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"And I saw another sign in heaven, great and wonderful, seven angels having seven plagues, the last plagues; for in them the fury of God was finished."
In 12:1 there was "a great sign." Here in 15:1 there is a "great and wonderful" sign.
"And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire and those who come away victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name standing on the glassy sea, having harps of God."
A "glassy sea" was mentioned before in 4:6; however, neither the people nor the fire were mentioned there. In 4:6 the glassy sea is before the throne; that is, it is in the heavens. Hence, "standing on the glassy sea" in 15:2 indicates that these people have been raptured to the throne in heaven. This portion of the Bible tells us that these people have passed through the great tribulation and have encountered the beast, the image of the beast, and the number of the beast. Revelation 14:4-16 shows us a perspective of the rapture by God as seen from the earth. Revelation 15:2 shows us the perspective as seen from heaven.
"And they sing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful are Your works, Lord God the Almighty! Righteous and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!"
Why does it not say, "They sing the song of the Lamb," and then, "the song of Moses"? Why do they sing "the song of Moses...and the song of the Lamb"? If they had worshipped the image of the beast, they would have broken the law of Moses and violated the commandment of God. But they did not do this; therefore, they sing the song of Moses. The one who gave the commandment not to worship idols was Moses; hence, they sing the song of Moses. The one who empowered them so that they would not worship the idols was the Lamb (13:8); hence, they sing the song of the Lamb. What they sing is clearly recorded in Revelation 15:3-4. This is not the song sung by Moses in Exodus 15. (Since 15:3 clearly mentions the name of Moses, this seems to indicate that Moses is not one of the witnesses in 11:3.)
The first phrase of this song is concerning God's works. The second is concerning God's ways. "Works" are only outward, but "ways" are inward principles. "Lord God" is the name used for God when He has a relationship with man. "Righteous" is related to His principles. "True" is related to His promises.
"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for all the nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous judgments have been manifested."
"Holy" pertains to God's nature. "Righteous judgments" are the principles of God's work.
"And after these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened."
"The temple of the tabernacle," though in the heavens, is still not eternal because it is the temple of the tabernacle. Moses built the tabernacle according to the heavenly pattern (Heb. 8:5), but when the temple was built, the tabernacle was done away with. Similarly, in eternity, when the Lamb becomes the temple, this temple of the tabernacle in the heavens will also be annulled. Revelation 15:5—16:18 and 16:21 are the amplification of 11:18.
"And the seven angels who had the seven plagues came out of the temple, clothed in clean bright linen and girded around the breasts with golden girdles."
These seven angels are priestly angels because their clothing is that of the priests. They are probably serving God in the heavenly temple. In offering of the Old Testament sacrifices, the drink offering was poured out first, then the burnt offerings were offered. What the angels are doing here is similar to what was done in the Old Testament.
"And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the fury of God, who lives forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power, and no one could enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished."
This means that from this time onward no one can enter into the temple of God to intercede. There is no longer any possibility of appeasing the fury of God (Lam. 3:44).
"And I heard a loud 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."
The first through sixth bowls are similar to the plagues of the first through sixth trumpets, except there is a difference in degree. The first through sixth bowls are a repetition of the plagues of the first through sixth trumpets. However, the plagues of the bowls are more severe than those of the trumpets. The seventh trumpet includes the seven bowls; hence, the seventh trumpet repeats all the plagues of the first through sixth trumpets in greater severity. This is why the plagues of the seventh trumpet are the most serious of all.
"And the first went and poured out his bowl into the earth; and there came to be an evil and malignant sore upon the men who have the mark of the beast and worship his image."
Those who suffer this plague are only those with the mark of the beast and who worship his image. This sore is similar to those which Lazarus had (Luke 16:20-21), from which there was no recovery. One of the plagues in Exodus was also a kind of sore (9:8-10). At one point, Job also had sores (Job 2:7), as well as Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:7) and the Philistines (1 Sam. 5:6, 9, 12). Sores are sometimes used by God as a kind of judgment (Deut. 28:27). These men in Revelation 16:2 had the mark of the beast; therefore, God gave them a mark also, a sore. This sore is "evil" because it is continually increasing. It is not that the trumpets are over and then the bowls begin. In the first trumpet, only the green grass and trees on earth are burned. In the first bowl, the people on earth are hurt directly.
"And the second poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and every living soul that was in the sea died."
The plague in the second bowl is more serious than that in the second trumpet; its scope is greater. The sea becomes blood like that of a dead man (dark blue and green in color). This plague will cause navigation to be greatly hindered. Furthermore, the fishing industry will be totally stopped (Psa. 105:29; Isa. 50:2).
"And the third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood."
In the third trumpet, only the third part of the waters became bitter and distasteful for drinking. Now everything becomes blood, which is completely undrinkable. God gives them blood to drink because they have persecuted too many Christians and prophets of God.
"And I heard the angel who had power over the waters saying, You are righteous, who is and who was, the Holy One, because You have judged these things."
