Revelation 16

We study through books of the Bible here at the Village Chapel, and this week we're continuing our study of the Book of Revelation, a vibrant, vivid, and sometimes jaw-dropping word from God through the Apostle John that is bursting with hope.

In fact, we've titled our series, our study of the book of Revelation, The Hope of Glory.

Hope that our world will be renewed in God's good and perfect time.

No more tears.

No more blazing wildfires.

No more injustice, no more sin.

And we long for that day.

This past week at our Thanksgiving Thursday midweek communion service, and I hope you'll join us for one of those if you haven't yet.

Pastor Matt Pearson offered a short devotional that referenced the beautiful hymn that many of us are familiar with, This is My Father's World, by Maltby Babcock, a pastor in New York City from the early 20th century.

It struck me as a poignant hymn for our particular moment for a few reasons.

One, at least here in Nashville, Tennessee, the sounds, the smells, the temperature of autumn are beginning to show themselves.

And this hymn says it like this: This is my father's world.

And to my listening ears, all nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.

What is the music of the spheres?

It's a song that points to the glory of God.

Psalm 19 says it, well, the heavens declare the glory of God.

The sky above proclaims his handiwork.

The changing season is a visceral reminder that God is in charge.

The season doesn't change because Starbucks begins selling pumpkin spice everything, however delicious that might be.

The season changes because God spoke the entire cosmos into being, and he put the moon in its place, and the sun and its place, and the stars in its place, and he gave boundaries to the seasons for your good and for my good and for his glory.

So I love that hymn because it points us to the sovereign creator of all things, and the changing season is a signpost that should lead us to more worship and awe of him.

But I also thought this hymn was poignant for our particular moment at TVC because we're studying the book of Revelation, and today, in particular, we arrive at what we call at chapter 16, which describes the end of evil, the end of all that is set in opposition to God, the end of sin and its wages.

Evil has an expiration date, as Scotty Smith has reminded us recently.

The wreckage and carnage that our sin has wrought on the whole of creation, it also has a boundary.

There will be a final judgment.

God is patient, he is slow to anger, but there will be a day when he finally puts an end to all that is marred, what he has made good, puts an end to all that is in opposition to him, and to shalom, that rich word that describes the way that things are supposed to be.

And I love this verse from This Is My Father's World.

This is my father's world.

Oh, let me never forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.

This is my father's world.

Why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is king, let the heavens reign, God reigns, let the earth be glad.

If you remember earlier in our study, as we read in Revelation 6, the people of God cried out with this prayer, How long, O Lord?

And we hear that prayer throughout the scriptures and particularly in the Psalms, and it's perhaps a prayer that you prayed, I know I have, when we're deep in sadness over betrayal or loss, or grief over our own foolishness and sin, or grieving over natural disasters that we do not understand, like raging fires and pandemics that have taken so much from us around the world.

The New Testament says that all creation is groaning as we await the return of Christ our King to set all things right.

It's almost like creation is singing or saying along with us, how long, O Lord?

How long, O Lord.

Revelation 16 answers that question, how long, O Lord?

Answers that question in part.

It doesn't tell us chronologically when the great day of the Lord will come, but it tells us unequivocally that that day will come in his perfect timing, and it will be definitive.

It will be comprehensive.

All that is said against God, all that sin has tainted, disintegrated, and disorder, distorted, will be eradicated, and God will finish the glorious renewal of the heavens and the earth, and every tear will be wiped away.

We have that promise.

So this chapter that we're studying today is both sobering, but it's also a grounds for hope for all those who believe in Jesus, the King who has already defeated death.

But before we get started, let's pray together and uh ask the Lord for his help in the reading of his word today.

Let's pray.

Our Lord and our God, now as we hear your word, fill us with your spirit, soften our hearts that we may delight in your presence, sharpen our minds that we may discern your truth, shape our wills that we may desire your ways.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we all said.

Amen.

So even though we're studying chapter 16 today, as Pastor Jim mentioned last week in our study of chapter 15, both of these chapters, 15 and 16, are tightly connected.

So we're actually going to start our reading with chapter 15, verses 5, which leads us into chapter 16.

