206 - The Seven Bowl Judgments, Mark of the Beast [B]

The Seven Bowl Judgments; Mark of the Beast. Revelation 16:1-14

Chapter fifteen was simply a prelude and introduction to the last series of judgments, the bowl judgments, which begin in earnest in chapter sixteen. The bowl judgments come in the second half of the Tribulation. The first is the terrible boils which some think are horrible skin cancers. Then the seas turn to blood, the fresh water rivers then turn to blood; then the sun somehow gets cranked up so that we have real global warming and the earth is scorched. People cannot escape from the burning heat of the sun. This is followed by darkness that comes on the throne of the beast. The River Euphrates is dried up allowing the kings of the east to come in from the east as they come to gather are Armageddon. The seventh bowl judgment involves and earthquake and hail and that is quickly followed by the Second Coming.

In chapter fifteen John sees in his vision in heaven angels coming out of the temple. The Greek word there for "temple" (the same word is used in 16:1) is the word naos [naoj]. It usually refers to the inner sanctum, not the entire temple complex. This is where the throne of God is, where the Father's presence is as he is directing from His sovereignty the flow of judgment upon the earth, and His justice is now being poured out on all of its strength and power upon the human race that is in complete and total rebellion against Him. So the last series judgments are depicted as seven plagues. Often in Scripture judgments from God are depicted as plagues.

Revelation 16:1 ^NASB "Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, 'Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.'" The loud voice here can only be from God the Father. It is coming from the temple and only God the Father is in the temple. He gives two commands. The first word is to go. The Greek word is hupago [u(pagw], indicating they were to depart on their mission. The second word ekcheo [e)kxew] is used several times in different contexts in this chapter and it means to pour something out. They pour out the bowls that are described as the wrath of God. As we have seen the term "wrath" of God, thumos [qumoj], indicates more the intensified application of the judicial sentence from the throne of God, whereas orge [o)rgh] perceives the justice of God in terms of the declaration of sentence of judgment upon the earth. So the term "wrath of God" is a figure of speech indicating the severity and the harshness of divine judgment.

Revelation 16:2 ^NASB "So the first {angel} went and poured out his bowl on the earth; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image." The phrase "on the earth" in the Greek means literally "into the earth"; it indicates its direction. The sore is described by a couple of terms: one usually means bad, the other usually means evil; but together it indicates some sort of horrible, painful, disgusting, revolting sore that can't be healed. The boil-like cancers come out on the skins of those who have the mark of the beast and who worship him.   

There are various questions people ask about the mark of the beast, such as: What exactly is the mark of the beast? How will this mark come into use? How long will the mark be used? Who will receive this mark and why? How is today's society being conditioned (and we are) to receive the mark of the beast? When this comes into effect it will seem like a normal, natural progression of events. What happens to those who take the mark of the beast? We have to be careful not to be caught up in some of the silliness that goes on with the mark of the beast. There are people who identify anything that has the number 666 on it as somehow an evil number in and of itself, and that is not what the Bible is saying.

The first time we run into this is in a passage we have seen in Revelation 13:16-18 which talks about the second beast, the false prophet. ^NASB "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and {he provides} that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, {either} the name of the beast or the number of his name." The word there that describes a mark indicates that it is something visible that is seen, it is not going to be under the skin. The preposition indicates it is something that is on top of the skin, it is not some kind of an implanted microchip. The idea is that it is something visible. [18] "Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six."

