Understanding the Book of Revelation: The Seven Bowls

                   Chapter 16 tells us what the seven bowls of God’s wrath are. The seven bowls are the same as the seven plagues mentioned in chapter 15. The first plague is a direction reaction to the followers of the Antichrist. They will receive sores all over their bodies. The second bowl corresponds to the third trumpet. During the second trumpet, in Revelation 8:8, only 1/3 of the creatures in the sea died. During the second bowl, however, every living creature dies. The third bowl corresponds to the third trumpet as well. Here, however, the rivers turn to blood. The water is undrinkable like the first plague on Egypt in Exodus 7:17-19 where the fish in the water die and the third trumpet when the water became bitter. In verse 5 notice how it no longer says and who is to come. That indicates that Jesus has already come to the earth. Verse 6 explains the reason behind the plague. These people allowed the blood of saints and prophets to be shed. This is similar to the Levitical code “life for a life” in Leviticus 24:17-18.

                The eighth bowl is a counterpart to the fourth trumpet. Here, the sun will scorch man and cause them to burn. Compare with Deuteronomy 28:22:

“The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and

drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.”

                Even after this punishment, the unbelievers that are left still do not want to repent to God. They still curse him. The fifth bowl is actual judgment is against the Antichrist. Not only will the Antichrist be judged but so will his kingdom and territory. No light will shine upon his kingdom, just as the earth was before God said let there be light. The sixth bowl involves the Euphrates River. The Euphrates River is where the four angels were sent out from during the sixth trumpet. Here, the kings of the east will have a travel route to Armageddon.

                There is a vision inserted between the sixth and seventh bowls. Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet are in the form of frogs. The frogs are like the second plague on Egypt in Exodus 8:6. This trinity is the counterfeit of God’s holy trinity. They perform miraculous signs that counterfeit God to cause people to stand in awe of them. In verse 16 Armageddon is mentioned. So, what does Armageddon mean? It is two Hebrew words. Har means mountain and Megiddon (Megiddo) means slaughter. Therefore, it means mountain of slaughter, although there really is no mountain here.

                Everything in God’s plan is happening. The earthquake in verse 18 is the same as the one mentioned in Revelation 11:19. The great city divided into three parts is Jerusalem. Babylon the Great is the material Babylon, which is Rome. Rome gave the wine of her fornication to the nations so therefore God will give the wine of the fury of His wrath in vengeance. The hail will weigh about 100 pounds. 

Understanding the Book of Revelation: The Son of Man

“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it 

and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

-Revelation 1:3

                Many Christians have never read the book of Revelation or they’ve read it and don’t understand what it means.But we need to heed the warnings in Revelation. For the next week I will be breaking Revelation down into sections, explaining what is being told. Each day I will be doing multiple posts, each of just one or two chapters, so that you won't get overwhelmed by the amount of text in one post. Today, I’m going to start with the first 3 chapters: The Son of Man and Epistles to the 7 churches. I encourage you to open your bible to Revelation as you read this so you can read along and understand what I am talking about.

                I’ll be starting with Revelation 1:11. The seven churches that are mentioned are the local churches in the Province of Asia, which used to be under the control of Asia. They represent four different churches. Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum, and Thyatira all represent the Roman Catholic Church. Now, let’s look at 1:12-16. These verses describe Jesus. First we see that seven golden lampstands are mentioned (v. 12). Gold represents divine nature and seven is God’s number of completion. Lampstands always relate to God’s building. The first time lampstands were mentioned was Exodus 25:31-40 when the tabernacle was built. Here it shows that the seven churches are constituted with divine power.

                In verse 13 is where the description of Christ starts. Saying someone “like a son of man” was amongst the lampstands lets us know that today Christ is in the midst of our churches as the High Priest to intercede and to care for them. The robe reaching down to his feet represents His status as High Priest. Priests in the Old Testament were girded at the loins with gold for work and ministry. In Daniel 10:5 Christ was also girded at the loins to show that He had to complete His ministry amongst men but now He’s completed His work so He’s girded at the chest, representing love and divine strength. His hair was white like wool and as white as snow. White hair represents His ancientness, as described in Daniel. Saying it’s white as snow means His divine nature is heavenly. In 2 Samuel however, his hair was black which represented his unending love. His eyes are like fire so he may search, observe, and judge by enlightening. We know this because fire is for divine judgment (1 Corinthians 3:13, Hebrews 6:8, Hebrews 12:29). Feet glowing like bronze in a furnace signify his walk is perfect and bright, allowing Him to judge (Exodus 27:1-6 shows bronze represents divine judgment). His feet will be pillars of fire, also for judgment. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” However, now we can see that his purpose has changed and he now helps judge the world. Also, to be fired in a furnace is to be tried. Christ was tried by suffering. His voice is described as being like the sound of rushing waters to signify the seriousness and solemnness of His speaking. The seven stars in his right hand represent the angels (messengers) of the churches and the double-edges sword is his words for judging. His shining face is for judgment. In Matthew 16:28-17:2 his face also shone when he entered the kingdom.