Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven saucers of God’s wrath on the earth.”Michael Wilcock reminds us that “The connection between the Scenes [in Revelation] is not chronological but logical. Again and again trouble will sweep the world (the Seals): whenever suffering is caused, God warns that it cannot be caused with impunity (the Trumpets); whenever his warnings go unheeded, he will in the end punish the wrongdoers (the Saucers).”
The first angel went and poured out his saucer on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
The second angel poured out his saucer on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.
The third angel poured out his saucer on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:
“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,
you who are and who were;
for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,
and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”
And I heard the altar respond:
“Yes, Lord God Almighty,
true and just are your judgments.”
The fourth angel poured out his saucer on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
The fifth angel poured out his saucer on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
The sixth angel poured out his saucer on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
The seventh angel poured out his saucer into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
But this raises the question: are the seven saucers outpoured really punishment? Or are they the inevitable result of cutting life against the grain, so to speak? I opt for the latter. When we turn away from God, who is life, there is nothing left but death. And that is where all the saucers in Revelation 16 are leading; they are leading to death.
I will grant you, that the turning away from life and turning toward death does not usually happen all at once. No, it usually happens gradually, so that in the deceptive nature of sin, we are not fully aware of what we are doing. God’s repeated calls to repentance in Revelation are meant to wake us up to reality and cause us to turn back to him before it is too late.
As my friend, Bob McCan, has written, “Justice is not inflicted by an arbitrary, vengeful God. Rather, we understand that our actions have consequences. The Greek text does not speak of punishment, but of judgment and justice.”
So, let us look at each of the saucers in turn…
Saucer #1: The Earth Is Stricken
The first angel pours out his saucer on the land. The result is that ugly and painful sores break out on the people who have the mark of the beast and worship his image.
All but one of these seven saucers correspond to one of the ten plagues that were poured out on the Egyptians because Pharaoh refused to let God’s people go. These festering sores are like the boils that were visited on the Egyptians in Plague #6. The saucer plagues also correspond to some of the seven seal plagues and the seven trumpet plagues, as you can see on the insert in your bulletin.
With the seven seals and the seven trumpets, the people of the earth were warned, and the destruction involved with the seals and the trumpets was partial. Now there are no more warnings, and the destruction involved with the seven saucers, in the end, is total.
Notice that these festering sores break out on those who have the mark of the beast. We saw this mark earlier in Revelation. It is a number: 666. This number is the numerical equivalent of the title and name: Caesar Nero. 7 is the number of perfection which stands for God. So, 666 is short of the mark, three times over.
The festering sores are visited upon those who worship the image of the beast. In other words, those who worship Caesar receive the boils.
The important thing here is that everyone has a choice about who or what they will worship. God, in his justice and fairness, warns us when we are worshipping anything or anyone less than him. He gives us the opportunity to repent. But that opportunity will not last forever.
Saucer #2: The Sea Is Stricken
The second saucer is poured out on the sea, and it is turned to blood. As a result, every living thing in the sea dies.
This saucer corresponds to the first plague upon Egypt, the plague of blood. It also corresponds to the second seal, the red horse of war and the sixth seal where we saw the blood moon. And finally, it corresponds to the first trumpet which brought hail, fire, and blood, destroying a third of the earth. The difference is that this time the whole sea is stricken.
Saucer #3: The Rivers Are Stricken
With the third saucer the rivers and springs of water are turned to blood. Thus, all water on the earth is now stricken.
Just in case we think God is being unfair, the angel in charge of the waters reminds us that God is just in his judgments. He is the one who has always existed and always will exist. He is the Holy One. And the reason he has judged those who worship the beast is because it is the beast, and the world system of which he is the head, that has shed the blood of the saints and the prophets. Because all those who are part of this world system have shed the blood of saints and prophets, they are given blood to drink, as they deserve.
And the souls under the altar, the souls of the Christian martyrs, respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” In a sense, the saucer judgments are the answer to the cries for justice from the souls under the altar in chapter six.
Saucer #4: The Sun Is Stricken
The fourth angel pours out his saucer on the sun and the sun, in turn, is given power to scorch people with fire. People in my home state of California can probably relate to this one. But hopefully they don’t all respond the way the people respond in Revelation 16. We read that they are seared by the intense heat, and they curse the name of God who has control over these plagues. But also, they refuse to repent and glorify God.
Isn’t this amazing? It strikes me as being kind of like touching a hot pot on the stove and then cursing the pot when I burn my fingers because of my own foolishness.
God made life to work a certain way. God doesn’t want us to worship him because he is like a vain person looking for compliments. He wants us to worship him because that is what we were made to do. Life is more beautiful and wonderful when we live the way God designed us to live. Our lives were created to run on God as our soul fuel. When we put any other fuel in our souls it just doesn’t work. Thus, we should not be surprised, and we should not blame God when life doesn’t work any old way that we want it to work.
Saucer #5: The Throne of the Beast Is Stricken
The fifth angel pours out his saucer on the throne of the beast and his kingdom is plunged into darkness. The beast is Caesar. His kingdom is the whole Roman Empire. And what John is telling us is that the whole Roman Empire is going to be judged for persecuting God’s people.
