Revelation · chapter 16 of 22
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Revelation 16 tells of the pouring out of the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth. The first bowls bring sores, turn seas and rivers to blood, scorch with the sun and darken the throne of the beast; the sixth dries up the Euphrates and gathers the kings at Armageddon; the seventh, poured into the air, brings a voice saying, It is done, a great earthquake and the fall of Babylon. People blaspheme and do not repent.
After the preparatory scene of chapter 15, the seven bowls are the final series of judgments in the book. They recall the plagues of Egypt and the trumpets, but now they are no longer partial: their effect is total. Interpreters read them as future events, as images of judgments that recur in history, or as a symbolic summary of God's justice, and all see in them the answer to the cries of the martyrs.
A loud voice from the temple tells the seven angels to pour out on the earth the seven bowls of God's wrath. The first bowl produces harmful and painful sores on those who have the mark of the beast and worship its image. The second turns the sea into blood like that of a corpse, and every living thing in it dies. The third turns the rivers and springs into blood, and the angel of the waters declares that God is just because they shed the blood of saints and prophets; the altar responds that his judgments are true and just (vv. 1-7).
The fourth bowl allows the sun to scorch people with fire, and they blaspheme the name of God and do not repent. The fifth falls on the throne of the beast: its kingdom is plunged into darkness, and people gnaw their tongues in anguish, blaspheme and do not repent of their deeds (vv. 8-11).
The sixth bowl dries up the great river Euphrates to prepare the way for the kings from the east. From the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet come three unclean spirits like frogs, who go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty, at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. In the midst of it a voice warns that Christ comes like a thief, and blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments (vv. 12-16).
The seventh bowl is poured into the air and from the throne comes a loud voice saying, It is done. There are flashes of lightning, rumblings, thunder and an earthquake such as there had never been. The great city is split into three parts, the cities of the nations fall and God remembers Babylon the great to give her the cup of the wine of his wrath. Islands flee, mountains vanish and great hailstones, each about the weight of a talent, fall from heaven, but people blaspheme God for the plague (vv. 17-21).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The angel of the waters declares that God is just because those who shed the blood of saints and prophets now are given blood to drink. Judgment is not arbitrary: it answers what was done and replies to the cry of the martyrs.
People blaspheme the name of God and do not repent or give him glory. The passage shows that punishment alone does not change a hardened heart, and it asks again whether we are willing to repent.
A voice interrupts the scene: Christ comes like a thief, and blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments. In the midst of the description of judgment there is a personal call to watchfulness.
When the seventh bowl is poured out, a loud voice from the throne says, It is done. It announces that judgment reaches its culmination and evokes Jesus' words on the cross, which completed his work.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Harmful and painful sores on those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. — Revelation 16:2
Answer: They all become blood. — Revelation 16:3-4
Answer: They blaspheme the name of God and do not repent. — Revelation 16:9
Answer: It dries up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. — Revelation 16:12
Answer: In Hebrew, Armageddon. — Revelation 16:16
Answer: It is done. — Revelation 16:17
Revelation 16 reminds us that God's judgment is serious and just. In a world where injustice often seems to go unpunished, the text affirms that God is not indifferent. A group can talk about how to live with the tension between his present patience and his future justice, and about how to pray for those who suffer abuse.
The warning of verse 15 is practical: staying awake and keeping our garments means living with the awareness that the Lord is coming. That is not fear but a daily disposition of integrity. And the hardening of the people invites us to examine our own willingness to repent when God corrects us.
Revelation 16 ends with the announced fall of Babylon and the hail on a humanity that blasphemes. In chapter 17 one of the angels of the bowls shows John the judgment of the great prostitute, who represents Babylon.
It is a Hebrew word often linked to the mountain of Megiddo, a place of important battles in ancient Israel. Some expect a literal future battle in that region; others see a symbol of the final conflict between evil and God, which Christ wins. The text does not describe the battle, only the gathering of the kings.
It is an image Jesus and the apostles use to say that his coming will be unexpected. It does not mean he comes to steal but that he does not announce the day. For that reason the text calls us to stay awake, that is, to be prepared at all times.
The trumpets affect a third of the earth and leave room for repentance; the bowls are total and are presented as the last. Some see a sequence of events, and others two parallel descriptions that intensify, as in other cycles of the book.