“Go and pour the seven bowls of God's wrath on the ground.

The first angel went and poured out the contents of his bowl onto dry land. After that, people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image developed terrible and painful boils.

The second angel poured the contents of his bowl into the sea, and the water of the sea turned into blood, resembling the blood of a dead person, and all living things in the sea died.

The third angel poured out the contents of his cup on the rivers and springs of water, and they also turned into blood.I heard the angel who has power over the waters say:

- you are just

He who is and who was, the Holy One,

because You judged so.

After all, they shed the blood of saints and prophets,

and You gave them blood to drink, as they deserved.

Yes, Lord God Almighty

Your judgments are true and just!

The fourth angel poured out the contents of his cup on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch the people with fire.An unbearable heat burned them, and they cursed the name of God, who has power over these disasters. But they did not repent and give Him glory.

The fifth angel poured out the contents of his bowl on the throne of the beast, and the whole realm of the beast was plunged into darkness. People bit their tongues in painand cursed the God of heaven for their pain and their wounds, but did not repent of their deeds.

The sixth angel poured the contents of his bowl into the great river Euphrates. The water in this river dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.These are the spirits of demons who perform signs. They go to the kings of all the earth to gather them for battle on the great day of God Almighty.

- Here! I will come unexpectedly, like a thief! Blessed is he who watches and keeps his clothes, so that he does not go naked, showing off his shame.

They gathered all the kings to a place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

The seventh angel poured the contents of his bowl into the air, and a loud voice sounded from the temple from the throne:

- Done!

Then lightning flashed, voices sounded, thunder rumbled, and it happened strong earthquake. There has never been such a powerful earthquake during the entire existence of people on earth! So great was this earthquake!great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. So God did not forget great Babylon, He gave her to drink a cup full of the wine of His furious anger.All the islands disappeared, and the mountains were no more.Hailstones weighing one talent fell on people from heaven, and people cursed God for this hailstorm, because it was absolutely terrible.

16:2: See ref. 9:9-10.

16:4: See ref. 7:20-21.

16:9: Wed Ref. 9:34.

16:10: See ref. 10:21-23.

16:13: A false prophet is a beast that came out of the earth (see 13:11-17; 19:20).

16:13: See ref. 8:5-7.

16:14: The Day of God Almighty is also known in Scripture as the day of the Lord. This is the day when God will judge and punish those who oppose Him (see, for example, Isa. 13:9; Am. 5:18-20; Mal. 4:1). New Testament says that on that day the Lord Jesus will return (see 2 Pet. 9:10; 2 Thess. 2:1-2).

16:15: These are the words of Jesus (see Matt. 24:43-44; Luke 12:39-40; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3).

16:16: See Joel 3:2-12; Zach. 12:2-11.

16:21: One talent is a measure of weight, equal to approximately 34 kilograms.

16:21: See ref. 9:23-24.

Vision of the seven bowls of the last stones; the first - disgusting wounds on sinful people (1-2), the second - the conversion of sea water into blood (3), the third - the conversion of river water into blood (4-7), the fourth - the unbearable heat of the sun (8-9), the fifth - darkness in the kingdom of the beast with the impenitence of sinners (10-11), the sixth - the appearance from the mouth of the dragon of three unclean spirits like frogs, who gathered earthly kings to the place of Armageddon (12-16), the seventh - a great earthquake and the destruction of the city of Babylon, the fall of a hail the size of talent (17–21).

Rev. 16:1. And I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels: Go and pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth.

Rev. 16:2. The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the ground: and cruel and disgusting festering wounds appeared on people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

The voice undoubtedly belonged to the Lord God Himself (cf. Rev. 1:10; Ezekiel 9:1), for it comes from the temple itself, this voice commands the cups to be poured on the ground. Under the earth here one must understand the whole universe, both the sea and the land, and all those who must undergo the executions of God's wrath, that is, all those who belong to the kingdom of Antichrist and who rejected Christianity. After the first cup was poured out on dry land, cruel and disgusting festering wounds appeared on all people (cf. Ex 9:9-11). This execution cannot be understood only as a symbolic image. The historical example of a similar Egyptian execution vouches for the possibility of its repetition on a large scale. And since the event depicted refers to the last time, close to the final upheaval in the world, then special and extraordinary phenomena in the world are quite possible and permissible. human life and human nature, analogies to which we may not currently meet.

Rev. 16:3. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea: and there was blood, as if of a dead man, and everything that was alive died in the sea.

The second cup pours out into the sea - a real sea filled with living beings. Obviously, the mass of sea water in color became thickened and darkish blood, and, moreover, fetid. Such a mass was unsuitable for living creatures to live in it, and therefore John notices that everything animate in the sea has died. In view of this, there is no reason to attach an allegorical meaning to this execution. This is a new physical calamity that is befalling the anti-Christian world and the nature of that time; the calamity, moreover, is not temporary and quickly ends, but, as it must be seen from Rev. 16 and Rev. 16:11, it continues constantly along with the calamities of other plagues until the very end of the world.

Rev. 16:4. The third angel poured out his cup into the rivers and springs of water, and there was blood.

Rev. 16:5. And I heard the angel of the waters, who said: You are righteous, O Lord, who art and was, and holy, because you judged so;

Rev. 16:6. Because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, You gave them blood to drink: they deserve it.

The third plague stands in close parallel to the first Egyptian plague, by which the waters of the Nile river were turned into blood (Ex 7:19-21). In favor of a literal understanding and the third plague, in addition to analogies with the previous ones, is also the remark of the text that these waters, which became blood, people had to use to quench their thirst. The angel of the waters, as the ruler of a certain element, praises the Lord for His justice, for His immutability and for His fidelity to His being, all-holy and just. The need to drink blood instead of water is a terrible and unimaginable punishment, for the anti-Christian world it is a just retribution (v. 6) for its terrible and incomprehensible cruelty towards Christianity and against its faithful guardians.

Rev. 16:7. And I heard another from the altar saying: Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.

This is God. justice is confirmed because of the altar of burnt offering by those slain and slain, who also praise the Lord for the immutability and rigor of His judgment and for justice.

Rev. 16:8. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun: and it was given to him to burn people with fire.

The first three plagues struck the people themselves, the sea and the rivers; now, in the fourth plague, to complete the defeat of the physical nature and conditions of earthly life, the sun itself is struck. Understanding literally, as well as the previous three executions, under the defeat of the sun, one must understand that then, with a general disorder of nature, the sunlight will also change its beneficent warmth into unbearable heat.

Rev. 16:9. And a strong heat burned the people, and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues, and did not understand to give glory to Him.

As the suffering of the anti-Christian world from God increased. executions, more and more revealed his wickedness, stubbornness and impenitence.

Rev. 16:10. The fifth angel poured out his cup on the throne of the beast: and his kingdom became dark, and they bit their tongues from suffering,

The fifth cup of God's wrath is poured out on the very throne of the beast. The Beast is the Antichrist, his throne is the sphere of his power, his subjects who make up his kingdom. It was his kingdom that became gloomy. The power of the execution is not so much in the darkness, but in the impression it makes: this is the impression of terrible physical pain, which even causes the gnashing of teeth. This execution must be regarded as a natural consequence of the previous execution. The terrible heat of the sun, which was spoken of in the fourth plague, due to the incandescence of the air and the destruction of vegetation and due to the mass of evaporation, must necessarily have produced a gloomy and formidable state of the atmosphere. In addition to this, and as a result of this, the kingdom of Antichrist will become gloomy in the sense that a mood of spirit arises in people that can be called gloomy - a mood of malice and despair.

Rev. 16:11. and blasphemed the God of heaven from their sufferings and their sores; and did not repent of their deeds.

From disasters, this malice grows more and more, and at the same time, the time of final retribution and eternal torment approaches more and more.

Rev. 16:12. The sixth angel poured out his bowl into the great river Euphrates: and the water in it dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun was ready.

The new step towards this final limit is the sixth cup of God. anger. It was poured on the great river Euphrates, as a result of which the water in the river dried up and a free path was opened for the eastern kings. The river Euphrates, mentioned in Rev. 9:14, is represented in the Holy. Scripture is the border between the Jewish kingdom and the Eastern peoples hostile to it. Now, by the action of God, the waters of the river dry up and the barrier to the activity of the hostile force is destroyed, and thus free access is opened for the eastern kings in order to inflict new violence on the faithful Christian society. - In the sixth execution, obviously, an indication of a general increase in God-hostile activity against the Christian church of the last time. Then it will be possible to unite the action of all forces hostile to Christianity. However, the drying up of the river Euphrates speaks only of this possibility, but what this possibility will manifest itself in is said in the following verses.

Rev. 16:13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet:

Namely, John sees three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the mouth of a dragon (devil), a beast (Antichrist) and a false prophet (a beast from the earth). For evil spirits, the image of toads is symbolically taken. And this, of course, because whoever is possessed by an evil spirit with the properties of a dirty animal - a toad, the soul and activity of that person must be morally dirty, weak and miserable in their goals and appearances, but at the same time proud and exalted. Of the appearance of the frogs, John remarks that they come out. This image should be conceived by us as a mockery, which is quite consistent with how appearance frogs, and a look at the dragon, the antichrist and the false prophet.

Rev. 16:14. they are demonic spirits, working signs; they go out to the kings of the earth of the whole universe in order to gather them for battle on that great day of God Almighty.

These evil spirits become the inspirers and leaders of earthly kings, and through them the forces of those states and nationalities over which these latter reign. In this sense, it is said that evil spirits gather kings for battle. Swearing is the last World War, the last expression of the desire of a God-hostile force to destroy the Kingdom of Christ on earth.

Rev. 16:15. Behold, I come like a thief: blessed is he who watches and keeps his clothes, lest he go naked, and lest they see his shame.

The words: “Behold, I am coming like a thief…” come to mind of John himself regarding the mention of the great day of the Lord, and he expresses them in his own name, recalling the well-known expression of the Divine Teacher Himself. As faithful and serviceable servants, all Christians must await the coming of their Lord, they must keep their garments, the garments of their salvation (1 Thess. 5:8), so as not to appear before the eyes of the Lord-Judge naked, devoid of all virtues (cf. Rev. 3 :18).

Rev. 16:16. And he gathered them to a place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

Rev. 16:17. The seventh angel poured out his cup into the air: and from the temple of heaven from the throne came a loud voice, saying: It is done!

After this remembrance and reminder, John again returns to his discourse on unclean spirits. By the expression "he gathered" is meant the same unclean spirits (as if led by the devil), at the suggestion of which the kings of the whole earth, together with their peoples, gathered at the place of Armageddon. In the Holy We do not find any locality called Armageddon in Scripture. The word Armageddon is undoubtedly complex, double, from "ar" and "Megiddo". "Ar" is a Hebrew word, meaning plain, and Megiddo is a historically famous geographical place in Palestine, which served as the battlefield of Barrabas with Sissara and Necho with the Jewish king Josiah. Thus, the valley of Megiddo is a monument of defeat both joyful and sad. Consequently, the Apocalypse, naming the place of the meeting (kings) of the anti-Christian troops Armageddon, says that this meeting will end in a glorious victory and a terrible defeat. The seventh angel pours his cup into the air. This meant defeat, damage to that element, which is an essential condition for everything living on earth. The seventh trumpet was thus the last trumpet, heralding the end of the world and the coming of a new life. If the air itself was affected, then not only external conditions earthly human life, but the former conditions of their moral life were also destroyed. In view of the importance of what is proclaimed by the seventh cup, its pouring is accompanied by a special significant heavenly voice: "it is done." This voice is more correctly ascribed to the Lord Himself. The word “completed” is reminiscent of the same word that came out of the mouth of the dying Lord on the cross. Just as that word was a sign of the end of the Old Testament, so is the voice of God 17 v. is the sign of the end of the New Testament. And here “it is done” refers not only to the seventh cup, but also to all previous executions, to the entire economy of the New Testament salvation of the human race.

Rev. 16:18. And there were lightnings, thunders, and voices, and there was a great earthquake, such as has not happened since people were on the earth. Such an earthquake! So great!

The same phenomena took place as after the seventh trumpet (Rev. 11:19); but now the earthquake, as a sign of the coming end, the last and decisive upheaval, was so strong that John does not even find words to designate this force and destructiveness.

Rev. 16:19. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the Gentiles fell, and Babylon the Great will be remembered before God, to give her a cup of wine of the fury of His wrath.

Under the great city, which fell apart as a result of an earthquake into three parts, one can also understand Jerusalem, although in the Holy. He is nowhere called by that name in Scripture. But here, of course, the city of the future anti-Christian kingdom, regardless of what name it will be called. Then, during the earthquake, the great Babylon was given to drink a cup of wine of the fury of God's wrath. Here the same great city is called Babylon, but only not simply as a geographical value, but as the central point of the future anti-Christian kingdom (cf. Rev. 14:8). The name Babylon is used here as if to designate the anti-Christian wickedness by which the people of the last days will live. This wickedness is now remembered by the Lord, and for it all the wicked must drink the cup of God. anger (cf. Rev. 14:8, 14:10).

Rev. 16:20. And every island fled, and the mountains were gone;

Rev. 16:21. and hail, the size of a talent, fell from heaven on people; and the people blasphemed God for the plagues from the hail, because the ulcer from it was very heavy.

As a result of an earthquake, as usually happens, the outline of the land will change, and some islands will completely disappear, plunging into the sea; and thus all nature will be utterly ruined and disfigured. But even people will not remain untouched: a hail the size of a talent will fall on them. However, experiencing such a punishment and realizing that the reason for it lies in the wrath of the Lord God, they not only do not repent, but directly blaspheme God, blaspheme Him as an almighty ruler of the world. What is left for them now? There remains the last terrible judgment, the pronunciation of the final verdict and the beginning of eternal torment.

