We looked at the first five of the bowls last time. Let me just remind you of what we discovered. The first bowl produces a malignant sore that afflicts all of mankind in verse 2. These dangerous malignant sores, inflamed, painful, oozing wounds that won’t heal will afflict all of those who worship the Antichrist and who have his number on them. 

The second bowl comes in verse 3: Earth’s oceans turn to blood. Verse 3 says the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became blood like that of a dead man—like coagulated blood, congealed and every living thing in the sea died. All the world’s oceans will become blood either actual blood or some substance that is like blood.

The third bowl is poured out on earth’s fresh water, and it too turns to blood, verses 4 through 7. Verse 4 says, “Then third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood.” Every source of fresh water is affected. This judgment is so horrific when you think about no human being on earth having water to drink that two separate voices speak in God’s defense. The first in verses 5 and 6 is called the “angel of the waters.” He emphasizes that these bowls are just. He says, “Righteous are You.” “This is what is deserved.” And then in verse 7 in John’s vision, the altar of incense symbolizing the prayers of God’s people is personified and adds, “true and righteous are Your judgments.” So, this is exactly what sinful mankind deserves. They have poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets. They are bloodthirsty and therefore God gives them blood to drink. 

The fourth bowl: the sun scorches the earth in verses 8 and 9. This plague brings scorching heat that will produce a world-wide heatwave like nothing the world has ever seen inflicting massive suffering. And then we finished last time with a fifth bowl, verses 10 and 11 in which supernatural darkness covers the planet. The entire world will be engulfed in total pitch-black darkness: a darkness that can be felt; a darkness so deep that they won’t be able to see anyone else. It will leave every sinner isolated, locked in his own misery.

Tonight, we study the sixth and seventh bowls. Let’s read it together. Revelation chapter 16, I will begin reading in verse 12:

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.

Having looked at the first five of the bowl judgments, tonight we begin with the sixth bowl in which the Euphrates River dries up. This is described in verses 12 through 16. John begins with the divine judgment in verse 12—it says, “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates.” This river factors heavily in biblical history, in fact, Genesis 2 tells us that the Garden of Eden was near the Euphrates River. And together, the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers were and still are essential to life in the fertile crescent. Its ultimate source is in modern Turkey. It actually begins in the snow and ice on the slopes of Mount Ararat. From there, this great river the Euphrates flows some eighteen hundred miles until it empties into the Persian Gulf. It is the longest and the most important river in the Middle East. God identified it as the eastern boundary of the nation of Israel. Euphrates has been mentioned before in the book of Revelation in the sixth trumpet, chapter 9, verse 14: two hundred million demon locusts come from that area. 

Here in the sixth bowl when the angel pours out his bowl in the Euphrates, verse 12 says, “and its water was dried up.” Now at this time, at the end of the Tribulation, they will have already faced a three-and-a-half-year drought brought about by the two prophets who prophecy during that time. The two witnesses. And the Euphrates, in spite of that, will at this time be at or above flood stage. Why is that? Because remember, we just talked about the powerful heat wave produced in the fourth bowl. It will undoubtedly melt the snowpack and ice on Ararat and as a result there will be a huge increase in the volume of water in the river and that in turn will cause massive flooding all along its banks. So, it will be at flood stage, perhaps even having destroyed many of the bridges and crossings that are normally there. 

But God wants the Euphrates River dry and so He directs His angel to pour out His bowl on this river. Why is that? Verse 12 says, “So that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.” “The kings from the east” are literally the kings from the rising sun. God wants these eastern armies to be able to reach the land of Israel. But between the east and their homeland and Armageddon is the Euphrates River at flood stage because of the heat wave that is wracking the planet and so God sends His angel to dry up the river supernaturally, not as a favor but as a judgment. When God supernaturally dries up the Euphrates, it will suddenly make their evil plans a military possibility. It will be like the Egyptians at the Red Sea: the armies of the east will think that what has happened is in their favor, but it will become a deadly trap. That’s the divine judgment.

