Revelation Chapter 16

Introductory remarks:

Chapter 15 introduced the seven angels with their bowls of wrath, that is, God's judgments upon the world during the last part of the tribulation period. Chapter 16 describes these judgments. There is a definite parallel between these plagues and those of the Egyptian plagues announced by Moses.

The Bowls of God's Wrath

Verse 1, "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."

LGT "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the seven bowls of the fury of God into the earth."

"And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,"

All judgment is given to Jesus Christ and He will pour out His judgments upon this sin sick world. He sends forth His agent angels to pour out His fury.

"Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."

For those who believe that the world is getting better and better, the Book of Revelation tells a different story; this world with all of its glitter and beauty that satisfies the flesh will someday soon come to a screeching halt. Christ is going to judge this world and destroy it and all of its pleasures. Christ gives the command to the seven angels to 'go their separate ways' and pour out His wrath. "No one reading this chapter carefully can fail to observe how intimately the bowls of wrath are linked in their results upon the earth, with the plagues that fell upon Egypt preparatory to Israel's deliverance. God is again about to deliver His people, and this for the last time. The outpouring of these bowls depicts, in large measure, the woes that were visited upon the kingdom of Pharaoh" (H. A. Ironside).

Verse 2, "And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image."

LGT "And the first went away and poured out his bowl into the earth, and it became an evil and malignant sore upon the men, the ones having the mark of the beast and the ones worshipping his image."

"And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;"

"Each angel as his turn comes withdraws from the heavenly scene" (Vincent). During the Great Tribulation those who bow down to the beast and worship the image will have the mark 666 upon them and they will enjoy the benefits of Satan, but then at the end of the Tribulation God will pour out His judgments on them. Satan will judge the believers who refuse the mark during the last 3-1/2 years with their not being able to buy food or anything else, for that matter, but God's judgments will be far worse and lasting forever. The angel poured out his bowl of wrath upon the earth. The word earth is used for this world in distinction from heaven.

"And there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped the image."

The Old Testament account of this type of plague was inflicted upon the Egyptians who had enslaved God's people: And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with [ulcers] upon man, and upon beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians (Exodus 9:10, 11). Here in Revelation God pours out His first bowl of wrath on those who pay homage to the beast.

. "The proper meaning, therefore, is that of a sore, ulcer, or boil of a severe and painful character; and the most obvious reference in the passage, to one who was accustomed to the language of Scripture, would be to some fearful plague like that which was sent upon the Egyptians" (Barnes).

Verse 3, "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea."

LGT "And the second poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood as of [one] dead, and every soul of life died, the things in the sea."

This second angel pours out his bowl of God's wrath upon the sea; we read of the Old Testament plague in Exodus 7:20, 21: And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded; and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants; and all that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt."

In this plague every living creature in the sea dies. The calamity of this plague will affect the whole world for all commerce will come to a screeching halt.

Verse 4, "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood."

LGT "And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the fountains of waters; and it became blood."

The contamination by blood into the fresh water supply follows that of the salt water in the sea. "This judgment and the next are part of God answering the imprecatory prayers [pleading] of the Tribulation martyrs. Many were viciously murdered without even a second thought. So the taking of the blood of the martyrs meant water would be turned to blood. First, this judgment hits the conscience of the unbelievers more than their drinking water - that follows" (Theime).

Verse 5, "And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou hast judged thus."

LGT "And I heard the angel of the water saying, You are righteous, which is, which was, Thou Holy One, that did judge these things."

"And I heard the angel of the waters say,"

"This angel is set over the waters as other angels over winds (ch. 7:1) and over the fire (ch. 14:18)" (Vincent).

"Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because Thou judged thus."

This is an expression stating the eternity of the Godhead. The angel states that all the judgments of God are good, because He is righteous. Revelation is God's answer to those maudlin so-called preachers who say that God is love and would never condemn someone to hell. You and I both know that the unbeliever condemns himself by his refusal to accept Jesus Christ; therefore, all of God's judgments are just and righteous, they could be no other than.

Verse 6, "For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy."

LGT "Because they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and to them [You] have given blood to drink, worthy they are worthy."

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

Those antichristian enemies of God have taken up the sword against God's saints, and God will judge them. From the beginning of time those who stood up for our God have been the objects of Satan's persecutions.

"And Thou hast given them blood to drink;"

During the Tribulation period those who wear the mark of the beast will get their just deserts when they will have to drink blood. They shed the blood of God's children, and God will make them drink blood; whosoever lives by the sword, will die by the sword.

