REVELATION 17, PART B

        All Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Bible (ESV) unless they are attributed to another version.

    The latter part of chapter 17 gives an explanation of the vision of the woman or Prostitute and the Beast that she rides on.

THE EXPLANATION

1.  THE WOMAN AND THE WATERS SHE SITS ON:  

Verse 17:18 gives a brief explanation of the Prostitute.  She is the “great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.”  If we are reading this chapter for the first time, we are jolted upright by these words.  The Prostitute is a city!  It is described as a city that is not just the most important city in the world, but it is also the city that dominates the rulers of the world.  In 17:2a, we learn that the rulers have been seduced by her, and the outcome of that seduction is capitulation.  They have surrendered their power to her, and she rules over them.  

In 17:1b, the Prostitute is described as “seated on many waters.”  These waters are explained in 17:15:  they are “peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.”  This is a way of underlining the idea that the Prostitute dominates the world.

B.  THE BEAST (8, 11) AND THE SEVEN HEADS (9,10)

    In 17:8a, a synopsis of the “TIMELINE” of the Beast is given, as follows:

The Past:  The Beast “was” at some time in the past.

The Present:  At the present time the Beast “is not.”  We can assume that the “present” from this perspective is at the time that John is witnessing this vision.  How much into the future that present should be extended is an unknown.  So, does that mean that the Beast “is not” today, in 2019?  There is no clear answer, but my guess is that the answer is “yes, the ‘present’ condition still holds, and the Beast ‘is not.’”

Soon (“is about to”):  The Beast is going to rise, at some point, from the Abyss.  The English Standard Version translates the phrase as “is about to.”  However, New International Version translates it as “and yet will come up.”  Of 14 versions/translations that I looked at, 9 use “about to” or “soon” and 5 use “shall” or “will” or “is to.”  In fact, the very common “helper” verb that is used has a wide range of meanings, including “intend to,” “going to,” “be about to,” “will,” etc.  So, in this “timeline,” the issue of how soon the action will take place is not clear.  We can just say that the next step in the agenda is that the Beast will ascend from the Abyss or bottomless pit.  

The very fact that this entity--individual person, kingdom, whatever it might be--is coming from the Abyss is strange in itself.  The “Abyss” is mentioned in Luke 8:31, in which the demons, who are called Legion, who possessed the maniacal man who lived among the tombs, begged Jesus not to send them into the Abyss.  In Romans 10:7, in a loose paraphrase of Deuteronomy 30:12-14, Paul describes the Abyss as a place of the dead, where one might go to bring Christ up from the dead.  In Revelation 9:1-11 the fifth trumpet plague or judgment is described.  A horde of demonic-like locusts come up out of the bottomless pit (or at least appear to) and torment people.  Their king is Abaddon or Apollyon, who is called the “angel of the Abyss.”  In 11:7, the two witnesses are killed by the “beast that rises from the bottomless pit [Abyss].”  Since the Beast of chapter 13 seems to be the same as the Beast of 11:7, it seems to be consistent that the Beast of 17:8 is this same Beast described in the earlier passages.  

So, what does it mean that the Beast comes up out of the Abyss?  The Greek word meant “abyss, depth, underworld.”  For example, in Deuteronomy 8:7, the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) uses, literally, “fountains of depths,” which is just translated “fountains” in ESV.  In Psalm 33:7, the Lord “gathers the waters of the sea in a heap; [He] puts the deeps [abysses] in storehouses.”  The abyss is, according to Arndt and Gingrich, “unfathomable to the human eye...and discernible only by God…”  Arndt and Gingrich define its use in Romans 10:7 as “the abode of the dead...and of demons [as in Luke 8:31]...” as well as the abode of the antichrist or Beast and of “Abaddon...the angel of the underworld…”  None of this is of much help to us.  We can only say that there is a place where at least some of the dead go and where the Beast is holed up until he climbs up out of there.  If we try to spiritualize it, we might say something like this:  The antichrist spirit is temporarily held in check in some deep, dark, far away place.  At some point he will come out of that place in the person of the Beast, whoever or whatever that might be (see later commentary).  This event might correspond to the event that is described in Revelation 9:1-11, in which an angel opens the Abyss when the 5th Trumpet is blown.  This may also be alluded to in II Thessalonians 2:6-8.

Finally, the timeline of the Beast has an end:  “and go to destruction.”  The word that is translated as “destruction” is often translated as “perdition” in the King James Version.  The word is described in Arndt and Gingrich as “the destruction that one causes” or the “destruction that one experiences.”  The former is “waste,” as it is used in Matthew 26:8 in reference to ointment or perfume that the woman “wasted” on Jesus.  More often the latter sense is used, as in Matthew 7:18:  “the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction.”  This destruction may be the temporal destruction in this present life or it may eternal destruction.  The latter meaning is often rendered as “perdition” in the King James Version, in John 17:12 (Judas), Philippians 1:28 (enemies of the cross), and so forth.  

Note especially II Thessalonians 2:3 where the Man of Lawlessness is described in the King James Version as the Son of Perdition.  (“Son of” is a Biblical expression that can mean “having the characteristics of” but also “being destined for”)  So, King James Version uses “perdition” in Revelation 17:8 and 17:11.  Note that in 17:8, the Beast comes out of the Abyss and then winds up in a condition of perdition.  The “perdition” that is referred to is most likely the Lake of Fire.  See Revelation 19:20 (where the Beast is described as being thrown into the Lake of Fire).  Although “destruction” is an OK translation, “perdition” is an ancient word that carries the connotation of eternal or final judgment and hell, as is commonly understood.  Thus, the New World Dictionary includes the theological definition of “perdition” as “the loss of the soul; damnation (b) same as HELL.”  The Greek word, in some contexts, refers to “eternal destruction as punishment for the wicked” (Arndt and Gingrich).  Therefore, “perdition” seems to be an accurate term that translates the Greek.  

This means that the timeline of the Beast ends in eternal punishment.  

