In my opinion, William Hendriksen's explanation of this chapter is excellent. It is a practical, clear and accurate interpretation of these symbolic pictures of Divine judgment. Therefore, my comments on this chapter will be based upon and largely drawn from Hendriksen's book (More Than Conquerors, Chapter XII, pp. 189-198).
Throughout the history of the world there is a definite, constantly repeated order of events. From the Garden of Eden to the final day of judgment, this order of events in providence is evident. And the Book of Revelation deals with this order of events throughout the gospel age.
1. By the preaching of the gospel, as it is effectually applied to the hearts of men and women by the Holy Spirit, gospel churches are established in the world. These churches are candlesticks holding forth the light of the gospel in a world of spiritual darkness. As these churches hold forth the light they are blessed with the constant presence of Christ in their midst. That is the message of Revelation chapters 1-3.
NOTE: The only purpose for the existence of these churches, the only mission they have in this world is to hold forth the light, to preach the gospel of Christ.
2. As God's people hold forth the light of the gospel before men and women who despise the gospel, they are persecuted by the world. They are constantly subjected to trials and afflictions for the gospel's sake. This is seen in chapters 4-7.
NOTE: The offense of the cross has not ceased. Any pastor, evangelist, or missionary, and any church which faithfully preaches the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ will have to endure persecution from the world, because the religion of the world is man centered free-willism.
3. As the result of persecution, God's judgments fall upon our persecutors. By these acts of providential judgment. God is both defending his people and warning his enemies of judgment to come. But acts of judgment, no matter how severe and plain they are will never lead men to repentance. We see this in chapters 8-11.
Note: It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. Judgment only hardens the hearts of unbelieving men. No one will ever repent until Christ is revealed in his heart by the Holy Spirit. Nothing will melt the heart of stone but a saving knowledge of God's goodness and grace in Christ, the sinner's Substitute (Rom. 2:4; Zech. 12:10).
To those who have eyes to see, this order of events is our evident fact: the gospel is preached, persecution arises and judgment falls. But this conflict between the church and the world points to a deeper, far more important warfare between Christ and satan, between "the seed of the woman" and "the dragon." This warfare between the Lord Jesus Christ and satan is portrayed in Chapters 12-14.
What happens when men and women hear the trumpets of God's judgment and still refuse to repent? What happens when men and women despise the warnings of God's providence and harden their hearts against the Lord? This question is answered in chapters 15-16. Whenever the wicked fail to repent, whenever they refuse to obey the gospel and harden their hearts against God's evident warnings of wrath to come, he pours out the vials of his wrath upon them. These vials of wrath are acts of judicial reprobation. They are God's last plagues upon men, by which they are sealed unto the judgment of the great day, leaving them no more opportunity for repentance. "When the wicked, often warned by trumpets of judgment, continue to harden their hearts, death finally plunges them into the hands of an angry God. But even before they die they may have crossed the deadline, the line between God's patience and his wrath." (William Hendriksen).
Proposition:There is a line drawn by God, and known only to God, between mercy and wrath, between hope and reprobation; and any man who crosses that line by obstinate, willful unbelief cannot be saved, though he may yet live many years upon the earth. He is as surely the object of God's eternal wrath as if he were already in hell.
The scripture repeatedly warns men and women, with urgency, to repent and turn to Christ in faith confessing their sins lest they harden their hearts and cross the line into hopeless reprobation – (Ex. 10:27; Pro. 1:23-33; Jer. 7:13-16; Hosea 4:17; Matt. 12:31-32; Rom. 1:24; I John 5:16; Isa. 63:8-10).
This is the link between chapters 15 and 16 and the chapters preceding them, between the trumpets of judgment and the vials of wrath. The trumpets warn of wrath to come. The vials are wrath poured out upon men even while they live.
Once more, before the vials of wrath are poured out upon the wicked, we see the people of God standing before him secure upon the grounds of Christ's atonement, having gotten eh victory over their enemies, singing the praises of God even as he pours out his wrath upon those who refuse to worship the Lamb. We saw in chapter 15 how that God's saints are securely preserved from harm. These vials of wrath are not poured out against them, but against those who believer not the gospel.
Once more, before the vials of wrath are poured out upon the wicked, we see the people of God standing before him secure upon the grounds of Christ's atonement, having gotten the victory over their enemies, singing the praises of God even as he pours out his wrath upon those who refuse to worship the Lamb. We saw in chapter 15 how that God's saints are securely preserved from harm. These vials of wrath are not poured out against them, but against those who believe not the gospel.
