Revelation: The Bowls of His Wrath

Today’s message summary of May 22, 2016 from Pastor Gus Brown:

We’re picking up into Revelation Chapter 16 and discussing the fourth, fifth and sixth bowls.

The judgment is coming against those who chose not to follow God and were following false teaching. This is not unlike what is being experienced today. There is an ongoing rendering of false doctrine. As it continues, hearts will be hardened. They have chosen to accept this style of teaching in spite of what God has declared.

The Antichrist is against everything that Christ stands for.

Revelation 16:8-16

The Fourth Bowl

The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. He was given the power to burn people with fire, and people were burned by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who had the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give Him glory.

The Fifth Bowl

The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, yet they did not repent of their actions.

The Sixth Bowl

The sixth poured out his bowl 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 unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle of the great day of God, the Almighty.

“Look, I am coming like a thief. The one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame is blessed.”

So they assembled them at the place called in Hebrew, Armagedon.

With the fourth bowl, God uses the Sun by bringing intense heat (v. 8). This is in contrast to what happened in Revelation 8:12, where he blotted out part of the Sun.

Yet, the people were unrepentant. They became angry over the actions of God and cursed His name because of what He was doing to them. He was doing it to bring them to repentance, but they refused to do so.

It is not that they do not know that God is all-powerful. They readily know this is the case. We need to understand that Satan is nowhere near as powerful as God is.

You can be a highly intelligent person who is aware of all sorts of teaching, but without the knowledge of Christ, you are just foolish.

Have you noticed that the name of Jesus is always under attack? It is not the same as how the name of God is regarded. Men have come to a place where they will declare, “I don’t have to have reverence for God.”

Deuteronomy 5:11
Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.

Leviticus 24:13-16
Then the Lord spoke to Moses: “Bring the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole community stone him. And tell the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he will bear the consequences of his sin.” Whoever blasphemes the name of Yahweh is to be put to death; the whole community must stone him. If he blasphemes the Name, he is to be put to death, whether the foreign resident or the native.

Let God be the One who carries out justice. Let Him intervene in any battles that you are involved in.

2 Chronicles 32:16-21
His servants said more against the Lord God and against His servant Hezekiah. He also wrote letters to mock Yahweh, the God of Israel, saying against Him:

Just like the national gods of the lands that did not deliver their people from my power, so Hezekiah’s God will not deliver His people from my power.

Then they called out loudly in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem, who were on the wall, to frighten and discourage them in order that he might capture the city. They spoke against the God of Jerusalem like they had spoken against the gods of the peoples of the earth, which were made by human hands.

King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz prayed about this and cried out to heaven, and the Lord sent an angel who annihilated every brave warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned in disgrace to his land. He went to the temple of his god, and there some of his own children struck him down with the sword.

Don’t say or do things that will insult God or His name.

God takes His own name very seriously–whether we choose to do so or not.

In Revelation, there is no fear or reverence of God by the people. They knew who was in control of the plagues. They still refused to repent. They have thoughts about God, due to their own belief system, that refuse to acknowledge Him.

They understood the power of God.
They were aware of God (not that He is not known)
They chose not to acknowledge Him as God, or glorify Him

Even today, as a people, we are becoming less and less sensitive to God.

1 Timothy 4:1-2
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.

The fifth bowl is a direct attack on the throne of the beast, who was giving false signs that he was powerful, but they were deceptive and were causing people to perish (they followed his signs and chose not to follow God).

Can he stop God’s attack or the power of God against his kingdom? No. His kingdom was plunged into darkness (confusion).

Darkness is to make them blind, including blinding the mind.

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false, so that all will be condemned—those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness.

The strong will of the people (v. 11) caused them to curse the God of heaven. They gnawed their tongues in agony, but they did not repent for what they had done.

Revelation 9:20-21
The rest of the people, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands to stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which are not able to see, hear, or walk. And they did not repent of their murders, their sorceries, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.

Can one get so deep into sin that there is a refusal to repent? Wicked people can get to a place to believe that they are doing the right thing.

The purpose of the sixth bowl (v. 12) was to prepare for the king from the East to emerge across the dried bed of the Euphrates River for the Battle of Armageddon.

Luke 16:27-31
‘Father,’ he said, ‘then I beg you to send him to my father’s house — because I have five brothers — to warn them, so they won’t also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets, they should listen to them.’ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said. ‘But if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'”

Don’t live in such a way that you remain in sin and fail to relent from a life without Jesus Christ.

Believe God and hold onto what He says.

The Scripture says, “Be ready” for Jesus Christ’s return.