In Revelation 17:8b, the earth-dwellers “marvel to see the beast.”  I have tried to be consistent and render as “earth-dwellers” the expression that is rendered here in the ESV as “the dwellers on earth.”  This expression or something quite similar is found frequently in Revelation.  In fact the word for “dwell” is used 9 of 10 times in Revelation to identify a group of people (an overwhelming majority of people) who dwell on earth.  These people have the following characteristics and destiny (all references are to Revelation):  

• They are guilty of the blood of martyrs (6:10).  
• They rejoice over the death of the two witnesses (11:10).  
• They worship the Beast (13:8, 17:8).  
• They are deceived by the signs of the False Prophet (13:14).  
• They become drunk on the wine of sexual immorality of the Great Prostitute (17:2).  
• The “hour of trial” will try them (3:10).  
• The final three trumpets will bring woe on them (8:13).  
• They are forced to worship the Beast (13:12). 
•  Their names are not written in the Book of Life (17:8).

Thus, the use of this phrase, “those who dwell on the earth,” or similar wording, consistently refers to persons who are caught up in the “world.”  That “world” is defined by an anti-Christ spirit that worships the Beast, whom we also know as the “anti-Christ” (I John 2:18).  It is a world that hates witness to the truth, that kills Christians, that is full of deception, that puts enormous pressure on people to conform to its ways.  

These earth-dwellers “marvel” to see the Beast (17:8b).  And the reason they do so is because of its time-line:  “because it was and is not and is to come.”  That may strike the reader as odd.  I mean that it is odd that they marvel at the time-line of the Beast.  I think that, in our vernacular it goes like this:  “We thought he (it) was dead and gone, but, look! Here he (it) is again.”  I shall try to sort that out as I dig into the verses that follow.  It is not an easy task.  At this point in the story, we can simply say that the reason that is given for the earth-dwellers’ marvelling at the Beast is because of its time-line:  “it was and is not and is to come.”

One other comment that verse 17:8b makes about the earth-dwellers is that their “names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.”  I have referred to this portion of the verse in comments on Revelation 13:8.  It is a statement of the foreknowledge of God.  The “Book of Life,” which belongs to the Lamb, is the ultimate deciding factor of salvation.  The negative of that proposition is found in Revelation 20:15:  “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  The earth-dwellers are, in our vernacular, unsaved people.  The facts--that  they wonder at the Beast (17:8), that they have become drunk on the Great Prostitute’s wine of immorality (17:2), that they worship the Beast (13:8), that they are deceived by the false prophet(13:14)--are ultimately due to the fact that they are unsaved and so do not have the spiritual life needed to discern and resist the spirit of the anti-Christ (I John 2:26-27).

In my next post, I shall continue discussing chapter 17.  I must say that the verses that follow are just as difficult, or more so, than what I have been dealing with.  Please have patience. 

Thank you for your faithfulness as a reader of this website.     

REFERENCES:

Arndt, William F. and F. Wilbur Gingrich.  A Greek-English 

    Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early 

    Christian Literature.  Chicago:  The University of 

    Chicago Press, 1957.

Crossway Bibles (2009-04-09). ESV Study Bible. Good 

News Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Guralnik, David B., Ed. in Chief. Webster’s New World 

    Dictionary of the American Language.  New York: 

    Simon and Schuster, 1986.

A SURVEY OF REVELATION 17, PART A

Scripture quotations are from English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise state.

         Chapter 17 is a complex chapter that may be a little difficult to follow.  Nevertheless it contains valuable information.  It contains several symbols, but is careful to define or explain those symbols.  Although, at first reading, there does not seem to be any action, when one carefully reads the chapter, one can discern either certain actions or preparation for actions.

         In presenting this chapter, I shall divide it into four functional sections.  These sections do not follow the order of the chapter throughout, but they are helpful in understanding the role of each part of the chapter.  The four functional sections are “Title/Introduction,” “Description,” “Transition to Explanation,” and “The Explanation.”  Again, note that these sections will not follow the verses in strict order.

TITLE/INTRODUCTION:  

         The first two verses serve as the introduction. Verse 17:1 refers back to the seven angels with the seven bowls of wrath.  One of those angels will be John’s tour guide to characters of this chapter.  The angel is not interested so much in showing John the Great Prostitute, but, rather, he will show him the judgment of the Great Prostitute.  This prostitute sits on many waters.  This will be explained later.

         In verse 17:2  the prostitute is, well, a prostitute, so her sexual immorality is defined as ensnaring two groups of people.  First, “the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her.”  This expression depicts her as having the characteristics of a prostitute.  A prostitute is someone who has intimate relations for hire.  This means that a person who hires a prostitute crosses the boundary into forbidden sexual behavior with someone who is not his or her spouse.  

         It is jumping ahead of the story, but we need to recognize that this “woman” is a metaphorical representation of a “city.”  It is possible that the “city” is also really a metaphor, but I shall discuss that later. The present point is this:  the “woman” is a metaphor and, therefore, her prostitution is a metaphor.  The “kings of the earth” likely are those persons who exercise political power throughout the earth, whether or not they are designated “kings.”  These powerful people have entered into a relationship with the “woman” that has the characteristics of prostitution.  If we think of a prostitute as one who sells sexual favors, then the powerful of the world have bought favors from this woman. 

It is possible that her “favors” are one of two kinds.  It may be that power and influence are the favors she is selling.  The “kings” have sought the power and influence of the “woman.”  Perhaps, they have paid a price of liberty and independence. They have agreed to give up their independence in order to be in on “what is happening.”  They lusted to be a part of enormous success of this “woman” and sold their souls—and the souls of those within their spheres of influence—in order to have a share of the shimmering glory and power of this “woman.”  

It is also possible that this woman is simply selling degeneracy.  The kings are giving up their independence as they slip into the oblivion of a party-hardy atmosphere.   This seems to be the case of the other group of persons who fall under the spell of the woman.

