Have you ever noticed that even people who do not know much about the Bible seem to know about some things that are recorded in the book of Revelation? And they even have their own opinions about those things. Just mention the word rapture, and people will have an opinion. Mention the Antichrist, and they will have an opinion about him. Mention the number 666, and you will most certainly get a reaction.

I read some time ago that Highway 666, which ran through Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, was eventually renamed Highway 491. Why? Was it because 666 was considered an unlucky number? No. It was because the highway department could not replace fast enough the highway signs that were being stolen! Evidently people wanted to have that Highway 666 sign as a collector’s item.

There is another word in Revelation that captures the attention of the world, and that is the term Armageddon. Even though many people do not know what the Bible says about Armageddon, they know it has something to do with a final battle and the end of the world as we know it. 

As we set sail now into Revelation 16, John is going to begin giving us the details about the coming cataclysmic events that will wrap up the final days of civilization and culminate in the great battle of Armageddon.

In the opening verse of chapter 16, seven angels step forward carrying seven bowls. These bowls are filled symbolically with the wrath of God. And without any delay, the angels are told to pour out the bowls, delivering judgment upon judgment, as the intensity of God’s wrath increases.

This first bowl judgment brings “harmful and painful sores . . . upon the people” (verse 2). The Greek word indicates these sores are running sores that refuse to be healed.[1]

Notice, too, that only those who bear the mark of the Beast and worship his image will be affected by these sores. Those who have become followers of Christ—and survived to this point in the tribulation—are spared this painful experience.

The second bowl, in verse 3, is directed toward the sea, which, becomes “like the blood of a corpse,” so that “every living thing” in the sea dies.  

The third bowl delivers the same judgment on freshwater sources, “the rivers and the springs,” which John observes in his vision, “became blood” (verse 4). Note that he does not say, “they became like blood,” but they “became [literally] blood.” This is a global plague that humanity cannot survive for very long.

At this point, John hears the angel who pours out this bowl declaring God’s justice, saying, “They have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” (verse 6). And in verse 7, a voice from heaven affirms this truth, saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”

This is the righteous justice of God. Friend, if you have never trusted Christ, you do not want to ask God for justice; you want to ask Him for mercy. And you can, today, by calling upon the name of the Lord.

The fourth judgment involves the sun. Verse 9 says it will scorch people with “fierce heat.” This is true global warming!

From predictions of a coming ice age back in the 1970s to fear of global warming today, people have believed that humanity is in control of the global thermostat. It is all up to us to save the planet from either freezing or burning up.

Well, that myth of humanity’s power is finally put to rest. God is in control of the weather, the climate, the moon, the sun, the water, the icebergs, the solar system, and the universe beyond. And here, John records the truth that God is controlling His creation—it is His water, this is His planet, this is His sun and moon. And God now uses it to deliver the hammer blow of His sovereign justice.

How does humanity respond to this unbearable heat? John describes the response in verse 9: “They cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.”

As the nineteenth-century pastor Charles Spurgeon often said, “The same sun which melts wax hardens clay. The same Gospel which melts some persons to repentance, hardens others in their [defiance].”[2] It will be the latter in the coming tribulation.

Next, verse 10 tells us that the fifth bowl is “poured out . . . on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.” 

God, who controls the universe, now gives the order, and the lights go out on the Antichrist’s kingdom! The Greek text implies that whatever gives light no longer will. Even lamps, candles, and flashlights will emit no light. It is complete darkness. The Lord is mercifully showing the unbelievers that the Antichrist is not the light and those who follow him are heading for eternal, outer darkness.

And what does mankind do in the face of this supernatural demonstration of God’s power over light? Once again, they “cursed the God of heaven . . . they did not repent” (verse 11).

This brings us to the sixth angel. John watches as he “poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east” (verse 12).

This great river is holding back advancing armies from the East. But God will dry up the waters, allowing them to march toward Israel and Armageddon—and their final destruction.

In verse 13 John sees three “spirits like frogs” coming from the mouths of the satanic trinity: the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet. The apostle explains in verse 14 that these are demonic agents of Satan sent out to gather “the kings of the whole world . . . for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.”

So, a global army following the Antichrist is rumbling through the dry riverbed of the Euphrates River. They are marching against believers—especially Jewish, messianic believers—but ultimately, they are going to march against the returning King of Kings.

Verse 16 tells us that these armies assemble at a place that “in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” Har is the Hebrew word for “mountain”; Megiddo refers to the ancient city in northern Israel that overlooks the Jezreel Valley. This is the perfect place to serve as the command center for the armies of this final world war.[3]

As the armies gather at Armageddon in preparation for this final conflict, the last angel steps forward to empty the seventh bowl of judgment from God. Verse 17 says that when he empties the bowl, a voice from the throne of God says, “It is done!” Verse 18 then adds this:

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth.

On top of that, hailstones weighing about a hundred pounds each will fall from the sky (verse 21). The people of earth, including this vast human army, will be devastated by God’s supernatural use of the forces of nature.

How will the human race respond? Again, instead of surrendering to God, they curse God for what is happening.

Frankly, it is hard to picture this kind of devastation, horror, fear, and pain the human race will experience as Christ’s coming quickly approaches. Yet the most tragic fact in this text is that the majority of people on Planet Earth would rather defy and curse God than surrender their lives to Him.

Let me ask you this: Have you surrendered to Christ as your Savior? If you have not, do you really want to keep fighting against the God of creation, the sovereign King of the universe? Let me encourage you to surrender your life to Him today.