Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah and to Part LVIII (58) of our study of the Book of Revelation, and to the concluding three plagues of the Seven Bowl or Vial Judgments. But before we do that, let's quickly review the first four plagues of the first 9 verses of chapter 16 as there has been a rather longish 4 month study break this time round and I suspect our minds will need substantially refreshing! I originally paused this study because of my rapidly deteriorating health so I may not be able to produce a new study each week as I did before so I will strictly play this by ear. If I can't manage, we will stop again. In the meantime, I strongly feel we need to finish this course before it gets forgotten amidst all the anticipated turning of events that will include passing the mantle of this ministry over to my successor. There are seven chapters left and a long winter in which to complete them so, Yah willing, we will see this to its completion!

First of all, in order to give a broad context to the 7 bowl or vial judgments (and indeed to all of the judgments hitherto), let's remember that we live in a deeply flawed world that has pretty much had a continuous stream of problems since the Fall. Just look at any family, school, business, governmental organisation, community, country or association of countries like the CIS, EU or UN where people are organised or where a 'system' exists, and consistently you will find deep, systemic problems that seem unfixable. Things keep on going wrong. Human pride, greed, fear and suspicion tend to take over. And unless it is spotted, named and dealt with, it will only get worse and lead to war, such as the one currently raging in the Ukraine.

If it is allowed to flourish unchecked, it can even, unfortunately, be hailed as a new way of living. And as you look back at the 20th century, half of which I experienced, you will see that it was, in part, the story of 'new ways of being' and 'new ways of living' - communism, fascism, apartheid and liberalism being the most obvious - all these, and more, reared their ugly heads and did untold damage to people and societies, until eventually the first three began collapsing under their own weight, not least the weight of the lies that were needed to suatain them. The same is happening with liberalism in our own day, here and now in the 21st century. And it was partly because because H. Richard Niebuhr, whom I mentioned last time, could see this going on that he warned most sternly about inventing the kind of wrathless, sinless, crossless message that is liberal Christianity that has seen the near complete death of so many denominations like the Anglican Church that I was raised in. That kind of message is in danger of lulling the careless to sleep just when we needed to be wide awake.

The Book of Revelation is designed more than anything else to wake up those who have thus succumbed to the liberal enchantment. We see that the wrath of the Creator-Elohim (God) consists of two things, principally:

• 1. He allows human wickedness to work itself out, to reap its own destruction; and
• 2. He steps in more directly to stop it, to call 'time' on it, when it's got out of hand.

If we really understood what agency is (which Calvinists and other fatalists don't), we would thank Yahweh for both of these, even though both can appear harsh. They need to be. If they were any less than harsh, the wickedness in question would merely pause, furrow its brow for a moment, and then carry on as before. What we saw in the first 4 plagues, was a mixture of both types of 'wrath'.

The lesson to be learned with the first 4 bowl judgments is quite simple, really. Yahweh will allow natural elements themselves (earth, sea, river and sun) to pass judgment on the people who have so grievously abused their position as Elohim's (God's) image-bearers within creation. We are supposed to be looking after Yahweh's world as stewards, and caring for one another as fellow humans. But Yahweh will call the natural elements themselves to turn on them and judge them for their wickedness.

One thing we learned about the first 4 bowl plagues is that these judgments are total. Before, with the seals and shofars, only part of the world was harmed and destroyed, sending a warning signal to those who need to repent. Here, though, in the bowl judgments that note is absent. There is no room for repentance now. This time, everything in the sea dies. All the rivers turn to blood (reminding us of the plagues of Egypt). These last 7 plagues are the beginning of that long process, which will end in chapter 20, by which Elohim (God) will rid His beautiful world, first in chapter 16, of those who have assisted in its destruction and decay (surely a warning to climate manipulators); and then, in chapters 17 and 18, of the great imperial systems that have set up massive structures of injustice. And finally, in chapters 19 and 20 of the dark powers that lie behind those systems, ending with Death and Hades themselves, as Paul also testified of:

"The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He (Christ) 'has put everything under His feet.' Now when it says that 'everything' has been put under Him, it is clear that this does not include Elohim (God) (Yahweh) Himself, who put everything under Christ. When He has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to Him (Yahweh) who put everything under Him, so that Elohim (God) may be all in all" (1 Cor.15:25-28, NIV) [1].