         Not only have the powerful rulers of the world entered into this fornication with the “woman,” but also the earth-dwellers have become drunk with the “wine” of her “sexual immorality.”  The imagery has shifted somewhat now.  Rather than a transaction of prostitution, there is now the free-flowing wine of a party. This woman is the hostess, generously filling everyone’s cup.  And everyone—all the “earth-dwellers” are drinking thirstily of her cup.  In verse 4, the woman is said to hold a cup “full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.”  The wine that makes the world drunk is “abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.”  The abominations may include religious abomination as well as common immorality.

         Thus, we are introduced to the central character of the chapter—the woman filled with abomination and immorality and dragging the rest of the world down with her.

         Although there is no cross-reference within the chapter to other parts of the book, this chapter is the beginning of the fulfillment of what has been anticipated earlier in Revelation. In 14:8 we read:  “Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.’”  And 16:19 says:  “and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”

DESCRIPTION:  

I have labeled 17:3-6a as the “Description.” I mean the description of the “great prostitute.”  

In order to see the prostitute, John must be transported “in the Spirit” to a wilderness.  It seems strange that this woman is in a wilderness.  The fact that John travels there in the Spirit may imply that this scene is a spiritual display.  In order to understand the prostitute, one must visit her in the Spirit and see, in the power of the Spirit, her full significance.  Thus, the Spirit takes John away from all other distractions to see the prostitute.  The wilderness may also signify the spiritual emptiness of the prostitute.  

The description in these verses is really of two of the characters of the chapter—a woman and a beast, which she sits on.  As the chapter progresses, it becomes evident that the prostitute has a very integral relationship with the beast she is riding.  

The beast is described as “scarlet,” which may signify boldness and perhaps immorality.  Sins are said to be “red like crimson” (Isaiah 1:18b).  In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the OT), the word for “crimson” is the same as the word for “scarlet” in Revelation 17:3.  The dragon of Revelation 12:3 is described with a word meaning “fiery red.”  Probably, neither the exact color nor the exact significance of the color is being communicated.  More likely, the reader is told that this beast’s color is similar to the dragon of chapter 12.  Moreover, a bold, brazen entity is being described.  

The beast is “full of blasphemous names.” Blasphemy  involves pride and presumption in elevating oneself to a place of contempt for God.  It is the direct opposite of the Biblical concept of the fear of God.  The Beast of Revelation 13 gives us examples of blasphemy in 13:5-6:  “And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months.  It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven.”

         The beast has seven heads and ten horns.  It quite obvious that that this beast corresponds to the Beast of chapter 13, with similarities to the dragon of chapter 12.  See the following.

Color:  Dragon of 12—fiery red, Beast of 13—no color, Beast of 17—scarlet

Heads:  Dragon of 12—seven, Beast of 13—seven, Beast of 17—seven

Horns:  Dragon of 12—ten, Beast of 13—ten, Beast of 17—ten

Diadems:  Dragon of 12—seven on his heads, Beast of 13—ten on his horns, Beast of 17—not mentioned

Blasphemy:  Dragon of 12—not mentioned, Beast of 13—blasphemous names on his heads, Beast of 17—full of blasphemous names

The woman was clothed (ESV: “arrayed”) with “purple and scarlet.”  Purple suggests royalty, for this woman has rulership (see verse 18).  The scarlet may refer to her brazen immorality.  She is adorned with precious jewels, which reflect tremendous wealth which is flaunted.  She is holding a golden cup, and it is filled with abominations and uncleanness.  This cup is what she drinks:  She fills herself with all the filth of the world. 

         The woman has her name written on her forehead.  The older versions, especially King James Version, include “Mystery” as part of the name. The modern versions (including NIV and ESV) consider the word “mystery” to be a modifier of “name.”  So, ESV reads as follows:  “And on her forehead was written a name of mystery:  ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.’”  King James Version reads as follows:  “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”  I’m not sure the manuscripts help with this.  It seems more natural to me that “mystery” should be included in the name.  “Mystery” is removed some distance from “name.”  That does not always count for much in Greek.  But the fact that “Mystery” begins the series of names also persuades me that it should be part of the name.  Whether it should be rendered “Mystery Babylon” or “Mystery, Babylon…”—I’m not so sure.  

         Mystery could refer to the mystery religions, which were getting started in the first century. These religions specialized in secret knowledge that was known only by the initiated.  The Gnostics also emphasized knowledge as the key to salvation. Salvation for them was freedom from the material realm.  This notion grew from the idea that matter is evil and spirit is good.  These ideas led either to asceticism or libertinism (see Stott, 45ff, and Carson, 15, ff).  

         Although modern-day “mystery” does not seem to correspond to the ancient cults, we can certainly see some similarities.  The ancient mystery cults made THE mystery—a secret known only to the initiated—to be central to their cult.  Mystery today is often associated with religious practices.  Some versions of Christianity emphasize mystery in worship--that we are in awe of the greatness of God, who is beyond our understanding. Other forms of Christianity seek to be open and emphasize that Christ has opened up the way to God and made that way available to all who receive Christ.  Rather than shroud God in mystery, the emphasis of this style of the faith is see all as understandable and available.  One can see a need for both emphases.  Mystery reminds us that we are finite and limited in our grasp of God.  Openness reminds us that we follow a revealed religion that God has made known to us through Christ, the Word, and the church.  

         The final observation in the description of the woman is that she is “drunk.”  She is not drunk with wine; she is drunk “with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.”  The word “martyr” is from the Greek word (martus in the nominative, but marturos in genitive) that means “witness.”  The verb form means to “bear witness,” and there is a cognate noun for “testimony” or “witness.”  However, the word for “witness” also could mean “martyr” in some places, such as Acts 22:20 and Revelation 2:13.  Thus, there is a close connection between “witness” and “martyr.”  Some translations render Revelation 17:6 “the martyrs of Jesus” (ESV and King James Version”), and others translate the phrase as “witnesses of Jesus” or an equivalent (New American Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, and New International Version).  Probably both are implied.  In many cases, to be a witness is to risk martyrdom.  One does not think that drinking blood makes one drunk. But there is a form of drunkenness that comes from habituation to evil.  Like all habits, the need to do evil must be satisfied again and again. So, this woman must get her fix by killing more Christians.  