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The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the ground: and cruel and disgusting festering wounds appeared on people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea: and there was blood, as if of a dead man, and everything that was alive died in the sea.

The third angel poured out his cup into the rivers and springs of water, and there was blood.

And I heard the angel of the waters, who said: You are righteous, O Lord, who art and was, and holy, because you judged so;

Because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, You gave them blood to drink: they deserve it.

And I heard another from the altar saying: Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.

The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun: and it was given to him to burn people with fire.

And a strong heat burned people; and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues, and did not understand to give Him glory.

The fifth angel poured out his cup on the throne of the beast: and his kingdom became dark, and they bit their tongues from suffering,

And they blasphemed the God of Heaven from their sufferings and their ulcers; and did not repent of their deeds.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl into the great river Euphrates: and the water in it dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun was ready.

And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet:

These are demonic spirits that work signs; they go out to the kings of the earth of the whole universe in order to gather them for battle on that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come like a thief: blessed is he who watches and keeps his clothes, lest he go naked, and lest they see his shame.

And he gathered them to a place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

The seventh angel poured out his cup into the air: and from the temple of heaven from the throne came a loud voice, saying: It is done!

And the great city fell into three parts, and the cities of the Gentiles fell, and Babylon the Great will be remembered before God, to give her a cup of wine of the fury of His wrath.

And every island fled, and the mountains were gone;

And hail, the size of a talent, fell from heaven on people; and the people blasphemed God for the plagues from the hail, because the ulcer from it was very heavy.

Here they are, the last terrible punishments. They are connected in a certain way with the plagues of Egypt and with the horrors that followed the sounds of the seven trumpets in Rev. 8-11. We systematize all three cases in order to better see the similarities. Let us first present the ten plagues by which Moses demonstrated the wrath of God to Pharaoh.

1. Turning water into blood (Ex. 7:20-25)

2. Toads (8,5-14)

3. Midges (8,16-18)

4. Dog flies (8,20-24)

5. Pestilence on livestock (9,3-6)

6. Inflammations and boils (9,8-11)

7. Hail and storm with thunder and lightning (9,22-26)

8. Locust (10,12-19)

9. Thick darkness (10,21-23)

10. Death of the firstborn (12,29.30) Now let us cite the horrors that followed the sounds of the seven trumpets.

1. Hail and fire mixed with blood, destroying one third of the trees and grass (Rev. 8:7).

2. A great mountain burning with fire fell into the sea, causing a third of the sea to become blood (8,8).

3. The fall of the star wormwood into the waters, as a result of which the waters became bitter (8,10.11).

4. The defeat of the third part of the sun, moon and stars, as a result of which it became dark (8,12).

5. The fall of a star, which opened the well of the abyss, from which smoke appeared, from which, in turn, demonic locusts appeared (9,1-12).

6. The release of four angels bound at the Euphrates River and the invasion of demonic cavalry from the east (9,1321).

7. Proclamation of the final victory of God and the revolt of the nations (11,15).

Now let's list the horrors that are discussed in this chapter.

1. Violent and disgusting wounds on people (Rev. 16:2).

2. The water in the sea has turned to the blood of the dead (16,3).

3. Rivers and fountains of waters became blood (16,4).

4. The sun gets scalding hot (16,8).

5. Darkness over the kingdom of the beast and his suffering (16, -10).

6. Drying up the Euphrates to open the way for the kings of the East (16,12).

1. Air pollution and related horrors in nature: thunder, earthquake, lightning and hail (16.17-21).

It is easy to see that these lists have a lot in common - hail, darkness, blood in the water, cruel ulcers, the arrival of terrible hordes from behind the Euphrates. But there is a definite difference in Revelation from the horrors that follow the sound of trumpets and the horrors that follow the outpouring of bowls. In the first case, destruction and death are of a partial limited nature, for example, on a third of the earth, and in the second case, we are talking about the complete destruction of the enemies of God.

It seems that in this passage, John gathered together all the horrors from all the stories of the vengeful wrath of God and threw them to the earth in the last devastating flood.

Revelation 16:1-11 Horrors of God

The first horror is the plague of festering wounds; moreover, the same word is used as for inflammations and boils in the executions of Egyptian (Ex. 9:8-11), leprosy, with which God will strike disobedience (Deut. 28:35); and Job's leprosy (Job 2:7).

The second horror is the transformation of sea water into blood. This and the next horror, the turning of rivers and sources of water into blood, is analogous to the turning of the waters of the Nile into blood in the days of the executions of the Egyptians. (Ex. 7:17-21).

According to the Jewish worldview, all natural forces - wind, sun, rain, water - had their own angel. These angels were God's helpers, dealing with various separate departments of nature. One would think that the angel of the waters would be indignant when he saw the waters turned into blood, but he also recognizes the correctness of God's actions. IN 16,6 refers to the persecution then taking place in the Roman Empire. The saints are members of the Christian Church, the prophets are not the prophets of the Old Testament, but the prophets of the Christian Church (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 13:1; Eph. 4:11), who, as leaders of the Church, were the first to suffer persecution. A terrible punishment awaits those who are guilty of shedding the blood of leaders and ordinary people Churches; water will disappear from the earth and only blood will remain for drinking.

IN 16,7 a voice from the altar praises the justice of God's judgment. It may be the voice of the angel of the altar, for the altar also had its own angel, or there may be another idea behind it. On the altar, the prayers of His people and the lives of the martyrs are sacrificed to God, and the voice from the altar can be, so to speak, the voice of the praying and suffering Church of Christ, giving praise to the justice of God when His wrath falls on her persecutors.

The fourth horror is the sun burning the earth with heat; the fifth is darkness, analogous to the darkness that spread over Egypt (Ex. 10:21-23).

IN 16,9.11.21 — a kind of refrain that runs through the whole chapter Those on whom the wrath of God fell, blasphemed God and did not repent, remained deaf to both the goodness of God and His severity (Rom. 11:22). These are people who probably knew about the existence of God and even saw His hand in everything, and yet they went their own way.

We must ask ourselves if we are so different from them. We do not question the existence of God; we know that God is interested in us and the world He created; we know the laws of God well; we know of His goodness and know that sin will be punished; and yet, again and again, we go our own way.

Revelation 16:12 Hordes from the east

Here is a picture of the drying up of the Euphrates River, which opened up the opportunity for the eastern hordes to attack the world.

One of the remarkable features of the Old Testament is precisely how often the drying up of the waters is a sign of the power of God. On the Red Sea "... the Lord drove the sea ... and made the sea dry land" (Ex. 14:21). It also happened at the Jordan River when the people crossed the river, under the leadership of Joshua: "All the sons of Israel crossed on dry land" (Josh. N. 3:17). In Isaiah, the power of God is manifested in the fact that He gave the people the opportunity to come out of the land of Egypt (Isaiah 11:16). In the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God in His anger speaks such a threat: “I will dry up its sea, and I will dry up its channels” (Jer. 51:36).“And all the depths of the river will dry up,” says the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 10:11).

It is possible that here John recalls the famous historical event. The Greek historian Herodotus (1.191) told us that the Persian king Cyrus took Babylon by draining the Euphrates, which flowed right through the center of the city. When Cyrus approached Babylon, its fortifications seemed so strong that it was impossible to take it. And Cyrus came up with a brilliant plan. Leaving one part of the army at Babylon, he went up the river with the other part; with one magnificent technique he temporarily diverted the waters of the river into the lake. The water level in the Euphrates fell, and eventually the riverbed that passed through the center of the city became a dry road, and along this road there was a gap in the fortifications, through which the Persians entered Babylon and took the city.

John refers to the picture imprinted in the memory of all his contemporaries. The biggest enemy that Rome was never able to subdue was the Parthians, who lived across the Euphrates River. Their cavalry was the most terrible branch of the troops of the then world. The idea that the Parthian cavalry could cross the Euphrates was capable of instilling fear and horror even in the most courageous heart. In addition, as we have already seen, it was said that the emperor Nero had fled to the Parthians and was expected to return from Parthia. Nero redivus; that is, the invasion of the Antichrist was expected from beyond the Euphrates.

Revelation 16:13-16 Unclean spirits like frogs

These four verses contain a lot of problems, and in order to rationally explain the verses, these problems must be solved.

From the jaws of the dragon and the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, unclean spirits like frogs came out.

In Greek, this is a kind of play on words. The unclean spirits came out of the mouths and out of the mouths of the evil forces. The mouth is the organ of speech, and speech is one of the most active forces in the world. Spirit in Greek - pneuma; it also means breath. Thus, to say that an unclean spirit came out of a man's mouth is like saying that his mouth spurts evil. As Sweet put it, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet "spouted evil influences out of their mouths."

These unclean spirits were like frogs.

1. Toads are associated with disasters and punishment. They were one of the plagues of the Egyptians (Ex. 8:5-11)."Sent them ... toads to destroy them" (Ps. 77,-45)."Their land brought forth many frogs, even in the bedchamber of their kings" (Ps. 104:30).

2. Toads are unclean animals. Although they are not named by name, they are included through a general definition in the list of unclean things in the water and in the sea, which begins in A lion. 11.10. Toads symbolize impure influence.

3. Toads are famous for their incessant croaking. “Croaking,” said Augustine, “is the most empty of all vanities (“Sermon on Psalm 77:27”). The sounds made by toads are a symbol of the most meaningless speech.

4. In the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, frogs bring disasters and executions and serve as assistants to the power of darkness Ahriman in his struggle with Ormuzd, the power of light. John probably knew this.

Thus, to say that frogs came out of the mouth of the dragon, the beasts, and the false prophet, is to say that their words were like plagues and plagues; that they were unclean, completely useless and accomplices of the powers of darkness.

Revelation 16:13-16 False prophet

Now we need to solve another problem: who is this false prophet? The dragon is Satan (12,3.9). The Beast - the Roman Empire with the cult of Caesar - has already appeared in 13,1. But the false prophet appears here on stage for the first time. As soon as he appears without any further explanation, then John believes that the addressees themselves can already recognize him.

The people of God have already been warned of the defeat of the false prophet in both the Old and New Testaments. IN Old Testament Israel is forbidden to listen to a false prophet, no matter how impressive signs and wonders he shows, and it is established that the punishment of false prophets should be death (Deut. 13:1-5). It was the business of the Sanhedrin to examine the cases of false prophets and sentence them to death. And the Christian Church was warned that false Christs and false prophets would arise to deceive, if possible, even the elect, that is, Christians. (Mark 13:22). Sweet says of these false prophets that such a name covers a whole group of people - "sellers of magical agents, religious deceivers, and deceived - misinterpreting the thoughts of God. They are the worst enemies of the Church and the best friends of Satan.”

The false prophet is referred to here at 79:20 and 20,10. By comparing the two passages, we can find the key and establish who he is. IN 19,20 it is said that ultimately the false prophet was captured along with the beast; this false prophet performed miracles before the beast and deceived the people who received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. IN 13,13 a description is given of another beast, a beast from the earth; he "does great signs"; and he deceives those who dwell on the earth with the same signs and wonders that he could do in the presence of the beast. In other words, the false prophet seems to be doing the same thing as the second beast, and as we have seen, this beast symbolizes the provincial administration created to inculcate the cult of Caesar. Thus, the false prophet symbolizes an apparatus designed to induce people to worship the emperor and deny Jesus Christ.

A false prophet is one who tries to introduce a cult of other gods, encourage people to cooperate with the state or with the world, and seduce people from worshiping the one God.

Revelation 16:13-16 (continued) Armageddon

There is another problem with this passage. Unclean spirits go out to the kings of all the earth to gather them for battle. The idea of ​​the last and final battle between God and the forces of evil goes back to the deep past. We find her in Ps. 2.2:“The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes confer together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.”

This battle must take place, as the Bible says, in the place Armageddon. In different English translations this word is spelled differently; the place itself cannot be named with certainty.

Armageddon may well be associated with the name of Megiddo - a city on the Jezreel Plain, along which part of the "Way of the Sea" passed, one of the main trade and caravan routes from Egypt to Damascus. From the most ancient times to the era of Napoleon, this place was one of the greatest battlefields in the world. On this plain Barak and Deborah slew Sisera and his chariots (Judges 4:14-16); there Ahaziah died from the arrow of Jehu (2 Kings 9:27); there the virtuous Josiah died in battle with Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:29-30) — a tragedy that burned into the memory of the Jews and which they could never forget (Zech. 12:11). This place, as Sweet put it, "was familiar to every student of Jewish history, a battlefield."

Armageddon will then mean city ​​of Megiddon or Harmageddon - Mount Megiddon. It is possible that the latter form is more correct, but still a plain would be more suitable as a battlefield than a mountain. But something else must be added to this. When describing the last battle with Gog and Magog, Ezekiel says that the last battle will be won on the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 38:8.21; 39:2.4.17). It is possible that John was referring to Mount Megiddon in order to fit his story into the flow of ancient prophecy.

Most likely, this refers to Har Mageddon and the area near the city of Megiddo in the Jezreel Plain, the most famous battlefield in the history of Israel.

He is also associated with Is. 14.13, where the words are put into the mouth of Lucifer: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain in the host of the gods. The Babylonians believed that in the north there is Mount Aralu, on which, like the Greek Olympus, the gods lived. Lucifer intends to place his throne among the gods. It has been suggested that Mount Mageddon is that mountain, and that John sees the battle against the host of gods in their dwelling.

