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Sermon preached on Revelation 15:5-16:21 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/27/2025 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
We come to last of the three major cycles of seven in Revelation, following the seven seals and the trumpets. After completing the seven trumpets we had that central interlude that displayed the cosmic battle of good and evil, with the evil forces represented by the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Today we will work through these seven bowls where we see God’s wrath symbolically pictured as being poured out upon the wicked in this world as we approach the final end of this age. This warns all to repent before Christ returns while there is still time. It also comforts Christians that God is not unaware that enemies are afflicting us. Indeed, these seven bowls are part of his response.
Let us begin in our first point by considering how we should generally understand these seven bowls, which are also called the seven plagues in chapter 15. In terms of timing, our approach to them should be similar to how we handed the seven seals and the seven trumpets. The seven bowls have certain similarities to the seals and the trumpets, suggesting a similar approach. For both the seals and the trumpets, they give a general picture of the time between Christ’s first and second comings before they conclude with Christ returning in final judgment and victory. Such final events were described in the sixth and seventh seals, and in the seventh trumpet. We can see something similar here with the sixth and seventh bowls, with the sixth bowl describing a “Last Battle” just before the seventh bowl concludes with Christ’s final victory. All three cycles of seven finish with this same language of peals of thunder, rumbling, lightning, and earthquake, suggesting God’s coming at the end, and further confirming their parallel nature.
While we can see similarity with both the seven seals and trumpets, the bowls especially parallel the trumpets. The trumpets and the bowls directly surround that central interlude of the dragon and two beasts, showing their parallel nature. Both are described as plagues of God’s judgment and allude back to the Egyptian plagues from Exodus. Furthermore, the domain of judgment for each trumpet and bowl generally correspond. The first bowl and trumpet both target the land, the second of each target the sea, the third target the rivers and springs, the fourth target the heavenly bodies, i.e. the sky. The fifth both generally target humans, and the sixth target the Euphrates River.
Yet, there are at least two main differences between the trumpets and bowls, and they help us to understand how to understand the bowls. The first main difference is the extent of the damage. With the trumpets, the damage they brought was partial, most describing a third of this or that being destroyed. In contrast, the bowls seem to have a more extensive judgment, such as in the second bowl when all the living things in the sea die, not just a third of them. A second main difference is described in 15:1 when the seven bowls were first introduced. There it says that these plagues are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. There is a finality of these bowls of wrath that was not the case with the trumpets. So then, this all fits well with how we considered the trumpets. When we studied the trumpets, we described them as warning blasts. Each trumpet plague became a call for people to repent before something worse happened to them. The bowls are the something worse. There bowls represent an escalation of God’s wrath in terms of extent and finality. Trumpets represented an initial start of God’s wrath upon the wayward world, the bowls represent the finishing of it.
Two clarifications. One, these bowls finish God’s wrath given to the wicked in this age, but they will still have to face God’s final punishment in eternity. The bowls describe the final and full divine wrath the wicked experience in this life. After that, they face the final judgment that we’ll study in chapter 20. The wicked will then be cast into an eternal lake of fire as their final, eternal punishment.
A second clarification is about the timing. Even though the bowls express the finality of God’s wrath, that doesn’t mean they only come at the end of this age as Christ returns. When we consider the combined dynamic of the trumpets and the bowls, we can recognize them throughout this age. The trumpets start what the bowls finish. Consider a drug addict who had a few close calls that should have warned him before that one time he does overdose and dies. It’s like how the ancient city of Jericho had those trumpet blasts that warned the city before God’s wrath was finally and fully poured out, and the walls came crashing down. If you think about, every time a non-Christian dies, they have personally experienced their final bowl of God’s wrath in this life. It becomes for them then too late to repent. So, this second clarification is that the finality of God’s wrath in the bowls doesn’t mean the timing is different than the other cycles of seven. These bowls of wrath are happening right now in this age.
With that explanation of how to approach these seven bowls, let us now look at this opening section in 15:1-8 that sees these bowls released from the heavenly sanctuary. Verse 5 draws our attention to heaven where we see the tent, the tabernacle, of witness. This is the same language as we find in Exodus 38:21 that talked about the tabernacle that God had Moses establish along with the ark of the covenant. Let us appreciate the continued Exodus theme here. Last passage referenced the Song of Moses reminding us how God conquered that beast-like Pharoah at the Red Sea. What happened after that with Moses and Israel was that they went to Sinai and God gave them the law as a testimony and the tabernacle for his presence among them. So, just as Moses and Israel had victory over Pharoah and then received the tabernacle of witness, so too us here. Moses and Israel would need what the tabernacle of witness represented as they headed toward the Promised Land and the enemies that awaited them there. That same thought is here for God’s people as we await Jesus to lead us into the eternal Promised Land. Before that happens, we see God’s wrath is poured out from this heavenly tabernacle of witness.