         As much as anything, this is the “back story” of Revelation:  the martyrdom of those who stand for Jesus.  As John and the churches he oversaw faced the threat of the pagan Roman system, the Lord assured the church that the he always is acutely aware of the suffering of his saints, his witnesses, his martyrs.  That was true in the first century and will be true in the last days.  

TRANSITION TO EXPLANATION:

Verses 6b-7 are a transition from the description to the explanation.  In the description, the two major characters are a “woman” and a “beast.”  Such characters cause consternation, so John “marveled.”  The guiding angel responds by saying that these characters are really a “mystery.”  The use of the word here seems to mean:  a symbol or riddle that needs to be explained.  The angel responds to the fact that John marvels by promising to unravel the mystery.  Whether this means that John marveled at how perplexing were the things he had seen or that he marveled at how frightening and horrifying they  were is not clear.  It may mean both.  Unraveling the mystery does not seem to reduce the horror quotient.  So, perhaps the angel responded to John’s perplexity by explaining these mysteries.  

REFERENCES:

Crossway Bibles (2009-04-09). ESV Study Bible. Good News Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Carson, Herbert M.  The Epistles of Paul to the Colossians and Philemon.  Tyndale 

         New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 12.  R. V. G. Tasker, Gen. Ed.  Grand 

         Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1980.

Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ of the 

         United States of America. New Revised Standard Version. 1989.

The Lockman Foundation.  New American Standard Bible.  LaHabra, CA: Lockman 

         Foundation, 1995.

Stott, John R. W.  The Epistles of John.  Tyndale New Testament Commentaries.                Vol. 20.  R. V. G. Tasker, Gen. Ed.  Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publ.               Co., 1980.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible.  Grand Rapids:  Zondervan Publ., 2002

A SURVEY OF REVELATION 16, PART B: COMMENTATORS

Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.

ESVSB = English Standard Version Study Bible

NIVSB = New International Version Study Bible

The following are notes from commentators:

RIST (481-488)

VERSE 16:1

         Rist infers that the speaker is “God himself.”  He describes the seven plagues to be “patterned in part” after the plagues of Exodus.  He refers to verses 15:2-3 and considers the martyrs by the sea of glass are patterned after the victory celebrated by Moses by the sea.  He notes that the pattern in chapter 15 and 16 is the reverse of the Exodus: the martyrs of Revelation celebrate before the plagues whereas the Israelites celebrate after crossing the sea. But in Revelation the “author” wishes to “show that the martyrs will be safe in heaven…when the seven bowl plagues are poured out.

VERSE 16:2

         He considers the plague of sores to be a “retelling” of the sixth plague of boils in Exodus 9:8-12.  These sores are in “partial fulfillment of the warning of the angel in 14:9-10” against worship of the Beast.

VERSE 16:3

         The second plague is “derived” from the first Exodus plague of turning the Nile into blood (Exodus 7:14-25).

VERSES 16:4-7

         He considers the third bowl plague to be a “variant of [the] theme” of the first Exodus plague, which was extended from the Nile to all the sources of water in Egypt.  He notes that the angel of the water is consistent with the angels of the winds (7:1) and the fire (14:18).  He describes the water angel’s utterance to be “liturgical.” The angel’s pronouncement of justice is considered by Rist to be an example of “lex talionis, the law of retribution, which permeates all of Revelation…”

         It is important to understand that, Jesus’ abrogation of the law of retribution in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-39) is addressing personalhumanvindictiveness.  ESVSB considers that Jesus was not concerned with punishment by civil government.  In any case, God’s authority to punish wrongdoing is reserved to himself and cannot be questioned (Deuteronomy 32:35, Psalm 94:1, Isaiah 34:8, Romans 12:19, Genesis 18:25, Romans 2:16, II Timothy 4:1, Isaiah 13:11).  Rist implies that he is not questioning God, but rather is critiquing the “author” of Revelation from a “higher criticism” standpoint.  

         Rist comments on the oddity of the altar speaking:  “That an altar can speak is not surprising in a book where an eagle, the dragon, the beasts from the sea and land, and other nonhuman creatures are given the power of speech.”  He relates the statement of the altar to the cry of the “martyrs under the altar in 6:10…” The altar “speaking for the martyrs affirms that it [God’s judgment] is just.”

VERSES 16:8-9

         Rist discusses “apocalyptic speculation” of the destruction of the world by fire.  He includes II Peter 3:10 as well as the Apocalypse of Peter 5, which, he says, was “written at the time of II Peter, ca. the middle of the second century.”  Note that this statement is made as absolute fact. In fact conservative scholars disagree on this dating of II Peter and attribute II Peter to the apostle Peter, writing shortly before his death around AD 65.  (See introductions to the book in ESVSB and NIVSB.  See also the lengthy discussion of all of the problems in Green, 13-55.)  

         However, he considers that the plague of  Revelation 16:8-9 is not a fiery destruction but an increase in the heat of the sun to scorch the wicked.  He notes that the victims blaspheme God but do not repent.  He says that “we may…be amazed that these series of apocalyptic woes…will have little or no effect upon the attitude and behavior of the idolatrous Romans toward the Christians.”  This statement is consistent with Rist’s interpretative scheme.  That scheme understands the book to have been written around AD 95 in the reign of Domitian.  Rist understands the Beast to be ancient Rome.  The author is writing to encourage martyrs that Christ will come soon and destroy Rome.  So the time frame for the events is the next few years.  From our frame of reference most of the events of the book, including the various plagues under the seals, trumpets, and bowls, would take place in final years of the first century AD, and Christ would come around AD 100. With this time frame in mind, Rist makes the statement concerning the lack of effect of the plagues on the Romans. (See Rist, 365.)