In verses 13 and 14, we see the unholy trinity’s response. Verse 13 says, “And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet.” Here is the force behind the scenes compelling the kings of the east to act. It is because of the dragon, that is, Satan, and it is because of the beast, that is, the Antichrist, the human politician completely controlled by Satan and because of the false prophet, the spiritual leader who directs people to worship the Antichrist. And notice their force, the power of their influence, comes out of their mouth meaning their words. And their words are made more persuasive and more compelling, verse 13 says, by three unclean spirits like frogs. This whole section reads like a horror movie—like a “B” horror movie as from the mouth of each member of this unholy trinity came three unclean spirits described as, notice not being frogs but being like frogs. They bear some resemblance to the characteristics of frogs, not because they were frogs but because in the ancient world frogs were considered vile and unclean. In the Old Testament law, they were listed among the unclean animals. They were also considered filthy in Egypt, hence the plague of literal frogs in Exodus chapter 8. These three unclean spirits will be like frogs in that they will be vile, they will be cold-blooded, they will be revolting, and they will be slimy in their persons. Verse 14: “for they are spirits of demons performing signs.” These unclean spirits are like frogs, but they are not frogs, they are the spirits of demons. These demons will sell their slimy influence, notice, by performing signs. Just like the false prophet that Satan empowers. In fact, look back at chapter 13, verse 13, speaking of the false prophet, the human religious leader, who directs worship toward the Antichrist. Verse 13 says, 

He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

So, the false prophet will perform signs and through those signs he will persuade people to do the unthinkable. In the same way, these unclean spirits in chapter 16, the spirits of demons will perform lying wonders in order to deceive. This is just like the demons in the Old Testament who put lies in the mouths of the false prophets in Ahab’s time to convince him to go into battle. In fact, turn back there with me. I think this is a fascinating passage. Turn to 1 Kings chapter 22 and verse 19:

Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the lord. I saw the lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. The lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ [In other words, who is going to entice him to go into battle and to be killed. I love this:] And one said this while another said that. Then a spirit came forward and stood before Yahweh and said, ‘I will entice him.’ And Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ And he said, ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit [clearly this is a demonic force; this is a demon] in the mouth of all his prophets.’ Then He said, ‘You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.’ Now therefore, behold, the lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the lord has proclaimed disaster against you.”

Just like in Ahab’s time, the demon got the false prophets to go along and deliver a message that entrapped Ahab in the same way during the Tribulation period these demons will do the same to the nations of the world. Go back to chapter 16 of Revelation. What is the goal of these three demons here? Verse 14 says, they will go “out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” Here we learn that these demons not only want the kings of the east to invade Palestine, but they want to deceive all of the world’s leaders to do the same. And so, they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them. In chapter 17, we are going to learn that there are ten powerful kings involved in this coalition.

But for what purpose do the demons want them to gather? Verse 14 says, “for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” It’s the war that will be God Almighty’s Day. Think about that for a moment. These slimy vile demons will convince the great leaders of the world in their pride and in their arrogance to gather to Israel to fight against God Himself. Amazing! We are not told what human motivation these demons will use to encourage these kings to invade the land of Israel, but it will certainly be opportunistic, right? Because the riverbed of the Euphrates will suddenly be dry. Perhaps, the motive will be driven in part by an irrational antisemitism. Or perhaps by a desire to prove their loyalty to Antichrist. Or maybe it’s a desire to control such a strategic piece of land in the Middle East. Or maybe it’s a desire to destroy the many Jewish people who will come to faith in Jesus Christ toward the end of the Tribulation and all believers are being killed. And they find out there is an enclave of them in Israel. But above all, it will be motivated by a high-handed rebellion against the God of heaven. You see, this very scene is described in Psalm 2. Turn back there with me. This is the context of this Psalm: 

Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Yahweh and against His Anointed [His Messiah], saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

So, this will all be driven in the end by hatred of God and rebellion against God and a desire to live their lives the way they choose. “Cast their cords from us!”

The Old Testament predicted this future battle. Go back to Zechariah chapter 14, and look at verse 2: 

For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east.

Keep your finger on Zechariah 14 or mark it in some way; we will be back. That passage predicts this coming war. But the war of the nations against God is not going to last very long. If you turn

back to Revelation turn over just to the next chapter Revelation 17 and verse 14: “These will wage war against the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” The culminating battle of this war that ends the age is described over in another chapter in chapter 19 and verse 11: 

I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, [He is a military veteran] and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, [in other words, with His word is how He will battle] so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “king of kings, and lord of lords.” Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

And it ends as quickly as it began, in verse 20: “the beast was seized and with him the false prophet. …They were thrown alive in the lake of fire.” This is how the battle ends. This war will be entirely one-sided. In other words, don’t think of the battle that comes at the end of the age like some Marvel movie in which equals battle and the advantage changes moment by moment from side to side and either side could eventually win. No, this battle will be a slaughter.