Revelation 16:17-21 Warrior in nature

The seventh bowl is poured into the air. Sweet speaks of "the air that all people breathe." Air pollution is a threat to the very sustenance of human life. The air declared war on man; this is followed by lightning, thunder, and an earthquake. The first century was particularly notable for earthquakes, but, says John, no matter what disasters and horrors earthquakes bring to people, the coming earthquake will surpass everything.

Great Babylon, that is, Rome, will fall into three parts. Rome believed that she could do everything with impunity, and now her sin is subject to judgment and her fate is already prepared. Maybe God is in no hurry to punish, but sooner or later retribution will come.

The islands ran away, drowned, and the mountains were gone. The last terrible execution is a terrible hail, each hailstone weighing a talent. And this manifestation of the wrath of God is already familiar to us. The devastating hail was one of the plagues of the Egyptians. (Ex. 9:24). In the battle between Joshua and five Amorite kings at Bethoron, the Lord sent a great hailstorm against the enemies of Israel, so that more enemies died from the hail than from the sword (Josh. N. 10:11). isai I also speak of a hailstorm and a destructive whirlwind, which the Lord will send in His judgment (Isaiah 28:2). The prophet Ezekiel says that God will judge people with pestilence and bloodshed, all-flooding rain and stone hail, fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).

The outpouring of seven bowls on the earth with the wrath of God ends with a chorus that did not stop throughout the chapter; the people to whom these horrors befell remained deaf both to the calls of God's love and to the wrath of God. God has placed a heavy responsibility on people for shutting their hearts.

IN chapters 17 and 18 speaks of the fall of Babylon. Chapter 17 - one of the most difficult in Revelation. When studying, it is best to read it in its entirety first, then draw certain general conclusions and thus trace the general idea, and then analyze it in somewhat more detail. This will inevitably lead to some repetition, but repetition is necessary in such a text.

Comments on Chapter 16

INTRODUCTION TO THE REVELATION OF JOHN

A BOOK STANDING AWAY

When a person studies the New Testament and proceeds to Revelation, he feels himself transported to another world. This book is not at all like the other books of the New Testament. Revelation not only differs from other New Testament books, it is also extremely difficult for modern man to understand, and therefore it is often either ignored as an incomprehensible scripture, or religious madmen turned it into a battlefield, using it to compile heavenly chronological tables and graphs. what happens when.

But, on the other hand, there have always been those who loved this book. Philip Carrington, for example, said: "The Author of Revelation is a greater master and artist than Stevenson, Coleridge or Bach. John the Evangelist has a better sense of words than Stevenson; he has a better sense of unearthly, supernatural beauty than Coleridge; he has a richer sense of melody, rhythm and composition than Bach... It is the only masterpiece of pure art in the New Testament... Its fullness, richness and harmonic variety put it above Greek tragedy."

We will no doubt see that this is a difficult and shocking book; but, at the same time, it is highly advisable to study it until it gives us its blessing and reveals its riches.

APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

In studying Revelation, it must be remembered that for all its uniqueness in the New Testament, it is nevertheless the representative of the most widespread literary genre in the era between the Old and New Testaments. Revelation is usually called Apocalypse(from the Greek word apocalypse, signifier revelation). In the era between the Old and New Testaments, a huge mass of so-called apocalyptic literature, the product of irresistible Jewish hope.

The Jews could not forget that they were the chosen people of God. This gave them confidence that one day they would achieve world domination. In their history, they were waiting for the arrival of a king from the line of David, who would unite the people and lead them to greatness. "There will be a branch from the root of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1.10). God will restore to David a righteous branch (Jer. 23:5). One day people "will serve the Lord their God, and David their king" (Jer. 30:9). David will be their shepherd and their king (Ezekiel 34:23; 37:24). The Tabernacle of David will be restored (Amos 9:11). From Bethlehem shall come a Lord in Israel, whose origin is from the beginning, from the days of eternity, who will be great to the ends of the earth. (Mic. 5:2-4).

But the whole history of Israel did not realize these hopes. After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom, already small in itself, split in two under Rehoboam and Jeroboam and lost its unity. The northern kingdom, with its capital in Samaria, fell in the last quarter of the eighth century BC under the blows of Assyria, forever gone from the pages of history, and is now known as the ten lost tribes. The southern kingdom, with its capital Jerusalem, was enslaved and taken away by the Babylonians in the early sixth century BC. Later, it was subject to the Persians, Greeks, and Romans. The history of Israel was a record of defeat, from which it became clear that no mortal could deliver and save her.

TWO CENTURIES

The Jewish worldview stubbornly clung to the idea of ​​the chosenness of the Jews, but gradually the Jews had to adapt to the facts of history. To do this, they developed their own scheme of history. They divided the whole history into two centuries: current century, completely vicious, hopelessly lost. Only complete annihilation awaits him. And so the Jews waited for his end. Moreover, they expected century to come, which, in their mind, was to be a different, golden age of God, in which there would be peace, prosperity and righteousness, and the people chosen by God would be rewarded and take their rightful place.

How is this present age to become the age to come? The Jews believed that this change could not be effected by human forces, and therefore they expected the direct intervention of God. He will burst forth with mighty forces upon the stage of history in order to completely destroy and annihilate this world and introduce His golden age. They called the day of the coming of God Happy Lord's Day and it was to be a terrible time of horror, destruction, and judgment, and at the same time it was to be the painful beginning of a new age.

All apocalyptic literature covered these events: the sin of the present age, the horrors of the transitional time, and the bliss in the future. All apocalyptic literature was inevitably mysterious. She invariably tries to describe the indescribable, to express the inexpressible, to depict the inexpressible.

And all this is complicated by another fact: these apocalyptic visions flashed even brighter in the minds of people who lived under tyranny and oppression. The more the alien force suppressed them, the more they dreamed of the destruction and annihilation of this force and of their justification. But if the oppressors realized the existence of this dream, things would get even worse. These scriptures would have seemed to them the work of rebellious revolutionaries, and therefore they were often written in cipher, deliberately presented in a language incomprehensible to an outsider, and very many remained incomprehensible because there was no key to decipher them. But the more we know about the historical background of these writings, the better we can reveal their intention.

REVELATION

Revelation is the only Christian apocalypse in the New Testament, although there were many others that were not included in the New Testament. It is written in Jewish fashion and retains the basic Jewish concept of two ages. The only difference is the replacement of the Day of the Lord by the coming of Jesus Christ in power and glory. Not only the scheme of the book itself is identical, but also the details. The Jewish apocalypses are characterized by a standard set of events that should have happened in end times; they are all reflected in Revelation.

Before proceeding to the consideration of these events, it is necessary to understand one more problem. AND apocalypses And prophecies about upcoming events. What is the difference between them?

APOCALYPSES AND PROPHECIES

1. The prophet thought in terms of this world. His message often contained a protest against social, economic and political injustice and always called for obedience and service to God in this world. The prophet aspired to transform this world and believed that the Kingdom of God would come in it. The prophet was said to have believed in history. He believed that in history and in the events of history the final purposes of God are realized. In a sense, the prophet was an optimist, for, no matter how severely he condemned the actual state of things, he believed that everything could be fixed if people would do the will of God. In the view of the author of the apocalyptic books, this world was already incorrigible. He believed not in the transformation, but in the destruction of this world, and expected the creation of a new world, after this one would be shaken to its foundations by the vengeance of God. And therefore the author of the apocalyptic books was, in a certain sense, a pessimist, for he did not believe at all in the possibility of correcting the existing state of affairs. True, he believed in the onset of the Golden Age, but only after this world was destroyed.

2. The prophet proclaimed his message orally; the message of the author of the apocalyptic books has always been expressed in writing, and it is literary work. If it were expressed orally, people simply would not understand it. It is difficult to understand, confusing, often incomprehensible, it needs to be delved into, it must be carefully disassembled in order to be understood.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF APOCALYPSE

Apocalyptic literature follows a certain pattern: it seeks to describe what will happen in the end times and beyond. bliss; and these pictures appear again and again in the apocalypses. She, so to speak, constantly dealt with the same problems, and all of them are reflected in our Book of Revelation.

1. In apocalyptic literature, the Messiah is the Divine, Redeemer, strong and glorious, waiting for His hour to descend into the world and begin his all-conquering activity. He was in heaven before the creation of the world, the sun and stars, and is in the presence of the Almighty (En. 48:3-6; 62:7; 4 Ezra 13:25-26). He will come to throw the mighty from their places, the kings of the earth from their thrones, and judge sinners. (En. 42:2-6; 48:2-9; 62:5-9; 69:26-29). In the apocalyptic books in the image of the Messiah there was nothing human and soft; He was a divine figure of vengeful power and glory before whom the earth trembled in terror.

2. The coming of the Messiah was to take place after the return of Elijah, who would prepare the way for Him (Mal. 4:5-6). Elijah will appear on the hills of Israel, the rabbis claimed, and with a loud voice, heard from end to end of the earth, will announce the coming of the Messiah.

3. The terrible end times were known as "the birth pangs of the Messiah." The coming of the Messiah should be like labor pains. In the gospels, Jesus predicts a sign last days and these words are put into His mouth: "But this is the beginning of diseases" (Matt. 24:8; Mark 13:8). in Greek diseases - alone, which literally means birth pains.

4. The end times will be a time of terror. Then the bravest will cry out bitterly (Zoph. 1.14); all the inhabitants of the earth will tremble (Joel 2:1); people will be seized with fear, they will look for a place to hide and will not find it (En. 102:1.3).

5. The end times will be a time when the world will be shaken, a time of cosmic upheaval, when the universe as people know it will be destroyed; the stars will be destroyed, the sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood (Isaiah 13:10; Joel 2:30-31; 3:15); the vault of heaven will be destroyed; there will be a furious rain of fire and all creation will turn into a molten mass (Siv. 3:83-89). The order of the seasons will be broken, there will be neither night nor dawn (Siv. 3,796-800).

6. In the last times, human relations will also be violated, hatred and enmity will rule the world, and the hand of each will rise on the hand of his neighbor (Zech. 14:13). Brothers will kill brothers, parents will kill their children, from dawn until sunset they will kill each other (En. 100:1.2). Honor will be turned into shame, strength into humiliation, beauty into ugliness. The modest will become envious and passion will take possession of the man who was once peaceful ((2 Var. 48:31-37).

7. The end times will be the days of judgment. God will come as a cleansing fire, and who can stand when He appears (Mal. 3:1-3)? The Lord will execute judgment on all flesh with fire and sword (Isaiah 66:15-16).

8. In all these visions, the pagans are also given a certain, but not always the same place.

a) Sometimes they see Gentiles completely destroyed. Babylon will fall into such desolation that there, among the ruins, there will be no place for a wandering Arab to pitch a tent, or for a shepherd to graze his sheep; it will be a desert inhabited by wild beasts (Isaiah 13:19-22). God trampled down the Gentiles in His wrath (Isaiah 63:6); they will come in chains to Israel (Isaiah 45:14).

b) Sometimes they see how the Gentiles gather for the last time against Israel against Jerusalem and for the last battle, in which they will be destroyed (Ezek. 38:14-39.16; Zech. 14:1-11). The kings of the nations will attack Jerusalem, they will try to destroy the shrines of God, they will set up their thrones around the city and their unbelieving peoples with them, but all this is only for their final death (Siv. 3,663-672).

c) A picture is sometimes drawn of the conversion of the Gentiles by Israel. God made Israel the light of the nations so that God's salvation would reach to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). The islands will trust in God (Isaiah 51:5); the survivors of the nations will be called to come to God and be saved (Isaiah 45:20-22). The Son of Man will be a light to the Gentiles (En. 48:4.5). The nations will come from the ends of the earth to Jerusalem to see the glory of God.

9. The Jews scattered throughout the world will be gathered again in the Holy City in the last days; they will come from Assyria and from Egypt and worship God on the holy mountain (Isaiah 27:12-13). Even those who died as an exile in a foreign land will be brought back.

10. In the last times, the New Jerusalem that existed there from the beginning will descend to earth from heaven. (4 Ezra 10:44-59; 2 Var. 4:2-6) and will dwell among men. It will be a beautiful city: its foundations will be of sapphires, towers of agate and gates of pearls, and a wall of precious stones. (Isaiah 54:12-13; Tov. 13:16-17). The glory of the last temple will be greater than the former (Hag. 2:7-9).

11. An important part of the end-time apocalyptic picture was the resurrection of the dead. "Many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to eternal life, others to eternal reproach and shame. (Dan. 12:2.3). Sheol and the graves will bring back those who were entrusted to them (En. 51:1). The number of the resurrected varies: sometimes it referred only to the righteous of Israel, sometimes to all of Israel, and sometimes to all people in general. Whatever form it may take, it is fair to say that here for the first time the hope was born that there would be life beyond the grave.

12. In Revelation, the point of view is expressed that the Kingdom of the saints will last for a thousand years, after which there will be the last battle with the forces of evil, and then the Golden Age of God.

THE BLESSES OF THE COMING AGE

1. The divided kingdom will be united again. The house of Judah will come again to the house of Israel (Jer. 3:18; Is. 11:13; Hos. 1:11). The old division will be removed and the people of God will be united.

2. The fields in this world will be extraordinarily fertile. The desert will become a garden (Isaiah 32:15), become like heaven (Isaiah 51:3);"the desert and dry land shall rejoice, ... and bloom like a daffodil" (Isaiah 35:1).

