Revelation 16:4-11

Revelation chapter 16. I want to read verses 4 to 7 to begin with. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and wast and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. where they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. And heard another out of the altar say, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous, are thy judgments. God blessed to us His sacred and holy word this morning. Now we said that the vile judgments, here correspond to, in some ways, to the previous trumpet judgments, only they’re more intense, more full in their judgment. Also, they remind you of the plagues of Egypt, which makes sense, since spiritually Jerusalem is called Egypt in chapter 11 and verse 8 that we have studied in the past. the saints in heaven sing the song of Moses, as we saw in chapter 15, as well as the song of the lamb. We said it is a song of deliverance from their enemies. When the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea, the children of Israel sang the song of triumph, that the Lord had destroyed their enemies. Here, we have the overthrow of Israel, apostate Israel, who, like Egypt of old, is now an enemy of the true people of God. So this is not a coincidence. For God calls these last judgments the seven last plagues, making you think of the account of the Exodus previously. And so we will look at them. We’ve looked at them. We’ve looked at the first. three judgments. The first vile judgment, and one and two, was this grievous sore that God put upon the Israelites. And we took that in a more literal sense. There’s no, we believe that certainly there were things like boils and sores that God caused to make them miserable, just as he sent the boils upon the Egyptians. in the book of Exodus as we studied prior. The second vow, judgment in verse three, the sea turns to blood. Here we talked about, it talks about the souls on the sea dying. And here we talked about the military actions of the Romans against the Jews who went out on the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Sea of Galilee to escape and act as pirates in some. ways and how the Romans went after them and slaughtered them and how the you know everything turned to blood the you know the Mediterranean Sea out on the coastline was all bloody as well as the Sea of Galilee and the bodies were piled up all over the place and we looked at Josephus’s account of that and looked at a couple episodes there with regard to that but we come now to the third vial and here we have the river and springs of water turned to blood. Now this plague corresponds again to the first Egyptian plague where the water is turned to blood and is somewhat similar to the third trumpet judgment. If you look at chapter 8 of Revelation and verses 10 and 11, we read these words and the third angel sounded and there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp and it fell upon the third part you see just a portion of the rivers and the fountains of waters and the name of the stars called wormwood and the third part of the waters became wormwood and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. Here we’re talking about the drinking water, the water supply of the Israelites. So this plague affects the drinking water of the Jews and to a the effects of the judgment you must understand the awful slaughter that took place of the Jews during this time period. In its war with Rome, during the sweeping and vicious assault of the Roman armies against the land, an enormous amount of blood was shed. Josephus describes it in this manner in his book three excuse me, yeah, book three, chapter four, paragraph one, this is what he says. Nor did the Romans, out of the anger they bore at this attempt, leave off either by night or by day, burning the places in the plane, or stealing away the cattle that were in the country, and killing whatsoever appeared capable of fighting perpetually, and leading the weaker people with slaves into captivity, that Galilee was all over filled with fire and blood. Josephus speaks also of the pollution of the Jordan River. You can imagine the other rivers and streams turning red because of the amount of blood, the slaughter that took place, and it would flow into these rivers, and it would turn the water to blood. Here’s what he said in his book 4, chapter 7, paragraph 6. The whole country through which they fled was filled with slaughter, and Jordan could not be passed over by reason of the dead bodies that were in it. The lake asphaltis, which I take as the Dead Sea, was also full of dead bodies that were carried down into it by the river. During the siege of Jerusalem, the blood flow was so great, it’s actually hard for us to amends. imagine how severe it was. It’s stunning. Here’s what he said. I’m going to give you a few phrases that he talks about. Blood ran down over all the lower parts of the city from the upper city. The outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood. The blood of all sorts of dead carcasses stood in the lakes in the holy courts. The whole city ran down with blood to such a degree. that indeed the fire of many of the houses was quenched by with men’s blood. All this is from Josephus in various sections of his wars, basically book four and also six. The pollution of the drinking water sources did occur during the siege of Jerusalem by the streams of actual blood that were flowing. Now, this judgment is a judgment of God, which is called just here. It’s driven by God’s perfect holiness. God is a God who punishes in kind. You reap what you sow. And the people upon whom this judgment falls are carefully identified. They have shed, verse 6, the blood of the soul. of the saints and the prophets. Now Jesus charged the Jews with the killing of the prophets and the saints in Matthew 23, verses 24 and verse 37. And what did the Jews do? They killed Jesus. Stephen in Acts chapter 