INTERNATIONAL HOUSE OF PRAYER KC
FORERUNNER SCHOOL OF MINISTRY
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
MIKE BICKLE
IHOP-KC
Missions Base www.IHOP.org
Used by
Permission
Session 9 Seven Bowls of Wrath (Rev 15-16)
I. FOURTH CHRONOLOGICAL SECTION: 7 BOWLS OF
WRATH (REV. 15:1-16:21)
A. The fourth chronological section in Revelation reveals
the 7 judgment events that Jesus will release on the Antichrist’s empire as He
marches through Edom (modern day Jordan) to make His triumphal entry into
Jerusalem. This drama is part of your love story with Jesus your King.
1 Who is this who comes
from Edom (modern Jordan),
with dyed garments from Bozrah (ancient
capital of Edom),
this One (Jesus)
who is glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength?--
"I (Jesus)
who speak in righteousness, mighty to save." 2 Why is Your apparel red, and
Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? 3 "I have trodden the
winepress…in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled
upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes. 4 For the day of vengeance
is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come….6 I have trodden down
the peoples in My anger, made them drunk in My fury, and brought down their
strength to the earth." (Isa.
63:1-6)
B. On this journey, Jesus will dash the nations or destroy the
infrastructures of the Antichrist empire that have been permeated by evil (Ps.
2:8-9;
Isa. 11:4,
15;
19:22;
Rev. 2:26-27;
19:15).
11 Behold, a white horse.
And He who sat on him…He judges and makes war…13 He was clothed with a robe
dipped in blood…14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean, followed Him on white horses…15 He should strike the nations. He
Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of…the
wrath of Almighty God. 16 He has on His robe…a name written: KING OF KINGS and
LORD OF LORDS. (Rev.
19:11-16)
C. David prophesied that when the Messiah came to earth to receive the
nations as His inheritance that He would need to break them and even dash
their infrastructure to pieces.
8 I (the
Father) will give
You (Jesus)
the nations for Your inheritance…9 You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. (Ps.
2:8-9)
D. Isaiah prophesied that when the Messiah came He would strike the earth
and slay the wicked.
4 He shall strike the
earth with the rod of His mouth, and…shall slay the wicked. (Isa
11:4)
E. Habakkuk prophesied that when the Messiah came He would march through
the land in victory.
3 God came from Teman, the
Holy One from Mount Paran (near modern
day Jordan). His
glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. 4 His
brightness was like the light; He had rays flashing from His hand, and there
His power was hidden. 5 Before Him went pestilence, and fever followed at His
feet…6 He startled the nations. The mountains were scattered…8 Your anger
against the rivers, was Your wrath against the sea…11 The sun and moon stood
still…12 You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations
in anger. 13 You went forth for the salvation of Your people… (Hab.
3:3-13)
F. Jesus will release the 7 bowls of judgment that will be similar to
Moses’ ten plagues of Egypt. The bowls will be poured out over a 30 day period
as Jesus marches through Jordan to fight the final battle in the Armageddon
campaign in Jerusalem and rescue the unsaved remnant of Israel.
II. THE CONTEXT FOR THE
PREPARATION TO RELEASE THE 7 BOWLS OF WRATH
A.
John sees those who were victorious over the Antichrist singing on the sea of
glass (Rev.
15:1-4).
1 I saw another sign in
heaven, great and marvelous: 7 angels having the 7 last plagues, for in them
the wrath of God is complete. 2 I saw something like a sea of glass mingled
with fire, and those who have the victory over the Beast (Antichrist)…standing
on the sea of glass…3 They sing the song of Moses…and the song of the Lamb,
saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true
are Your ways, O King of the saints…For all nations shall…worship before You,
for Your judgments have been manifested." (Rev.
15:1-4)
B. Ezekiel saw a firmament or expanse of awesome crystal (Sea of glass?)
before Jesus’ Throne.
22 The likeness of the
firmament (expanse NIV)…was
like…awesome crystal…26 Above the firmament…the likeness of the Throne was…a
Man (Jesus)
high above it (Ezek.
