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It Is What They Deserve – Revelation 16

Jonathan Homesley

IT IS WHAT THEY DESERVE:

Total Judgment Comes to Earth

Revelation: Every Eye Will See Him

Revelation 16

THE TEXT:

The text for the sermon today is Revelation 16. Our text can be found on page 1036. These are the words of God:

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

2 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 worshiped its image.

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.

4 The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 5 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.

            6          For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets,

and you have given them blood to drink.

                        It is what they deserve!”

7 And I heard the altar saying,

                        “Yes, Lord God the Almighty,

true and just are your judgments!”

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9 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.

10 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 11 and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

 

12 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. 13 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. 14 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. 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!”) 16 And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

 

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into 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, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. 19 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. 20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. 21 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.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Revelation is not a puzzle book, it is a picture book. It’s full of images, so let’s consider what we have seen thus far:

  1. 1 – The bowl judgments begin with a “loud voice.” In other words, Gods judgment takes place according to his plans, not ours.

Much like the trumpets, the bowl judgments are modeled on the 10 plagues of Egypt. But unlike the Trumpets, which is believe are happening throughout this age, these bowls seem to indicate the nearness of Christ’s return. (Rev. 15:1)

  1. 2-8 The first 4 angels pour out their bowls on 4 major regions of the universe:

But notice that even though the bowls are poured out on the universe, their judgments target those who oppose God. That is what is meant by those who bear the mark of the beast.

In v. 5, an angel interprets the nature of the judgment: God is just in taking all of the evil perpetrated by those who killed the saint and turning it back on them. And, though the language may seem harsh to us, the angel assures us that God hasn’t overreacted. This is what they deserve (v. 7)

By the 4th bowl in v. 8 a pattern begins to emerge: “They did not repent and give him glory.” This is the foolishness of sin. Sin hardens our heart. Even in the face of judgment, they will not turn around.

The 5th bowl targets “the throne of the beast.” God will throw every nation, every kingdom, every dictator who opposes him into darkness, and sadly, the result isn’t humility, rather they cursed God.

The 6th bowl is a preparatory judgment. God paves the way for a final battle with rebellious man. More descriptions of this battle occur in 17:13-14; 19:11-21; 20:7-10. It’s also important to note that this final battle is based on a battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38-39.

In this preparation, rivers dry up, great armies assemble, the Dragon (Satan), the Beast and the False Prophet all appear together, and through their demonic work they assemble a coalition of world to oppose God.

  1. 15 Here we have an interjection, the words of Christ:

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 other words, before this day comes, there’s a chance of avoiding this judgment. Christ is telling us, and through us the world, to be prepared for the coming day of this battle.

Finally, in v. 17 the 7th bowl is emptied, and the announcement of God’s final judgment comes, “It is done.”

  1. 18 recalls language we’ve seen before: earthquake, lightening, peals of thunder signals the cataclysmic end of history. (Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18; 19:6)

The cities of nations fall, and God brings judgment on Babylon. The earth symbolically runs away from the wrath of God, and even here, at the end of all things, rebellious man persists in their curses against God.

So, what is this chapter about? Wrath & Judgement.

WHAT IS GOD’S WRATH?

So, here’s my premise: God would not be good if he didn’t get angry at evil.

If God loves all that is right and good, then we should not be surprised that he hates all that is opposed to the right and good.

And if God didn’t hate evil, he would not be worthy of your worship He would be malevolent, vindictive, and capricious.

So, how do we define God’s wrath?

God’s wrath is his just, or righteous opposition to sin. So, the Biblical portrayal of wrath is not God’s grumpiness or his emotional response of anger. It is his settled opposition to sin.

And God’s wrath is related to the final judgment specifically because it is the final judgment against sin and unrepentant sinners.

So, two warnings from this passage on the coming judgment, then we’ll end with a word of encouragement.

GOD’S JUDGMENT IS NEAR

Christ’s return is imminent. It could be at any moment.

15:1 – “wrath of God is finished.”

16:15 – 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!”)

Matthew 24:42 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.–44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 – 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

2 Peter 3:10 – 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

Romans 13:11 11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

GOD’S JUDGMENT IS COMPREHENSIVE

God’s judgment will be total, complete, universal. No part of the material cosmos will escape either his knowledge nor his just wrath. (1/4, 1/3, total)

With 4 kids in our home we are constantly teaching them what it means to clean up all of their mess, but when God judges the earth, there will be no dust-bunnies left in the corners.

GOD’S JUDGMENT IS AVOIDABLE

Friend, how can you avoid this coming wrath of God? How can you, on that day be found perfectly blameless, and confident enough to approach God with boldness and love?

Jesus tells us in this passage to be prepared for that day. He’s coming like a thief. He isn’t going to announce it before it happens. So, how can you be ready?

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)

This is the gospel: believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. That he perfectly obeyed God’s law in every place we failed to obey. That he offered up himself as a substitute; receiving the penalties of our sin at the cross. And because he has done that, God’s justice has been served against sin. But that’s not all of the story. Three days later, God raise Jesus from the grave proving that he accepted Christ’s sacrifice as payment of our sins.

Come to Jesus!

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!

Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered neath God’s rage.

Draped in his righteousness, I’m justified.

In Christ is live, for in my place he died.

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