There is an angel that specifically rules the waters. In 1:8 and 4:8 we have "He who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty." In 11:17 and 16:5, the expression "who is coming" is absent. Therefore, the Lord's coming again must be after chapter four and before 11:17.
"For they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink; they are worthy of it. And I heard the altar saying, Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." Revelation 16:6 refers to the prophets, which indicates that there is a second Pentecost, because prophets are one type of gift.
"True" is related to promises. "Righteous" is related to principles.
"And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given to it to burn men with fire. And men were burned with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory."
In the fourth trumpet the heavens became only darkened, but this time the heat of the sun burns man (Luke 21:25). According to scientists' calculations, the heat of the sun should diminish continually, but here God reverses it (Psa. 121:6). The burning in Isaiah 24:6 probably refers to the heat of the sun scorching man (cf. Isa. 42:25; Deut. 32:24; Mal. 4:1). Men think of the pain they are suffering, but do not consider the reason for their suffering. They do not pay attention to the eternal gospel preached in Revelation 14:6-7 by the first angel.
"And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed the God of heaven for their pains and for their sores; and they did not repent of their works."
These two verses are related to the angels that came out of the abyss in the fifth trumpet. The pain in verse 10 is due to the sores of the first bowl and the burning of the sun of the fourth bowl. They have the plagues of each of the previous bowls, plus the present darkness (Psa. 64:3-8).
Revelation 16:12 refers specifically to the sixth bowl, while verses 13 to 16 are inserted visions.
"And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared."
"The great river Euphrates." The boundaries that God promised to the children of Israel were from Egypt to the Euphrates (Gen. 15:18). In addition, history tells us that when the Roman Empire was at its peak, it also had the Euphrates as its boundary. In the future there will be a great confederation of two parties. One party will be the Western world with the Mediterranean Sea as its center and the ancient Roman Empire as its boundary (including England, France, the northern part of Africa, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Greece, and all the way to the lands of India and Persia). The other party will be the Eastern world with Russia as its center (including the Persians, the Ethiopians, the Armenians, etc., and perhaps China, Japan, Afghanistan, etc.).
In the future, the religious influence will spread from Rome to reach the whole earth; however, the political influence will not be the same. Italy's Fascist Black Party and Russia's Communist Red Party will be the two most influential parties in the world.
The armies from the east mentioned in Ezekiel 38:1-6 will cross the river to fight with the armies from the west. They will have already come to attack once during the sixth trumpet. The fighting in the seventh trumpet will be even more fierce.
"Armageddon." Megiddo is the name of a place. Ar means mountain. Armageddon is the mountain of Megiddo. This place is called Jezreel in the Old Testament.
Originally, the Euphrates River was quite broad with rapid currents and was not easy to cross over. However, when the sixth bowl is poured out, the water in the river will be dried up, and it will become easy to cross over.
"And I saw, 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 as frogs; for they are spirits of demons doing signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth to gather them to the war of the great day of God the Almighty."
"Unclean spirits" are in opposition to the Holy Spirit. "Frogs" denote something nonsensical. The goal of these kings is just to go to war for the sake of war. They go to war because of the devil's instigation. Eventually, the Lord will come down to destroy them.
"(Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments that he may not walk naked and they see his shame.)"
There is still something to say to the Christians. The garment here is not the garment on the physical body. "I come as a thief" is a word from the Lord to the church. The word here may be to those who are about to be reaped in Revelation 14:14-16. It may also be for those Christians who are left behind. The reaping of the grapes in 14:17-20 is the war of Armageddon in 16:16. Revelation 16:15 is before the war of Armageddon, pointing to the Christians at the time of harvest, but it can also be considered as being spoken after 14:14-16 and before 16:16, in which case it refers to those Christians who are left behind.
"And the seventh poured out his bowl upon the air; and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, It is done."
"It is done" can also be translated "It is sufficient." "The air" is the sphere in which Satan exercises his authority. It may be that up until this point Satan still has some authority in the air. Therefore, God still needs to give him one last punishment.
"And there were lightnings and voices and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since man appeared on the earth, such an earthquake, so great."
Concerning the great earthquake see Ezekiel 38:20.
"And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the Great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath."
"The great city" refers to the city of Jerusalem. "Nations" means Gentiles in the original language. "Babylon" here refers to the material Babylon. (In 14:8 "Babylon" refers to the Babylon which was fallen before the Battle of Armageddon. It corresponds to the Babylon in chapter seventeen. The one in chapter sixteen refers to the material Babylon, which is after the Battle of Armageddon. This corresponds to the last half of chapter eighteen.) Sketches of these two Babylons are recorded in 14:8 and 16:19; the details are given in chapters seventeen and eighteen.
"And every island fled, and the mountains were not found."
This time the earthquake is severe. However, according to the Psalms, the sea, the islands, and the mountains will all be here in the millennium (Psa. 72:3, 10; 97:1).
"And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, came down out of heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague of it is exceedingly great."
One Greek talent equals fifty-six English pounds. One Jewish talent equals one hundred fourteen English pounds. In addition to the hail striking down from above, the earth is shaken out of place.