So if you would turn in your Bible or on your device to Revelation 15, verses 5.

Revelation 15:5

After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened.

And out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.

And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever.

And the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

Chapter 16, verse 1.

Then I heard a loud, or some translations will say a great, then I heard a great voice from the temple telling the seven angels, Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.

So here we see the introduction of the final judgment described as the bowls of the wrath of God, the golden bowls.

This chapter is called by some scholars the great chapter of Scripture, because we quite literally see the word great all throughout.

We saw it here in verse 1.

Then I heard a great voice, or some say a loud voice.

And then it ends and it culminates with the great day of God the Almighty.

And I think it would be helpful, though, before we continue, to look back and see how this chapter fits into the overall structure of the book of Revelation.

And Pastor Jim has helpfully shown us many times, he's helped us untangle this.

We can see a pattern in the book of Revelation.

Seven different visions.

We'll put this up on the screen.

Vision number one, chapters one through three, seven churches.

And these seven churches got letters, letters addressing each of these churches specifically, but with exhortation, warnings, and instruction for Christ's church in all places and all times, for you and for me.

Vision number two in chapter four through eight, one, the seven seals, the first of the sequences of judgment on sin, God's righteous and just judgment.

Vision number three in chapters eight through eleven, the seven trumpets, which are the second sequence of the judgment of God on sin.

So we have the seals and then we have the trumpets, and it's interesting to note that a trumpet is a warning instrument.

Both the seals and the trumpet describe the righteous judgment of God on all that is opposed to God.

But if you remember, the judgments were for one third of the world, one third of the earth, which gives time, there's a kindness there, it gives time for those who are opposed to God to come to repentance, to come to Christ.

And what an example of abundant mercy that we see here on display.

Vision number four, chapters 12 through 14, is a battle against Satan the accuser and his whole kingdom.

And we've been reading about that recently.

And here in vision number five, we're at chapter 15 and 16, the seven bowls, which is the final judgment of God, complete and comprehensive.

Whereas the first view of the judgments of God and the seals and the trumpet were for one-third of the earth.

In this case, with the bowls of wrath, all of it.

It's comprehensive.

It's complete.

This is a final judgment.

It's no longer one-third of the earth, it's all of it.

And then six, the sixth vision in chapters 17 through 20, the downfall of Babylon, which we'll be reading about in the next few weeks.

And then finally in vision number seven, 21 through 23, the new heavens and the new earth.

And I cannot wait to study that.

So, although we must acknowledge there are various methods of interpretation of prophetic literature, I think from the grain of the text and the thrust of the message of Revelation, it's best to understand the judgments that are meted out in the seven seals and the seven trumpets and now the seven bowls, these are not different.

These are the same.

We're looking at the same thing from different vantage points.

These aren't chronological.

And we've used the metaphor of an ascending staircase.

Each time you come around, you see the same thing from a different angle.

The intensity, though, of the judgments gets stronger and stronger as you continue up the staircase.

But God is patient.

He's slow to anger, and we see in this progression, this ascending staircase, we see some kindness and abundant mercy there.

There's a kindness in the progression of these judgments, but there will be, and this is important, there will be a final judgment.

And that's what chapter 16 is telling us.

And for those who hunger for righteousness and for justice, and I hope that's you, I hope that's me, this is sobering, but it is good news.

Every tear will be wiped away, every tear.

That means the eradication of all those opposed to God.

So we'll continue reading, but first, uh, from Paul Tripp, I love how he says this.

Let's be very clear.

God's anger is the anger of grace.

It is not the violent anger of unbridled and unrighteous fury.

God's anger always works to right what is wrong.

That is what grace does.

The gracious anger has two sides to it: justice and mercy.

In the gracious anger of justice, God works to punish wrong, but he does even more.

God is not satisfied merely with punishing wrong, his hunger for right is so strong that he will not relent until wrong has been completely destroyed.

He will not rest until evil is no more, and justice and righteousness reign forever and ever.

I love how he says that.

So let's continue in verse two.

So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshipped its image.

So here in verse two, the first of the bowls, we see that it's poured out on the earth.