This long, powerful sequence of thought tells us as clearly as anything could that what we are faced with is neither a capricious nor ill-tempered Divine being, nor a careless, laissez-faire world ruler, leaving things to take their own course. We are faced with an Elohim (God) who made the world, and whose generous love is seen most clearly in the sacrifice of His own Son, the Lamb, the One who shares His very Throne. If this Elohim (God) (to look no further than our own recent history) does not hate the wickedness of the communist and fascist systems that devastated so much of Europe, He is not a good or loving Elohim (God). If He does not hate globalism with its plans to systematically murder the vast majority of the human race and to enslave the rest in a kind of neo-feudalism where communism and captialism have been blended into a worldwide fascist dictatorship with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI), trans-humanism and wokeism, where nobody owns anything (except the greedy corporatists at the top) and are forced to eat insects and add poisonous chemicals to their bodies against their wills, He is not a good Elohim (God). And if He does not finally do something about these and similar systems, He is not a loving Elohim (God).

Because of the nature of His love, He will not always be stepping in and calling 'time' before the appointed moment, much as we might want Him to. If He did, too many, who might yet repent and be saved, would be caught in the middle. But He will let evil take its course and bring about its own nemesis; and, at a moment which He is in any position to judge, He will bring the necessary closure to the world's wrongs. This He must do if He is, indeed, the Father of Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Chist). This is what it meant last time when the malakim (angels) poured out the bowls of wrath upon the earth, the sea, the rivers, and the sun.

With that in mind, let's now look at today's segment in chapter 16, beginning with verse 10:

"10 Then the fifth malak (angel) ('messenger' - ISRV, CLNT) poured out his bowl on the throne of the ['wild' - CLNT] Beast ['of prey' - AENT] ('monster' - KNT; 'animal' - JBP) (Rev.13:2), and his kingdom ('whole empire' - JB, 'reign' - ISRV) became full of ('was plunged into' - KNT, NLT, NIV, JB, NEB, NRSV, JBP, ESV, RNAB; 'enveloped in' - Barclay) darkness ('became darkened' - NASB) (Ex.10:21-23; Is.8:22; Rev.8:12; 9:2); and they gnawed ('were biting' - HRV, JB, Barclay; 'chewed' - KNT) their tongues ('ground their teeth' - NLT) because of the pain ('in anguish' - NLT, ESV; 'in agony' - NIV, NEB, NRSV, JBP; 'for misery' - CLNT). 11 They blasphemed ('cursed' - JNT, NLT, NIV, JB, NEB, RSV, NRSV, ESV; 'hurled their insults at' - Barclay) the ['name of' - Barclay] Elohim (God) of heaven (Rev.11:13) because of their pains ('agonies' - KNT) and their ['terrible' - KNT) sores ('boils' - HRV; 'ulcers' - JBP, AENT) (Rev.16:2), and did not ('refused to' - NLT) repent of ('turn from' - JNT) their ['evil' - NLT] deeds ('what they had done' - NIV, NEB) (Rev.2:21).