VERSES 16:10-11

         Rist notes that the fifth bowl plague—darkness—corresponds closely with the ninth plague on the Egyptians in Exodus 10:21-29.  In the fifth bowl, “the emperor [the Beast] himself becomes a direct target of God’s terrible wrath.  This is an omen of his coming defeat and destruction.”

VERSES 16:12-16

         He considers the mention of frogs to be derived from the plague of frogs in Exodus (Exodus 8:1-15). There is no correspondence between the role of the frogs in the sixth bowl of wrath and their role in Exodus. He says that the frog plague of Exodus is combined with the sixth trumpet (Revelation 9:13-19).  There is some correspondence between the sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl.  The Euprhates Rivers is mentioned in both passages.  It the place where four angels are kept bound in the trumpet narrative. The river is dried up in the bowl narrative.  In the trumpet narrative 200 million “troops” seem to be activated by the unbinding of the four angels.  In the bowl narrative, the “kings of the east” are given a way across the Euphrates. Later, the kings of the whole earth are gathered for battle.  So, there is some vague correspondence between the two narratives, but not a very close one.

         Rist interprets the “kings of the east” as the “satraps of Parthia.”  He compares the frogs to various mythologies from Zoroastrianism. It is his practice often to point to as many similarities as he can find in a passage to other Biblical and myths and legends.  His implication is that John is drawing from all this literature to fashion the narratives of Revelation.  In some cases, his comparisons are almost ludicrous.  

         He describes the “battle on the great day of God the Almighty” (verse 16:14) as “the apocalyptic conflict in which the forces of evil are to be finally defeated and destroyed.”

         Although some critics regard verse 16:15 as a “displacement from another chapter…or else a scribal interpolation…” Rist considers that John has placed this “beatitude” here on purpose to warn people to be on guard and to give assurance.  He interprets the “garments” as “garments of immortality.”  

         Rist comments that Armageddon “like the number 666, has been magnified in popular thinking out of all proportion to its significance.”  Rist mentions some “solutions” to the meaning of the term.  Some believe it is a corruption of Hebrew for “his fruitful mountain.”  I am very limited in access to Hebrew.  Using Young’s concordance, I could not find a Hebrew word for “fruitful” that would come close to any of the syllables of Armageddon.”  Others suggest it comes from the Hebrew for “the desirable city.” I could not find anything helpful along these line in Young’s.  He indicates the interpretation that is more agreed on is “the mountains of Megiddo.” Because the area near Megiddo was where a number of battles were fought, “the name Armageddon was used by John to symbolize the site of the eschatological conflict between the cohorts of God and Satan.”  He notes that there are no “mountains of Megiddo,” but one can consider that “the term refers to the mountains in the neighborhood of Megiddo.”  He speculates that John refers to mountains because he follows Ezekiel, who says “the conflict was to take place on ‘the mountains of Israel.’”  (See Ezekiel 38-39.)  He concludes that the “derivation…is not as important as the fact that John has chosen this memorable name to signify the final battle between the forces of good and evil, a battle in which the latter will overthrown and destroyed.”

VERSES 16:17-21

         Rist compares three announcements from heaven:  

Verse 11:15:  Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

Verse 16:17:  The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

Verse 21:6:  And he said to me, “It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.

He is not necessarily equating these three, but notes that each is a “divine exclamation” announcing the completion of the “apocalyptic drama.”

         He also notes the parallels between the “phenomena” of verse 16:18 and 11:19.  He could have also mentioned similar phenomena in verse 8:5. He compares the earthquake of 11:13 to the one of 16:18-19, the latter being even worse than the former.  He considers the mention of Babylon in the latter part of verse 16:19 to be evidence to identify “the great city” in the first part of the verse with Babylon.  He further identifies Babylon with Rome.  He considers that this is the fulfillment of the predictions of 14:8 and 14:10.  In those verses Babylon is described as “fallen” and the followers of the Beast are promised that they would drink the wine of the wrath of God.  He believes that “the cities of the nations” in 16:19 are pagan cities outside the Roman Empire.  (Why he concludes that is not clear.)

         Rist notes that in 6:14 the mountains and islands were removed, and this is similar to 16:20. He concludes that this “is just one of the indications that the different series of plagues are not actually to be considered as following one upon the other, but are probably…differing versions of the same series of eschatological woes preparing the way for the end of the world and age.”  I believe that another interpretation would be that seventh of each of the series is at the same end point, but that the later series may fill in chronology that is implied by earlier series.  

         He notes that the hailstones (16:21) weighed about a talent and that is about a 100 pounds.  The plague of hail does not bring repentance, but only cursing of God.  

         He notes that the hailstones complete the seven bowl plagues and, so, “the end is at hand.”  However, he says, “a number of events are yet to occur before the final act of this cosmic drama is staged.”

MORRIS (191-202)

         In his introduction to this chapter, Morris notes that there are some similarities to other plagues, the plagues of Exodus and the trumpet plagues in Revelation.  However, there are differences of extent.  For example, in the bowl plagues, people are directly attacked in the very first plague (sores), whereas this is not true of the early plagues in Exodus or the trumpet plagues.  He quotes Swete to say of the bowl plagues:  “They are not tentative chatisements, but punitive and final.” Morris says:  “It is this air of finality which sets this series of plagues off from all the others.”  

VERSE 16:1-2

         The “great voice” or “loud voice” from the temple is likely from God himself.

VERSE 16:3

         He compares this plague, of the sea turning to blood, with the second trumpet plague, which only affected one-third of the sea.  This reminds us that we are “face to face with the last plagues.”

VERSES 16:4-7

         He states that the Jews understood that various angels were given charge over “specific areas of the universe,” so an “angel in charge of the waters” is not surprising.  He notes that the fact that the altar speaks can be related to the fact that a voice came from the horns of the altar in 9:13. He also considers that it is significant that the altar is connected with the prayers of the saints and the fire of the altar brings about judgment in 8:3-5.  