So it's global.

This is global in its scale.

And this judgment is specific.

It's a definite article in the Greek.

For those who have willingly resisted, this judgment is meted out on.

Those who have willingly resisted and have bound themselves to the beast and to worshiping his image, they have chosen what is not of God, and have cut have cast their lot with the kingdom of darkness.

We'll continue in verse 3.

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea.

Earlier, one third, we mentioned this before with the seals and the trumpets, earlier, one third of the ocean life was affected.

Now, with this second bowl, this judgment is final and complete, comprehensive, the whole sea.

The original readers would immediately have caught the relationship here as well to the previous judgments in the Exodus story.

The hard heart of Pharaoh, and through him all of Egypt, suffered judgments in order that God's people might be delivered, might be set free.

And the water turning to blood in Egypt was but a foretaste of the final judgment of sin that we see here in this text.

Also, it's helpful to note where John is.

If you remember, he's in the island of Patmos, or on the island of Patmos.

This is not only a gory and terrible image of righteous judgment, but it would represent a tremendous economic calamity as well.

A maritime economy wiped out.

An economy fueled by ocean, by the ocean completely destroyed by this judgment.

It's final, it's complete, it's comprehensive.

Continue on in verse 4.

The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers.

So first it was the sea, and now we're getting into the fresh water.

The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.

So first oceans, and now the fresh water, which means there is nothing to drink.

Full comprehensive judgment.

We cannot live without fresh water.

And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, Just are you, O holy one, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments.

For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve.

And I heard the altar saying, Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments.

It's such an unimaginable thing to read and to hear for our 21st century Western sensibilities.

But remember, this first century church, what this was written to originally, had violent and unrelenting persecution against the people of God.

They faced that at the hands of Rome and others.

How long, O Lord, was the prayer?

How long, O Lord?

The kingdom of the beast and its whole system is wicked and it is bent towards the destruction of all that God has created, the eradication of all God's people.

We have to understand that context when we read something like this.

So this song or poem about the righteous judgments of God is exuberant because it puts an end to all that is unholy, unrighteous, and set against God's people, set against Shalom.

In these final judgments, God is giving a definitive no more and answering the prayers of God's people, how long, O Lord.

Scottish pastor Eric Alexander, who I really love, helpfully points out that what the angel here is articulating in verse 5, just are you, O holy one, who is and who was.

What he's articulating there is the very nature and character of God, the very nature of God, his character is at stake.

If God never completes his holy and righteous judgment for sin, then he is not a just and righteous God.

But this text shows us that he is.

And even in this sober account, we can join the angels in saying, Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments.

God is a faithful judge and he takes sin seriously.

And so must we, Lord, forgive us when we have a flimsy view of the seriousness, the weightiness of sin, of our own sin, which gives us a flimsy view of your justice and an emaciated view of what was accomplished for those who believe at the cross of Jesus, where your justice and your mercy most gloriously met.

Lord forgive us when we don't take sin seriously.

We'll continue reading in verse uh eight.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was it was allowed to scorch people with fire.

They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had power over these plagues.

They did not repent and give him glory.

Notice the description of those who have allied themselves against God.

They cursed the name of God.

In the midst of this judgment, they did not repent.

They did not give him glory.

They know who the judgment is coming from.

They cursed the name of God, they know who it's coming from, and yet still do not turn.

This is perhaps one of the saddest passages that we read in the Bible.

A heart that will not turn to what is good, what is true, and what is beautiful, but willingly chooses another kingdom, or frankly, no kingdom at all, one that is set to expire.

And as I was reading this week, I was convicted in a fresh way of the imperative of evangelism in the life of a believer.

Not the caricature of an evangelist with the preacher standing at the corner with a blowhorn yelling, turn or burn, because that's what when we say the word evangelist, that's what we think of, I think, sometimes.

But a gentle and patient heart fueled by a genuine love for those who have not yet come to faith.

Gentle and humble, fueled by genuine love.

Love enough because we want them to taste and see that the Lord is good.

And he has mercy on offer.

I love this quote by Thomas Brooks.