3. In all visions of the new age, an invariable element was the cessation of all wars. Swords will be forged into plowshares and spears into sickles (Isaiah 2:4). There will be no sword, no battle trumpet. There will be one law for all people and great peace on earth, and kings will be friends (Siv. 3,751-760).

4. One of the most beautiful ideas expressed in connection with the new age is that there will be no enmity between animals or between man and animals. "Then the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie with the lamb, and the young lion and the ox will be together, and the little child will lead them" (Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25). A new alliance will be made between man and the beasts of the field (Hos. 2:18)."And the baby will play with the hole of the asp (snake), and the child will stretch out his hand to the nest of the snake" (Isaiah 11:6-9; 2 Var. 73:6). Friendship will reign in all nature, where no one will want harm to another.

5. The coming age will end weariness, sorrow and suffering. People will no longer languish (Jer. 31:12), and eternal joy will be over their heads (Isaiah 35:10). Then there will be no premature death (Isaiah 65:20-22) and none of the inhabitants will say: "I'm sick" (Isaiah 33:24)."Death will be swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces..." (Isaiah 25:8). Diseases, worries and groans will disappear, there will be no pain during childbirth, reapers will not get tired, builders will not be exhausted by work. (2 Var. 73:2-74:4).

6. The age to come will be an age of righteousness. The people will be totally holy. Mankind will be a good generation living in the fear of God V mercy days (Psalms of Solomon 17:28-49; 18:9-10).

Revelation is the representative of all these apocalyptic books in the New Testament, telling of the horrors that will take place before the end of time, and of the blessings of the age to come; Revelation uses all these already familiar visions. They will often present difficulties for us and even be incomprehensible, but for the most part pictures and ideas were used that were well known and understood by those who read it.

AUTHOR OF REVELATION

1. Revelation was written by a man named John. From the very beginning, he says that the vision that he is about to retell was sent by God to His servant John (1,1). He begins the main part of the letter with the words: John, to the seven churches in Asia (1:4). He speaks of himself as John, brother and partner in the sorrow of those to whom he writes. (1,9). "I am John," he says, "I have seen and heard this." (22,8). 2. John was a Christian who lived in the same area as the Christians of the seven churches. He calls himself the brother of those to whom he writes, and says that he shares with them the sorrows that have befallen them (1.9).

3. Most likely, it was a Palestinian Jew who came to Asia Minor at an advanced age. Such a conclusion can be drawn if we take into account his Greek - lively, strong and figurative, but, in terms of grammar, the worst in the New Testament. It is clear that Greek is not his native language; it is often clear that he writes in Greek and thinks in Hebrew. He plunged headlong into the Old Testament. He quotes it or alludes to relevant passages 245 times; quotes are taken from almost twenty books of the Old Testament, but his favorite books are the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Psalter, Exodus, Jeremiah and Zechariah. But he not only knows the Old Testament very well, he is also familiar with the apocalyptic literature that arose in the era between the Old and New Testaments.

4. He considers himself a prophet, and on this he bases his right to speak. The risen Christ commanded him to prophesy (10,11); it is through the spirit of prophecy that Jesus gives His prophecies to the Church (19,10). The Lord God is the God of the holy prophets and He sends His angels to show His servants what is to happen in the world (22,9). His book is a typical book of the prophets containing prophetic words (22,7.10.18.19).

John bases his authority on this. He does not call himself an apostle, as Paul does to emphasize his right to speak. John has no "official" or administrative position in the Church; he is a prophet. He writes what he sees, and because everything he sees comes from God, his word is truthful and true. (1,11.19).

At the time when John wrote - somewhere around the year 90 - the prophets occupied a special place in the Church. At that time there were two kinds of pastors in the Church. First, there was a local pastor - it lived settled in one community: presbyters (elders), deacons and teachers. Secondly, there was an itinerant ministry whose sphere of work was not limited to any congregation; this included the apostles, whose messages were spread throughout the Church, and the prophets, who were itinerant preachers. The prophets were highly respected, to question the words of a true prophet was to sin against the Holy Spirit, it says in Didache"Teaching of the Twelve Apostles" (11:7). IN Didache the accepted order of the administration of the Lord's Supper is given, and at the end a sentence is added: "Let the prophets give thanks as much as they want" ( 10,7 ). Prophets were looked upon exclusively as men of God, and John was a prophet.

5. It is unlikely that he was an apostle, otherwise he would hardly emphasize that he was a prophet. John looks back on the apostles as the great foundations of the Church. He speaks of the twelve foundations of the wall of the Holy City, and further: "and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb" (21,14). He would hardly have spoken of the apostles in this way if he had been one of them.

Such considerations are further supported by the title of the book. Most translations of the title of the book are: Revelation of St. John the Theologian. But in some recent English translations, the title sounds like this: Revelation of Saint John A Theologian omitted because it is absent from most of the oldest Greek lists, although it generally goes back to antiquity. In Greek it is theologos and is used here in the sense theologian, not in meaning saint. This addition itself should have distinguished John, the author of Revelation, from John the Apostle.

Already in 250, Dionysius, a major theologian and leader of the Christian school in Alexandria, realized that it was extremely unlikely that the same person wrote both the fourth Gospel and Revelation, if only because the Greek language of them is so different. The Greek of the Fourth Gospel is simple and correct, the Greek of Revelation is rough and bright, but very wrong. Further, the author of the fourth gospel avoids mentioning his own name, and John, the author of Revelation, mentions him repeatedly. In addition, the ideas of both books are completely different. The great ideas of the fourth gospel—light, life, truth, and grace—do not occupy a central place in Revelation. However, at the same time, there are enough similarities in both books both in thought and in language, which clearly shows that they come from the same center and from the same world of ideas.

Elisabeth Schüsler-Fiorenza, a specialist in Revelation, has recently established that, "from the last quarter of the second century until the beginning of modern critical theology, it was widely believed that both books (the Gospel of John and Revelation) were written by an apostle" ("The Book of Revelation . Justice and Punishment of God", 1985, p. 86). Such external, objective evidence was required by theologians because the internal evidence contained in the books themselves (the style, the words, the author's claims of his rights) did not seem to speak in favor of the apostle John being their author. Theologians who defend the authorship of John the Apostle explain the differences between the Gospel of John and Revelation in the following ways:

a) They indicate the difference between the spheres of these books. One speaks of the earthly life of Jesus, while the other speaks of the revelation of the Risen Lord.

b) They believe that there is a long time interval between their writing.

c) They claim that the theology of one complements the theology of the other, and together they constitute a complete theology.

d) They suggest that the linguistic and linguistic differences are due to the fact that the recording and revision of the texts were carried out by different secretaries. Adolf Pohl claims that around 170 a small group in the Church deliberately introduced a false author (Cerinthus) because they did not like the theology of Revelation and found it easier to criticize a less authoritative author than the apostle John.

TIME TO WRITE REVELATION

There are two sources for establishing the time of its writing.

1. On the one hand - church traditions. They indicate that in the era of the Roman emperor Domitian, John was exiled to the island of Patmos, where he had a vision; after the death of the emperor Domitian, he was released and returned to Ephesus, where he wrote it down. Victorinus wrote sometime towards the end of the third century in a commentary on Revelation: “When John saw all this, he was on the island of Patmos, condemned by the emperor Domitian to work in the mines. There he saw the revelation ... When he was subsequently released from work in the mines, he wrote down this revelation that he received from God." Jerome from Dalmatia dwells on this in more detail: “In the fourteenth year after the persecution of Nero, John was exiled to the island of Patmos and wrote Revelation there ... After the death of Domitian and the cancellation of his decrees by the senate, due to their extreme cruelty, he returned to Ephesus, when was Nerva. Church historian Eusebius wrote: "The apostle and evangelist John told these things to the church when he returned from exile on the island after the death of Domitian." According to tradition, it is clear that John had visions during his exile on the island of Patmos; only one thing is not completely established - and it does not really matter - whether he wrote them down during his exile, or on his return to Ephesus. With this in mind, it would not be a mistake to say that Revelation was written around the year 95.

2. The second piece of evidence is the material of the book itself. In it we find a completely new attitude towards Rome and the Roman Empire.

As follows from the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the Roman courts were often for Christian missionaries the most reliable protection against the hatred of the Jews and the angry crowds of the people. Paul took pride in being a Roman citizen and repeatedly demanded for himself the rights that were guaranteed to every Roman citizen. At Philippi, Paul frightened the administration by claiming he was a Roman citizen (Acts 16:36-40). In Corinth, the consul Gallio justly, according to Roman law, dealt with Paul (Acts 18:1-17). In Ephesus, the Roman authorities ensured his safety against the rioting mob. (Acts 19:13-41). In Jerusalem, the captain saved Paul, one might say, from lynching (Acts 21:30-40). When the captain heard that an attempt was being made on Paul's life during the march to Caesarea, he took every measure to ensure his safety. (Acts. 23,12-31).

Desperate to get justice in Palestine, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen and complained directly to the emperor. (Acts 25:10-11). In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul urges his readers to be submissive to the authorities, for the authorities are from God, and they are terrible not for good, but for evil deeds. (Rom. 13.1-7). Peter gives the same advice to be submissive to rulers, kings, and rulers because they do the will of God. Christians should fear God and honor the king (1 Pet. 2:12-17). It is believed that in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul points to the power of Rome as the only force capable of holding back world-threatening chaos (2 Thess. 2:7).

In Revelation, only one irreconcilable hatred of Rome is visible. Rome is Babylon, the mother of harlots, drunk on the blood of saints and martyrs (Rev. 17:5-6). John expects only its final destruction.

The explanation for this change lies in the widespread worship of Roman emperors, which, combined with the accompanying persecution of Christians, is the backdrop against which Revelation is written.

In the age of Revelation, the cult of Caesar was the only universal religion of the Roman Empire, and Christians were persecuted and executed precisely for their refusal to comply with its requirements. According to this religion, the Roman emperor, who embodied the spirit of Rome, was divine. Each person had to appear before the local administration once a year and burn a pinch of incense to the divine emperor and proclaim: "Caesar is the Lord." Having done this, a person could go and worship any other god or goddess, so long as such worship did not violate the rules of propriety and order; but he was obligated to perform this ceremony of worshiping the emperor.

The reason was simple. Rome was now a heterogeneous empire, stretching from one end known world to another, with many languages, races and traditions. Rome faced the task of uniting this heterogeneous mass into a unity with some kind of common consciousness. The strongest unifying force is a common religion, but none of the then popular religions could become universal, but the veneration of the deified Roman emperor could. It was the only cult that could unite the empire. To refuse to burn a pinch of incense and say, "Caesar is the Lord," was not an act of disbelief, but an act of disloyalty; that is why the Romans treated so cruelly the man who refused to say: "Caesar is the Lord," and not a single Christian could say Lord anyone but Jesus, because that was the essence of his creed of faith.

Let us see how this veneration of Caesar developed and why it reached its apogee in the era of the writing of Revelation.

One very important fact should be noted. The veneration of Caesar was not imposed on people from above. It arose among the people, one might even say, despite all the attempts of the first emperors to stop, or at least limit it. It should also be noted that of all the peoples that inhabited the empire, only the Jews were freed from this cult.

The worship of Caesar began as a spontaneous outburst of gratitude to Rome. The peoples in the provinces knew well what they owed him. Imperial Roman law and legal proceedings replaced arbitrary and tyrannical arbitrariness. Security has come into place dangerous positions. The great Roman roads connected different parts of the world; roads and seas were free from robbers and pirates. The Roman Peace was the greatest achievement ancient world. As the great Roman poet Virgil put it, Rome saw its purpose in "spare the fallen and cast down the proud." Life found new order. Goodspeed wrote about it this way: "Such was novel package. The provincials could conduct their affairs under Roman rule, provide for their families, send letters, travel in safety thanks to the strong hand of Rome."

The cult of Caesar did not begin with the deification of the emperor. It began with the deification of Rome. The spirit of the empire was deified in the goddess under the name of Roma. Roma symbolized the powerful and charitable power of the empire. The first temple to Rome was erected in Smyrna as early as 195 BC. It was not difficult to imagine the spirit of Rome embodied in one person - the emperor. Worship of the emperor began with Julius Caesar after his death. In 29 BC, Emperor Augustus granted the provinces of Asia and Bithynia the right to erect temples in Ephesus and Nicaea for the generalized worship of the goddess Roma and the already deified Julius Caesar. Roman citizens were encouraged and even exhorted to worship in these sanctuaries. Then the next step was taken: Emperor Augustus gave the inhabitants of the provinces, Not who had Roman citizenship, the right to erect temples in Pergamon in Asia and in Nicomedia in Bithynia for the worship of the goddess Roma and to myself. At first, the worship of the reigning emperor was considered permissible for the inhabitants of the province who did not have Roman citizenship, but not for those who had citizenship.

This had inevitable consequences. It is human nature to worship a god that can be seen, not a spirit, and gradually people began to worship the emperor himself more than the goddess Roma. At that time, special permission from the Senate was still needed to build a temple in honor of the reigning emperor, but by the middle of the first century, this permission was given more and more simply. The cult of the emperor became the universal religion of the Roman Empire. A caste of priests arose and worship was organized in presbyteries, whose representatives were accorded the highest honor.

This cult did not seek to completely replace other religions. Rome was generally very tolerant in this regard. A man could honor Caesar And their god, but over time, the veneration of Caesar became more and more a test of trustworthiness; it became, as someone put it, a recognition of the dominion of Caesar over the life and soul of man. Let us trace the development of this cult before the writing of Revelation and immediately after that.