1:22-26)
C. The event that occurred immediately before this was the sounding of the
7th Trumpet to begin Jesus’ Second Coming procession with the Rapture and the
rewarding of all the saints. Jesus then engages in a “hostile take over” of
all governments on earth, thus making the nations very angry.
15 The seventh angel
sounded…loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become
the kingdoms of our Lord…18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come,
and the time…that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the
saints…and should destroy those who destroy the earth. (Rev.
11:15-18)
29 Immediately after the
Tribulation of those days…30 The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man
coming …with power and great glory. 31 He will send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect…from one end of
heaven to the other. (Mt.
24:29-31)
D. Paul made it clear the Rapture takes place at the Last Trumpet which is
the seventh trumpet.
51 We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed-- 52 in a moment…at the
Last Trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised
incorruptible... (1
Cor. 15:51-52)
16 The Lord will descend
from heaven…with the Trumpet of God…17 We who are alive…shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1
Thes. 4:16-17)
E. Jesus raptures the Church to initiate His Second Coming Procession
having 3 stages occurring in a 30 day period. The Antichrist will have
authority to oppress God’s people for 1,260 days (3½ years) as seen by
comparing the following Scriptures:
Rev. 11:2-3;
12:6;
14;
13:5;
Dan. 7:25;
12:7). We will be delivered at the Rapture. However, the Antichrist
continues another 30 days after the Rapture to continue the Abomination of
Desolation totaling 1,290 days (Dan.
12:11).
11 From the time…the
Abomination of Desolation is set up there shall be 1,290 days. (Dan.
12:11)
Stage #1: Jesus’
procession across the sky: to rapture the Church (Mt.
24:30-31;
Rev. 1:7)
Stage #2: Jesus’
procession on the land: through Edom (Jordan) to Israel (Isa. 63; Hab. 3)
Stage #3: Jesus’
procession into Jerusalem: to the Mount of Olives followed by His coronation
III. THE 7 ANGELS
COMMISSIONED TO RELEASE THE BOWLS (REV. 16:1)
A. Immediately after the sounding of the 7th Trumpet and
after the saints gather on the Sea of glass to worship Jesus as the King of
saints, the angels are commissioned to pour out the bowls.
1 I heard a loud voice
from the Temple saying to the 7 angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the
wrath of God on the earth." (Rev.
16:1)
B. Immediately after the Rapture, Jesus will march across the land of
Jordan (Isa.
63:1-6;
Hab. 3:3-13) as the “greater Moses” going through the wilderness to
deliver the unsaved remnant of Israel. At that time, Jesus will release the
first 5 bowls to destroy the resources of the Antichrist’s empire. The sixth
and seventh bowl will be released just before Jesus enters Jerusalem.
IV. SEVEN BOWLS OF GOD’S
WRATH (REV. 15-16)
A. First Bowl (Sores): Painful sores on those who worship
the Antichrist (Rev.
16:2)
2 The first went and
poured out his bowl…and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had
the mark of the beast… (Rev.
16:2)
1. These sores will be foul with a terrible odor as foul meat is rotten or
putrid. They will be loathsome in being so painful that men will loath them.
2. Only during the seals and trumpets does John mention believers having a
divine seal of protection (Rev.
7:3;
9:4). The saints were raptured at the 7th Trumpet.
3. The sixth plague of Egypt was sores or boils (Ex.
9:8-11). Moses warned that rebellion toward God would bring God’s judgment
of severe boils (Deut.
28:35).
B. Second Bowl (Food Supply): Destroying the sea with blood killing all sea
life (Rev.
16:3). In my opinion, this is focused on the Mediterranean Sea from Dan.
7. The sea will become like the congealed blood of a dead man with
unimaginable stench. There will be complete destruction of marine life not
just 1/3 destruction as in the second trumpet.
3 Then the second angel
poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and
every living creature in the sea died. (Rev.
16:3)
C. Third Bowl (Water Supply): Poisoning the earth’s fresh water with blood
(Rev.
16:4-7). The third trumpet (Rev.
8:10) is similar to the third bowl in defiling the drinking water. The
first plague of Egypt struck the Nile with a similar impact as this (Ex.