Sins against God's mercy will bring the greatest and sorest judgments upon men's heads and hearts.

Mercy is God's Alpha, and justice is his omega.

So well said.

The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.

People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores.

They did not repent of their deeds.

This judgment in particular goes squarely to the center of the kingdom of the beast, the kingdom of the world, what the text calls the throne of the beast.

It's a strike right at the heart of evil.

This judgment judgment plunges the kingdom into darkness, its natural habitat.

In the creation of the world, God said, Let there be light, but now in the judgment of what is broken and marred his creation, he says, Let there be darkness.

Evil will have an end.

It has an expiration date.

Continue reading in verse twelve.

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 of the east.

And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, that is Satan, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirit spirits like frogs, for they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

And in parentheses, behold, this is Jesus speaking, behold, I am coming like a thief.

Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed.

Verse 16.

And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon Armageddon.

Verse 16, what it's referring to is here is these spirits have gone to all the kings of the earth.

And so all these kings and their kingdoms by association are coming and assembling to this place called Armageddon for this great day of the Lord, for this final battle.

This sixth judgment prepares the way for this final battle.

The great day of the Lord, drying up the Euphrates, creates a path from which all the kingdoms of this world will gather for this final decisive blow.

There are many different interpretations of what is being described here in many of these many spots in this text, but the spirits that come from the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet are likened to frogs, an unclean animal.

And I found what JP Love, uh theologian, says, a devastating caricature, this caricature of frogs, a devastating caricature of the failure of evil, that which men fear most because it appears to be mighty and eternally.

Entrenched, becomes at long last only a ridiculous spawning of sickly creatures of the night.

Darkness is its habitat, just like the frogs.

And these sickly creatures set out to visit all the kings of the world, like we talked about, and bring them to the place of Armageddon to fight against the living God.

Again, the scale is global.

The kings of the earth, representation of all the kingdoms of the earth that are left and have not turned in faith.

Armageddon is a geographic location.

We don't know exactly where this is.

This is the only time it's mentioned in Scripture.

It actually means the hill of Megiddo.

But when TBC visited Israel a few years ago, we were able to visit and look out on what's called the Jezreel Valley, the geographic location where Armageddon is traditionally ascribed.

We don't know for sure, but traditionally ascribed, this is probably what John had in mind.

And Napoleon himself, Napoleon, is said to have called it the greatest battlefield on earth.

It's just a flat expanse, a massive flat expanse.

So again, perhaps this is the place that John had in mind when he was writing this text.

It's a massive expanse of land, and it's instructive to us to give us the scope of this judgment, complete and comprehensive.

So we'll continue reading it, verse 17.

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air.

That means everything.

This is the end.

Into the air, and a loud voice or a great voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, It is done.

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and great earthquake, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth.

So great was that earthquake.

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the Great to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath, which we'll read about next week.

And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found, and great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people, and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.

Comprehensive.

Complete, finished, another prophecy from the Old Testament, from Isaiah 28, 17.

And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line, and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.

In this text, we see the nations of the world gathered for battle and represent representing them all as this great city, which is likely a reference to Babylon.

Babylon is shorthand for the anti-kingdom of God, the kingdom of the Antichrist, the kingdom of the beast, no kingdom at all, really.

And did you notice where the loud or great voice came from in verse 17?

From the throne room, it's the first time we've seen that.

From the throne room, God Himself says, it is done.

Justice has been completed against those who, even in this battle, this final battle, curse God, the living God.

But for those who have turned in faith to Jesus, we hear the echo of our Lord who bore the wrath for my sin at the cross at Calvary for your sin.

It is finished.

Apostle Paul he says, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Those who repent and turn in faith to Jesus are wrapped in the righteousness of Christ and face the just wrath against sin no more.

Jesus said, It is finished.

It's both sobering and full of hope.

Evil does have an expiration date, and we can rejoice in that.

But what can you and I in the village chapel today learn from God's word through our brother John?

So many things, but here are just a few thoughts.

Number one, we can be confident in the justice of God.

Evil has a boundary.

Sin has a boundary.

There will be a final judgment.

