CHALICES OF WRATH

REVELATION 16

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth”

(Revelation 16:1).

As we noted yesterday, there is a liturgical order to the events presented in Revelation. First, God unseals judgments against the wicked, and then He seals the righteous. Second, God trumpets judgments against the wicked, and then He proclaims the eternal Gospel to the righteous. Third, God pour out bowls of wrath upon the wicked, who have drunk the blood of the saints, and then He serves the righteous the marriage supper of the Lamb. These three major events correspond to (1) confession of sin and declaration of forgiveness, (2) preaching, and (3) the Lord’s Supper.

The word for “bowls” is used in the Bible for libation bowls. A libation is a drink offering to God. Libations of wine were used in worship in the tabernacle and temple (Numbers 15). Bowls were also used to catch the blood of the sacrifice and transport it to the altar. Thus, the “bowls” of Revelation 16 are both drinking bowls and sacrificial bowls. They are the negative side of the chalices of Christ’s blood that we partake of when we drink the wine in the Lord’s Supper.

Babylon had drunk the blood of the saints. Now she is made to drink the wrath of God. Eye for eye and tooth for tooth: perfect justice. Blood cries out for vengeance (Genesis 4:11; Numbers 35:33), and inside of Babylon the blood of the martyrs calls upon God to destroy her. Pouring blood all over Babylon marks her as guilty of “bloodguiltiness” and seals her doom.

Egypt had filled the Nile with the blood of Hebrew babies, and that blood called down God’s wrath eighty years later (compare Exodus 1:22 and 7:20). Thus, the plagues of Egypt are poured out upon Babylon; but this time, unlike the trumpets, it is not just one-third that is destroyed. This time the destruction is total. We see (1) a chalice of boils, (2) seas turned to blood, (3) rivers turned to blood, (4) fiery heat, (5) a plague of darkness, (6) an invading army like a plague of frogs, and (7) a plague of hailstones. Babylon is counterfeit Jerusalem, called Sodom and Egypt (Revelation 11:8). The fiery heat (the fourth chalice) reminds us of the fire that fell upon Sodom. The rest are Egyptian plagues.

Whether this event is interpreted as past (Jerusalem or Rome) or future (at the Second Coming), the principles are true at all times.

CORAM DEO

Habakkuk

Revelation 14

The saints under the altar rejoice to see God’s vengeance (Revelation 6:10; 16:5–7). There is a challenge here for us: Are we sufficiently consumed with God’s honor and glory to be willing to side with Him when He brings judgment upon the wicked? In the Psalms, God’s people always rejoice to see the wicked destroyed. How about you?

For further study: Psalm 7:8–16 • Isaiah 13:5–13 • Romans 12:16–19

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