Back in our text in Revelation 16, you’ll notice verse 15 is in parenthesis, because here we learn Jesus’ gracious message to surviving believers. Right in the middle of the description of the sixth bowl and its world war and before the seventh bowl is poured out, Christ Himself interrupts John’s vision. I love this: because our Lord has something He wants to say and something He wants to say to those who have trusted in Him—to those who came to saving faith during the Tribulation and who have survived Antichrist’s persecution. He wants them to know that He never forgets His own and He is coming for them. Christ begins in verse 15: “(Behold, I am coming like a thief.” It reminds His followers that He will come swiftly and unexpectedly. Not like a thief in the sense that He comes to take what isn’t His, but like a thief in that it will be suddenly, unexpected and He will take those who are His own. Matthew 24, verses 42 and 43: “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.” First Thessalonians 5:2: “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” Second Peter 3:10: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat.” In Jesus’ sudden, unexpected coming He will destroy His enemies, but He will rescue His people. That is what He wants them to know. 

He then pronounces the third of seven blessings in this book on His faithful followers, verse 15: “Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.” The image behind this metaphor is of soldiers—soldiers who are stationed at the front line of the battle. And Jesus announces a spiritual blessing on the soldier, on one of His followers, who stays awake; who stays alert; who stays clothed; who is ready for eminent battle. Because if he doesn’t, what happens when the battle breaks out suddenly, he finds himself naked, that is, without the proper clothes for battle and people will see his shame—the shame of a soldier who is utterly unprepared; who is AWOL; who is derelict in his duty. These soldiers of Christ, alive at the end of the Tribulation, whom He finds alert, ready for His Second Coming will be blessed. This is His message to the surviving believers. I love that; I love that right in the middle of all this judgment, Jesus says to John, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I have something I want to say to my own. Tell them as all of this is destroying the earth that I haven’t forgotten them. I am coming. Tell them to wait. Be ready. I am coming.” 

After that gracious message, John returns then in verse 16 to the sixth bowl and to these deceiving demons. And he explains in verse 16 the result of their lying and deception. Here we learn that it is all according to the divine plan. Notice verse 16: “And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.” That is the Hebrew place name but of course, as you know, the same place is often referred to as Armageddon. The Hebrew word “Har” means “mount.” So literally, this Hebrew word means “Mount Megiddo.” Now there is no mountain called by that name in that region, however, the word “Har” can also be used generally to refer to the Hill Country, so it is all most certainly referring to the Hill Country that surrounds the plain of Megiddo as well as to the plain itself. We have been to Israel as a church, many of you have gone, and we hope to go again in the next year or two, if the Lord wills—at least that is a possibility. I shouldn’t say we are going to—we haven’t made that final decision, but it’s a possibility. When you go, one of the places that you will see is the Jezreel Valley. It is right up near the Sea of Galilee, and you can see on the relief map that there is an area that looks like an arrowhead—that’s green—it is a huge valley. The plain of Megiddo is also called the Valley of Jezreel. It is located about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. Napoleon called it the greatest natural battlefield he had ever seen. In fact, two hundred battles have been fought there and that includes Barak’s victory of the Canaanites in Judges, Gideon’s victory over the Midianites in Judges 7; Pharaoh Necho’s victory over Josiah in 2 Chronicles; and the greatest battle in human history will be fought there—the battle of Armageddon. The focal point of that great battle will be the plain of Megiddo. But as we have already learned, the last battle in this age will take place not just in one small locale but across the entire length of Israel. A series of battles will occur as far south as Basra according to Isaiah 63:1 and it will include several battles near Jerusalem as we saw in Zechariah 14:1-3. 

So, in this sixth bowl judgment, three unclean lying demons using powerful and deceptive words and performing miraculous signs empowered by Satan will deceive the leaders of the world into gathering for war at Armageddon. These demons will undoubtedly use human political figures that they will use as their pawns to accomplish this. They will travel on their ambassador missions around to the great leaders and capitals of the world convincing them to take part in this campaign which will only make the world a better place. 