VERSES 16:8-9

         He comments on the King James, “it was given,” (verse 16:8), which is “it was allowed” in ESV.  This “reminds us once more that God is over the whole process.”  He notes that men did not repent and the consequence is that they failed to give God glory.  He also notes that in verse 16:9 there is again a mention of the sovereignty of God in that God has power over the plagues.

VERSES 16:10-11

         He describes the results of pouring the fifth bowl onto the throne of the Beast as “curious.”  He says this because he notes that there is no reason given for the darkness nor the pain.  He surmises that the pain came from the sores of the first plague and the burning of the fourth plague.  He believes that it is possible that the darkness comes from “a waning of the power of the beast…”  As with the fourth bowl, “the sinners reacted in the wrong way.”  They blasphemed God.  They “were preoccupied with their pains…”  “Even grievous pain did not awaken them to the realities of the situation.”

VERSES 16:12-16

         The sixth bowl “resulted in men being prepared for the End.  It did not usher in the End, but prepared for it.”  He considers that the drying up of the Euphrates is parallel to the “drying up of waters…” in several Old Testament accounts.  He mentions the Red Sea in Exodus 14:21 and the Jordan in Joshua 3:16ff.  In both of these accounts “dry ground” is mentioned.  However, in both cases the central miracle is the parting of the waters. The Red Sea water was parted and this allowed the sea bed to become dry.  The Jordan River was halted and the waters “piled up” well upstream and this allowed the river bed to become dry.  He also refers to prophetic passages concerned with end-times and the nation of Israel.  In three Scriptures—Isaiah 11:15, Jeremiah 51:36, Zechariah 10:11—there are mentions of bodies of water or rivers being dried up or otherwise rendered passable. In all these cases, Israel is enabled to get where it needs to go.  

         He also quotes Swete, who refers to an ancient historical incident:  Cyrus of the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon by damming the Euphrates so his army could march into the city.  Swete says:  “a new Babylon is to be surprised [the Babylon of chapters 17 and 18], and the drying up of the river marks the removal of the last obstacle to its fall.”

         Morris refers to the Parthians and the “Nero redivivus” myth.  The reference to the drying of the Euphrates would evoke fears of the Parthians with Nero at their head.  Morris says: “John is suggesting that at the end all these fears and more will be realized.”  But Morris emphasizes that Revelation is not simply expressing fears of the late first century.  Morris believes that this is saying that “at the end of time the divided forces of evil will engage in a terrible conflict.”  However, he also notes that “kings” of the east are not mentioned again in the book.

         He comments on the three unclean spirits and concludes that the “false prophet” is the “beast from the earth” (13:11).  He considers the frogs to evoke “evil associations”—such as slime and meaningless croaking, “but no solid achievement.”  But the “main idea” is that the evil spirits are like the “’lying spirit’ who [enticed] Ahab into battle (I Kings 22:21ff).”  However, these spirits entice “the whole world into battle.”  He points out that, although the “dirty spirits” are enticing the leadership of the world, their activity is leading up, not to their day, but to the Day of the Lord.  That day “is associated with the culmination of divine purposes.”  

         He points out that the “interjection” from Jesus is “seen against the gathering forces of evil.” Jesus uses “thief” to mean his coming is “unheralded and totally unexpected.”  The “thought [of the warning to be clothed] is that believers caught unprepared will be put to shame at the critical time in the world’s history. They will be like those outside the people of God.”

         In 16:16, it is the evil spirits who gather the kings and their armies to Armageddon.  He considers this name to be “symbolic…but its meaning is uncertain.”  He discusses the problems (that there is no mountain, but, rather, a plain, etc.).  He suggests that the “mountain” is “the great mound on which the city stood…”  He refers to the battle between Israel, led by Deborah and Barak, and the forces of the Canaanite King Jabin, led by Sisera (Joshua 4).  The battle is described in Joshua 5:19 as near to Megiddo.  It was a battle won by the Lord, and Morris believes that “the deliverance under Deborah [sets] the pattern” for the “final overthrow of all the forces of evil by an almighty God.”

VERSES 16:17-21

         He describes this bowl as “the complete fragmentation of earthly life.”  The bowl is poured into the air, “which was held to be uniquely the abode of demons…The evil spirits are being attacked in their own element.” His interpretation of “the great city” is:  “It stands for civilized man, man in organized community, but man ordering his affairs apart from God.  It symbolizes the pride of human achievement, the godlessness of those who put their trust in man.  This great city is now shattered.”  He notes that, as the “great city” falls, so do the cities of the nations.  He notes that “nowhere” in the book is there an expression as emphatic as that which describes God’s wrath on Babylon.

         He notes that Zechariah 14:10 looks to a time when the mountains of Israel will become a plain, just as the mountains disappear in 16:20.  He notes that verse 16:21 uses a special Greek word (sphodra) to indicate the severity of the plague of hailstones.  He comments that the disaster is a “decisive event.”

LADD (209-219)

         Ladd introduces the chapter by saying that the bowl plagues “must be seen in the context of the titanic struggle between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan…[These plagues] are the outpouring of [God’s] wrath upon…the beast—and upon those who have given their loyalty to him.”  

VERSES 16:1-2

         The plague of sores is upon the people who have been enticed by the Beast.  The only ones who have not done so are those “who are loyal to the Lamb…In the end-time, religion will be no longer a merely nominal thing; all men will have to declare their loyalty for Christ or for Antichrist.”

VERSE 16:3

         There is no limitation on this plague—such as was seen in the Exodus plague of blood or in the trumpet plague of blood.

VERSES 16:4-7

         Again, there is no limitation:  all of the fresh water is affected.  The comments of the “angel of the water” and of the altar declare that God’s judgments are not “arbitrary and capricious but are true and just.  In the end, God’s acts of judgment will be completely vindicated.”