"For they are worthy."

In other words, they will get what they deserve. "Swete calls this a terrible antithesis [or contrast]"

Verse 7, "And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments."

LGT "And I heard from the altar saying, Yes, Lord the God, the Almighty One, true and righteous [are] Your judgments."

"And I heard another out of the altar say,"

This phrase is literally: and I heard from the altar saying. This is referring back to the martyred saints that were praying for justice. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, Holy and True, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled" (Rev. 6:9-11).

"Even so, Lord God Almighty,"

This is literally: Yes, Lord the God, the Almighty One. God was a while in answering their prayers, but now that He has the saints respond with a resounding Yes! And then they give Him praise for who He is.

"True and righteous are Thy judgments."

Ones again the truth of God's judgments being true and righteous is attested to. We should never question God for His acts, because they can be no other than true and righteous, which includes justice.

Verse 8, "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire."

LGT "And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch the men in fire."

"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun;"

Those bleeding heart liberals that are screeching out on the news channels that we are facing global warming need to read this portion of the Book. This will be global warming of a very sudden and intense nature.

"And power was given unto him to scorch men with fire."

God is able to control the heat from the sun; all it would take is for Him to move the earth just a bit closer to the sun to cause the sun, as McGee says, to burn the occupants of the earth with intense heat.

Verse 9, "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over the plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory."

LGT "And the men were scorched with great heat and they blasphemed the name of the God, the One who has the authority over these plagues and they did not repent to give Him glory."

"And men were scorched with great heat,"

The word 'scorch' has the connotation of intense heat; men will at this time receive a taste of what it will be like for the unbeliever in eternity. Notice what their response will be:

"And blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over the plagues:"

The response of these men during the Tribulation will be the same as the unbeliever in hell. Knowing that God is creator and has authority over these plagues, they will not repent, but will continue to blaspheme His name.

"And they repented not to give Him glory."

The response of all unbelief is the same: blasphemy! Men were created to give God glory, but rebellion in man refuses to do so. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. This punishment on the earth will not turn men's heart to repentance; they will only become hardened. The Tribulation is not a time for purification, but judgment.

Verse 10, "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,"

LGT "And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened, and they chewed their tongues out of distress."

"And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast;"

The word 'seat' is thronos which is literally 'throne.' You see the Antichrist is in full charge of the kingdoms of this world during the Great Tribulation, until God brings down His judgments. The seat here represents the center of the antichristian dominion. This fifth bowl judgment is not the final blow to the throne of the beast, but preparatory to it.

"And his kingdom was full of darkness;"

"This phrase indicates a strange darkness which might be called black light. We are familiar with that in our day. It will be a frightening thing. As the sun's wattage is increased, it grows darker instead of lighter. The heat will be greater, but the light will be less. Notice the similarity to the darkness of Egypt during the ninth plague [Exod. 10:21, 22]" (McGee). Without Jesus Christ all the world can know is darkness.

"And they gnawed their tongues for pain."

This statement 'they gnawed their tongues' is only found here in the entire New Testament. This is very descriptive of the intense pain they felt, for they chewed on their tongues because of the great pain

Verse 11, "And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

LGT "And they blasphemed the God of the heaven because of their pains and because of their sores and they did not repent of their works."

"And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain,"

The response of the unbeliever is always the same, Blasphemy. Instead of repentance they curse the God of heaven. They are not only distressed because of the darkness, but also the pain they are suffering.

"And repented not of their deeds."

The word 'deeds' is gr. ergon, meaning 'works.' Theime notes on this word 'work:" "You can recognize a religion because YOU have to do something to please God. You can NOT please God (by yourself). Jesus Christ did ALL the work in salvation. All you have to do is the non-meritorious act of believing in Him. After salvation, either you try to 'help God' which is meaningless, or you learn divine viewpoint through the intake of the Word and learn how to allow God to 'work' through you! Then He generates 'divine good production' {still the Greek word ergon but to translate it 'works' does not adequately cover what God generates, and the glory is His! You are rewarded for your positive volition to Him and His Word.}"

The only thing that can lead anyone to repentance is a Godly sorrow. These men are not sorry for their works; they are only distressed that God is who He says He is, a God of justice and judgment. These men are not ignorant as to the Author of their distresses; they can only curse God for their pain.

