When God shows up!

Reflections are everywhere - in crystal blue lakes and shining, marble surfaces, in the glass of towering skyscrapers and the concave lenses of ever-present cameras. They capture my thinking and mesmerize me, enticing me to look again because there's more in the picture!

The Revelation of John

Chapter 16

A Continuation of the Bowls of Wrath

John begins wrapping up his revelation by bringing his last series of 7 to a close.  He pens the sixth and seventh bowls of wrath to set up a catalyst for the culmination of the the book.  He wanted to write about ushering in a new age, the Christian Age, as his assurance to Christians across the empire  by using imagery to depict the crushing of Rome, an evil perpetrator, along with all parties responsible for persecuting Christians.  He tells of a huge battle between the King of kings and the world's leaders in Chapter 19 and a new age to follow.  He begins here with the sixth bowl of wrath.

Verse 12 -

Καὶ ὁ ἕκτος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν τὸν μέγαν τὸν Εὐφράτην, καὶ ἐξηράνθη τὸ ὕδωρ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ἑτοιμασθῇ ἡ ὁδὸς τῶν βασιλέων τῶν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς ἡλίου

(The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates.  The river became a baked river bed so it could serve as a road for the kings from the lands of the rising sun.)

Isaiah was one of Israel's most revered prophets.  He spoke of doom for Israel in a number of places, one of them being Isaiah 7.  He writes of the hardest times on Earth and a king east of the Euphrates rendering Israel useless as part of the country's punishment for a rebellious spirit.  It's hard to miss the parallel in Revelation 16 since John writes of plagues and disasters striking the Earth and its inhabitants because they persecuted God's people and would not turn from their evil ways.

Another parallel for Revelation 16.12 also exists in a passage in 2 Esdras 15.  That author envisioned a time when God would draw all the nations together, particularly the lands in the east for a large battle.  God would overcome these nations in battle in retribution for the brutalities they had rendered his people.

Verse 13

Καὶ εἶδον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ δράκοντος καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ θηρίου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ ψευδοπροφήτου πνεύματα τρία ἀκάθαρτα ὡς βάτραχοι

(I saw three, impure spirits appearing as loathesome frogs coming out of the mouths of the dragon, beast, and false prophet.)

John turned next in his writing to the dragon, identified before as Satan in Revelation 12.9 and who had authorized a beast to act and speak on his behalf, presumably Rome's emperor and other leaders, and a second beast as well to aid the first beast, probably the regional governors Rome used to rule the provinces.  The false prophet in verse 13 could be identified as the second beast if John was merely trying to write with variation in terms used.  But, the false prophet could also represent some other power, possibly the Jewish nation since they had resisted turning to the Messiah, Jesus, when he came.  Paul's experiences recorded in Acts and his various letters paint a picture of persecution by Jews across the Roman empire and in the capital city itself.  Finally, John adds a note about the ugliness and loathesomeness of evil leaders who sound a call to arms to battle goodness and honor, that is, a battle against God.

Verse 14

εἰσὶν γὰρ πνεύματα δαιμονίων ποιοῦντα σημεῖα, ἃ ἐκπορεύεται ἐπὶ τοὺς βασιλεῖς τῆς οἰκουμένης ὅλης συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς μεγάλης τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ παντοκράτορος

(And even though the three of them are inferior powers, they signaled the kings of all the world's people to gather for battle on the chosen day of God Almighty.)

John interrupts his great battle thoughts for a moment to insert the sudden nature of this battle, or at least the unexpected outcome that will come from this great battle.  Christians had been clamoring for justice for all those responsible for their mistreatment (Revelation 6.10).  John anticipated their next question, "When is this chosen day going to happen?"  So, John answers their question this way.

Verse 15

Ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ὡς κλέπτης. μακάριος ὁ γρηγορῶν καὶ τηρῶν τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ γυμνὸς περιπατῇ καὶ βλέπωσιν τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην αὐτοῦ

(Watch! I am coming like a thief.  Be sure to keep your clothes close by your bed for a quick escape if you are roused from your sleep so that you won't be seen shamefully walking around naked.)

John then returns to his thought about bringing the kings of the Earth together for battle.  He tells them where the battle will take place.

Verse 16

Καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν καλούμενον Ἑβραϊστὶ Ἁρμαγεδών

(And they gathered in the place called Harmegedon in Hebrew.)