1. Emperor Augustus, who died in 14 AD, permitted the worship of Julius Caesar, his great predecessor. He allowed the inhabitants of the provinces, who did not have Roman citizenship, to worship himself, but forbade this to his Roman citizens. Note that he did not display any violent measures in this.

2. Emperor Tiberius (14-37) could not stop the cult of Caesar; but he forbade the building of temples and the appointment of priests to establish his cult, and in a letter to the city of Githon in Laconia, he decisively refused all divine honors for himself. He not only did not encourage the cult of Caesar, but also discouraged him.

3. The next emperor Caligula (37-41) - an epileptic and a madman with delusions of grandeur, insisted on divine honors for himself, tried to impose the cult of Caesar even on the Jews, who have always been and remained an exception in this respect. He intended to place his image in the Holy of Holies of the Jerusalem temple, which would certainly lead to indignation and rebellion. Fortunately, he died before he could fulfill his intentions. But in his reign, the worship of Caesar became a requirement throughout the empire.

4. Caligula was replaced by Emperor Claudius (41-54), who completely changed the perverted policy of his predecessor. He wrote to the ruler of Egypt - Alexandria had about a million Jews - fully approving the Jews' refusal to call the emperor a god and giving them complete freedom in their worship. Having ascended the throne, Claudius wrote to Alexandria: “I forbid appointing me as a high priest and erecting temples, because I do not want to act against my contemporaries, and I believe that sacred temples and all that in all ages have been attributes of the immortal gods, as well as honor".

5. Emperor Nero (54-68) did not take his divinity seriously and did nothing to consolidate the cult of Caesar. True, he persecuted Christians, not because they did not revere him as a god, but because he needed scapegoats for the great fire of Rome.

6. After the death of Nero, three emperors were replaced in eighteen months: Galba, Otto and Vitelius; in such confusion, the question of the cult of Caesar did not arise at all.

7. The next two emperors - Vespasian (69-79) and Titus (79-81) were wise rulers who did not insist on the cult of Caesar.

8. Everything changed radically with the coming to power of the emperor Domitian (81-96). He seemed to be the devil. He was the worst of all - a cold-blooded persecutor. With the exception of Caligula, he was the only emperor who took his divinity seriously and demanding observance of the cult to Caesar. The difference was that Caligula was an insane Satan, while Domitian was mentally healthy, which is much scarier. He erected a monument to "the divine Titus, the son of the divine Vespasian", began a campaign of the most severe persecution of all who did not revere the ancient gods - he called them atheists. He especially hated Jews and Christians. When he appeared with his wife at the theater, the crowd had to shout: "All hail our master and our lady!" Domitian proclaimed himself a god, informed all the rulers of the provinces that all government messages and announcements should begin with the words: "Our Lord and God Domitian commands ..." Any appeal to him - written or oral - was to begin with the words: "The Lord and God".

This is the background of Revelation. Throughout the empire, men and women had to call Domitian a god, or die. The cult of Caesar was a consciously implemented policy. Everyone had to say: "The Emperor is the Lord." There was no other way out.

What was left for Christians to do? What could they hope for? There were not many wise and powerful among them. They had neither influence nor prestige. The power of Rome rose up against them, which no nation could resist. Christians faced a choice: Caesar or Christ. Revelation was written to inspire people in such difficult times. John did not close his eyes to the horrors; he saw terrible things, even more terrible things he saw ahead, but above all this he saw the glory that awaits him who will refuse Caesar for the love of Christ.

Revelation came in one of the most heroic eras in the entire history of the Christian Church. Domitian's successor Emperor Nerva (96-98), however, canceled wild laws, but they have already caused irreparable damage: Christians were outlawed, and Revelation turned out to be that trumpet call that called for faithfulness to Christ until death in order to receive the crown of life.

A BOOK WORTH STUDYING

One cannot close one's eyes to the difficulties of Revelation: this is the most difficult book of the Bible, but its study is extremely useful, because it contains the burning faith of the Christian Church in an era when life was a continuous agony, and people were waiting for the end of heaven and earth known to them, but still they believed that behind the horrors and human fury was the glory and power of God.

SEVEN BOWLS FILLED WITH THE WRATH OF GOD (Rev. 16)

Here they are, the last terrible punishments. They are connected in a certain way with the plagues of Egypt and with the horrors that followed the sounds of the seven trumpets in Rev. 8-11. We systematize all three cases in order to better see the similarities. First, here are ten plagues by which Moses demonstrated the wrath of God to Pharaoh:

1. Turning water into blood (Ex. 7:20-25)

2. Toads (8,5-14)

3. Midges (8,16-18)

4. Dog flies (8,20-24)

5. Pestilence on livestock (9,3-6)

6. Inflammations and boils (9,8-11)

7. Hail and storm with thunder and lightning (9,22-26)

8. Locust (10,12-19)

9. Thick darkness (10,21-23)

10. Death of the firstborn (12,29-30)

Now let us cite the horrors that followed the sound of the seven trumpets:

1. Hail and fire mixed with blood, destroying one third of the trees and grass (Rev. 8:7).

2. A great mountain burning with fire fell into the sea, causing a third of the sea to become blood (8,8).

3. The fall of the star wormwood into the waters, as a result of which the waters became bitter (8,10-11).

4. The defeat of the third part of the sun, moon and stars, as a result of which it became dark (8,12).

5. The fall of a star, which opened the well of the abyss, from which smoke appeared, from which, in turn, demonic locusts appeared (9,1-12).

6. The release of four angels bound at the Euphrates River and the invasion of demonic cavalry from the east (9,13-21).

7. Proclamation of the final victory of God and the revolt of the nations (11,15).

Now let's list the horrors that are discussed in this chapter.

1. Violent and disgusting wounds on people (Rev. 16:2).

2. The water in the sea turned into dead man's blood (16,3).

3. Rivers and fountains of waters became blood (16,4).

4. The sun gets scalding hot (16,8).

5. Darkness over the kingdom of the beast and his suffering (16,9-11).

6. Drying up the Euphrates to open the way for the kings of the East (16,12).

7. Air pollution and related horrors in nature: thunder, earthquake, lightning and hail (16.17-21).

It is easy to see that these lists have a lot in common - hail, darkness, blood in the water, cruel ulcers, the arrival of terrible hordes from behind the Euphrates. But there is a definite difference in Revelation from the horrors that follow the sound of trumpets and the horrors that follow the outpouring of bowls. In the first case, destruction and death are partial and limited, for example, on a third of the earth, and in the second case, we are talking about the complete destruction of the enemies of God.

It seems that in this passage, John has gathered together all the horrors from all the stories of the vengeful wrath of God and threw them on the unbelieving world in the last city of destruction.

THE HORROR OF GOD (Rev. 16:1-11)

The first horror is the plague of festering wounds; moreover, the same word is used as for inflammations and boils in the executions of Egyptian (Ex. 9:8-11); leprosy, with which God will strike disobedience (Deut. 28:35); and Job's leprosy (Job 2:7).

The second horror is the transformation of sea water into blood. This and the following horror, the turning of rivers and sources of waters into blood is analogous to the turning of the waters of the Nile into blood in the days of the executions of the Egyptians. (Ex. 7:17-21).

According to the Jewish worldview, all natural forces - wind, sun, rain, water - had their own angel. These angels were the helpers of God, dealing with various separate departments of nature. One would think that the angel of the waters would be indignant when he saw the waters turned into blood, but he also recognizes the correctness of God's actions. IN 16,6 refers to the persecution then taking place in the Roman Empire. Saints are members of the Christian Church; the prophets are not the prophets of the Old Testament, but the prophets of the Christian Church (1 Cor. 12:28; Acts 13:1; Eph. 4:11), who, as leaders of the Church, were the first to suffer persecution. A terrible punishment awaits those who are guilty of shedding the blood of the leaders and ordinary people of the Church; water will disappear from the earth and only blood will remain for drinking.

IN 16,7 a voice from the altar praises the justice of God's judgment. It may be the voice of the angel of the altar, for the altar also had its own angel, or there may be another idea behind it. On the altar the prayers of His people and the lives of the martyrs are sacrificed to God; and the voice from the altar may be, so to speak, the voice of the praying and suffering Church of Christ, giving praise to the justice of God when His wrath falls upon her persecutors.

The fourth horror is the sun burning the earth with heat; fifth - darkness, similar to the darkness that spread over Egypt (Ex. 10:21-23).

IN 16,9.11.21 - a kind of chorus that runs through the whole chapter. Those on whom the wrath of God fell, blasphemed God and did not repent, remained deaf to both the goodness of God and His severity (Rom. 11:22). These are people who certainly knew about the existence of God and even saw His hand in everything, and, nevertheless, went their own way.

We must ask ourselves if we are so different from them. We do not question the existence of God; we know that God is interested in us and the world He created; we know well the laws of God; we know of His goodness and know that sin will be punished; and yet, again and again, we go our own way.

HORDS FROM THE EAST (Rev. 16:12)

Here is a picture of the drying up of the Euphrates River, which opened up the opportunity for the eastern hordes to attack the world.

One of the remarkable features of the Old Testament is precisely how often the drying up of the waters is a sign of the power of God. On the Red Sea "... the Lord drove the sea ... and made the sea dry land" (Ex. 14:21). It was also at the Jordan River when the people crossed the river, under the leadership of Joshua: "All the sons of Israel crossed on dry land" (Josh. N. 3:17). In Isaiah, the power of God is manifested in the fact that He gave the people the opportunity to come out of the land of Egypt (Isaiah 11:16). In the book of the prophet Jeremiah, God in His anger speaks such a threat: "I will dry up its sea, and I will dry up its channels" (Jer. 51:36)."And all the depths of the river will dry up," says the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 10:11).

It is possible that here John is recalling a famous historical event. The Greek historian Herodotus (1.191) told us that the Persian king Cyrus took Babylon by draining the Euphrates, which flowed right through the center of the city. When Cyrus approached Babylon, its fortifications seemed so strong that it was impossible to take it. And Cyrus came up with a brilliant plan. Leaving one part of the army at Babylon, he went up the river with the other part. With one magnificent technique, he temporarily diverted the waters of the river into the lake. The water level in the Euphrates fell, and eventually the riverbed that passed through the center of the city became a dry road, and along this road there was a gap in the fortifications, through which the Persians entered Babylon and took the city.

John refers to the picture imprinted in the memory of all his contemporaries. The biggest enemy that Rome was never able to subdue was the Parthians, who lived across the Euphrates River. Their cavalry was the most terrible branch of the troops of the then world. The idea that the Parthian cavalry could cross the Euphrates was capable of instilling fear and horror even in the most courageous heart. In addition, as we have already seen, it was said that the emperor Nero had fled to the Parthians and was expected to return from Parthia. Nero redeewus; that is, the invasion of the Antichrist was expected from beyond the Euphrates.

UNCLEAN SPIRITS LIKE TOADS (Rev. 16:13-16)

These four verses contain a lot of problems, and in order to rationally explain the verses, these problems must be solved.

From the jaws of the dragon and the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, unclean spirits like frogs came out.

In Greek, this is a kind of play on words. The unclean spirits came out of the mouths and out of the mouths of the evil forces. The mouth is the organ of speech, and speech is one of the most active forces in the world. Spirit in Greek - pneuma it also means breath. Thus, to say that an unclean spirit came out of a man's mouth is like saying that his mouth spurts evil. As Sweet put it, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet "spouted evil influences from their lips."

These unclean spirits were like frogs.

1. Toads are associated with disasters and punishment. They were one of the plagues of the Egyptians (Ex. 8:5-11)."Sent them ... toads to destroy them" ( Ps. 77,45). "Their land brought forth many frogs, even in the bedchamber of their kings" ( Ps. 104,30).

2. Toads are unclean animals. Although they are not named by name, they are included through a general definition in the list of unclean things in the water and in the sea, which begins in A lion. 11.10. Toads symbolize impure influence.

3. Toads are famous for their incessant croaking. "Croaking," said Augustine, "is the most empty of all vanities (Sermon on Psalm 77.27). The sounds made by toads are a symbol of the most senseless speech.

4. In the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism, frogs bring disasters and executions and serve as assistants to the power of darkness of Ahriman in his struggle with Ormuzd, the power of light. John probably knew this.

Thus, to say that frogs came out of the mouth of the dragon, the beasts, and the false prophet, is to say that their words were like plagues and plagues; that they were unclean, completely useless and accomplices of the powers of darkness.

THE FALSE PROPHET (Rev. 16:13-16)

Now we need to solve another problem: who is this false prophet? The dragon is Satan (12,3.9). The Beast - the Roman Empire with the cult of Caesar - has already appeared in 13,1. But the false prophet appears here on stage for the first time. Since he appears without any further explanation, it means that John believes that the addressees themselves can already recognize him.

The people of God have already been warned of the defeat of the false prophet in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, Israel is forbidden to listen to a false prophet, no matter how impressive signs and wonders he shows, and it is established that the punishment for false prophets should be death. (Deut. 13:1-5). It was the business of the Sanhedrin to examine the cases of false prophets and sentence them to death. And the Christian Church was warned that false Christs and false prophets would arise to deceive, if possible, even the elect, that is, Christians. (Mark 13:22). Sweet says of these false prophets that such a title covers a whole group of people - "sellers of magical agents, religious deceivers, and deceived - misinterpreting the thoughts of God. They are the worst enemies of the Church and the best friends of Satan."