You know, as you think about this sixth bowl, it is fascinating to think about it like this: God’s judgment involves using demons. What this does for us is it clarifies God’s relationship with evil. And I just want as an aside to make this point because this is what God is doing here. So, first we need to understand several key biblical propositions as far as God’s relationship with evil. Just so we don’t get confused. First of all, God is not the source of evil, Isaiah 6:3: He is the holy Triune God. Secondly, God does not tempt man to do evil, James 1:13: God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt any man. So, God is not the source of evil, He doesn’t tempt anyone to do evil. God does not force man to do evil, James 1:14-15 says that no, man sins because he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed and that will be true of these kings. Number 4: God holds the sinner responsible for his sin, Exodus 34:7: “He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.” He will hold them responsible for their sins. So, don’t misunderstand: when God uses and shapes and directs evil to His own ends, He is untainted by it. People are doing exactly what they want but God is shaping and directing it for His own purposes without being tainted by it.

So, what exactly does God have to do with men’s sinful actions? Regarding people’s sinful actions, or for that matter, demons, but certainly the humans that demons empower in this sixth bowl, we could put it like this (and this is true, by the way, the reason I want to say this, this is true with the evil actions of people around us—the evil actions in our world. Evil happens. Evil people do evil things even to God’s people.) So, what can we say about that evil? First of all, God sometimes chooses to prevent evil: Genesis 20, verse 6, He says to Abimelech, you remember, who almost got involved with Abraham’s wife Sarai because he didn’t know she was his wife, to Abimelech He says, “I kept you from sinning against Me.” Sometimes God keeps people from sinning through circumstances and other means. Luke 22:31: Jesus says to Peter, “Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail.” You will only sin to a certain extent. 

Secondly, God permits evil. In other words, He abandons men to his sin. He permits men to cherish and manifest their evil dispositions. Romans 1 says, “He gave them over. He gave them over. He gave them over.” He allows them to manifest his evil. 

But the third and fourth are more encouraging for us because thirdly, He limits evil. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, the Holy Spirit is described as the One who restrains. He determines the bounds reached by the evil passions of men and the extent of its effects. But my favorite is the fourth and that is that God directs evil and by that, I mean this: God directs evil acts to an end unforeseen and unintended by the sinner. God is so good and so powerful that He can even use the evil that He will judge in that sinner who committed it, He will use that evil for good in the life of His own. That’s why Joseph said in Genesis 50:20 to his brothers—what? “You meant it for evil but just as you were acting for evil against me, God meant it for good.” In Acts 2:23—I mentioned it this morning—Jesus was murdered; He was sinned against by the leaders of Rome—by the leaders of Israel—by the people and yet it was God who was shaping and directing their evil to His own ends. Same thing in Acts 4. So sinful acts are under divine control. God doesn’t initiate it; He is not responsible for it, but He uses and directs it to His own ends, ends not intended and unforeseen by the sinner because He is so good, and He is so powerful. 

That brings us to the seventh bowl. The seventh bowl is in verses 17 through 21: it is a worldwide earthquake that destroys the globe. First of all, in verse 17, we see the divine judgment, “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air.” This is the final bowl filled with God’s wrath that will be poured out on a rebellious world. The effects of this final bowl, extend right up to the Second Coming and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom as we will see. In other words, this bowl is not done immediately. It extends right up to the end. And when this final bowl is empty, the wrath of God is finished, chapter 15, verse 1 says. But this last bowl will be the worst and most devastating disaster the world has ever known. Verse 17 says, “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air.” The air or the atmosphere completely envelopes this planet, so this bowl will be the most pervasive in its effects. But before we learn the effects of this bowl, we first hear a divine declaration, verse 17: “and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne.” This is the same loud or “mega-voice” that came out of the temple and from the throne in verse 1. This is the voice of God Himself. And notice verse 17 says that here he was saying “It is done.” Literally “It has been done.” It is God’s announcement of the completion of His wrath and the end of the Day of the Lord. When Jesus completed His redeeming work on the cross, when He had purchased forgiveness for repentant sinners, He cried out with a loud voice what? “It is finished.” When God completes His judgment on this planet and on its unrepentant sinners, He will cry out, “It is done.” 

