Old Testament: Ezekiel 25 & 26
Poetry: Psalm 101
New Testament: Revelation 16
I tend to think of the seals, trumpets, and bowls of God’s wrath as a sequence, but when I’m away from reading Revelation for a while I can lose track of how late in the book the bowls appear. Way back at the sixth seal we are told of God’s wrath, and that people would try to hide from it in caves and beneath rocks (6:15-17). Now, in chapter 16, that wrath comes. Its targets, as Paul stated, are not Christ’s followers (1 Thessalonians 5:9); they are people who served the Beast, killed God’s servants, and would not repent. Considering the nature of some of the bowls, it may be hard to imagine how anyone is protected from their impact – but during years of drought God made sure that Elijah ate and drank.
Several bowls seem to build on earlier parts of Revelation. While the second and third trumpets affected just a fraction of the sea and rivers, they are fully affected by the pouring of the second and third bowls. With the fifth seal a vision came to John of those who died for the word of God, crying out for judgment (6:9‑10), the angel of the third bowl declares that such judgment is happening and is fully justified (16:6). Those with only blood to drink had poured out the blood of the righteous. The comment “they are worthy” is ambiguous, it may describe the martyrs as worthy of being avenged, or their killers as worthy of this punishment. Either interpretation may feel different than how “worthiness” was discussed in chapters 3-5. There worthy believers were dressed in white. There also a great search took place for one worthy to open the seals on God’s scroll, and the lamb was found. But God does not just watch over the righteous, He also does not leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:7).
Part of the effect of the fourth trumpet was to bring darkness in a third of each day. The fourth and fifth bowls of wrath initially scorched with the sun those who defy God, and then plunged them into darkness. In both cases the people chose to blaspheme God, rather than repent. (I bypassed the first bowl, and the sores it brought; those sores remind me of Job. I see these people as anti-Jobs, beyond trust or accepting help, who simply lash out.)
The sixth bowl involves the river Euphrates drying up, as preparation for eastern armies to reach the site of Armageddon (in the north of Israel). That is as opposed to the sixth trumpet when an army tied to the Euphrates killed a third of the population (9:15). Also, evil spirits come from the dragon and the two beasts to gather the kings of the world to Armageddon. When the seven seals and seven trumpets were listed there was a lengthy pause after each of the sixth entries, and there is also a pause after the sixth bowl, but this one is fairly short, just a brief comment from Jesus about his coming like a thief.
With the seventh bowl the fall of Babylon begins (see chapter 18). The worst earthquake in history occurs, and Jerusalem splits in three. Language about the islands and mountains moving (Revelation 16:20; 6:14) suggests there is overlap between the seventh bowl and the sixth seal. Overlap of language also seems to link the seventh bowl with the seventh trumpet (16:18, 21; 11:19). Even if we can tie the timing together for those two moments we can’t say much about the overall chronology of the seals and trumpets. Some of those events are stated to take months or years, and God may just want us to know about all of them but not to understand interconnections.
The famous four horsemen from the first four seals collectively tie to the devastation of humanity. Whatever it is the “victors” of such conflict may think they have gained, they do not possess the wisdom to avoid fighting the army of Christ. The battle of Armageddon will be massive and destructive, but it will at least be decisive, and it launches a time of peace and restoration on earth.
Also mentioned with the seventh bowl is hail the weight of a talent (v. 21), which may mean it is a hundred pounds. The heaviest recorded hailstone so far is 2.25 pounds. A bit lighter case, 1.9375 pounds and the size of a softball, left a ten-inch pit where it struck. Why will God use such large hailstones? If the goal is to impress, why not just have a lot of hail? But that has been done. The hail accumulation record is from 1959, when a 54-square-mile section of Kansas received a 19-inch covering of hailstones. I find that much hail difficult to envision already. Amassing a hundred pounds of ice layer by layer in the clouds may only be feasible with a miracle of air pressure. Penny-sized hail requires 40-mile-per-hour updrafts. Grapefruit-sized hail requires 98-mile-per-hour updrafts. Tornadoes do achieve winds over 300-miles-per-hour, but anyway I think you see the issue. Just referring to the weight of the hail may lead us to underplay in our minds the significance of the storm itself.
But still, why 100-pound hailstones? Perhaps because God will be dealing with people who would seek to hide from judgment beneath rocks, and in caves. And at least some portion of those refusing to acknowledge their sins will be the world’s most powerful and haughty, those who were content with their actions and amassed huge wealth in service of the Beast and Babylon. Some of them might even be sealed in bunkers when the bowls of God’s wrath are tipped out. Perhaps they will check in on events through video, and then just turn off the screens. But God does not intend for anyone to remain comfortably oblivious to the truth, or even comparatively so, in whatever hideaways they find for themselves. A hundred pounds of ice will put a hole in quite a lot of concrete, steel, and pretension. And God has excellent aim (Joshua 10:11).
Lord, let me not be complacent, comparing myself to those who will one day go far astray. Truly, without your grace, I would be quite different. But no one sets out to be deceived and destroyed. Please help me be observant of others’ needs, not inattentive. The world is a less distressing place than it will be, but even now there are issues I feel I can only bring to you in prayer. Let me pray, but also show me where I should act. Please help me to trust in you, and to keep my compassion and hope. You are a great God, and you continue to work powerfully. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
-Daniel Smead
Reflection Questions
- Revelation 16 describes the last plagues God enacts in this age, which finish His wrath (15:1). What do you think it shows us about how God views wickedness? How do you think it might have affected people over the centuries?
- Are you sometimes comforted by considering God’s promises to bring judgment on the wicked? Maybe, like you see a rainbow and remember God’s mercy, you can see hail and recognize that He won’t just let things go on forever.
- Revelation 6:16-17 refers to people who wished to hide from “the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come.” (Revelation 15 and 16 don’t refer to matters that way.) Do you find it jarring to think of Jesus expressing the wrath shown in the chapter?
Seek Grow Love 