What we learn from this as we go through the Scriptures is that the mark of the beast is identified with the person of the Antichrist; it is directly connected to who he is. The number 666 says something about his character and person. It will be something like a brand or a tattoo, and probably one of the ways we are being prepared for this is just the popularity we have seen in the last 10-12 years of tattoos. This prepares people for having this kind of thing done to them. The mark is going to be a sign of allegiance to the Antichrist, something that people will be proud to have and to be visible. It will clearly visible to those around and will be recognized and not questioned, and will be one of the greatest status symbols of that time to have this mark. It will be voluntary. It does not come along until the second half of the Tribulation once the first beast and the second beast have consolidated their power over the kingdom of the Antichrist. It will be necessary in order to buy and sell anything and this is the way for the government at that time to control all of the economy. We are today moving more and more in the world to government-controlled economics and so this will be acceptable. It will be universally received by all non-believers but universally rejected by all believers. That may seem unusual to us but in light of the announcement of the angel, the warning about the mark of the beast, information in the Scriptures that will be available to believers during that time, it is not something that is going to be overlooked. There will be knowledge and significance of what it means and Christians just will not take the mark of the beast. It will be a mark of worship and allegiance to the Antichrist. Some have suggested that it will be a religious initiation mark like an oath of allegiance to the person of the Antichrist. This kind of thing is seen in various totalitarian governments where, for example, in the Third Reich under Hitler there was the Hitler Youth, where they sang songs of praise directed to the person of Adolf Hitler, or the Soviet Union to the person of Stalin or Lenin, because it was that leader who embodied the state. There was the same kind of thing in the Roman empire where it was the person, Caesar, who embodied the state and so loyalty to the person was the same as loyalty to the state. The individual who promotes the use of the mark of the beast is the false prophet. It is a definite sign that a person will face eternal punishment in the lake of fire. 

Why is it called 666? What is the significance of that number? 777 is the number that represents God; it is the number of perfection; the three 7s represent the Trinity. The number 666 represents man; 6 represents the 6^th day of creation when the human race was created. God created man in His image and likeness and the three sixes indicate a trinity, a sort of triune 6, which indicates the deification of man. This is exactly what will happen with the Antichrist who will be worshipped as God.

In conclusion we see that the mark of the beast will be a unique visible mark given to all who have pledged allegiance to the Antichrist. This will take place during the latter part of the seven years, the period of the great Tribulation, and men and women will not be able to buy or sell or basically engage in any kind of economic or social activity unless they have this unique mark.

How will this mark come into use? What are the mechanics? How will people fall into this? All we are told in the Scriptures is that it is the result of the deception that comes during the end-time period. Revelation 19:20 ^NASB "And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone." That is at the end of the Tribulation period but in terms of prophecy we also have passages like 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 which talk about the miracles, signs and wonders, that the antichrist is going to perform, and all of this is designed to provide an unrighteous deception among those who perish. There is this evil deception that takes place among all unbelievers during the Tribulation period. There is this clear demarcation between the saved and the unsaved. God will send a strong delusion upon the unbelievers, but that is not what starts it. What starts it is that they willingly succumb to the deception of the Antichrist because of their own arrogance and their own self-deception as a result of their own volition. But they have already made the choice to reject God, to reject His grace and to reject Jesus Christ as their savior. All God is going to do is come along and intensify that negative volition, which He did with Pharaoh during the time of the exodus, in order to demonstrate His justice through their negative volition.

What kind of rationale will the Antichrist use in order to convince people that they have this mark? There are a lot of scenarios that we could come up with. Governments like to manufacture crises that they can then blow out of proportion in order to use those crises to change the structure of governments and the structure of society. This was typical of the Soviet Union era after the Bolshevik revolution, it was typical in Nazi Germany, it happened when the Ayatollah Khomeini took over in Iran, etc., any time where there are social crises where things are in a turmoil that can be used by people in power to justify the abrogation of normal laws. Those kinds scenarios will come into play with all these judgments that are happening, all of the crises on the earth, and we can see how easy it will be for the government to justify all manner of things during that time period. Dave Hunt has an interesting comment in his book "Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust." He wrote: "The use of 666 by the Antichrist would be a defiant declaration that Bible myths are rejected and anyone afraid to take this mark would be considered guilty of harboring superstitious beliefs that would no longer be tolerated in the new order. Taking this number would be a bold declaration of one's own inherent godhood and emancipation from narrow Christian dogmas of the past, and a commitment to the universal new religion under the new age messiah." That is the idea; it is going to be the popular thing to do. This will happen in the last half of the Tribulation period and is directly related to the Antichrist's consolidation of power as he has to marshal all of the energy, power and technology available on the planet because Satan know that Jesus is going to come back and he has to pull it all together to try to stop Jesus from coming back and rescuing the Jews.