7:19-21).
4 Then the third angel
poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
5 I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord…because
You have judged these things. 6 For they have shed the blood of saints and
prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due." 7
I heard another from the altar (heavenly intercession) saying, "Even so, Lord
God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." (Rev.
16:4-7)
D. Fourth Bowl (Torment): Scorching heat and fire from the sun (Rev.
16:8-9) is a supernatural act, not merely a natural one. Men blaspheme God
(v. 11, 21). This bowl will intensify the heat of the sun. The fourth trumpet
affected the sun in the opposite way by making it less intense.
8 The fourth angel poured
out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. 9
And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who
has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory. (Rev.
16:8-9)
E. Fifth Bowl (Destruction): Darkness on the Antichrist's global empire (Rev.
16:10-11)
10 The fifth angel poured
out his bowl on the throne of the Beast, and his kingdom became full of
darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 11 They
blasphemed the God…because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent
of their deeds. (Rev.
16:10-11)
F. The Antichrist’s throne is the geographic seat of his government (Rev.
13:2). Isaiah prophesied that deep darkness would cover the earth (Isa.
60:2). This darkness will have a supernatural demonic element to it. The
ninth plague of Egypt caused darkness for three days (Ex.
10:21-23).
1 Arise, shine; for your
light has come! The glory of the LORD is risen upon you (remnant
of Israel). 2 For
behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but
the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. (Isa.
60:1-2)
G. The Antichrist’s worshipers will blaspheme God (v. 9, 11) showing their
deep hatred of God. As God’s judgments increase, their hatred and blasphemy
increase and come out fully into the open.
V. SIXTH BOWL (GLOBAL
GUILT): DEMONS LURE THE NATIONS TO ARMAGEDDON
A. Sixth Bowl (Global Guilt): Demons lure the nations to
gather to fight Jesus (Rev.
16:12-16)
12 The sixth angel poured
out his bowl on the river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the
way of the kings from the East might be prepared. 13 I saw three unclean
spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon (Satan),
out of the mouth of the beast (Antichrist),
and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are spirits of demons,
performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth…to gather them to the
Battle of that great day of God Almighty…16 They gathered them together
to…Armageddon. (Rev.
16:12-16)
B. The nations come to fight Jesus as He is marching toward Jerusalem. They
are not gathering from around the world to fight Israel’s small and poorly
armed army.
14 These (the
10 kings) will make
war with the Lamb...for He is…King of kings (Rev.
17:14)
19 I saw the Beast (Antichrist),
the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. (Rev.
19:19-21)
C. This is global blasphemy against the Spirit as the nations receive “The
Lie” (2
Thes. 2:11).
9 The coming of the
lawless one (Antichrist)…with
all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous
deception…because they did not receive the love of the truth…11 For this
reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the Lie… (2
Thes. 2:9-11)
D. The kings of the nations have urgency to gather because of Jesus’ sign
in sky. Jesus’ sign in the sky will be understood as an open challenge to the
Antichrist and his armies to war.
30 The sign of the Son of
Man will appear in heaven…all the tribes of the earth will mourn… they will
see the Son of Man coming on the clouds...with power and great glory. (Mt.
24:30)
E. The kings of the East will resist the Antichrist throughout the entire
Great Tribulation period. The Antichrist receives troubling news from the
Asian kings of the East. In other words, they resist his financial seductions,
refuse his miracles and stand against his threats (Dan.
11:44).
F. However, in the Antichrist’s final 30 days, he uses his greatest
miracles to win them and other kings who had been resisting him. Why would the
Antichrist prioritize mobilizing the nations to come to Israel for military
reasons? Why would the kings of the East deploy hundreds of thousands of
soldiers at billions of dollars to fight a weak Israeli army?
G. The answer is that the kings of the East and the kings of the whole
world come to Israel to fight Jesus, not the Israeli army. They will see Jesus
as a Jewish king with demonic powers who can be defeated. Thus, they will view
Jesus as we view the Antichrist, as having supernatural power but as one that
will surely be defeated. They understand that Jesus has great power but the
Antichrist will convince them that Jesus is a demonic counterfeit or angel of
light (2
Cor. 11:14).