"12 Then the sixth malak (angel) ('messenger' - ISRV, CLNT) poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates (Rev.9:14), and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings ('sovereigns' - ISRV) from the east ('rising sun' - KNT; 'the rising of the sun' - AENT, OJB) might be prepared ('could march their armies westward without hindrance' - NLT) (Is.11:15-16; 41:2; 46:11). 13 And I saw three unclean spirits ('shadim/shedim' - HRV, OJB, RSTNE) (Rev.18:2) like frogs (Ex.8:2,6) coming out of ('issuing from' - AENT) the mouth ('jaws' - JB) of the Dragon ('beast of prey' - AENT) (Rev.12:3), out of the mouth of the ['wild' - CLNT] Beast ('monster' - KNT) (Rev.13:1), and out of the mouth of the False Prophet (Rev.19:20; 20:10). 14 For they are spirits of demons ('shadim/shedim' - HRV, OJB, RSTNE; 'demonic spirits' - JNT, RSV, NRSV, ESV; 'demon spirits' - JB; 'devils', NEB; 'diabolical spirits' - JBP) (1 Tim.4:1), performing ['miraculous' - NIV] signs ('miracle-working' - JNT, NLT, JB) (Mt.24:24), which go out to ('muster [all]' - NEB, JBP, Barclay) the kings ('sovereigns' - ISRV) of the earth and of the whole ['inhabited' - JNT] world, to gather ('assemble' - RSV, NRSV, ESV, RNAB; 'moblizing' - CLNT) (Mt.24:14) them to the battle ('war' - JB; 'battlefield' - OJB) (Rev.17:4;n 19:19; 20:8) of that great ['judgment' - NLT] day (Rev.6:17) of Elohim (God) ('YHWH' - ISRV) Almighty (Yahweh-Tzava'ot).

"(15 'Behold ('take note' - NLT), I am coming ('he comes' - HRV) [unexpectedly' - NLT, OJB) as a thief (Mt.24:42-51; Lk.12:39 1 Thess.5:2-10; 2 Pet.3:10; Rev.3:3). Blessed ('Happy' - JBP) is he who watches ('stays awake' - NASB, JB; 'who are watching for Me' - NLT) (Lk.12:37), and keeps ('guarding' - ISRV) his garments ('robes' - KNT, NRSV-fn; 'clothes' - NIV, JB, NEB, RNAB; 'is clothed' - NRSV; 'keeps his clothes at his side' - JBP, Barclay) ['ready' - NLT), lest he walk naked and they see his shame ('have their shame exposed' - KNT; 'ashamed' - NLT; 'be shamefully exposed' - NIV; 'indecency' - CLNT)m (Rev.3:18;b 16:16).')

"16 And they gathered ('mustered' - Barclay) them together to the place called in Hebrew (Rev.9:11), ['Har' - JNT, ISRV; 'Mount' - KNT] Mediggo (Armageddon) (Judg.5:19; 2 Ki.23:29-30; cp.Zech.12:11).