7, verse 52, made the same charge, saying the Jews killed the prophets and Jesus. So what did the Jews do? They killed Stephen. Paul brought the same indictment against the people in 1st Thessalonians 214. So what did they do? They targeted him having and arrested and had him executed by the Roman government. Since the Jews took pleasure in the shedding of the blood of God’s servants, The Lord is praised for giving these evil people blood to drink. They deserve it. That’s what the text is telling us. Today’s apostate church would certainly have whore such a God. Wow, he’s so vindictive. But notice here the saints and the holy angels in heaven, sing God’s praises for being such a God. That he has avenged them when their blood was shed. And when they were harmed, the people of God as well as the holy angels give God praise for this. So the third vial here is the rivers and springs turn to blood. Any comments, questions, thoughts on this? Yes, Russell. Interesting. That’s an interesting observation. Yeah, interesting. It’s all seven in the book of Revelation. It’s always seven, but that’s always seven. But that’s interesting observation. Yes. all right, why don’t we go to the fourth vial? Let’s look at verses 8 and 9. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God which hath power over these plagues, and they repented not to give him glory. Now, the scriptures do not give us any record, nor does history, of the sun being heated, you know, seven times hotter, like Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace, and literally scorching men with its rays. I suppose if we believed in global warming, you could have a field day with this particular passage of scripture. Dangerous heat from the sun kills people. Yeah, that’d be the headlines. The Bible speaks of God’s protecting his people from the heat of the sun. And the reference is figurative when it’s used in this way. Look with me at Psalm 121, verses 5 to 7. Here’s what the psalmist says here. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. Preservation is here, shielding from evil, some type of harm that would come to them, which is described here as like the heat or the sun smiting them. And so the protection is they’re under God’s shadow. That’s a figurative way of using this. Look at Isaiah 49-10. Another passage in this regard. God says this here in his word, they shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them. For he that hath mercy on them shall lead them even by the springs of water shall he guide them. Now notice here, this heat or sun, smiteing. them is again, and used in a figurative sense. Look at one mother passage with me, and this was found in the book of Revelation in chapter 7, verses 13 to 17. One of the elders answered, saying unto me, which are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of the great tribulation. washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and serve him day and night in his temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat, where the lamb is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, shall lead them, unto the living water. unto the living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. So this sun lighting on them, or the heat of the sun burning down upon them is compared to the great tribulation that they came out of. It is the suffering that they came out. And so this is the idea that seems behind this text that we were looking at here in chapter 16. You remember when Israel came out of Egypt, and ended through the burning desert, the people were shielded because God gave them a cloud over them. At night it was a pillar of fire, so they had light. But during the day, it was a cloud, so they had sort of a shade that God protected them. So it would seem scripturally, for the sun to smite you means to be afflicted, to be oppressed, to be faint, to be miserable, because of some evil that has come upon. Here in our text here in Revelation 16, it seems to be that the scripture is saying that they will be without the protection of God, without divine mercy, and suffer under a great evil. There would be no means of protection. for them. It’s declaring, isn’t God declaring here, that apostate Israel is no longer his people. They’re not considered his people. He doesn’t protect them. And thus there is no hope of divine protection from this enemy invasion by the Romans. As Paul puts it, the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost in 1st, Vescelonians 112. So the heat of divine wrath falling on the Jews would be unmitigated. They’d get the full blast of it. There is no shade for them. It’s interesting to note that in the parable of the sower, in Matthew 13, verse 6, that Christ’s good word falls on the stony ground at one point. Whatever is produced by such a ground is superficial. And Christ says in that chapter, when the sun comes up, it is scorched, and it withers away. And then later he gives us the explanation. It’s persecution. It’s some type of suffering, he tells us. That these people, when they’re persecuted, they make a profession, but under persecution, under suffering. they abandon Christ. They don’t hold up. They wither. So Israel has rejected the gospel. Indeed, the very Christ who proclaimed it. Whatever religion Israel has right now, it’s a superficial religion. They have cast aside the truth. Now the sun has come up. its heat bears down upon the nation. It’s scorch. it’s going to wither away under the heat. Israel feeling this intense heat of God’s wrath does not, however, repent. It does not plead for mercy. Sadly, these apostates blasphying the name of God instead, revealing their true character that they’re haters of God. Josephus declares this about this ungodly generation in his book five chapter 12 paragraph 4 but these men were incapable of repenting of the wickedness they had been guilty of. And separating their souls from their bodies they