Chapters 15 and 16 must be read together, as the revelation of the closing scenes of the wrath of God. This must be the very close; as John saw “them that had gotten the victory over the beast” (Rev. 15:22And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. (Revelation 15:2)), they stand on the emblem of solid purity, yet mingled with fire, showing the tribulation out of which they had come. The theme of their song also is the coming reign.
Special attention is called to the fact, that “the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened” (Rev. 15:55And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: (Revelation 15:5)); and also that the seven executors of the wrath of God come out of the temple; and more, that one of the living creatures gave unto these seven angels the seven bowls, full of the wrath of God. Thus, as seraphim and cherubim combined bear witness to the worthiness of the Lamb, they also bear witness that the same wrath must be poured out. We have seen this in Revelation 8 in the third part of the earth in the sounding of the trumpets. Now it is on the earth. This is evidently the prophetic Roman earth: upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them that worshiped his name. The second angel poured out his vial or bowl upon the sea: those nations that surround the Roman earth, and are in a state of confusion. Then the third poured out his bowl of wrath on the rivers, or streams of distinct peoples.
In the midst of these judgments the angel of the waters, the one watching over the peoples, ascribes righteousness to the Lord, which art, and wast, the Holy One. And the altar responds, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments” (Rev. 16:77And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. (Revelation 16:7)). O, what a light the altar throws on the judgments that are about to be executed on an impenitent earth! Look at the pouring out of the wrath of God on the nations, and then pause, and gaze on the Son of God, once bearing the wrath of God on the cross. God is everlastingly the same. He will surely act according to the cross of Christ; whether in the purification of His saints, or in the pouring out of His wrath. What a key this is to understand this blessed book!
How often the burning victim on the altar of sacrifice had pointed forward to the consuming wrath of God, as seen on the cross! And now the fourth angel shall pour out his bowl of wrath upon the sun, and men are scorched with fire; and they will blaspheme the name of God. The supreme power becomes the source of scorching judgment; and there will be no repentance. How little men know what is coming on the earth!
The fifth angel will pour out his bowl on Rome, the seat of the beast. “And his kingdom was full of darkness” (Rev. 16:1010And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, (Revelation 16:10)). What a blank to all human hopes and delusions! It will be a foretaste of hell! the outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. “They gnawed their tongue for pain” (Rev. 16:1010And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, (Revelation 16:10)). Filled with blasphemy, they will not repent. Surely the time is at hand! These things are at the very door; and men heed them not. “The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates: and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared” (Rev. 16:1212And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (Revelation 16:12)). The Euphrates is the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. The boundary will be broken up, and a way opened for the kings of the east to come. This must bring Palestine into great prominence; and the western empire is moved by this to go forth to the great battle. The trinity of iniquity puts forth all its unclean power: unclean spirits like frogs go out of the mouth of the beast (the head of the empire), but the dragon is named first, and last the man of sin, the false prophet. Satan, the emperor, and the man of sin: what a trinity! Men will have these; but they reject the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they will receive and be led by the odious spirits that proceed from this terrible trinity of iniquity! And when the hosts of the east come against this apostate empire, they come as the bowl of the wrath of God. These things cannot have been yet fulfilled. The empire is not yet restored, and the man of sin has not yet appeared. Let not then the fancies of men take away your attention from the awfully solemn fact, that these things will surely soon come to pass!
The seventh angel poured out his vial or bowl of wrath into the air. A voice is heard out of the temple in heaven FROM THE THRONE, saying, “It is done” (Rev. 16:1717And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. (Revelation 16:17)), and very terrible is the convulsion of the empire at this closing scene of the pouring out of divine wrath. The cities of the nations fell: and can we not see a vast preparation going on, The world, though it rejects the testimony of God, yet seems to expect some such terrible convulsion, of which a mighty earthquake is a striking symbol. Then Babylon comes into remembrance. Ah, you may join her, ye rejecters of the gospel, but remember, in doing so, you voluntarily take upon yourselves her murders, and her guilt; and you must drink, with her, of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of the wrath of God. Dream not that these things have been fulfilled. Each of my readers will soon be either called up to meet the Lord, and be with Him, in unclouded rest, or be left, a rejecter of God, in these terrible and unparalleled judgments that are at the very doors.