The False Prophet is discussed here in 19,20 And 20,10. By comparing the two passages, we can find the key and establish who he is. IN 19,20 it is said that ultimately the false prophet was captured along with the beast; this false prophet performed miracles before the beast and deceived the people who received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. IN 13,13 a description is given of another beast, a beast from the earth; he "does great signs"; and he deceives those who dwell on the earth with the same signs and wonders that he could do in the presence of the beast. In other words, the false prophet seems to be doing the same thing as the second beast, and as we have seen, this beast symbolizes the provincial administration created to inculcate the cult of Caesar. Thus, the false prophet symbolizes an apparatus designed to induce people to worship the emperor and deny Jesus Christ.

A false prophet is one who tries to introduce a cult of other gods, encourage people to cooperate with the state or with the world, and seduce people from worshiping the one God.

ARMAGEDDON (Rev. 16:13-16 (continued))

There is another problem with this passage. Unclean Spirits come out to the kings of all the earth to gather them for battle. The idea of ​​the last and final battle between God and the forces of evil goes back to the deep past. We find her in Ps. 2.2:"The kings of the earth rise up, and the princes confer together against the Lord and against His Anointed."

This battle must take place, as the Bible says, in the place Armageddon. Various English translations spell the word differently; the place itself cannot be named with certainty.

Armageddon may well be associated with the name of Megiddo - a city on the Jezreel Plain, along which part of the "Way of the Sea" passed, one of the main trade and caravan routes from Egypt to Damascus. From the most ancient times to the era of Napoleon, this place was one of the greatest battlefields in the world. On this plain Barak and Deborah slew Sisera and his chariots (Judges 4:14-16); there Ahaziah died from the arrow of Jehu (2 Kings 9:27); there the virtuous Josiah died in battle with Pharaoh Necho (2 Kings 23:29-30) - a tragedy that burned into the memory of the Jews and which they could never forget (Zech. 12:11). This place, as Sweet put it, "was familiar to every student of Jewish history, a battlefield."

Armageddon will then mean city ​​of Megiddon or Har Mageddon - Mount Megiddon. It is possible that the latter form is more correct, but still a plain would be more suitable as a battlefield than a mountain. But something else must be added to this. When describing the last battle with Gog and Magog, Ezekiel says that the last battle will be won on the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 38:8.21; 39:2.4.17). It is possible that John was referring to Mount Megiddon in order to fit his story into the flow of ancient prophecy.

Most likely, this refers to Har Mageddon and the area near the city of Megiddo in the Jezreel Plain, the most famous battlefield in the history of Israel.

He is also associated with Is. 14.13, where the words are put into the mouth of Lucifer: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain in the assembly of the gods." The Babylonians believed that in the north there is Mount Aralu, on which, like the Greek Olympus, the gods lived. Lucifer intends to place his throne among the gods. It has been suggested that Mount Mageddon is that mountain, and that John sees the battle against the host of gods in their dwelling.

WAR IN NATURE (Rev. 16:17-21)

The seventh bowl is poured into the air. Sweet speaks of "the air that all people breathe." Air pollution is a threat to the very sustenance of human life. The air declared war on man; this is followed by lightning, thunder, and an earthquake. The first century was particularly notable for earthquakes, but, says John, no matter what disasters and horrors earthquakes bring to people, the coming earthquake will surpass everything.

Great Babylon, that is, Rome, will fall into three parts. Rome believed that she could do everything with impunity, and now her sin is subject to judgment and her fate is already prepared. Maybe God is in no hurry to punish, but sooner or later retribution will come.

The islands ran away, drowned, and the mountains were gone. The last terrible execution is a terrible hail, each hailstone weighing a talent. And this manifestation of the wrath of God is already familiar to us. The devastating hail was one of the plagues of the Egyptians. (Ex. 9:24). In the battle between Joshua and five Amorite kings at Bethoron, the Lord sent a great hailstorm against the enemies of Israel, so that more enemies died from the hail than from the sword (Josh. N. 10:11). Isaiah also speaks of a hailstorm and a destructive whirlwind, which the Lord will send in His judgment (Isaiah 28:2). The prophet Ezekiel says that God will judge people with pestilence and bloodshed, all-flooding rain and stone hail, fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).

The outpouring of seven bowls on the earth with the wrath of God ends with a chorus that did not stop throughout the chapter; the people to whom these horrors befell remained deaf both to the calls of God's love and to the wrath of God. God has placed a heavy responsibility on people for shutting their hearts.

Commentaries (introduction) on the entire book of Revelation

Comments on Chapter 16

As we read the words of this prophecy, our hearts should be filled with praise to our Lord for the grace that has saved us from all that is to come in this age. Another blessing for us is the assurance of final victory and glory. Arno S. Gabelin

Introduction

I. SPECIAL STATEMENT IN THE CANON

The uniqueness of the last book of the Bible is evident from the very first word - "Revelation", or, in the original, "Apocalypse". This word means "mysteries revealed"- the equivalent of our word "Apocalypse", the kind of writing that we find in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah in the OT, but only here in the New Testament. It refers to prophetic visions of the future and uses symbols, images, and other literary devices.

Revelation not only sees the fulfillment of everything foretold and the final triumph of God and the Lamb in the future it also connects the disjointed endings of the first 65 books of the Bible. In fact, this book can only be understood by knowing the entire Bible. Images, symbols, events, numbers, colors, etc. - almost we have met all of this earlier in the Word of God. Someone rightly called this book the "big main station" of the Bible, because all the "trains" come to it.

What are the trains? Trains of thought that originate in the book of Genesis and trace the idea of ​​redemption running through all subsequent books, ideas about the people of Israel, the Gentiles, the Church, Satan - the enemy of God's people, the Antichrist and much more.

The Apocalypse (since the 4th century so often erroneously called "The Revelation of St. John" and so rarely "The Revelation of Jesus Christ", 1:1) is the necessary culmination of the Bible. He tells us how everything will happen.

Even a cursory reading of it should serve as a stern warning to unbelievers to repent, and to God's people as an encouragement to remain steadfast in the faith!

The book itself tells us that its author is John (1.1.4.9; 22.8), who writes at the command of his Lord Jesus Christ. Longstanding persuasive and widespread external evidence confirm the view that the John in question is the apostle John, the son of Zebedee, who spent many years working in Ephesus (Asia Minor, where all the seven churches addressed in chapters 2 and 3 were located). He was exiled by Domitian to Patmos, where he described the visions that our Lord deigned to see him. He later returned to Ephesus, where he died at a good old age, full of days. Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen all attribute this book to John. More recently, a book has been found in Egypt called the Apocrypha of John (c. 150 AD), which quite definitely ascribes the Revelation to John, brother of James.

The first opponent of the authorship of the apostle was Dionysius of Alexandria, but he did not want to recognize John as the author of Revelation for the reason that he was against the doctrine of the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 20). His vague, unsubstantiated references first to John Mark and then to "John the Presbyter" as possible authors of the Revelation could not resist such convincing evidence, although many contemporary more liberal theologians also reject the authorship of the apostle John. In church history there is no evidence confirming the existence of such a person as John the presbyter (elder), except for the author of 2 and 3 of the epistles of John. But these two letters are written in the same style as 1 John, and are also very similar in simplicity and vocabulary to Hev. from John.

If the external evidence given above is quite strong, then internal evidence not so certain. The vocabulary of rather crude "Semitic" Greek style (there are even a few expressions that philologists would call solecisms, stylistic errors), as well as word order, convince many that the person who wrote the Apocalypse could not write the Gospel.

However, these differences are understandable, in addition, there are many similarities between these books.

For example, some believe that Revelation was written much earlier, in the 50s or 60s (during the reign of Claudius or Nero), and Gospel John wrote much later, in the 90s, when he perfected his knowledge of the Greek language. However, this explanation is difficult to prove.

It is possible that when John wrote the Gospel, he had a scribe, and during the exile to Patmos he was completely alone. (This in no way violates the doctrine of inspiration, since God uses the personal style of the author, not the generalized style of all the books of the Bible.) Both in the Gospel of John and in Revelation we find common themes, such as light and darkness. The words "Lamb", "overcome", "word", "faithful", "living waters" and others also unite these two works. In addition, both John (19.37) and Revelation (1.7) quote Zechariah (12.10), while in the meaning of "pierced" is used not the word that we find in the Septuagint, but a completely different word with the same meaning. (The Gospel and Revelation use the verb ekkentesan; in the Septuagint in Zechariah his form katorchesanto.)

Another reason for the differences in vocabulary and style between the Gospels and Revelations is the very different literary genres. In addition, in Revelation, much of the Hebrew phraseology is borrowed from descriptions that are widespread throughout the OT.

Thus, the traditional view that the apostle John, son of Zebedee and brother of James, actually wrote Revelation has a historically solid basis, and all the problems that arise can be resolved without denying his authorship.

III. WRITING TIME

The earliest date for the writing of Revelation, according to some, is the 50s or late 60s. As noted, this partly explains the less skillful art style Revelations.

Some believe that the number 666 (13.18) was a prediction about the emperor Nero, who was supposedly to be resurrected.

(In Hebrew and Greek, letters also have a numerical value. For example, aleph and alpha - 1, beth and beta - 2, etc. Thus, any name can be represented using numbers. Interestingly enough, the Greek name Jesus ( Iesous) denoted 888. The number eight is the number of a new beginning and resurrection. It is believed that the numerical designation of the letters of the name of the beast is 666, respectively. Using this system and slightly changing the pronunciation, "Caesar Nero" can be represented by the number 666. Other names can be depicted with this number, but we need to avoid such rash assumptions.)

This suggests an early date. The fact that this event did not happen does not reflect on the perception of the book. (Perhaps he argues that Revelation was written much later than the reign of Nero.) The Church Fathers quite specifically point to the end of the reign of Domitian (about 96) as the time when John was on Patmos, where he received Revelation. Since this opinion is older, well-founded, and widely held among orthodox Christians, there is good reason to accept it.

IV. PURPOSE OF WRITING AND THEME

The key to understanding the book of Revelation is simple - imagine that it is divided into three parts. Chapter 1 describes John's vision where he saw Christ in the robe of a Judge standing in the midst of seven churches. Chapters 2 and 3 cover the age of the Church in which we live. The remaining 19 chapters deal with future events following the end of the Church age. You can split the book like this:

1. What John saw that is, the vision of Christ as Judge of the churches.

2. What is: an overview of the age of the Church from the death of the apostles to the time when Christ takes His saints into heaven (chs. 2 and 3).

3. What will happen after this: a description of future events after the rapture of the saints into the Eternal Kingdom (ch. 4-22).

The content of this section of the book is easy to remember by drawing up the following schematic outline: 1) chapters 4-19 describe the great tribulation, a period spanning at least seven years, when God will judge unbelieving Israel and unbelieving Gentiles; this court is described with the help of such figurative objects: a) seven seals; b) seven trumpets; c) seven bowls; 2) Chapters 20-22 cover the second coming of Christ, His reign on earth, the Great White Throne Judgment, and the Eternal Kingdom. During the Great Tribulation, the seventh seal contains seven trumpets. And the seventh trumpet is also the seven bowls of wrath. Therefore, the Great Tribulation can be depicted in the following diagram:

PRINTS 1-2-3- 4-5-6-7
	PIPES 1-2-3-4-5-6-7
	BOWLS 1-2-3-4-5-6-7

Insert episodes in the book

The diagram above shows the main line of thought for the entire book of Revelation. However, there are frequent digressions in the course of the narrative, the purpose of which is to introduce the reader to various important figures and events of the great tribulation. Some writers call them interludes, or interludes. Here are the main interludes:

1. 144,000 sealed Jewish saints (7:1-8).

2. Gentile believers in this period (7:9-17).

3. Strong Angel with a book (ch. 10).

4. Two witnesses (11:3-12).

5. Israel and the dragon (ch. 12).

6. Two beasts (ch. 13).

7. 144,000 with Christ on Mount Zion (14:1-5).

8. Angelic candle gospel (14:6-7).

9. Preliminary announcement of the fall of Babylon (14.8).

10. Warning to those who worship the beast (14:9-12).

11. Harvest and grape harvest (14:14-20).

12. Destruction of Babylon (17.1 - 19.3).

Symbolism in the book

The language of Revelation is mostly symbolic. Numbers, colors, minerals, gems, beasts, stars, and lamps all symbolize people, things, or various truths.

Luckily, some of these symbols are explained in the book itself. For example, the seven stars are the Angels of the seven churches (1.20); the big dragon is the devil, or satan (12.9). Keys to understanding some other symbols are found in other parts of the Bible. The four animals (4.6) are almost the same as the four animals in Ezekiel (1.5-14). And Ezekiel (10:20) says that they are cherubim. Leopard, bear and lion (13.2) remind us of Daniel (7), where these wild animals represent world empires: Greece, Persia and, respectively, Babylon. Other symbols do not have a clear explanation in the Bible, so one must be very careful in their interpretation.

Purpose of writing the book

As we study the book of Revelation, and indeed the entire Bible, we must remember that there is a difference between the Church and Israel. The Church is a people belonging to heaven, their blessings are spiritual, their calling is to share the glory of Christ as His Bride. Israel is God's ancient people living on earth, to whom God promised the land of Israel and a literal kingdom on earth under the leadership of the Messiah. The true Church is mentioned in the first three chapters, and then we do not see her until the marriage feast of the Lamb (19:6-10).

The period of the Great Tribulation (4:1 - 19:5) is by its nature predominantly the period of the Jews.

In conclusion, it remains to add that not all Christians interpret Revelation in the same way as indicated above. Some believe that the prophecies of this book were fully fulfilled in the history of the early church. Others teach that Revelation is an ongoing picture of the Church in all ages, from John to the very end.