Now, I want you to look at Revelation 16:1-21. Our subject here is "The Vials of The Wrath of God." These are the seven last plagues by which God smites them who despise the gospel of Christ. They are "golden vials full of the wrath of God," "golden" because they are acts of righteousness, justice and truth; "vials" (rather than bowls) because the vial is an instrument of measurement. These golden vials are full of God's wrath against men and women who have filled up the measure of wrath By their willful rebellion and obstinate unbelief they have earned and justly deserve God's holy wrath. Seven angels pour out the seven last plagues of God's burning wrath, which will finally result in the final judgment of the great day. The point is this: Once God withdraws the influence of his Spirit by the gospel from men, they become hardened to the gospel and their damnation is both just and irreversible.
Note: These seven last plagues are not only future, prophetic events. They are taking place right now. They took place in John's day. And they shall continue to take place until the day of judgment.
As we read of these plagues, we cannot avoid noticing a striking resemblance to some of the plagues in Egypt (Ex. 7-10), which foreshadowed all of God's acts of judgment upon unbelieving impenitent men in the world. (Deut. 28:20). Throughout history God uses every element of his creation to punish those who oppose his Son and persecute his people. Those who refuse to be warned b the trumpets of judgment will be destroyed by the vials of wrath. And the same event may be to one a trumpet to warn and to another a vial of wrath to destroy. For example: The worms, which ate Herod alive, were a vial of wrath poured out upon him for his obstinate pride, by which he was plunged into hell. But these same worms were a trumpet to warn others of wrath to come (Acts 12:23). Those who refuse to obey God's voice are cursed in all they do (Deut. 28:15-16).
John says, "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, God your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth." This is God speaking in wrath against men who fully deserve his wrath. These vials of wrath are the providential judgments of God upon impenitent sinners who will not believe the gospel.
I. The First Vial Of Wrath Is Incurable Disease (v. 2).
At times our Lord pours out upon men horrible, incurable diseases, by which he brings those who will not repent down into hell (Ex. 9:10; Duet. 28:27; Acts 12:23).
Sickness and disease are not the works of satan, but the works of God. The Lord may use satan to inflict these things upon men. But it is the Lord's work (Compare Job 2:7 and 2:10).
A. INSOFARAS THE UNBELIEVER IS CONCERNED, EVERY SICKNESS IS EITHER A WARNING OF ETERNAL WRATH OR A PRELUDE TO ETERNAL WRATH.
Every sickness is a warning from god of judgment to come. And fatal disease is one means by which God brings the wicked down into eternal ruin. Seldom, if ever, does a man find repentance on his deathbed. The dying thief was the exception, not the rule. And he was not on a deathbed, but on a cross.
B. BUT FOR THE BELIEER THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE FLESH ARE ACTS OF GOD'S MERCY, LOVE AND GRACE – (Rom. 8:28).
Sickness, troubles, even fatal diseases are never vials of wrath for God's elect. WE often suffer the same things that the ungodly suffer, but not for the same reasons, and not in the same way.
1. Our diseases are acts of Divine chastisement (Heb. 12:5-12).
2. Our sicknesses help to wean us from the world and prepare us for eternity.
3. Our fatal diseases are blessings of God to bring us home to glory – (II Cor. 5:1-9).
II. THE SECOND VIAL OF WRATH IS POURED OUT UPON THE SEA (v. 3).
Sometimes God uses oceans and rivers as instruments of wrath against men (Ex. 7:17-21; 15:1; Ps. 78:53). All maritime calamities, all hurricanes, tidal waves, floods, etc. are warnings to the ungodly of judgment to come. And by these disasters the unbelieving are swept into hell.
But believers are also drowned in the raging sea. Is this an act of judgment upon them? No. It is God's great mercy, bringing his elect safely home to heaven.
III. THE THIRD VIAL OF WRATH EMPLOYS THE RIVERS AND FOUNTAINS OF WATER IN THE EARTH TO EXECUTE JUDGMENT (vv. 5-7).The rivers of water and fountains of life are made, by the hand of God, to be rivers of blood and fountains of destruction (Ex. 7:24; I Kings 17:1; 18:4, 40).