VERSES 16:8-9

         The plague is not due to anything “inherent in the sun’s heat, but is due to the sovereign judgments of God overruling the processes of nature.”  Ladd notes that, although the people know that God is the source of their affliction, their hearts are “hard and recalcitrant…because of the choice…to follow the beast…”  Therefore, rather than repent, they curse God.

VERSES 16:10-11

         The bowl is poured out “directly upon the center of the beast’s power.”  Ladd believes that the intense darkness magnifies the pain from previous plagues.  Again, he notes that people do not repent, but, instead, curse God.

VERSES 16:12-16

         As did Morris, Ladd refers to Isaiah 11:15 (as well as 11:16) as an example of how the “prophets…looked upon the drying up of the river Euphrates as the prelude to the gathering of God’s…people…”  In this instance from Revelation, the drying of the River is “the removal of the barrier which holds back the pagan hordes.”  Whereas some see a “civil conflict” between the kings of the east and the rest of civilization (see Morris above), Ladd rejects this.  He believes the pagans “join forces with the kings of the whole (civilized) world to do battle with Messiah…”  He rejects the idea that the “kings from the east” is a reference to Parthians under Nero.  He believes that these kings become allies of the Beast.  This is not consistent with the Nero myth, in which the Parthians attack Rome.  

         Ladd notes, as do other commentators, that there is a reference to the “false prophet.”  He concludes, with Morris, that the false prophet is the beast “rising out of the earth” (ESV) of 13:11.  The three spirits that are like frogs are “John’s way of describing the demonic inspiration of the foes of God in the last great battle.” He goes on to say that “this is no mere military or political movement but the manifestation in eschatological history of the age-long struggle between God and Satan.”  

         He discusses the term “the great day of God the Almighty.”  He refers to various phrases, such as “day of the Lord” or “day of the Lord Jesus Christ” that are found in the New Testament.  He rejects the idea that these terms refer to different days, but insists that the terms are “interchangeable.”  He defines “the day of the Lord” as “the time when the total redemptive purpose of God will be consummated, both for salvation and judgment, both for individuals, the church, and the whole creation.”  He states that “John sees” hatred, hostility, and persecution reaching “a last grand finale” in the final battle.  He refers to Old Testament references to this battle in Psalm 2:2-3, Isaiah 5:26-30, Jeremiah 6:1-5, Ezekiel 38, and Joel 3:9-15.  

         Jesus’ “interjection” in verse 16:15 is a reassurance to the “church.”  He assures his people that war led by the Beast “is not the ultimate reality; the ultimate reality is the fact of the Lord’s return.”  That Christ comes like a thief refers to the “unexpectedness” of his return.  Referring to I Thessalonians 5:4, Ladd states that this unexpectedness is only for those who are unprepared.  For those who are ready, Christ’s return will be a “glad deliverance” from their situation. He argues that people have misconstrued the blessing on the one who “stays awake.”  The King James Version translates this “watcheth.”  Therefore, many, says Ladd, have believed this supports a “Pretribulation Rapture” theory.  (See below for my additional commentary.) Although “watch” is a possible translation, Ladd argues that the main meaning is to “stay awake.”  Probably the best argument for this is in Mark 13:32-37.  In that passage, Jesus is warning that the time of his coming is unknown.  Therefore, it is important to “keep awake” (Mark 13:33).  The Lord uses the analogy of a man who goes on a journey and returns suddenly.  The disobedient servant will be “asleep” (Mark 13:36).  The contrast, then, is between being awake and being asleep. So, the same message, most likely, is conveyed in Revelation 16:15:  to keep awake.

         My additional commentary: It should also be noted that the context of 16:15 is importance.  It is difficult to see how this verse can be related to warning saints in the Pretribulational period, since it is set squarely within the Tribulational period. So, using this verse to rationalize a Pretribulational Rapture does not seem logical.

         Ladd goes on to explain that for a person to be spiritually asleep in this context is “to lose sight of the ultimate issues of life and to assume security is to be found on the human level instead of in terms of one’s relationship to Christ.”  He goes on to say that John assumes that this spiritual sleep is not characteristic of the last-days church “in spite of the triumphant rule of the beast among the nations.”

         He explains the warning about not being naked in 16:15 is a “summons to spiritual diligence.”  He refers to 3:17-18, which describes the church at Laodicea as “naked” because of its “spiritual poverty.”

         He considers verse 16:16 to resume the narrative of the unclean spirits who entice the kings to battle. They are brought to Armageddon. “This is preparatory for the actual battle which takes place in 19:11ff…”  He discusses, as do other commentators, the meaning of “Armageddon.” He concludes that no clear explanation for the name can be determined.  Nevertheless, “John means by Armageddon the place of the final struggle between the powers of evil and the Kingdom of God.” 

VERSES 16:17-21

         Ladd believes that the description of the seventh bowl is a “proleptic statement of the judgment of God upon Babylon.”  This judgment is detailed in chapters 17 and 18.  

         Verse 16:17 uses a “literary technique..of announcing a completed fact, and later expounding the content of that fact.”  

         Verse 16:18 mentions “apocalyptic phenomena” that are “common manifestations of the divine power and glory.”

         These phenomena result in the “complete collapse of the godless human civilization” (verse 16:19). He considers the “great city” of 11:8 to be Jerusalem, but, in 16:19, the “great city” is Babylon.  This “utter ruin” that is caused by an earthquake “is described in different terms in the two chapters that follow.”  The announcement of the fall of the “cities of the nations” is “proleptic” of the war of the Lamb against the ten kings, which is announced in 17:12-14.  Ladd points out the mirror images of the two cups:  the cup of wine of sexual immorality (14:8) offered by Babylon to the world and “the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.” (16:19)  This wrath comes from God as he “remembered Babylon the great.”  Ladd notes that, in the short term, the reign of Antichrist makes it appear that “God has forgotten his people,” but he remembers and gives Babylon “her just due.”