"There are two self-evident facts at this point: (1) God is righteous in pouring out the bowls of wrath. Let's remember that. Jesus is the judge. He is in charge of handing out the punishment. (2) Yet mankind is not led to repentance through this suffering. The Apostle Paul predicted this: Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God (Rom. 2:4, 5). And here it is - the righteous judgment of God. And man continues to harden his heart and refuse to repent" (McGee).

Verse 12, "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water therefore was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."

LGT "And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river the river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, in order that the way might be prepared for the kings, from the sun rising."

"And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates:"

The great river Euphrates was, as McGee points out the cradle of man's ancient civilization. "The Euphrates is called 'the great river' in the Bible just as the Mediterranean Sea is called 'the great sea.' The prominence of the Euphrates River in the Word of God should not be overlooked. First mentioned in Genesis 2, it is designated over twenty-five times in the Bible. In the verse before us it is seen in connection with the sixth plague. As it was prominent in the first state of man on the earth, so it is featured in his last state - that of the Great Tribulation. It was the cradle of man's civilization and obviously will be the grave of man's civilization. It was a border between east and west, eighteen hundred miles long, over half of it navigable. It was wide and deep, which made it difficult for an army to pass over it."

"And the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."

The phrase 'kings of the east' is literally the kings that come from the sun rising. There have been many commentators who have speculated on who these kings of the east will be in this final battle of Armageddon. Let me quote three of the more reliable ones;

"It is significant that the word rendered 'the east' is really 'the sun rising.' Is it only a coincidence that for a millennium at least Japan has been known as 'the kingdom of the rising sun? May not the Mongolian races, possibly allied with India, be the kings of the East here depicted as coming in conflict with the powers of the West? Thus, the whole world will be thrown into bloody warfare, and all nations will be gathered together against Jerusalem to battle. This great world conflict will be the direct result of the working of demons because we are told that three unclean frog-like spirits came out of the mouth of the dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet - demons working miracles, visiting the kingdoms of the earth (that is, the prophetic earth), and of the whole world (that is, the nations outside the prophetic earth), to gather them to battle of that great day of God Almighty. This will be the great and final Armageddon conflict - the place where they will meet one another in an attempt to settle the final issues" (H. A. Ironside's Commentary on Revelation).

"The Euphrates River will be miraculously dried up, thus erasing the border between East and West, so that the kings of the sun rising might come to the Battle of Armageddon. In the past Tamerlane came out of the East and swept across those plains with a tremendous horde, and Genghis Khan did the same thing. Those were just little previews of what is going to happen in the last days. After the Euphrates River is gone, the great hordes in the East that have never moved west will come in a great crusade to Palestine. The bulk of the world population is in the East, and having only a smattering of the gospel, they will choose Antichrist. The picture is frightful. Can anyone doubt, with the hundreds of millions pouring into Palestine, that the blood will be as deep as the horses' bridles?" (McGee).

"Historically. The River Euphrates divided the empires of the west from the empires of the east. In this judgment, this natural protection of Jerusalem is removed in preparation for the mighty attack of the Kings of the East. Today, this would be an alliance of countries like China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Verse 16 starts the documentation of the actual battle" (Theime).

Verse 13, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."

LGT "And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the wild beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits as frogs."

"And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs,"

These evil spirits are demons sent forth from Satan; "Christ expelled unclean spirits, but Satan sends them forth" (Swete). The question is whether they were real frogs or not. If you notice in LGT it says 'three unclean spirits as frogs. Theime says that frogs are great public speakers [ri-bit], and we must add [knee-deep].

Barclay has a good piece in his commentary on Revelation concerning frogs:

"It is said that the unclean spirits were like frogs.

Frogs are connected with plagues. One of the plagues in Egypt was a plague of frogs (Exodus 8:5-11). 'He sent among them…frogs, which destroyed them,' says the Psalmist (Psalm 78:45). 'Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings' (Psalm 105:30).

Frogs are unclean creatures. Although not mentioned by name, they are included by definition in the list of unclean things in the water and the sea which begins in Leviticus 11:10. The frog stands for unclean influence.

Frogs are famous for their empty and continuous croaking - brekekekexcoaxcoax, as Aristophanes transliterated it. 'The frog', said Augustine, 'is the most loquacious [long-winded] of vanities' (Homily on Psalm 77:27). The sound the frog makes is the symbol of meaningless speech.

