Armageddon & The Last Bowl of Wrath | Revelation 16:12-21 | Richard Caldwell

Scripture

• Revelation 16:12–21

About this sermon

Introduction: We have seen the first five bowls of wrath. They are five acts of God’s judgment that express His holy anger. Painful sores The sea turned to blood The freshwater sources turned to blood Scorching heat Tormenting darkness And despite all of that, mankind in his sin — the followers of the antichrist and the false prophet — will not repent of their sins and they will blaspheme God’s holy name. This morning, we will consider the sixth and seventh bowls of wrath. When these are poured out in the future, it will represent the very end of God’s judgments upon the earth prior to the return of His Son from heaven. I. THE SIXTH BOWL OF WRATH — PREPARATION FOR THE GREAT DAY OF GOD THE ALMIGHTY (vs.12-16) What is striking about the 6th bowl is that it simply represents a step of preparation. This is very different from what we’ve seen before. Every judgment up to this point is powerful and terrible in an immediate sense. Mankind is immediately affected. But in this case, God does something that opens the way for a judgment that He will bring later. That judgment will come shortly after these seven bowls. What does the Lord do? He opens the door for the fulfillment of the desires of those who seek to destroy Israel. And by opening that door, He allows for the gathering of an enormous war force that Christ will judge with His second coming. In other words, the Lord is making the way for men to gather for their own doom. NOTE: GOD SOMETIMES JUDGES MEN INDIRECTLY. HE JUDGES THEM BY THEIR OWN DESIRES — BY GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WANT. HE JUDGES THEM BY OPENING THE WAY FOR THEIR OWN FOOLISH AND SINFUL DESIRES TO CONSUME THEM. We must never mistake every open door as a sign that we are doing the right thing. This is what men often do. They live their lives in defiance of the words of God and then read the “tea leaves” surrounding their lives as if momentary favorable circumstances indicate God’s stamp of approval. Sometimes, the justice of God is found in the trap laid by your own foolish choices. ESV Psalm 69:21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. 22 Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. ESV Psalm 141:9 Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me and from the snares of evildoers! 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by safely. ESV Psalm 7:14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies. 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. Well, that is what we are witnessing in our verses. A. A PREPARATION FOR GATHERING (vs.12) The Euphrates River serves as a natural barrier against ground forces coming from the east to attack the land of Israel. It represented the eastern boundary of the land promised to Abraham and his offspring. ESV Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, It also was, in general, the eastern boundary of the ancient Roman Empire. WHAT DOES THE LORD DO? HE DRIES IT UP. We have already seen God causing the sun to bring an oppressive heat upon the world. Perhaps it is in connection with that that the Euphrates dries up. Or perhaps, just as God parted the Red Sea, God just supernaturally dries up this great river. Regardless, the drying up of the water is due to the pouring out of the bowl, so it is God’s activity that explains it. And we are told WHY God does it. He is opening the way for the kings from the east.

Topics

• Bible Study
• Second Coming
• Prophecy & End Times