         Ladd considers the description (16:20) of the islands fleeing and the mountains being flattened to describe “proleptically the consummation.”  It is the anticipation “of the breakup of the old order.” Although this is possible, I think it is jarringly out of place.  The chapter has been progressing through what we might call “penultimate” (just short of the ultimate) events.  The very next verse (16:21) continues within that timeline.  Why does this verse leap-frog to the situation described in 20:11 and 21:1?  Is it not more likely that the immense upheaval of the overthrow of Babylon and associated cities (which is described in chapters 17-18) is referred to by 16:20?

         Ladd’s comment on 16:21 is very brief.  He only says that the hailstones would be over a hundred pounds.

JOHNSON

         In his introduction to the chapter, Johnson notes similarities and differences between the seven bowls of wrath and the seven trumpet judgments and the plagues of Exodus. He notes that, as with the other series, there is an attack on earth, sea, rivers, and sky, which are the “traditional divisions of nature.”  He notes, as do other commentators, that the bowl judgments involve directly the suffering of people.  They also are much more complete than, for example, the trumpet judgments—“all” rather than “a third.”  The last three bowl judgments are “social and spiritual” and “shift from nature to humanity.” He asks whether the judgments should be taken more or less literally, and he believes “less literally.” Nevertheless, “they depict God’s sure and righteous judgment that will one day be literally and actually done in the world.”

         His comments on the first three bowls are very brief.  He refers to verses 16:5-7 as the “dialogue between the angel and the altar.”  The blood in the water “vindicates the blood of the martyrs.” The choice is clear:  “Peaople must choose whether to drink the blood of saints or to wear robes dipped in the blood of the Lamb.”

         In commenting on those who curse God in response to their pain from the heat of the sun in verses 16:8-9, he remarks that “their problem goes beyond the awful physical pain and is moral and spiritual.”

         In discussing the darkness on the throne of the Beast in verses 16:10-11, he says the throne “symbolizes the seat of worldwide dominion for the great satanic system of idolatry.”  He understands the darkness to mean that the “system” (of Beast worship) is disrupted, which is chaotic for those who seek “life and meaning in it.”  It is a “moral and spiritual” darkness.

         In his comments on 16:12-16, he rejects the idea of some that the description of the events of the sixth trumpet and of the sixth bowl are essentially the same.  They both mention the Euphrates and groups from the east, but otherwise they are quite different.  The events in the sixth bowl are preparatory for the kings of the east to meet God in battle.  Johnson considers the mention of the Euphrates to signal two evils found in Revelation—Babylon and the entrance of the “evil hordes” (of 9:13ff).  “Thus in mentioning the Euphrates by name, John is suggesting that the unseen rulers of this world are being prepared to enter into a final and fatal battle with the Sovereign of the universe.”  He rejects two ideas about the warfare that is referred to in 16:12-16:  one is that this represents the Parthians attacking the Roman Empire and the other is that it represents a future “political” invasion of Israel.  Johnson seems to believe that the future battle (which is the Battle of Armageddon) is much bigger than what human beings can muster. Rather, he calls what is about to take place as the “eschatological defeat of the forces of evil, [which he believes is symbolized by] the kings from the East.”  The “froglike evil spirits” deceive the kings and gather them to Armageddon.

         The warning from Jesus to be alert is to warn against “satanic deception.”  It is relevant for any time in history, but, in the gospels, these kind of warnings are connected with the return of Christ.  He rejects the idea that John is “reinterpreting the second coming of Christ” as simply found in “the crises of history.”  John is dealing with “eschatological judgment.”  

         Johnson does not believe that Armageddon is a reference to the city of Megiddo, but is a symbolic name. He considers various possibilities. He argues for one possible meaning from the Hebrew:  “His place of gathering in troops.”  It “would allude to the prophetic expectation of the gathering of the nations for judgment (Joel 3: 2, 12).”  He dismisses any possibility of discovering a geographical location for Armageddon and maintains that it is symbolic and “describes the eschatological confrontation where God will meet the forces of evil in their final defeat.”  He quotes Mounce:  “The great conflict between God and Satan, Christ and Antichrist, good and evil, which lies behind the perplexing course of history will in the end issue in a final struggle in which God will emerge victorious and take with him all who placed their faith in him. This is Har-Magedon.” He adds:  “Nevertheless, the name refers to a real point in history and to real persons who will encounter God’s just sentence.”

         He describes the lightning, thunder, etc. as symbols of the destruction of evil.  He considers the earthquake as symbolic of God’s judgment that reaches the “strongholds of organized evil” in pagan cities.  He asks the question whether the descriptions, which are “geophysical” (islands disappearing, huge hailstorms), are really describing the destruction of “merely natural or even of politico-historical entities,” or whether we should understand this to be the destruction “exclusively of the unseen powers of evil.”  He considers that there is, in the passage a “rising pitch of God’s wrath on the rebellious powers of the earth.”  He does not see in this passage merely reference to Rome’s evil or to a first-century crisis for the church.  Rather, he understands this chapter is referring to end-time events: “He is speaking of the great realities of the end, when God has put down all his enemies.”

REFERENCES

Crossway Bibles (2009-04-09). ESV Study Bible. Good News 

         Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Green, Michael. The Second Epistle of Peter and the Epistle of Jude. 

         Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 18.  R. V. G. Tasker,

         Gen. Ed. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1980.

Johnson, Alan F.  Revelation.  The Expositor’s Bible

Commentary, Revised Edition. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, Gen. Ed.  Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 2006.

Ladd, George Eldon.  A Commentary on the Revelation of John.

 Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1972.

Morris, Leon.  The Revelation of St. John.  Tyndale New

 Testament Commentaries. Vol. 20.  R. V. G. Tasker, Gen. 

  Ed. Grand Rapids:  William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1980.

Rist, Martin.  “The Revelation of St. John the Divine” Exegesis. 

         The Interpreter’s Bible.  Vol. XII. Nolan B. Harmon, Ed.  

         New York:  Abingdon Press, 1957.   

Zondervan NIV Study Bible.  Grand Rapids:  Zondervan Publ., 

         2002