Who is going to receive the mark and why? Revelation 13:16, 17 shows that it is necessary in order to engage in any kind of economic activity. So it is directly related to buying things—going to the grocery store, paying bills, etc. Today we are constantly being conditioned to receive the mark of the beast and to become numbers. Those who receive the mark of the beast, according to Revelation 14:9, 10, are going to be the objects of the wrath of God. In chapter sixteen we see that the first bowl judgment involves this foul, loathsome sore that comes upon the men who have the mark of the beast and those who worship his image. The Greek words used there are kakos [kakoj] which means something that is bad or harmful or ruinous, and phaulos [fauloj] indicates something bad or evil or vile. So this is going to be something that is ruinous and vile, something that is going t be incredibly painful to those who have them.

In Revelation 16:3 we have the second bowl judgment. ^NASB "The second {angel} poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like {that} of a dead man; and every living thing in the sea died." It is not going to turn into blood but it is likened to that. It has no productivity, no life, in it. Everything is the sea, the oceans, will die. This is worse than the worst nightmare of any environmentalist, but this is brought about by the judgment of God, it is not brought about by using internal combustion engines or hair spray, or any of the other things that environmentalists think are going to destroy the environment. What destroys the environment is negative volition to God, and that is always what has destroyed the environment. The second bowl judgment is somewhat reminiscent of the plague upon the Nile River when the water turned to blood during the time of the exodus.

The third bowl judgment affects the fresh water. Revelation 16:4 ^NASB "Then the third {angel} poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters; and they became blood." This is one of the reasons many think that these final bowl judgments are going to come very rapidly towards the end of the tribulation period because the destruction of water people cannot survive for very long. It will cause massive panic, people will turn against each other and there will be incredibly chaos and violence as everything deteriorates at this point.

In verse 5 there is a pause to focus on the fact that this is what flows from the righteousness of God. It is not unrighteous; it is wrong to think this is horrible, how can God do this? This is what is deserved because of people who have rebelled against God and rejected Him. Revelation 16:5 ^NASB "And I heard the angel of the waters saying, 'Righteous are You, who are and who were, O Holy One, because You judged these things; [6] for [because] they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. They deserve it.'" The focal point in verse 5 is on the judgment of God and the outpouring of His righteousness in dealing with evil and those who have rejected Him; and because of what they do—verse 6. God is pouring out judgment on those who poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, those who represented God and His messengers. God has put them into the same violence and the same horrors that they were bringing upon believers. They are getting exactly what they deserve.

Revelation 16:7 ^NASB "And I heard the altar saying, 'Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.'" This would be another angel from the altar. Truth and righteousness fit together again and again throughout the Scriptures as a reference to God. Psalm 89:14 ^NASB "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You." Righteousness is the foundation element, truth going forth.

Rev 16:8, 9 ^NASB "The fourth {angel} poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory." The sun was darkened by a third earlier, now heat is going to intensify. Power was given to scorch men with fire. The result: they blaspheme God and they don't repent. They become more and more stiff-necked and hostile to God. In Revelation chapter eleven after the two witnesses ascended to heaven there was a great earthquake in Jerusalem. Seven thousand were killed and the rest gave glory to God. But here we see that they don't repent and give glory to God. So the phrase "give glory to God" indicates believer versus unbeliever—the response.

Rev 16:10, 11 ^NASB "Then the fifth {angel} poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds." The throne of the beast represents the power base of the Antichrist. This indicates that this is a judgment that is poured out upon his leaders, his kingdoms, and the kingdom becomes full of darkness. It is not certain whether this is a metaphorical darkness in terms of they're darkened in their understanding or whether this is a literal darkness upon the earth. The gnaw their tongues because of the pain; they are in absolute misery. They have these terrible sores, they have nothing to drink, their tongues are swelling up, but what do they do? Do they turn to God? No, they blasphemed God. There is no longer any turning to God throughout the rest of the book of Revelation, there is just judgment of all of the unbelievers.

Revelation 16:12 ^NASB "The sixth {angel} poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east." Who are the kings of the east? Many have identified this with the Chinese, but east of the Euphrates is Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan. We are not sure who comprises this army but there is an assault force that heads from the east to gather at Armageddon to be part of the Antichrist's final army.  

Revelation 16:13 ^NASB "And I saw {coming} 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 like frogs; [14] for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty." This is the campaign.

Illustrations