Let us appreciate that this wrath comes from God. We can see this in verse 8 with the sanctuary filled with smoke from the glory and power of God as this judgment is poured out. This apocalyptic imagery continues to remind us of Moses, especially his time at Sinai. Sinai was covered in smoke in Exodus 19 because of the LORD’s fiery presence there. Likewise, once the tabernacle was built, God’s presence descended upon it in the cloud so that Moses couldn’t enter it while the cloud was there, Exodus 40:34. This highlights God’s power and glory in pouring out his wrath. It means we should praise God for such.
God’s wrath upon the wicked also represents answered prayer. This is seen by how verse 7 describes these seven bowls as “golden bowls”. Back in chapter 5, verse 8, we also saw golden bowls. Those were bowls of incense, which we were told represented the prayers of the saints. Those prayers were explained in the fifth seal as what the martyred Christians prayed from under the altar in heaven, saying, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Now we see golden bowls again, this time from the altar to pour out God’s wrath on a world that has afflicted such martyred Christians. I hope the connection is obvious. We can see these the golden bowls of wrath are part of how God’ answers the prayers for vindication represented by the golden bowls of incense.
Let us lastly turn to consider the content of each bowls as God’s finished wrath on earth during this age. Let me note that while we try to interpret the symbolism here, we will continue to wrestle with how closely we should apply the imagery versus taking a more figurative approach. A more literal interpretation shouldn’t be fully ruled out, especially as we head toward the end, because we know that this heaven and earth will literally pass away before being made into a new heaven and earth. So, even the most literal cataclysmic language here might look ultimately to that. But we can certainly see symbolic expressions of what is described here already occurring.
The first bowl in verse 2 brings God’s wrath to the people who took the beast’s mark and worshipped his image. They foolishly gave their allegiance to that false Christ and became practitioners of false religion. While the first trumpet’s striking of the earth burned up of third of the plant life on the land, here it is people on the land who are struck. In poetic justice, those marked by the beast receive marks of painful sores, reminiscent of the Egyptian boil plague. Unlike the fifth trumpet that affected humans with scorpion stings for five months, no such time limit is given here for this wrath that physically afflicted humans. This punishment may refer to some literal bodily affliction God’s wrath brings on such false worshippers or it may possibly refer to a more figurative description of how they will get the punishment they deserve.
The second bowl in verse 3 brings divine wrath to the sea by turning it to blood, reminiscent of the Egyptian Nile plague, and resulting in all living things dying in it. While the second trumpet also turned the sea to blood, yet only a third of the sea and ships were destroyed. To lose all those fish would represent a massive loss of food and have devasting economic effect to say the least. This punishment may thus represent God’s wrath to destroy the economic centers of pagan society that is so tied up with both the fishing industry and also maritime trade. It is possible it may also suggest that the sea as a figurative source of chaos and evil is also completely being destroyed.
The third bowl in verses 4-7 brings God’s wrath to the rivers and springs. All the fresh water gets turned into blood. In contrast, the third trumpet had turned the water into wormwood, something unsafe to drink, but only a third of it. While the Bible speaks of blood as the life of a person, water is truly lifeblood for our survival. Humans can last a while without food, not long without water. What is especially notable in this third bowl is the song elicited in verses 5-6 and the related affirmation in verse 7. It says the wicked are justly made to drink blood because they shed the blood of saints and prophets. This reflects the lex talionis principle, “an eye for an eye.” This song really stands out in the seven bowls. Most of the bowls are relatively short accounts. But here, somewhat in the middle, it takes a moment to sing about how just God is in his wrath, and how it is payback for what the wicked did to God’s people. I think we would be right to apply that to all these bowls. This is a central principle of retributive justice, that the wicked get what they deserve. Likewise, it is a direct answer to prayer of those martyrs in the fifth seal that prayed that their blood would be avenged. So, this bowl is not simply about God destroying fresh water sources, or bringing drought, but about God assuring us that he is vindicating us before a world that persecutes us, giving them exactly what they deserve.
The fourth bowl in verses 8-9 displays divine wrath affecting the sun. Yet, while the fourth trumpet struck a third of the sun, moon, and stars to darken them, here the sun is made to start scorching people. One could imagine extreme global warming or even the beginnings of a supernova in the most literal sense. But we can especially think about this as a reflection of God removing his common grace from wicked man. Why should God keep sending the sun and rain in just the right amounts to water and feed humans who reject him?