The apex of the book of Revelation is the new heavens and the new earth when Christ returns to make all things new.

But if the very essence of the character of God is righteousness, then there must and will be a final judgment for sin.

And that is what Revelation 16 describes for us here.

Justice must be satisfied and evil routed before the consummation of the new heavens and the new earth.

I'm so glad to study that here in a few weeks.

Each and every one of us long for justice and we wait for the final and complete answer to the question: How long, O Lord?

How long, O Lord?

Until that good and perfect time of God, may we with humility and with joy tell others about the mercy that is on offer to all those who would turn to him.

May it fuel our love for our neighbor, our family.

Number two, we can trust the mercy of God.

God is patient with those who are in self-destructive rebellion against him.

That was me, that was you before we met Jesus.

But he will give to each person what they want.

That's what we see here in this text.

He will give each person what they want.

Reading this text alone, chapter 16, it can be easy to forget the whole council of Scripture speaks to the abundant mercy that comes from the heart of God, the patience of God.

There is a kindness in the progression of these judgments.

1 Timothy 2 4 says, He desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

That's his desire.

The Lord in 2 Peter 3 9, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Ezekiel 18 32, another prophet, for I take no pleasure, the Lord says, in anyone's death.

So repent and live.

Repentance, it can sound to, especially to Western English ears, it can sound like such a terrible thing.

It's it's for life.

Repent and live.

Repentance unto life.

When we turn to the Lord, we turn towards what is good, what is true, what is beautiful.

And if you haven't done that, I hope you will.

The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent.

The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.

And number three, this ties in nicely.

We can rest in the grace of God.

We can be confident in the justice of God.

We can trust in the mercy of God, and we can rest in the grace of God.

Did you notice as we are reading, there is a sentence put in parentheses.

I think I pointed it out in most English Bibles in verse 15.

Behold, I am coming like a thief.

Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed.

In parentheses.

It's as if while we are reading of these terrible yet just judgments of God, Jesus himself interjects to remind believers that he is coming at a time that we would least expect, and that we must stay away, stay awake and alert.

The Puritans called this, it was a spiritual discipline for them, watchfulness.

Watchfulness over their own heart.

There are many reasonable interpretations about what Jesus is referring to and keeping your garments on, but I think the interpretation that seems to fit best from others that I read and from how I'm reading the text, it's a connection with something we'll read later in the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And it's alluded to in other texts, of course.

The church of Christ is given white linen to wear.

The righteousness of Christ.

Jesus here is calling us to live in accordance with our identity.

Don't be caught without your clothes, is what he's saying.

As one sealed by the blood of the Lamb, as one marked with the name of God, not marked with the name of the beast.

We are wrapped in the righteousness of God and are called to live in our new identity.

We have repented, meaning we have turned toward God, toward all things that are good and true and beautiful that come from Him.

Church, we do not have to fear the wrath of God that we see here, for we have indeed been sealed by the Lamb.

But this wrath that we witness in the text today should at least do two things for us, should do many things, but at least these two things fuel and empower us to go make disciples of all nations with humility and with gentleness, with patience, with love for our neighbor.

It should fuel and empower us.

Number one, two, it should make us take sin seriously just as God does.

When we diminish the weight of sin, we diminish the treasure of what Jesus accomplished for us, for you and for me on the cross.

If we dismiss the severity of the wages of sin, that is death, it cuts at the root of our witness to the watching world.

John Piper says this Jesus came the first time, and he's coming again.

As the king over all kings, king of Israel, king of all the nations, king of nature and the universe, until he comes again, there is a day of amnesty and forgiveness and patience.

That's the day we're in now.

He still rides a donkey and not yet a white war horse with a rod of iron.

He is ready to save all who receive him as Savior and treasure and king.

Come to him, know him, receive him, live your life in allegiance to him.

This is a heavy chapter, but it gives us a sturdy, a sturdy hope that God is faithful to his promise, that he will return again and he will renew all things.

There is an end to evil.

It has a boundary.

We can rest today knowing that he said it is finished on the cross, and one day he will say with finality, It is done.

And we will rejoice in that.

And we say, Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.