The battle was to be on a hill (הר, har, hill).  But there is more in the use of this word "hill," where the fortress of Megiddo (Megedon) resided, than mere translation offers.  As one can see from the picture at the beginning above, this hill had a walled town on its top.  It commanded a view of the valley.  And, that was important in a time before satellites.  Anyone approaching would be seen miles away. Megiddo lay at a heavily traveled crossroads.  Groups of people constantly traveled this road because it was straight and flat, right across a plain.  Even armies liked to use this road going to and from countries like Egypt enroute to Syria, Assyria, or Babylon. Tracking a group's movements could be done from the hill fortress at Megiddo.  Bringing the kings of the Earth to Megiddo for a fight gave an immediate advantage to God because he could ready himself for battle as he saw the armies approaching.

But, the tactical advantage was not the only reason God was meeting all the kings of the Earth at Megiddo.  Zechariah 12 contains a prophecy of God taking action against all the people of the Earth who have made his people drink from a cup of catastrophe in the same harsh way that they had treated his people all along.  In order for people to understand the depth of the mourning from this devastating blow, John recalled the episode burned into the Jews' memories of the time when all of Judah mourned for the death of one of their own very Godly kings, Josiah.  The peoples of the Earth would experience the same deep mourning that the Jews had experienced for King Josiah who had been fatally wounded at Hadad Rimmon in Megiddo.  John's audience would also understand this reference as a way in which God was avenging his people.  Jeremiah himself had written laments for the king which people had such affection for (2 Chronicles 35.22-25), but for the peoples of the Earth, there would be no such lament, for who would cry out deeply for the desecration and debasement these kings had carried out against God's people over a long period of time.

This passage contains a deeper meaning than merely the place of the battle.  Jews would have had an additional understanding of Hadad Rimmon.  Syria had idols that they worshiped and Hadad and Rimmon were two of them. Hadad, in particular, was the idol's name representing the sun god.  Since John had just written that the 4th angel had poured out his bowl of anger on the sun, and people were burned up by the heat, John presaged his naming of Harmegedon with a bowl of anger poured out on the sun to conjure up the visual of the sun god whose image represented a number of victories made in this plain of Megiddo over a 300-year period against the people of the one true God. This sun god would be vanquished and the victories of old for those who followed this god would be turned into pain for the people who had mistreated God's followers.

Verse 17

Καὶ ὁ ἕβδομος ἐξέχεεν τὴν φιάλην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν ἀέρα, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν φωνὴ μεγάλη ἐκ τοῦ ναοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου λέγουσα· γέγονεν

(The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice could be heard from the throne inside the temple booming out, "It's time to pay up!")

At this point John ends his series of the seven bowls of wrath.  What follows is the culmination of the 7 bowls of wrath.  He had taken care with the first four bowls to represent the plagues of Egypt, the pivotal and seminal event in Jewish history on which everything afterward made sense.  This was followed by the plague of darkness in the fifth bowl.  In Egypt, the plague of darkenss was the precursor to the death blow to the firstborn, the dark hours that led directly to the death of every Egyptian family's firstborn, God's victory against Pharaoh, and the beginning of the era of God's people.

Now for God's new covenant with his people, the Christians, John is making it clear that God is acting in the same seminal and pivotal manner.  Rome's leadership, the new Pharaoh, would experience the same awesome power against them.  God would deliver his new people from their oppression and start them on the path of coming into their own.

Verse 18

καὶ ἐγένοντο ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταὶ καὶ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας, οἷος οὐκ ἐγένετο ἀφ’ οὗ ἄνθρωπος ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τηλικοῦτος σεισμὸς οὕτως μέγας

(Brilliant bolts of lightning streaked across the sky, noises were everywhere, the rolling of continuous thunder sounded, and such an intensive and extensive earthquake was felt.  One like it had never been seen by humans since they had inhabited the Earth,)

After delivering his people in an astonishing way, supernatural signs and wonders would follow the deliverance as a way of strongly punctuating that the ruler of Heaven and Earth had acted, all people had noticed, and now his people would have their recognition and their revenge.  This had also accompanied the sixth sealed message in Revelation 6.14 and again in Revelation 11.18-19 after the announcement of doom by the seventhth trumpet.  People notice when God shows up.