In Zoroastrianism, the Persian religion, frogs are the bringers of plagues and the agents of Ahriman, the power of darkness, in his struggle against Ormuzd, the power of light. It is fairly certain that John would know this bit of Persian tradition."

"Come out of the mouth of the dragon,"

This is Satan himself.

"And out of the mouth of the beast,"

This is the Antichrist.

"And out of the mouth of the false prophet."

This is of course the false prophet that makes up this trinity from hell.

Verse 14, "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

LGT "For they are spirits of demons doing signs, which go forth unto the kings of [the] whole inhabited earth to gather them together unto the battle of great day of God the Almighty One."

"For they are spirits of devils,"

"They are spirits; they are unclean spirits; they are demon spirits; they are sent forth into activity by the Dragon Trinity; they are the elect agents to awaken the world to the attempt to abolish God from the earth; and they are frog-like in that they come forth out of the pestiferous quagmires of the universe, do their work amid the world's evening shadows, and creep, and croak, and fill the ears of the nations with their noisy demonstrations, till they set all the kings and armies of the whole earth in enthusiastic commotion for the final crushing out of the Lamb and all His powers. As in chapter 9, the seven Spirits of God and of Christ went forth into all the earth to make up and gather together into one holy fellowship the great congregation of the sanctified: so these spirits of hell go forth upon the kings and potentates of the world, to make up and gather together the grand army of the Devil's worshippers" (J.A. Seiss - The Apocalypse, Lectures on the Book of Revelation).

"Working miracles,"

This phrase is literally, doing signs. "The Egyptian magicians wrought signs (tricks), as did Simon Magus and later Apollonius of Tyana. Houdini claimed that he could reproduce every trick of the spiritualistic mediums" (Robertson).

"Which go forth into the kings of the earth and the whole world,"

This spirit of Antichrist will go forth into the entire world deceiving the nations; we can easily see this being done on the news broadcasts. The liberal faction in our politics today is leaning toward a one-world government that will accommodate this gathering together of the kings against God. The Democratic Party today is the leading liberal brainwashing instruments in the hands of Satan that will if they are able lead our country to its final ruin. I have never in my 68 years on this planet seen one political party so intent on turning our nation into a socialistic society dependant on the government, which, by the way, is exactly what Satan needs to take control.

"To gather them to battle of that great day of God Almighty."

"In our own day we have seen that the news media can become a propaganda agent to carry out the purposes of men who are in the background. The news media can brainwash the public. This is exactly what the trinity of evil will do. They will brainwash the nations of the world into marching against Israel

The Lord Jesus is the only One who can stop this. Israel's help does not come from the north or the south or the east or the west - that's where their trouble is coming from. Their help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (McGee).

Verse 15, "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

LGT "Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is the one who that watches and keeps his garments, that he might not walk naked and they see his shame."

"Behold, I come as a thief."

This verse is an interlude between 14 and 16. Jesus breaks in with an astounding statement, 'I come as a thief.' Now this is another reason I believe the church will not be here when Christ returns; the church is to be looking for the return of Christ. If the bride is looking for the Bridegroom, then the Bridegroom will not come as a thief. I believe when Christ returns to earth the second time it will be as an uninvited guest, more as 'a thief'. McGee says:

"Christ will never come as a thief to the church: 'But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief' (I Thess. 5:4). A thief is someone you shut out; you don't welcome him. You don't put a note on the door when you leave your house which says, 'Mr. Thief, I left the back door open for you. The silver is on the third shelf; help yourself.' You lock him out. Christ does not come as a thief to His church, which is looking for Him. 'Looking for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ' (Titus 2:13).

The Lord Jesus Christ does come as a thief to the world at the end of the Great Tribulation, as the verse before us indicates. As we saw at the beginning of the Revelation, the whole earth will mourn because of Him. They don't want Him to come. They would like to shut Him out from ever returning to the earth."

"And keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

"To understand this verse one needs to understand the night guard duty in the Roman Army. As the soldier was stationed, he was commanded to 'guard his tunic'. What this referred to was to be alert and not fall asleep on duty. During the night the watch commander would inspect the troops with a torch for light. If he found a man asleep, he lighted the tunic of the man on the spot. He either died right there or if he survived he lost his clothes and uniform equipment like belts, sword etc. His garrison would see him return all burned and know what happened. They would see his nakedness' and know his shame" (Theime).

Verse 16, "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

LGT "And they gathered them together into a place which is called in Hebrew, Armageddon."