The fifth saucer corresponds to the ninth plague upon Egypt—a plague of darkness. Again, this may seem unfair. But if we turn away from the light, what can we expect? God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Thus, if we live our life in God through Christ, we won’t be stumbling around in the darkness.
We read that because of this darkness people gnaw their tongues in agony and curse the God of heaven because of their pains and sores. Instead of cursing the darkness, why don’t they light a candle? Or better yet, why don’t they turn to the light of God? Well, they don’t. They refuse to repent even though God is giving them a second chance, a third chance, and more.
Some people say, “Well, John was certainly wrong in his prophecies in Revelation.” They say this for two reasons. One is because he tells us Jesus is coming back, but Jesus hasn’t come back yet. The other reason people say John was wrong was because the Roman Empire did not immediately come to an end like he was seemingly predicting.
But the Roman Empire did come to an end. And Christianity did triumph and flourish until it became the religion of the empire. So, I think it is not too far-fetched to say that John’s prophecy did come true. And if that prophecy about the Roman Empire came true, perhaps John was also right about Jesus coming back again. It hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen.
Saucer #6: The Euphrates Is Stricken
The sixth angel pours out his saucer on the great river Euphrates and its water is dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.
Waters drying up to make way for an army is a repeated theme in Hebrew Scripture. It happened with the Red Sea. The Israelites crossed on dry land and escaped the Egyptians who were drowned in the waters of the sea.
Then it happened again with the Jordan. The waters were dried up so that the Israelites could cross on dry ground to enter the Promised Land.
And now we see it a third time, in Revelation. But this time the waters of the Euphrates are dried up to make way for the kings from the East. John is most likely referring to the Parthian rulers who were feared by the Romans.
Next, John sees three evil spirits that look like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon (who is Satan) and the mouth of the beast (who is Caesar) and the mouth of the false prophet. This is the first we hear of this false prophet, but it becomes evident that this is the same as the Beast out of the Earth who we met in Revelation 13.
Leviticus 11:10 classifies the frog as an unclean animal. The imagery here suggests the deceptive propaganda put forth by the Beast out of the Earth to get people to worship the Beast out of the Sea, Caesar. The frogs here also remind us of the plague of frogs in Exodus.
These frog spirits or demons perform miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of God Almighty.
At this point we hear the voice of Jesus speaking again and saying, “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
During the summer we had some overnight guests. The morning after their arrival I awoke early and took a shower. Then I emerged from the bathroom wearing only my underwear, only to be surprised by one of our female guests who was standing there, waiting to get into the bathroom. I was not ready for that!
That’s the kind of image John uses here. I think he is telling us that Jesus’ return to earth is going to happen when people least expect it. So, we need to be ready at all times. We need to stay spiritually awake and be ready to meet him whenever he comes. Don’t forget to take your clothes into the bathroom with you or have them beside your bed when you lay down at night!
We read, “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.”
This is an actual place in Israel that I have been to. It is the field of Megiddo where many battles took place in Israelite history. But John uses it as a symbol of the ultimate battle that is going to take place.
I didn’t keep a diary when I visited Armageddon in 1984, so I don’t remember much of my impressions. But I have a friend named Bob McCan who wrote a book on Revelation entitled “Vision of Victory” in which he describes a more recent visit there. He writes…
In the warm morning sunshine I rode along the highway from Mount Carmel to Nazareth. The flowers were blooming and the fields of grain waved in healthy splendor. Presently I found myself on the Plain of Esdraelon. The mountains of Moab rose in the distance, while to the right and closer at hand were the mountains of Gilead.Saucer #7: The Air Is Stricken
My Israeli companion explained that this rich plain is now “the breadbasket of Israel.” I remembered how the fertile soil in this valley had been a prize for invading armies across the centuries. My friend remarked that we were riding through the oldest battlefield in recorded history. “Also,” he added, “it was a battlefield in the recent war until Israel drove the Palestinians from the land.”
Then I saw a highway marker pointing down the side road. The sign read, “Armageddon 3 miles.” I was overwhelmed by the panorama of history that swept across my mind. This was one of the oldest and newest battlefields of history, but also the place that symbolizes the last great battle of history between Christ and Satan.
The seventh angel pours out his saucer into the air. And out of the temple in heaven a loud voice says, “It is done!”
This reminds us of the voice of Jesus on the cross when he said, “It is finished!”
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” his word brought us salvation, for the word he spoke meant, “It is paid in full.”
But in Revelation, what is completed with the seventh saucer is the judgment of Babylon, John’s code name for Rome.
After the voice there comes flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. You may remember that Matthew tells us there was an earthquake at the time of Jesus’ death on the cross. That earthquake opened the graves of many righteous people who were brought to life. The earthquake in Revelation, by contrast, brings death.
John tells us that God remembered Babylon and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath against sin on the cross.
This says to me that there is really only one choice in life. Either we can let Jesus drink that cup for us, or we can drink it. If we let Jesus die our death for us, then we can live forevermore in his presence. But if we insist on doing our own dying, then all we will experience is never-ending death.
The people of Revelation 16 choose to curse God and die. We can choose to do the same, or we can choose to accept Jesus and live forever in his love. Which will it be?
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