Verse 19

καὶ ἐγένετο ἡ πόλις ἡ μεγάλη εἰς τρία μέρη καὶ αἱ πόλεις τῶν ἐθνῶν ἔπεσαν. καὶ Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη ἐμνήσθη ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ δοῦναι αὐτῇ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ οἴνου τοῦ θυμοῦ τῆς ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ

(reapportioning the great city into three parts and crumbling the cities of other nations.  The great city of Babylon was brought to God's attention, and he gave them the taste of their own cup of wine, his raging fury)

The last bowl of God's anger is also followed by a reference to Babylon.  This is no mistake and is also a part of the symbolism from Jewish tradition.  The king of Babylon swooped in and sacked Jerusalem in 587/6 BCE and deported many of its people.  He had made quite the entrance onto the stage of Jewish history.  Ever after, the Jews related their great troubles to Babylon's conquering the center of their nation, ridding them of their king, and setting up a puppet government that paid tribute to its king and its pantheon.  However, God had a whole series of pophecies against Babylon for their terrible treatment of the Jews.  Jeremiah 50.28, 29, 45, 46 contain representative verses of what God would do to avenge the treatment of "Babylon." So, to punish "Babylon" in John's time, Rome was "rearranged" by the earthquake that no one had ever seen the intensity of before.

Verse 20

καὶ πᾶσα νῆσος ἔφυγεν καὶ ὄρη οὐχ εὑρέθησαν

(All islands disappeared from view, and mountains were nowhere to be seen.)

Verse 21

καὶ χάλαζα μεγάλη ὡς ταλαντιαία καταβαίνει ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐβλασφήμησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν θεὸν ἐκ τῆς πληγῆς τῆς χαλάζης, ὅτι μεγάλη ἐστὶν ἡ πληγὴ αὐτῆς σφόδρα

(Immense, hundred-pound hailstones dropped from the sky on people below, who cursed the god of this plague because it was so brutal and unrelenting. )

The last two verses are clear references to the way the Old Testament viewed an outpouring of God's vengence against men, as found in Micah 1.3, Habakuk 3.6, and Ezekiel 26.15-20.  John had used this imagery as the basis already for Revelation 6.14 and 11.18-19. In addition, he recalls Old Testament prophecies like the ones in Zephaniah, and in particular Zephaniah 3.6-8.  And John uses exact wording matches to Exodus 9.23-24 where God directs a hailstorm to hit Egypt like no one had ever seen before in order to convince Pharaoh to let his people go.  Using all of the catasrophic doom imagery of the Old Testament, John was showing the Christians that the same message God had always used for his people who had been mistreated, he was telling them now.  God would deliver his people so that there would be no mistaking that his enemies had met their day of reckoning and would have no way to escape his anger.

Accompanying the Old Testament allusions in John's writing is the echo of other apocalyptic books written before or contemporary with John's apocalypse.  The apocalypses of 2 Enoch, 2 Baruch, 2 Esdras, and the Sybilline Oracles all talked of an age when a messiah, a son of man, or at least a savior would return and usher in a new age.  Particularly, 2 Esdras 15 is parallel to Revelation 16.  The author writes about countries that oppressed God's people as Egypt had done, and their deliverance followed plagues and disasters like he had brought on Egypt at an earlier time.  He spoke of kings from the east gathering to oppose God in battle.  He wrote of supernatural signs that accompanied God's destruction of nations, a blazing sun to burn up sinners, and terrible storms of hail, and flashing swords.  He also speaks of Rome as Babylon and its provinces as Rome's prostitutes who would also be destroyed.  Perhaps, these beliefs were circulating at the end of the first century and beginning of the second, causing the same material to be used in both books, or perhaps one of the books served as a blueprint for the other.  Whatever the case, John in Revelation assured Christians living at that time that God was acting on his people's behalf for their mistreatment at the hands of Rome and its provincial governments.

The message at the end of the bowls of wrath is not the end of time.  Instead, God was going to show up for his people.  He would usher in a new age, the era of his only son.


Even 2000 years removed from John's writing, I cannot help but read what God did to deliver to his people and be reassured that the same God still shows up time after time - for his people and for me as his follower.  He delivered his people the Jews.  He delivered his people the Christians.  He will fight my oppressors too.  Rome has passed into oblivion, but modern oppressors still fight hard to debase those who follow God's only son.  When I see that oppression, I nod knowingly, believing that God shows up with 100-pound hailstones to pound those who curse his name and never turn from their ways of insulting him and his people.

God still delivers.  It's one of his most resounding messages.  And I give him my heart because he shows up - still - and forever!



[Introductory photo of reflection is found at boredpanda.com]
[The first song is Gracious Tempest by Hillsong Young and Free.  The second song is Do It Again by Elevation Worship.]
[The Greek text used for the New Testament references is the Nestle Aland 28th edition]

[Translations from Greek are my own.]