used them both as if they belong to other folks and not to themselves. For no general affection could touch their souls, nor could any pain affect their bodies since they could still tear the dead bodies of the people as dogs do and fill the prisons with those that were sick. They were heartless and cruel. And he said, they’re incapable of repentant. Of course. Now, one of the curses for violating God’s covenant is this. In Deuteronomy 28, 22, The Lord shall smite thee with extreme burning. Interesting statement. And that’s exactly what he does here. So the fourth vial is that the sun’s scorching men with great heat. Any thoughts or comments on this? Any questions? Verse 22. Let’s look at the fifth vial. In verses 10 and 11. And 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 and blaspheming the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds. Now the first part of this verse 10 tells us that the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast and his kingdom was full of darkness. The majority of the judgments that we’ve been studying here in Revelation thus far. have all been against postate Israel. However, the beast who is also an enemy of Christ’s Church is dealt a serious blow by this divine play. Ultimately, this judgment, as we shall see, is going to have great repercussions for Israel, and that’s why I think it’s mentioned, as the last part of verse 10 and verse 11 indicate. Now the beast is the Roman Empire, as we’ve already studied. The seat of the beast would be where the emperor sits. He’s the ruler. So we’re talking here about a judgment that falls, it seems, on Caesar Nero himself. When the lights go out for a kingdom in Scripture, this symbolically portrays political turmoil, and the fall of rulers. We’ve talked about this in the past. Let me just direct your attention to one verse of scripture, just as an example of this. We’ve touched on this many times, so I don’t want to weary you. But let’s look at this one passage, Ezekiel 32, verses 7 and 8, because I think it’s interesting how this is stated for us, and it helps us in our present passage. Ezekiel 32 verses 7 and 8. Now in this passage, this is a lamentation against Egypt. God is going to bring the Babylonians and destroy Egypt and humble them greatly. And so verses 7 and 8, we read these words. And when I shall put the out, I will cover the heaven and make the stars there are of dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee and set darkness upon the land, set the Lord God. This is what we’re talking about in a similar sense here in the book of Revelation. Now, if this is talking about symbolically the putting out of the lights of a nation, the fall of rulers, the collapse of the nation itself. In other words, the idea is that of chaos, upheaval, dark days for a nation. Such a crisis occurred when Caesar Nero committed suicide in AD 68. This created a huge power struggle, which various men then fought for the position of being the next emperor. The Roman historian Tacitus refers to the worldwide convulsions that rocked the empire. Civil wars broke out all over the place. Certain provinces tried to break away from Rome. Gaul and Seltai the year AD 69, became known as the year of the four emperors. No one could hold power for more than six months. There was a series of rapid rise and falls of self-appointed successors to Nero. Galba, Otho, Lytallius, none reigned more than six months before Vespasian finally became the permanent emperor. The chaotic conditions in the capital city are described by Tacitus in his histories, Roman numeral 3, page 83. Let me just give you one brief passage here. Close by the fighting stood the people of Rome like an audience at a show. Cheering and clapping this side or that in turns as if this were a mock battle in the arena. Whenever one side gave way, men would hide in shop or take refuge in some great house. They were then dragged out and killed at the insistence of the mob, who gained most of the loot, for the soldiers were bent on bloodshed and massacre, and the booty fell to the crowd. The whole city presented a frightful carniture of its normal self, fighting in casualties at one point, baths and restaurants and another. here the spilling of blood and the litter of dead bodies, close by prostitutes and their like, all the vice associated with a life of idleness and pleasure, all the dreadful deeds typical of a pitiless sack. These were so intimately linked that an observer would have thought Rome in the grip of a simultaneous orgy of violence and dissipation. There had been indeed times in the peace. passed when armies had fought inside the city, twice when Lucius Sola gained control, once under Sinna, no less cruelty had been displayed then, but now there was a brutish indifference, not even a momentary interruption in the pursuit of pleasure. And if this were one more, as if this were one more entertainment in a festive season, they gloated over the horrors and profited by them, careless, which sort of, they were one more entertainment, slide one, engrowing in the calamities of the state. Josephus in his wars, 7, 4, and then 2 and 3, book 7, chapter 4, paragraphs 2, and 3, said this. Now, at the time, at the time when this great concussion of affairs occurred, the affairs of the Romans were themselves in great disorder. Those Jews also, who were in for innovations, insurrections, if you would, then arose when the times were disturbed, they also, in a flourishing condition for strength and riches in so much that the affairs of the East were then exceedingly tumultuous. While some hope for gain, others were afraid of loss in such troubles. For the Jews hoped that all their nation, which were beyond Euphrates, would have raised an insurrection together with them. The Gauls also in the neighborhood of the Romans were in motion. The seltai were not quieted, but all was in disorder after the death of