This book teaches all of God's children that living for the transient is meaningless. It encourages us to bear witness to the lost and encourages us to wait patiently for our Lord's return. For unbelievers, this is an important warning that a terrible death awaits all who reject the Savior.

Plan

I. WHAT JOHN SAW (Ch. 1)

A. Book theme and greeting (1:1-8)

B. Vision of Christ in Judicial Garment (1:9-20)

II. WHAT IS: MESSAGES FROM OUR LORD (Ch. 2 - 3)

A. Message to the Ephesian Church (2:1-7)

B. Message to the Church of Smyrna (2:8-11)

C. Epistle to the Church of Pergamon (2:12-17)

D. Epistle to the Thyatira Church (2:18-29)

E. Epistle to the Church of Sardis (3:1-6) F. Epistle to the Church of Philadelphia (3:7-13)

G. Message to the Laodicean Church (3:14-22)

III. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THIS (Ch. 4 - 22)

A. The Vision of God's Throne (Ch. 4)

B. The Lamb and the Book Sealed with Seven Seals (Ch. 5)

C. The breaking of the seven seals (Ch. 6)

D. Saved during the Great Tribulation (Ch. 7)

D. The seventh seal. Seven trumpets begin to blow (Ch. 8 - 9)

E. Strong Angel with a book (Ch. 10)

G. Two witnesses (11:1-14) H. Seventh trumpet (11:15-19)

I. Main characters in great sorrow (Ch. 12 - 15)

J. Seven bowls of God's wrath (Ch. 16)

K. The fall of the great Babylon (Ch. 17 - 18)

M. The Coming of Christ and His Millennial Kingdom (19:1 - 20:9).

N. Judgment on Satan and all unbelievers (20:10-15)

O. New heaven and new earth (21,1 - 22,5)

P. Final warnings, comforts, invitations, and blessings (22:6-21)

J. Seven bowls of God's wrath (Ch. 16)

16,1-2 Loud voice from the temple commands seven angels to go and pour out the cups of God's wrath on the earth. These judgments are similar in nature and sequence to the trumpet judgments, but more intense. The first bowl calls disgusting festering wounds on those, who worshiped the beast and his image.

16,3 The second punishment turns the waters seas V blood, like a dead man, and all life in the sea dies.

16,4 Third bowl does blood All aquatic sources.

16,5-6 In this place angel of the waters justifies the justice of God's judgments. People are just getting retribution for their sinful deeds. They shed blood in abundance, and now the punishment for this will be drink blood instead of water. They deserve it.

16,7 Probably, altar symbolizes the souls of the slain saints (6,9).

They waited long and patiently for their tormentors to be punished.

16,8-9 The fourth punishment makes people suffer from the strong sunburn or solar radiation.

However, this did not make them confess.

On the contrary, they blasphemed God for sending such scorching heat upon them.

16,10-11 fifth angel pours on the realm of the beast punishment darkness. This increases the suffering of people because they are unable to move around to get relief from their previous illnesses. But their hearts are not softened. They become more rooted in their hatred of God.

16,12 When the sixth bowl is poured out Euphrates waters dry up, enabling the army from the east go to the land of Israel.

16,13-14 John sees three spirits, as if three toad, outgoing from the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet- satanic false trinity. These demonic spirits create signs, to deceive all the world's rulers and gather them for the climactic battle on the great day of God Almighty.

16,15 Speaking of this battle, the Lord inserts a mention of blessedness for all the saints of great sorrow, who are waiting for His return and keeping themselves clean from the idolatry of that time. For the unsaved, He will come as thief, unexpectedly and bring death.

16,16 The armies of the world will gather at the place called in Hebrew Armageddon, or Megiddo. ("Armageddon" comes from the Hebrew "Har" (mountain) of Megiddo. Most texts read simply "Megiddo".) It is usually associated with the Jezreel Valley, on the south side of which Megiddo is located. It is said that Napoleon called it the arena for the world battle, that is, the ideal place for a battle.

16,17 Announcement made the seventh angel: "It is done!" - indicates that this is the final cup of wrath. As for the great tribulation, the wrath of God has ceased.

16,18 When the last cup is poured out, the strongest shocks are observed in nature: explosions, thunder, lightning and earthquakes unprecedented strength.

16,19 The great city of Babylon, divided into three parts, drinking the cup of God's wrath. The Lord did not forget his idolatry, cruelty and religious confusion. All the pagan cities fell at the same time.

16,20 As a consequence of earthquakes, disappears every island and all mountains.

16,21 Hail the size of a talent (approximately 45.5 kg) fills the ground, but People, instead of repenting, they blaspheme God.

The chapter shows a general picture of the figurative "winepress" of God's wrath, intended for the destruction of the worthless "grape" from Rev. 14:19,20 - after the "harvest" (after the first harvest"wheat").

John is shown a picture of the destruction of the age of the devil - from two positions:
1) from the standpoint of the literal destruction of all spheres of his system of things - chapter 16 talks about this,
2) from the position of its spiritual destruction - chapter 19 talks about this: the system of government of the devil will not only be destroyed physically, but a complete spiritual victory of Christ and his followers will be won over it (we will consider in the chapter).

The period of pouring out of the seven bowls of Jehovah's wrath (the transition from the wicked age to the age of God's rule) will last for some time and will consist of seven successive events or stages of the destruction of the age of Satan, culminating in Armageddon: in the battle of the kings of God (Jerusalem) and the kings of the devil (Babylon).Since all the kings of the earthly ages of the reign of the devil are gathering for the battle of Armageddon, it will be fair to first, in the first four bowls, show them the result of their poor leadership of the earth under the leadership of their "god", the devil (as a result of which almost all natural life-supporting resources of the Earth will be destroyed). And then destroy them too.

The seven bowls, which will be poured out gradually, will prove that all powers of the world this and the rest of the wicked are the children of the devil ("Pharaoh" of this age), because they will behave in exactly the same way as the pharaoh during the Egyptian executions: instead of feeling the hand of God and repenting, they will only harden all stronger and stronger and blaspheme God. That is, they will show all the Most High that they are incorrigible and deserve destruction in Armageddon

By the time the events of Chapter 16 unfold, we recall that Jesus Christ is in heaven in full assembly with his team of heavenly co-rulers.

16:1 And I heard from the temple (heavenly Holy of Holies) a loud voice saying to the seven angels, go and pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth .
Who can give the order to start cleansing all the boundaries of the Earth from the wicked? Most likely, Jehovah, who is in His heavenly abode (in the Holy of Holies / temple). Or - on His instructions, someone from those who are in His company.

As we remember, in the company of God there are elders, animals, Jesus Christ, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God, 144,000 co-rulers of Christ on the sea of ​​glass near the throne of God, and angels sent by God on various “tasks” (Rev. 5:1,2,11)

The description of the pouring out of the cups of God's wrath will help all who meditate on Revelation to understand how the people of the end of this age will react to the wrath of God: if even difficult events cannot bring the wicked to reason, then what other opportunities and chances can help to reason? None.
Therefore, all believers will be able to understand that God will be just in His judgment and punishment of the wicked. And in the future - no one (perhaps even from the resurrected) will say that God destroyed someone in Armageddon unfairly.
What people will experience at the end of the century is just the consequences of their own destructive activities. God just will not stop this process and will correct It until the earth shakes off the last wicked one and is transformed into a multi-colored planet (Job.38:12-14)

First bowl
16:2 The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the ground: and cruel and disgusting festering wounds appeared on people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
Since the beast that came out of the abyss will influence the whole world for some time at the end of the century, only its “admirers” will remain by the time the bowls of God’s wrath are poured out on Earth.
Those who remained faithful to God and did not put the mark of the beast on their forehead and hand - they will be gathered as the first harvest in heaven (co-rulers, Rev. 20:4,6) faithfulness to God after that (Rev. 11:12,13) ​​- they will have time to die in the Lord by the beginning of the pouring out of the first cup (Rev. 14:1,13).

Therefore, the first cup of wrath is intended for all idolaters of the Earth, including the people of God, involved in idolatry by the lawless temple of Jehovah (2 Thessalonians 2:2-4).
The beast of the devil, let us recall, is in principle the “bearer” of paganism (idolatry), when people serve their “gods”, starting from serving their womb or mammon and ending with political, spiritual, sports, variety, etc. idols.

The literal festering wounds (abscesses) are known from the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 9:9). Since in this period all the servants of the “pharaoh” of this age, the devil, are punished, there is no reason to believe that the wounds will be symbolic. It is quite possible that this execution will be repeated under the guise of some unusual skin disease- all over the planet . This extraordinary disease should help people think that something is happening that they cannot control. But they will not hesitate to turn from their evil deeds to God.

Second bowl
16:3 The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea: and there was blood, as if of a dead man, and everything that was alive died in the sea.
In Rev. 8:8, when the second trumpet was announced, punishment in the form of disastrous events for 1/3 of the sea (world ocean) was mentioned as a warning. Here, the whole sea is affected by a certain problem, as a result of which all the inhabitants of it die..

For this cup of wrath, there is also no reason to believe that it will be only symbolic.
It is unlikely, of course, that the chemical composition of the oceans will become identical chemical composition blood. Rather, as a consequence of the death of everything animate (the figurative shedding of their blood), the water in it will become similar to blood in appearance and unsuitable for life. The same goes for all sources. drinking water pouring out the third cup of wrath.

third bowl
16:4 The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and fountains of waters: and there was blood .
Such a story already happened in the life of human society when Israel left Egypt: during the first Egyptian plague (Ex. 7:20-25).

As a result of two successive types of executions, all the waters of the planet will stink and become unsuitable for human use: a kind of worldwide water disaster is expected on earth, bringing the death of all wicked humanity of this period closer: the destructive activity of people will lead to the fact that the water resources of the planet will be greatly affected. By the same measure people destroyed God's creations, by the same measure God will measure the consequences of their activities to them..

However, God is strong to restore all conditions on earth, and the nature of the planet, if there is no one else to destroy it, has the property of self-restoration. So, by the time God brings to Earth those whom He wishes to see in the Millennium, the earth will welcome them cordially, with a full set of conditions for a happy life on Earth.

16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters, who said: You are righteous, O Lord, who art and was, and holy, because you judged so ;
Just as during the punishment of the pharaoh of Egypt, God actually judged all the “gods” of this country (Ex. this wicked age) the Almighty will destroy the illusions of all who worshiped the "gods" of many waters (Heket, Neptune, Abzu, Sekwan, Varuna, etc.)

As we can see from the words of this text, the “gods” of the waters were not invented from scratch: the Almighty really has an angel (“god” in the meaning of “spirit”), who is responsible for the state of the waters on the entire planet.
With the help of observing the behavior of waters and logical reasoning, people somehow came to the conclusion that there is someone who controls the water elements. Not knowing the true state of things, they came up with names for those who were "calculated" as the lords of the waters. And since the planet is large, each nationality invented its own gods, giving them names, taking into account their mentality and folklore color.

16:6 because they shed the blood of saints and prophets, you gave them blood to drink: they are worthy of it .
Angel of the waters as ruler water element, praises the Almighty for His justice and justice: since all the wicked people of the planet in one way or another cruelly oppressed the servants of God, shedding their blood and opposing the righteous path of life, it is fair to repay them with the same, that is, to oppress and destroy (figuratively "give blood to drink ")

These first executions, as the "first swallows" of God's executive sentence, oppress all the wicked of the Earth, depriving them of the opportunity to live the usual life of this age. All God-opponents should feel for themselves the taste of the "blood" of God's servants, shed thoughtlessly throughout their lives just because they wanted to adhere to God's principles.

fourth bowl
16:7-9 And I heard another from the altar saying: Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.
8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun: and it was given to him to burn the people with fire.
9 And the intense heat burned the people….
The essence of the fourth punishment for the wicked of the earth is a heat of extraordinary intensity. Apparently, the sun will undergo some physical changes by this time, and in these climatic conditions the radiation will be so strong that people will seem to be "fried" in a fiery flame.

What, however, will be their reaction?
and they blasphemed the name of God, who has power over these plagues, and did not understand to give Him glory.

As you can see, none of them will turn to the Almighty for help, will not repent and will not turn from their evil deeds. On the contrary, all people of this period will blaspheme the name of the Most High, thereby showing that they are not subject to re-education, that no corrective "rod" will awaken in them the desire to change for the better and humble themselves under the strong hand of God.

Fifth bowl
16:10 The fifth angel poured out his cup on the throne of the beast: and his kingdom became dark, and they bit their tongues from suffering,
The fifth bowl went to the throne of the beast, as a result of which he will plunge into darkness. That is, the kingdom of the eighth beast, which healed its power, will at some point become darkened (life in it will become completely gloomy) and plunge into many problems - such that no one can solve them for the benefit of the power of the beast.
All the inhabitants of his kingdom and the closest supporters of the beast will only bite their tongues from suffering (get angry from impotence and go crazy in the dark)

It is possible that in this power there will be a picture of complete political, economic and social collapse: politicians will not be able to resolve conflicts of interstate scale and on the ground - neither peacefully nor by armed means; the people will come out of obedience to the authorities and the beast will have to decide something to preserve his throne.

Most likely, such a deplorable state of the beast and the desire to correct the situation for the better will prompt him to attack "Babylon" and tear it to pieces (see below analysis of 16:12): after all, it is after the 5th bowl that the 6th bowl will be poured, "draining Euphrates" and freeing the beast with allied kings - the path to "Babylon" (to the destruction "center" of all interconnections of world influence, Rev. 16:12,17,19; 17:12,16,17).

What, however, will the people of the power of the beast think - in the period of their final existence?