"And he gathered them together"

The Greek word for 'he gathered' is sunegagen and could read 'He' or 'they'. If one accepts the term 'He gathered' it would refer to God; that is, God allows the unclean spirits to work through the nations to be gathered together for battle. If one accepts 'they gathered' it would refer to the unclean spirits of verse 14; either way nothing happens without God's approval.

"Into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

The Hebrew word 'Har' meaning 'mountain', and 'Meggido' which is a mount in the plains of Esdralon. "Bounded as it is by the hills of Palestine on both north and south, it would naturally become the arena of war between the lowlanders who trusted in their chariots, and the Israelite highlanders of the neighboring heights. To this cause mainly it owes its celebrity, as the battlefield of the world, which has, through its adoption into the language of the Apocalypse, passed into a universal proverb. If that mysterious book proceeded from the hand of a Galilean fisherman, it is the more easy to understand why, with the scene of those battles constantly before him, he should have drawn the figurative name of the final conflict between the hosts of good and evil, from the 'place which is called in the Hebrew tongue Harmagedon'" (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine - quoted by Vincent).

Verse 17, "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done."

LGT "And the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and there came a great voice out of the temple from the heaven saying, Completed."

This is the last of the sevens, that is, the last of the seven judgments. This brings us, in our study, to the very end of The Great Tribulation Period. Satan is the 'Prince of the Power of the Air', and God sends out a great message to him, 'move aside' and 'get ready for My Son. The last cleansing is the air, for God's Son will return in the air. The phrase' It is done' is saying that the beast is through; and it is so certain, that John uses the phrase in Greek, gegonan, 'completed.'

Verse 18, "And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great."

LGT "And there came lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and there was a great earthquake, such as came not since there came men upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, so great."

"And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings;"

These voices from heaven accompany the voice of God stating in the last verse 'Completed.' There were these signs at the beginning of the Tribulation, and now at the close. God is longsuffering toward the world; He gives ample time for repentance, however, here, there will be none.

"And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were on the earth, so mighty an earthquake, so great."

Living here in California Glenda and I know what earthquakes are like; we were sleeping on the third floor of our apartment when the Northridge earthquake hit. We have never been shaken up so much; our house literally shook up and down. We looked at each other and said, 'This is it.' Well, we are here today, so it wasn't it. This last earthquake will be it. This earthquake will not be centralized in one particular area it will cover the whole world.

Verse 19, "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath."

LGT "And the great city came to be [divided] into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath."

"And the great city was divided into three parts,"

This great city is none other than Jerusalem, under the Antichrist; however, we see that Jerusalem was not the only city to fall.

"And the cities of the nations fell:"

Every city under the dominion of the beast falls.

"And great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath."

"Babylon is mentioned specifically again. It was mentioned in chapter 14, verse 8, which says, And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." (McGee).

"In the day the Bible was written, Rome was called 'Babylon'. Peter wrote from Rome and said he was in 'Babylon'. This probably was to protect him in case his letter fell into the wrong hands. So, Babylon refers to the center of the new Gentile 'King of the West' - the beast dictator who will run both religion and state in the Tribulation. Chapter 17 explains this more. Chapter 18 will explain how many businesses in the Tribulation are supported by the ecumenical religion and therefore will fall" (Theime).

Verse 20, "And every Island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

LGT "And every island fled, and mountains were not found."

We remember the Tsunami recently caused by the earthquake that caused part of the island to fall into the sea, which caused the terrible tidal-wave that hit Indonesia. This verse is very descriptive to what is going to happen.

Verse 21, "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great."

LGT "And a great hail as of a talent weight fell out of the heaven upon the men, and the men blasphemed God, for the plague it was exceeding great."

"And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:"

"The Attic talent was equal to about 55 lbs. Or 56 lbs. Troy weight; the Jewish talent to about 113 lbs. Troy" (Barnes).

"And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great."

We already noticed how exceeding was the hail from the previous phrase, however, what amazes the Christian is, why they don't repent; no! They blaspheme. This proves the point that unbelief cannot be salvaged; nor can it be convinced. I can write volumes, if I had time, as to why I believe in Christ, and why I accepted Him as my personal Savior; but I can't write a single line as to why men reject and blaspheme. I suppose it can be explained philosophically, but not logically, for there is no logic in the hatred of the unbeliever toward our loving Heavenly Father and His Son. This exceeding hailstorm brings the Tribulation to a close.

Go To Chapter 17

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