Next, John describes the results of the seventh bowl with its worldwide devastation—its worldwide devastation. The devastation begins with history’s greatest storm: verse 18, “And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.” Now, at times in the book of Revelation, there have been flashes of lightning and thunder in heaven, symbolizing God’s presence and His coming judgment. We saw that back in chapters 4 and 5. But this bowl is poured out where? It is poured out on earth’s air—on earth’s atmosphere. And so, the description here is not about something happening in heaven, but rather on earth. Both the seventh seal in chapter 8, verse 5 and the seventh trumpet in chapter 11, verse 19 began with violent thunderstorms but those storms will be like gentle spring rains compared to the fury of this gigantic worldwide powerful storm. The angel dumps this bowl of wrath on earth’s atmosphere and immediately this entire planet will be lit up with a worldwide massive thunderstorm. Lit up with flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and sounds. Probably the sounds are the result of the storm’s fury and destruction. History’s greatest and most widespread thunderstorm. You know, we live in Dallas, and we know what thunderstorms are. I was prevented even Thursday night from getting back home because of a thunderstorm that sat over the airport at DFW. We see them when we look even in our country (I am a bit of a weather bug) and you see that line of storms that can sometimes string all the way from South Texas all the way up to the upper mid-west. But can you imagine what it would be like for there to truly be storms covering the entire planet at the same time. 

That will be followed by history’s greatest earthquake, verse 18, “and there was a great earthquake.” When God judged our sin on Christ on the cross, there was an earthquake. In the time leading up to and including the Tribulation, Jesus said in Matthew 24 that there would be a time filled with earthquakes, but when God brings His final judgment to a climax at the end of the Tribulation, it will conclude with a most powerful earthquake the world has ever known. According to the U.S. Geological Service,

 The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the length of the fault on which it occurs. The longer the fault, the larger the earthquake. No fault long enough to generate a magnitude 10 earthquake is known to exist. And if it did, it would extend around most of the planet. The largest earthquake ever recorded was a magnitude 9.5 on May 22, 1960, in Chile on a fault that is almost a thousand miles long. A mega quake.

But the earthquake at the end of the Tribulation will be so much greater than that: verse 18 says that it was an earthquake “such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.” This final earthquake will shake the entire planet and everything and everyone on it. Hebrews 12, verses 26 and 27 say, “His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” 

In verses 19 through 21, we see the earthquake’s aftermath. History’s greatest earthquake will be so great and its shaking so severe that the entire earth will be reconfigured. This quake will not only serve as a judgment on the earth and its inhabitants, but at the same time it is going to mark the beginning of the renovation of the earth in preparation for our Lord’s Millennium Kingdom. The first effect that John reports is on Jerusalem, verse 19, “The great city was split into three parts.” Now some have argued that this great city is Babylon. But since Babylon is mentioned later in the same verse, that’s highly unlikely. This city was introduced to us back in chapter 11. Look at chapter 11, verse 8, the two witnesses, “their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city of the great city”—and how is the city described? —“where their Lord was crucified.” So, Jerusalem, then, will be split by this great earthquake into three parts. And that will be only the beginning of a number of changes the Lord will make to that city and to that region when He returns.

If you marked your place in Zechariah chapter 14, go back there. Because the prophet Zechariah describes these changes: Zechariah 14:4, “In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.” Verse 8: “in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea”—that’s the Dead Sea—"and the other half toward the western sea”—that’s the Mediterranean. And Isaiah tells us because of this new water the desert will bloom like a rose. Look down at verse 10: “All the land will be changed into a plain . . . but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site.” Apparently, Jerusalem will be elevated, and the surrounding areas will become more like a plain. So, in the case of Jerusalem, the result of the earthquake will not be its ultimate destruction but the beginning of its renovation and its exultation. This is only the beginning of the changes the Lord will make to prepare Jerusalem for its role in His Millennium Kingdom from which He will reign for a thousand years. 

But this powerful earthquake will have an entirely different effect on the world’s cities, verse 19 goes on to say, “and the cities of the nations fell.” All the world’s greatest cities united in their hatred of God and of the Lamb; those cities who tied their political fortunes to the Antichrist, all the great cities, many that we know of and others yet to come will all be reduced to heaps of rubble. Recently, we all watched in horror as we saw footage of the buildings collapse in Turkey hours after the shaking stopped. We saw the aftermath of other buildings that had collapsed with the earthquake itself. But as awful as that was, this future earthquake will affect not a single city, not one region, not even just one country or even a single continent, but it will devastate all of the cities on this planet. 

But one city is singled out. Notice the effect on Antichrist’s capital city and his empire in verse 19, “Babylon the great.” This refers as we will learn in chapters 17 and 18 to the capital city of Antichrist’s empire. “Babylon the great was remembered before God.” As He poured out His wrath, God specifically remembered this city “to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.” In the greatest earthquake in history, God will especially remember and judge the capital city of Antichrist. Verse 19 summarizes its judgment. Chapters 17 and 18 describe its judgment in greater detail. 