"17 Then the seventh malak (angel) ('messenger' - ISRV, CLNT) poured out his bowl into ('on' - KNT, NEB; AENT; 'upon' - NASB) the air (Eph.2:2), and a loud voice (Rev.11:15) came out of the Temple ['of Heaven' - KJV, NKJV, Moff.; 'in heaven' - NLT] [2] ('sanctuary' - JB, NEB, Barclay) (Rev.14:15), from ['before' - HRV) the Throne, saying, 'It is done!' ('The end has come' - JB, JBP; 'It is over!' - NEB) (Rev.21:6) 18 And there were ['noises and' - NKJV; 'rumblings [and]' - KNT] thunderings ('thunderclaps' - KNT) and lightnings ('flashes of lightning, voices (sounds) and peals of thunder' - JNT, NASB) (Rev.4:5); and there was a great ('severe' - NIV, 'most violent' - JB) earthquake (Rev.6:12), such a mighty and great ('massive' - JNT) earthquake as had not occurred ('happened' - HRV) since ['the sons of' - HR] men ('humans' - KNT) were ('had been' - HR) on the earth (Dan.12:1; Mt.24:21). 19 Now the great city (Rev.17:18) was divided into three parts, and the cities ('city' - AENT) of the nations fell ['into heaps of rubble' - NLT; 'in ruin[s]' - NEB, JBP] ('collapsed' - KNT, JB, Barclay). And great Babylon ('Bavel' - HRV, RSTNE; 'Babylon the Great/Babel haGedolah' - JNT, NIV, OJB; 'Babel' - ISRV) (Rev.14:8) was remembered ('recalled' - KNT; 'not forgotten' - JB; 'called to mind' - JBP) (Rev.18:5) before ('in the presence of' - KNT) Elohim (God), to give her ('make her drain' - ESV) the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath ('His raging fury' - JNT, 'anger' - KNT) (Rev.14:10). 20 Then every island fled away ('vanished' - NEB), and the mountains were not found ('disappeared' - KNT, Barclay, RNAB; 'leveled' - NLT: 'not to be seen' - NEB; 'vanished' - JBP) (Rev.6:14). 21 And great hail ('enormous/huge hailstones' - KNT, NIV) (Ex.9:23, Ezek.13:13; 38:22; Rev.8:7; 11:19) from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent ('70-pounds' - JNT, OJB; 'seventy-five pounds (34 kilograms); 'like huge weights' - RNAB)' - NLT; 'a hundred pounds [each]' - KNT, NASB, NIV, NRSV, ESV; 'a hundredweight' - NEB, RSV, Barclay). Men blasphemed ('cursed' - KNT, NLT, NIV, ESV; 'hurled their insults at' - Barclay) Elohim (God) (Rev.16:9,11) because of the plague of the hail (Ex.9:23-25), since that plague was exceedingly great ('[so] terrible' - JNT, KNT, NLT, NIV; 'severe' - NASB, NEB, ESV; 'so fearful' - RSV, NRSV; 'fell upon them with savage and fearful blows' - JBP; 'devastating in the extreme' - Barclay) (Ezek.13:13; 38:22; Ex.9.23-15)" (Rev.16:10-21, NKJV).

[1] This, incidentally, undermines the Catholic trinitarian doctries of the co-equality of the members of the Elohimhead (Godhead). The 'all authority' given by the Father to the Son is only as a temporary plenipotentiary until the work of redemption is completed.
[2] 'Of heaven' is not in the original Aramaic or in the majority of the Greek MSS

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[3] David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNT Publications, Clarksville, Maryland: 1992)
[4] ESV Study Bible (Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois: 2011)
[5] The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1995)
[6] Ed. J.R.Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (MacMillan, London: 1909)
[7] David Pawson, Unlocking the Bible: A Unique Overview of the Whole Bible (Collins, London: 2007)

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.

• 1. White horse - military aggression
• 2. Red horse - bloodshed
• 3. Black horse - famine
• 4. Pale Green/Blanched/Pallid/Sickly-looking horse - disease, epidemics

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• 5. Persecution & prayer
• 6. Tremour & terror

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  INTERLUDE I (Ch.7)
  (The 144,000 Redeemed)

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• 7. Silence in heaven, listening to prayers which are then answered in a final catastrophe: a severe earthquake I

• 1. Scorched earth
• 2. Polluted sea
• 3. Contaminated water
• 4. Reduced sunlight

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• 5. Insects and plague (for five months) (1st Woe)
• 6. Oriental invasion (200 million army) (2nd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE II (Ch.10-11)
  (The Malak with the Little Scroll)
  (The Two Witnesses)

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• 7. The Kingdom comes, the world is taken over by Yahweh & Yah'shua (Jesus) after a severe earthquake II (3rd Woe)

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  INTERLUDE III (Ch.13-14)
  (The First & Second Beasts)
  (The Lamb & the 144,000)
  (The Messages of the Three Malakim)

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• 1. Boils on the skin
• 2. Blood in the sea
• 3. Blood from the springs
• 4. Burning by the sun

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• 5. Darkness
• 6. Armageddon

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• 7. Hailstorm (OB 368:11-12) and severe earthquake III, leading to international collapse