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LESSON 21 - CHAPTER 16:01-21
R E V E L A T I O N
Charles Caldwell Ryrie, p. 131-136
A Reminder
Charles C. Ryrie's [1996]
Book
REVELATION
Everyday Bible Commentary
Moody
Publishers
Chicago
ISBN: 978-0-8024-1825-8
(You Must Own your
own copy)
(Ryrie's book text is
not included in these lessons)
CHAPTER 16
11. The Seven Bowl Judgments 16:1-21
a.
A Loud Voice from Heaven 16:1
Then I heard a loud voice
from the temple,
saying to the seven angels,
“Go and pour out
on the earth
the seven bowls
of the wrath of God.”
Ryrie, Pg. 131 Top
OUR
COMMENT:
Now God directly speaks from the heavenly Temple to these seven
angels. The end of all earth judgments has finally come.
Donald Grey Barnhouse states: The
abominations of humanity have filled up the sum. The devilish rebellion has
reached its climax. God, who cried out to Ezekiel with a loud voice for
judgment, now cries out with a loud voice for His angelic messengers to proceed
to their appointed tasks. The wrath of God
falls upon the earth.”[1]
b. The first bowl 16:2
THE TEXT
2 So
the first angel
went and
poured out his bowl
on the earth; and
it became a loathsome and malignant sore
on the people
who had the mark of the beast and
who worshiped his image.
Ryrie, Pg. 131
Bottom
OUR
COMMENT:
Barnhouse again has a good comment to add,
“How appropriate that a grievous sore is the outward sign of some inner
corruption, and it would, therefore, be entirely fitting that the corruption of
hearts of these rebels should be manifest before all men.”[3]
c.
The Second Bowl 16:3
THE TEXT
3 The
second angel
poured out his bowl
into the sea, and
it became blood
like that of a dead man; and
every living thing in the sea died.
Ryrie,
Pg. 132 Top
OUR
COMMENT:
Not until the Third Bowl Judgment
d. The third bowl 16:4-7
THE TEXT
4 Then
the third angel
poured out his bowl
into the rivers and
[into] the springs of waters; and
they became blood.
of the waters saying,
“Righteous are You,
who are and who were,
O Holy One,
because You judged these things;
6 for they poured out the blood
of saints and prophets, and
You have given them blood to drink.
They deserve it.”
7 And I heard the altar saying,
“Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty,
true and righteous are Your judgments.”
Ryrie,
Pg. 132 Middle Lower Third
OUR
COMMENT:
Back in Egypt, in the Old Testament,
when Pharoh refused to release the Israelites, on God’s command Moses and Aaron
struck the Nile with a staff (Exodus 7:14-25) and the waters turned to blood,
killing all fish and life in those waters. This plague affected all the waters
in Egypt… the Nile, streams, canals, ponds and all stored water in vessels of
wood and stone.
Here,
as a literal judgment, the followers of the Beast can find nothing to drink but
blood. This judgment brings it upon those who shed the blood of the martyrs,
saints, and prophets… have now only blood to drink. A just dessert.
Genesis
9:6
“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the
image of God
HE made man.
e. The fourth bowl 16:8—9
THE TEXT
8 The fourth angel
poured out his bowl upon the sun, and
it was given to it to scorch men with fire.
9 Men were scorched with fierce heat; and
they blasphemed the name of God
who has the power over these plagues, and
they did not repent so as to give Him glory.
Ryrie, Pg. 133 Top
OUR COMMENT:
Malachi 4:1-3
“For
behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and
every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,”
says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” 2
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of
righteousness will rise with healing in its
wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. 3 You
will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet
on the day which I am preparing,” says the Lord of hosts.
Just a little science here; if
both the north and south poles’ ice masses were to melt at about the same time…
the global sea level would rise, are you ready?
Two hundred and thirty feet! All coastal
land, world-wide, would be drowned in water right up to the nearest high hills
and mountains. Almost Noah’s flood. Consider the deaths that would occur,
especially in the world’s coastal cities.
f.
The fifth bowl 16:10-11
THE TEXT
10 Then the fifth angel
poured out his bowl on the throne of the
Beast, and
his kingdom became darkened; and
they gnawed their tongues
because of pain,
11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven
because of
their pains and
their sores;
and they did not repent of their deeds.
OUR COMMENT:
Every time I read this verse I am
left with the last line of verse 11, “and they did not repent of their deeds.”
How awful is the thought of those of the world, the many millions, who cast
their anger upon God and do not seek peace with Him. “No, I will not believe –
you can’t make me!” How many times we have said this so far in this revelation
of God.
Here with this verse the very center of the conflict has become the very throne
of Satan (the Beast, the Antichrist). And that throne and his kingdom are thrown
into darkness, pain, and an untold number of sores – but still, no repentance.
g. The sixth bowl 16:12
THE TEXT
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.
OUR COMMENT:
This
verse reminds me of the game of chess and how it often requires the mind to
think of more moves ahead than the very next one. Here God is preparing easy
access to hated armies so that they will be in position for dealing with them
when He wants to deal with them and where He wants to deal with them.
Operation Fortitude (1944)
A critical campaign
that created a fake army group under General Patton, convincing Germans that the
D-Day landing in Normandy was merely a diversion using inflatable tanks, trucks
with loudspeakers broadcasting convoy sounds, and fake radio signals to simulate
real troop movements… signaling that the main attack would come to pass at
Pas-de-Calais, France, instead of Normandy – and it worked!
h.
Armageddon 16:13-16
THE TEXT
13 And I saw
coming out of the mouth of the dragon and
[coming] out of the mouth of the beast and
[coming] out of the mouth of the false
prophet,
three unclean spirits like frogs;
14 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.
15
(“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.”)
to the place which in Hebrew is called
Har-Magedon.
Ryrie, Pg. 134 Top
This verse (:15) tells
us that this is a warning to remaining believers. Basically, it is telling them
to not sleep (figuratively) at this time of extreme testing. Keep awake, again
figuratively, keeping your eyes, ears, and heart ready for Christ’s Return. Keep
your attitude towards Him alive and visible. Don’t go to sleep spiritually and
let the evil world around you see that (your shame).
Verse
16 literally show us the force of our God and His ability to control the events
of this time in the future. The evil ones have gathered together for their last
battle – ever… as the God of the universe manipulates them to head to and gather
at “Har-Magedon.”
h. The seventh bowl of
Wrath 16:17—21
17 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.”
18 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.
|19 The great city was split into three parts, and
he
cities of the nations fell.
Babylon the great was remembered before God,
to give her
the cup of the wine
of His fierce wrath.
20 And every island fled away, and
the mountains were not found.
21
And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each,
comes down from heaven
upon men; and
men blasphemed God
because of the plague of the hail,
because its plague is extremely severe.
OUR COMMENT:
“It is
done.”
There’s six more chapters to the end. three of those chapters then concern final
things before “The Kingdom age.”
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