This great earthquake will also have an effect on earth’s topography, verse 20: “And every island fled away.” Back in chapter 6, verse 14 during the sixth seal another great earthquake had caused every mountain and island to be moved out of its place. Here, every island which simply are mountains under the sea will sink and disappear and the mountains were not found. The mountains will be significantly flattened. This is a devastating judgment. But it is also possible that these topographical changes are the beginning of the restoration of the planet to its pre-flood environment. Some have even conjectured that Jerusalem will become one of the highest places on earth making it an appropriate place for the throne of Jesus Christ. 

This devastating earthquake will unleash a string of volcanic eruptions around the globe and that will produce an unimaginable effect on earth’s atmosphere, verse 21: “And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men.” As you know, of course, God has used hail as judgment before: the seventh plague in Egypt, the first trumpet judgment back chapter 8, verse 7. But after the entire atmosphere on earth has been filled with volcanic debris accompanied by these violent thunderstorms raging all over the planet the result will be hail of unprecedented size. We know a little bit about hail here in Dallas, but according to NOAA, that’s the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association, on July 23, 2010, a storm in Vivian, South Dakota produced the largest hailstone ever. It was 8 inches in diameter and 18.6 inches circumference. It was the size of a volleyball. Now that will raise your insurance rates! But the Greek word used to describe the weight of the hailstones here in the seventh bowl were usually used to describe the most weight that a normal man could carry: somewhere between 75 and 100 pounds. These massive hailstones will fall and destroy every plant and tree and every remaining structure and, of course, they will crush many who have survived to this point. 

But amazingly, those who survive the earthquake and the hailstones, join in mankind’s rebellious response in verse 21: “and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.” This is such an important reminder for us. This is a powerful reminder that even genuine signs and wonders from God Himself do not of themselves produce repentance and faith. This is why Jesus said in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:31: “They do not listen to Moses and the prophets. They will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” “Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God”—the word about Christ. Amazingly, those who survive God’s worst judgments—the worst that have ever been handed out on this planet—they will continue to blaspheme Him and, as we will learn by the way, that’s what condemned sinners will continue to do in hell forever. There is no repentance in hell. There’s only blasphemy against the God who would be so just as to inflict judgment on them. 

Judgment is coming. Judgment during the Tribulation described in chapters 6 through 18 of Revelation and if we don’t survive until that and of course those of us who are believers won’t be in the Tribulation, we will be raptured before, but even if you are an unbeliever and you don’t survive until then, there’s judgment after death. Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.” If you die without Christ, you will stand before Christ and you will face the judgment of God. The only hope to avoid the sentence of guilty and the wrath of God is to trust in Christ. First Thessalonians 1:10: Jesus rescues us from the wrath that’s coming. First Thessalonians 5:9: “God has not destined us”—that is, us who believe in Jesus Christ—“for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Turn to Hebrews chapter 9. I mentioned it a moment ago, but look at Hebrews 9, verse 26 says, “now once at the consummation of the ages [Christ] has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” And here are the two options: Jesus has come. He has sacrificed Himself and here are the two options, verse 27: for some they will die and then “comes judgment.” If you don’t repent and believe in Him: “but Christ also, having been offered for once to bear the sins of many will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those who eagerly await Him. Those are your two options. Either there is death and judgment or there is the salvation that Jesus brings because you put your faith in His life, death and resurrection as your only hope of avoiding the just wrath of God. 

This passage reminds us, a sober reminder, that judgment is coming but at the same time it is a joyful reminder—remember verse 15? Jesus says, “Wait a minute, John. I am going to interrupt you right in the middle of the sixth bowl so I can tell my people I haven’t forgotten you. I am coming for you. Be faithful until I come” We don’t live during the Tribulation but those would be 

Jesus’ words to us even now. “I haven’t forgotten you and I am coming for you.”

Let’s pray together. Father, we are overwhelmed, we are overwhelmed by the fury of Your wrath. We are overwhelmed by the righteousness of Your justice—that the world will get exactly what it deserves. Father, those of us who put our trust in Christ, we are overwhelmed by the incredible love You have shown us in Christ—that You have saved us and that we don’t anticipate the wrath to come, we anticipate the Savior to come. We thank You that we anticipate an eternity of joy in His presence—that He hasn’t forgotten us; that He will come for us; that He will call us to Himself and where He is, there we will be also. Lord, we thank you for the joy of knowing Jesus Christ who rescues us from the wrath that is coming. Thank You for Your grace. In His name. Amen.