A. THE ANGEL WHO EXECUTES THIS ACT OF WRATH VINDICATES GOD'S JUSTICE AND DECLARES HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IN ALL THAT HE DOES TO HIS ENEMIES (v. 5).
B. GOD'S JUDGMENT UPON THE WICKED IS A MATTER OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION, FOR WHICH THE BLOOD OF ALL THE MARTYRS PLEADS (vv. 6-7). (Rev. 6:9-10; 8:3-5).
NOTE: No man will perish under the wrath of God but those who fully deserve his wrath. "The wages of sin is death." And God's saints will praise him for his righteous dealings with the wicked as well as for his righteous dealings with them.
IV. THE FOURTH VIAL OF WRATH POURS OUT TERRIBLE, SCORCHING HEAT UPON THE EARTH (v. 9).
God frequently uses the sun to punish ungodly men and nations (Duet. 28:22-24). But wicked men will never be brought to repentance by God's act of judgment. They only become harder and more brazen in their blasphemy. They may appear to change for a while. But judgment never changes the heart. Only grace can change the heart of a man – (Compare Num. 16:31-35 and 16:41).
V. THE FIFTH VIAL OF WRATH IS EXPRESSLY POURED OUT UPON FALSE RELIGION (vv. 10-11).
The seat of the beast is the center of all that is opposed to God (Nah. 3:1; Hab. 3:12-14). When God, by some great act of judgment, shakes the kingdom of antichrist, even as they gnash their teeth and gnaw their tongues with pain, are hardened in darkness, confusion and hatred for God, they blaspheme him and repent not.
VI. THE SIXTH VIAL OF WRATH PREPARES FOR AND GATHERS MEN TO THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON (vv. 12-16).
Armageddon is not a great nuclear holocaust. It is not a terrible world war. I do not deny that these things may come upon the earth. Indeed, they probably will. But Armageddon is a spiritual warfare, with consequences far more severe than any war between nations could ever be. It is the final Conquest of Christ over satan at his glorious advent. We will deal more with this later. But for now, I want you to see in this context that Armageddon is the conquest of Christ over all evil. (See Hendriksen, pp. 195-197). Armageddon is the place of God's Victory! (Jud. 5:19).
A. THE RIVER EUPHRATES REPRESENTS THE WICKED, UNBELIEVING WORLD (v. 12).
When the great river dries up, when the economy and resources of the world are dried up by the hand of God, the way is prepared for the kings and people of the earth to move against the people of god in persecution, As it has been in the past, so shall it be in the future.
B. IN THE LAST DAY THE KINGS OF THE EARTH WILL BE MOVED BY HELL INSPIRED RELIGIOUS LEADERS AGAINST CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH (vv. 13-14).
John sees proceeding out of the mouth of the dragon (satan) and the beast (pagan world government) and the false prophet (false religion), three unclean spirits. He compares these spirits to frogs, to indicate the abominable, repulsive, loathsome character of world government and world religion in that last little season, when Satan is loosed upon the earth. They represent hell born philosophy and religion. Are these things not applicable to our day and our society?
NOTE: There is particular reference made to charismatic influence. It is both demonic and universal!
C. THEN, JUST WHEN ALL THE FORCES OF THE WORLD, POLITICAL, PHILOSPHICAL AND RELIGIOUS ARE GATHERED AGAINST GOD, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WILL SUDDENLY APPEAR (vv. 15).
He comes as a thief in the night upon his enemies, suddenly, unexpectedly (Matt. 24:29; Jud. 5:4; Hab. 3:13; II Thess. 1:7-10).
Because of this coming day of the Lord, let all who believe watch over their souls and keep the garments of salvation, lest we be found naked and put to shame in the end (II Pet. 3:14). The Lord is here admonishing us to perseverance in the faith. The motive for this perseverance is the sure hope of Christ's coming.
VII. THE SEVENTH VIAL OF WRATH IS THE FINAL JUDGMENT OF GOD UPON THE WORLD AT CHRIST'S SECOND ADVENT (VV. 17-21).
These verses describe the terror of that great and terrible day of the Lord. It shall come to pass when God says regarding his own eternal purpose in the world, "It is done!" In that day there will be a total destruction of the earth, all evil, all false religion and all who oppose our God, God's judgment will be final and complete.
Application:1. Will you hear the warnings God has given you and obey the gospel; or will you yet harden your heart?
2. Though this world must be destroyed, God's purpose in creation shall not fail; for our God shall make a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
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