14 For Satan himself
transforms himself into an angel of light. (2
Cor. 11:14)
H. The Antichrist convinces them with miracles that defeating Jesus is
necessary and doable. The kings will see the supernatural sign of the Son of
Man in the sky (Mt.
24:30), but wrongly interpret it as a demonic sign of a false messiah
coming to disrupt the kingdoms of the earth.
I. In essence the nations will attribute Jesus’ power in coming in the sky
etc. to the power of Satan.
J. The Pharisees accused Jesus of doing miracles by Satan’s power (Mt.
12:24). Jesus taught them that to attribute the power of the Holy Spirit
to being demonic was to blaspheme against the Spirit. This is only done by
those who are hardened to such a degree that they will not repent.
31 Every sin and blasphemy
will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be
forgiven men. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be
forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be
forgiven him… (Mt.
12:31-32)
K. Blasphemy against the Spirit is a full and final rejection of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit. Those who do this are reprobate or have a heart
that is permanently hardened without any inclination to repent. The greatest
height of evil is for men to blaspheme the Holy Spirit (Mt.
12:31-32).
L. Those who take the mark of the Beast have already blasphemed the Spirit.
However, the Antichrist wants all the nations brought into this. Many unsaved
resisters will yield to this and many will refuse it. At the end-of-the-age,
untold millions will be swept away into the LIE (2
Thes. 2:10) that acknowledges Jesus’ power as being supernatural, yet
demonic.
VI. SEVENTH BOWL
(ANNIHILATION): EARTHQUAKES AND HAIL STONES
A. Seventh Bowl (Annihilation): Shaking by earthquakes and
100 lbs. hail stones (Rev.
16:17-21)
17 Poured out his bowl
into the air, and a loud voice... from the Throne, saying, "It is done!"
18...there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had
not occurred since men were on the earth. 19 Now the great city (Jerusalem)
was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great
Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of His wrath. 20 Then every island fled away, and the mountains
were not found. 21 And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone
about the weight of a talent (100 pounds). Men blasphemed God… (Rev.
16:17-21)
B. This bowl poured out into the air is probably the cause of the plague
Zechariah prophesied that will cause the flesh, eyes and tongues of people and
livestock to dissolve (Zech.
14:12,
15).
C. This bowl releases the worst earthquake in history that shakes the
cities of the nations. In
Rev. 16:20, the last earthquake causes islands to flee (sink in the ocean)
and the mountains to fall. The earthquake will impact every city on earth as
great sky-scrapers collapse causing fires. The earthquake sequence in
Revelation (Rev.
6:14;
8:5;
11:13;
16:18-20) ends with it largest one (Isa.
2:10,
19,
21;
13:13;
29:6;
Ezek. 38:19;
Hag. 2:6,
21;
Zech. 14:4-5;
Heb. 12:26-27).
D. Hailstones weighing 100 pounds (a talent) fall on the people seeking
safety from earthquakes. Hail was released in the first trumpet (Rev.
8:7) and the seventh plague with Moses (Ex.
9:23-24). God uses hail in His judgments (Josh.
10:11;
Isa. 28:17;
Ezek. 38:22-23).
22 I will bring him (Antichrist)
to judgment…I will rain down on…his troops, and on the many peoples who are
with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. (Ezek.
38:22)
E. Moses’ Law required the stoning to death of idol worshippers (Deut.
17:2-5;
Lev. 24:16). Since the Antichrist’s worship movement is idolatry, thus,
Jesus will stone them to death from heaven
6 If your brother…secretly
entices you, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods”…10 You shall stone him
with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord
…11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness…(Deut.
13:6-11)
F. The next event following the 7 bowls is Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem (Rev.
19:11-21).
11 Behold, a white horse.
He (Jesus)
who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges
and makes war….13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood…14 The armies in
heaven…followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp
sword, that with it He should strike the nations. He Himself will rule them
with a rod of iron…16 He has on His robe…a name written: KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS…19 I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet…These two
were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 The rest were
killed with the sword… (Rev.
19:11-21)