Nero. So the throne of the beast is struck with darkness, and I suggest this is the idea. The Nero is killed, there’s chaos. It looks like the nation is going to collapse. Then, in verse’s second part of verse 10, in verse 11, we have here, the effect of this, Nero’s death, on the Jewish, postate Jewish people, the postate Israel. Notice it says here, and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasted Jews, and blasted Israel. Notice it says here, and the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds. The they here in verse 10 does not refer to the Romans, but to the Jews, who are the subject of the vile judgments, according to verse 1. Remember, the vials of God’s wrath are upon the earth or the land. Notice that they in verse 6, for they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and in verse 9, they repented not to give him glory. All refer to the Jews. And the same with verse 11. You notice that verse 11 talks about those because of their pains and their sores. What are what sores are we talking about? Well, the sores that are mentioned in verse 2. The grievous, noisome, grievous soar upon the men. So these are the same people that are being judged. So upon the death of Nero, Vespasian halted preparations for the assault on Jerusalem. Things were in upward. There was this long pause as he waited for some kind of orders from Rome as what he should do next. And he waited for the new emperor. But because the empire was in such chaos, he never could get anyone in control very long. So no orders came. So Vespasian subdued the few remaining pockets of resistance in Judean. His legions decided that they would proclaim him as the emperor. And so he set out gaining support from other generals throughout the empire. Vespasian subdued all the rivals to the throne, began to defeat the armies of all the revocene. rebellious provinces and pulled the empire out of its death spiral and took control. Now you would think that this reprieve from this relentless Roman assault would be a good thing for the Jews. And yet we read here that they nod their tongues for pain. And we’ve covered this in the past. This intense suffering came about. matters actually became worse. The various factions among the Jews, there were three of them, within the city, began fighting with one another. Stealing, burning each other’s food supplies. And it became unbearable for the people themselves in the city. Here’s how Josephus describes these unbearable conditions in his wars. Book Fund. chapter one paragraphs four and five if purposely to serve the Romans they were destroying all that the city had provided against the siege hamstringing the sinews of their own strength the result at any rate was that all the environs of the temple reduced to ashes the city became a desolate no-man’s land for their domestic warfare and almost all the grand which might have sufficed them for many years of siege was burned up it was due to famine that the city fell a fate which would have been practically impossible had they not paved away for themselves here’s the miseries of the people of the city the entire city was now beset on all sides by battling plotters and their rabble and between them the people were torn to bits like a huge carcass old men and women in their helpless state prayed for the Romans to come and look forward to the war outside, which would free them from the miseries within. Bitter despondency and alarm filled the hearts of loyal citizens. They had no chance to plan a change of policy, no hope of treaty or flight even if they wanted it. For watch was kept everywhere, and the brigadand, a brigand, and chiefs quarreling about everything else executed as common enemies all who were in favor of peace with the Romans or were suspected to intending to desert and were unanimous on only one thing to slaughter those desiring of deliverance. The shouting of the combatants rang on ceaselessly day and night. But no but more harrowing still, with the terrifying lamentations of the mourners. Their calamities provided, indeed, one cause of grief after another, but wailings were bottled up by consternation. And while afraid to voice their anguish, they were tormented with stifled groans. The living no longer counted for anything with their relatives. No one bothered to bury the dead. the reason for both everyone’s, the reason for both being everyone’s despair of his own life, for those who did not take part in the Civil War lost interest in everything, momentarily expecting certain death. The rival parties, meanwhile, were locked in strife, trampling over the dead bodies that were piled upon each other, and impaling draughts of frenzy from the corpses at their feet. they became even more savage. They were constantly devising some new instrument of mutual destruction. And relentlessly putting every new plan into practice, they left no method of outrage or brutality untried. This is the conditions inside the city. So the increased intensity of suffering among the Jews was tremendous. and yet the author here John tells us through God’s revelation, they still didn’t repent. Great suffering by itself will not produce repentance. It is a gift of God. There’s no mending of their evil ways. They need God’s grace to change their heart and they have to have none. So they continued to harden their hearts against God and blaspheme his name. So here’s the fifth vile judgment. The striking of the beast, which makes a delay, which makes conditions inside the city unbearer as this like civil war between these three factions are taking place. And the effect this has on apostate israel. I’m going to stop at this point. Any other questions or comments? Yes. He tried to compromise, but he wouldn’t, yeah, he really, didn’t repent at all. In fact, the Bible says heart was hardened. Yeah. And we have the same kind of idea here. That’s right. Anything else? Before we close? All right.