The fifth bowl in verses 10-11 describe God’s wrath being poured out of the throne of beast, bringing darkness into his kingdom, and the related complaint by the wicked people who belong to such a kingdom. The fifth trumpet also afflicted humans, there through demons who afflicted them with temporary sores. Here, the people with their sores curse God in anger for his wrath. Remember, that the beast was presented as a messianic figure, and thus represented a king who is also a religious object of false worship. While described as bringing a darkness reminiscent of that Egyptian plague, it surely represents some chaos that God brings to trouble this devilish kingdom that looks to conquer the saints and promote false religion. This very kingdom is demonically inspired, yet that fifth trumpet described that the trouble it brought to humans was through demons. It is not hard to reconcile that both can be true, that demons both afflict humans and cause humans to get in trouble with God.
The sixth bowl is an interesting one in that God’s wrath causes the great Euphrates River to be dried up. This river is mentioned all the way back in Genesis 2 and obviously had been a source of life, commerce, transportation, and even protection for humans, especially Babylon. It also served as a natural barrier to provide some separation of God’s people in Israel from Babylon in the north and east. Yet, here it is dried up, which simultaneously hurts Babylon, and paves the way for the Last Battle to come from the east against God’s people. Interestingly, the sixth trumpet saw four fallen angels released at the Euphrates River to bring some demonic army to afflict a third of the people with three plagues. Surely there is some parallel between that sixth trumpet and the sixth bowl. For here, these demonic actors of the dragon, beast, and false prophet also release three frogs that are really unclean spirits which are used to deceive people with signs. Ultimately, they trick people into gathering together into one final grand evil army to stand against the Lord in some final Last Battle. It seems likely that the sixth trumpet’s demonic affliction of humans are the beginning of what happens here in the sixth bowl where this demonic army of humans is formed.
Here this Last Battle is described as Armageddon. That name might refer to the location of the battle in Meggido or more likely Hebrew for “Mount of Assembly” referring to Zion from a prophecy in Isaiah 14:23. There are several places where the Bible speaks of a final climactic battle at the end of human history where the wicked nations will gather as a huge powerful army against God’s people to try to finally destroy them. This army will seem to initially conquer the saints, but they will be ultimately defeated because Christ will save his people from this army in that Last Battle. This Last Battle is likely referenced several others places in Revelation, including the war against the Lamb in chapter 17, the battle in chapter 19 against the armies of the beast and the kings of the earth, and the battle of Gog and Magog in chapter 20 after Satan is loosed for a little while. It might also be mentioned briefly in 11:7 and 13:7 when it mentions the beast conquering the saints. This very well may refer to a literal physical battle, though it might also describe warfare that is more sophisticated than machine guns and bombs. Rather, it may refer to some end times campaign to eradicate the church of Jesus Christ once and for all.
An encouragement is given by Jesus in verse 15. Despite how scary this Last Battle will be when the nations gather in war against God’s people, yet Christians should take heart. Jesus is coming again like a thief in the night. Let us not be caught asleep or naked by giving into fear to this evil army. Let us trust Jesus our Savior. He will return at just the right time to deliver us. When he does, all the soldiers in this evil global army will be caught off guard, asleep, and naked, at the great and terrible day of the Lord.
The seventh bowl reflects this final coming of Christ in victory. Not only is Babylon itself destroyed with great hailstones reminiscent of the Egyptian plague, but we have the words of verse 17. “It is done.” This complements what was said in 15:1, that these seven plagues of God’s wrath “finish” God’s wrath. This seventh bowl reflects the end of this human history, when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ and he will reign for ever and ever.
Trinity Presbyterian Church, at the end, Jesus will declare that God’s wrath is done, that is it is finished. Yet, we recognize that he said something similar before. As he hung dying on the cross to take away the sins of the saints, he said “It is finished.” If you are in Christ, God’s wrath due to you was already finished and done before you were even born. Jesus died to put away the sin for all who trust in him. Have you repented and blessed Jesus? Do you trust in him for forgiveness and eternal life? Sadly, after all these trumpet warnings, and even when the bowls started pouring out, still so many would not repent and instead cursed God. Don’t be caught naked or asleep at the end.
My friends, these seven bowls again remind us that there is no middle ground. You are either a baptized disciple of Christ, saved by his grace that finished God’s wrath for you in your place; or you are in league with the beast and under God’s eternal damnation. There are only these two sides. Let us not go limping between these two sides. The LORD is God, follow him. Not the beast. Jesus is King, worship him! He is coming again, let us be eagerly awaiting his return when he comes in the clouds to finish saving us.
Amen.
Copyright © 2025 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