16:11 and blasphemed the God of heaven from their sufferings and their sores; and did not repent of their deeds
Alas, there is not a single person in it who even thought a little about the reasons for what is happening and turned to the Almighty for help.
On the contrary, curses will be poured into His address - from everyone, none of the living will even think to repent of their wickedness.

Sixth bowl.
16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl into the great river Euphrates: and the water dried up in it, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun was ready .
In ancient times, before the fall of literal Babylon, the prophets predicted the drying up of the Euphrates River, which happened during the capture of Babylon by the king of Persia, Cyrus the Great (Is.11:15; Jer.50:28,38;).
By order of the king, the Persian army dug many canals and diverted water from the river, as a result, the channel dried up, and Cyrus with an army entered Babylon, impregnable from land, and captured it, giving the city to Darius the Media, his son-in-law (Dan. 5: 26- 31).

King Cyrus himself was a representative of Jehovah, that is, a king from the dawn of the sun (Media and Persia were located east of Babylonia), because according to God's plan, the capture of Babylon took place in antiquity (Is.45:1). Therefore, the draining of the Euphrates River was a kind of preparation for the way for the kings of Jehovah (Cyrus and Darius), appointed to capture the Babylon of antiquity.

By the end of the age, this literal city of Babylon does not exist. Ruins remained from it, they are localized in Iraq near the city of Al-Hilla. That is, the prophecy of Rev. Therefore, the text of 16:12 about the draining of the Euphrates to capture Babylon - in Revelation has a symbolic meaning.
This is also evidenced by the meaning of the harlot, called in the spiritual sense "Babylon":
5 And on her forehead was written the name Mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations of the earth .
18 But the woman whom you saw is a great city that reigns over the kings of the earth . (Rev. 17:5,18)

This means that the 6th bowl is intended for the spiritual "Babylon", denoting the governmental "capital" of the devil: as you know, all the kingdoms of the world in this age have been placed at the disposal of the devil (Luke 4:6). Therefore, all the kings of this system of things, ruling over sinful humanity in the world of Satan, are representatives of the system of government of the devil.

This spiritual "Babylon" - the system of government of the devil - will be destroyed by the kings of Jehovah coming from the greater east.
Who are they?
As we remember, the east is a symbol of the location of God on earth (Gen.2:8; Ezek.43:2,4). The kings coming from the east are a symbol of the kings appointed by God to destroy Babylon.
Who, at the call of God, will destroy the spiritual "Babylon"?

The texts of Rev. 17:12-14,16,17 say that some 10 horns of the beast of the devil (kings who have to fight with Christ / the Lamb) in alliance with the eighth beast, whose throne will be plunged into darkness from the 5th bowl, must themselves and destroy the system of government of the devil because God put it on their hearts to fulfill His will regarding the spiritual "Babylon" (just as He once "put on the heart" the same "will" to capture the literal Babylon to the pagan kings of Medo-Persia , more about this will be in Rev. 17)

The beast with allies will somehow shake the world foundations of society, and the "Babylon" of the devil will collapse by itself at the 7th bowl (see text 19).
This is the essence of Jehovah's plan to collect the evidence base about the inability of the devil to build an eternal "home" on Earth for a happy humanity. Why was Satan given the opportunity to build his system of things? So that later, when the self-destruction of this system occurs, no one will ever doubt that only Jehovah is able to create an eternal Earthly "house" and manage it for the benefit of humanity living in it.

Figuratively speaking, Satan was allowed to build his house, different from the house of Jehovah ("building permit issued"). If Jehovah began to destroy this house, later someone might have doubts or claims that Satan built a good "house", but this "house" was destroyed and did not give him a chance to manage the household. But Jehovah issued a building permit and Satan built it. However, its structure turned out to be unviable, like any "house" not created by Jehovah:
Ps. 126:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain;

Total: as a result of the inability of the kings of this age to negotiate and peacefully build a happy society, the destructive interaction of the beast (the last king of the north) and his 10 allies (see Rev. 17:11-14,17) - maybe some of their joint fateful decisions - bring the whole world into confusion. The world rulers will no longer be able to lead society, organize it and direct it in the direction they need, since the bestial "levers of control" will cease to operate, due to which all spheres of life support for the inhabitants of the planet will "fail" out of order. Thus, the collapse of the system of government of the devil and the inability to interact with the rulers of this age will be the punishment for his "Babylon".

And if the literal Babylon was punished for capturing the people of Jehovah of antiquity, blasphemed by spreading a lot of lewdness and involving in idolatry, then the greater spiritual Babylon of the devil will be punished for having “captured” and involved in a lot of lewdness people of the whole Earth, in including the servants of God.

16:13 And I saw [coming out] from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs:
As you can see, the whole unclean "trinity" - Satan (dragon), the seven-headed beast (13:1-10) and the beast - the false prophet (13:11-18) - are "anointed" with one "world": all three are a "shelter" for unclean spirits and join forces against the authority of God.

At the moment of darkening of the throne of the beast, all this "trinity" will intensify their efforts to resist God:

16:14 they are demonic spirits, working signs; they go out to the kings of the earth of the whole universe to gather them for battle on that great day of God Almighty .
All the efforts of the impure "trinity" are aimed at encouraging and inspiring from above all the earthly rulers of the Earth (rulers of all countries and political associations of this time) to become even more "brutal": knowing about the nearness of the end, demonic spirits will destroy everything with a special fury of death agony. the remnants of humanlikeness in the rulers, which will inevitably entail an increase in the concentration of madness in all the people of the earth of this period.

As a result, the whole human world will take up arms against everything rational and will reach the highest point in resistance to God.
It is in this way that all the impure forces emanating from the activities of the devil himself, his beast and the false prophet will “prepare” the Earth for the final battle with God: through fierce resistance to everything rational.

16:15 Behold, I come like a thief: blessed is the one who watches and keeps his clothes, so that he does not go naked and that they do not see his shame .
This warning-insert sounds like a reminder to Christians of all ages of the need to stay awake over Scripture and ongoing events in order to be on the alert and not “oversleep” the time of the end of this age and the second coming of Christ.

The warning comes from Jesus himself: in Scripture, the second coming of Christ, culminating in Armageddon, is often compared to the appearance of a thief - in the sense of his surprise. Whoever lives in anticipation of it and stays awake, being gathered (“clothed” in righteousness), Armageddon is not terrible for him: only notorious opponents of God, “naked”, not dressed in clothes made white by the blood of the Lamb, will suffer from it.

16:16 And he(they, spirits) collected(And) their(kings of the earth) to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
The word "Armageddon" comes from two Hebrew words meaning "mountain of Megiddo". This mountain is near the city of the same name on the plain of Ezdralon, former place numerous battles in the Old Testament times, 15 km. from Nazareth.
In ancient times, this place occupied an important strategic position. Key trade routes and military routes ran through the city of Megiddo. During the reign of Solomon, Megiddo was one of Israel's "chariot cities", ie. the place where the garrison with cavalry and war chariots was located (1 Kings 9:15,19; 10:26), as well as the residence of the royal steward (viceroy, 1 Kings 4:12).
On this plain, the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, sent by the Almighty to Assyria, defeated the Jewish king Josiah (2 Prlmn. 35: 20-22)

That is, the prophet John is shown a certain place for the battle of all the kings of the Earth, inspired by the spirits of the unclean "trinity" for furious resistance to God. And if all the deceived kings go to this war, each driven by some political goals, Satan himself will pursue his goal: he will fight with their hands against the heavenly host (this battle is described in more detail in chapter 19).

So, on the plain of Mount Megiddo, in the last battle of this age, representatives of two systems of government will figuratively fight: satanic and God. The satanic system of government will be represented by 10 kings allied with the beast and other earthly rulers of different ranks. God's system of government will be represented by Christ and his co-rulers (Rev. 19:11-21).

What will it look like in practice?
The peoples, led by all the wicked kings of the Earth, will by this time have reached the highest stage of their corruption and blasphemy. Against the backdrop of the crisis of all-terrestrial government (economic, political, social) - all people will finally "go wild" in their follies. This is how the demonstration of the worthlessness of the reign of earthly kings under the inspiration of the devil will end: people under their rule will not create anything good and useful, on the contrary, they will destroy everything and destroy the earth (Rev. 11:18).

Therefore, from the heights of heaven, all the inhabitants of heaven will clearly see what the human world has been brought to with the help of the satanic system of government, and why it deserves complete destruction. At the same time, the fact of the undoubted advantage of the theocratic system of government on Earth will be obvious to them: the system of government of God contributes to the creation and prosperity of the human world.

That is, in the literal sense of the deadly battle of the wicked kings of the Earth and the heavenly government headed by Christ - one should not expect:
Chapter 19 will show the spiritual victory of Christ over the kings of the system of government of the devil, for the sword in his mouth will be spiritual (Rev. 19:15,21).

Seventh and final bowl. It consists of several events, but all of them will occur during its pouring.
16:17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air:

1) event
The 7th bowl is poured into the air at a time when all the rulers of the earth are figuratively gathered on Mount Megiddo to fight with Jesus Christ and his co-rulers, as it is written:
(kings) will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them; for he is the Lord of lords and the king of kings, and those who are with him are called and chosen and faithful .(Rev. 17:14)

That is, the series of the last punishments from the 7th cup will show the final victory and reign of God's king over all the wicked kings of this satanic age.
The last cup of Jehovah's wrath is poured into the spiritual sphere (into the air): between the heavenly abode of God and the Earth. As a result of the 7th and last bowl, all demonic spirits "hanging" between heaven and Earth (in the air above the Earth) will be destroyed.

It is thanks to their motivating impure power that the earthly kings of this age at all times did evil and destroyed the true servants of God, in this way "winning" and suppressing until now the system of government of God.

But from this time on, there will be no one else for kings to "suggest" how to successfully carry out destructive evil deeds. Therefore, all earthly rulers of this period will no longer be able to prosper and solve the problems of the extremely distressed situation in which they themselves, their affairs and subjects will be from the period of the 6th bowl (recall: it will “burn” all the levers of the devil’s government system, therefore the system of interaction of the wicked rulers on earth will also be destroyed).

2) an event against the backdrop of the pouring of the 7th bowl :
and out of the temple of heaven from the throne came a loud voice, saying, It is done!
It is the 7th cup that will cause the Holy of Holies from the throne of God to say "It is done!". Apparently, Jehovah himself will pronounce these words.
What exactly happened?

And what happened at that moment was what the pouring out of the 7 bowls of God's wrath on this ungodly age should have led to, namely:
finally, there is vengeance for the blood of the saints of God and the long-awaited fair judgment on all the "gods" of this age, both over the "dwellers in heaven" and over the "gods" of the lust of one's soul (the womb, mammon, and other slave addictions)

As a result, idolatry of various kinds on the whole Earth is finished, the earth is cleansed of all types of idolatry, both explicit and hidden, both lowly carnal and “spiritualized” with a claim to sublimity. Therefore, God said about the accomplishment: His intentions to cleanse the Earth from a godless way of life are finally being fulfilled.

3) an event against the background of pouring the 7th bowl:
16:18-20 And there were lightnings, thunders, and voices, and there was a great earthquake, such as has not happened since people were on the earth. Such an earthquake! So great!.............................................. ....
20 And every island fled, and the mountains were no more;
In commemoration of the completion of the judgment on all the wicked in principle and the advent of God's era, extraordinary phenomena occur on earth that change the "face" of the planet: even its relief.
It follows that this final shaking of the earth will surpass those of 8:5 and 11:19.

4) the event against the background of the pouring of the 7th bowl
19 And the great city fell into three parts, and the pagan cities fell,
we are talking about Babylon, the system of government of the devil.
During the 6th bowl, as we remember, Babylon was figuratively “captured”, burned and devastated by 10 kings and a beast (all its world foundations were shaken - the laws of interaction of the world community). That is, the 6th bowl “neutralized” him, and therefore he will no longer be able to harm God’s plan, starting from the period of pouring the 6th bowl (see Rev. 17:16)

And at this moment it will self-disintegrate into 3 parts (the rulers of this age themselves will destroy the world in which they will rule, see text 12 above).
With this vision, God reinforces the idea of ​​the non-viability of "buildings" if they are not created by God. The fall of the government capital of the devil speaks of the complete destruction of all remnants of the satanic world empire in general: not only the government assistants of the devil, but also all the pagan cities of his “Babylonian” state (all organizational devices of the devilish type will fall, and there will be no trace of them).

and Babylon the Great will be remembered before God, to give her a cup of wine of the fury of His wrath.
Since there are only seven bowls and the system of the age of Satan consistently perishes during the pouring out of only seven bowls, this text seems strange, because it seems to mention one more bowl.

In fact, this event sounds much more understandable in other translations (the expression to give is semantic, the word “to” is not in the manuscript). For example:
The great city split into three parts, the cities of the pagans collapsed. God remembered the great capital of Babylon and gave her the cup of the wine of His furious wrath (V. Kuznetsova)

The great city split into three parts, and the pagan cities fell. God remembered the great Babylon and punished her and gave her to drink the cup of His furious wrath .(World)

That is, here we are not talking about the new 8th bowl, allegedly prepared specifically for Babylon. And about the fact that, pouring out the 7th and last cup of His wrath, destroying the last remnants of this ungodly age - God, finally, having mentioned the atrocities of Babylon, punished this "city" of the devil in full, letting him drink his well-deserved deadly cup. In fact, the beginning of his punishment began in the period of the 6th bowl and ended in the period of the 7th.

5) an event against the backdrop of the pouring of the 7th bowl
16:21 and hail, the size of a talent, fell from heaven on people;
The fact that Jehovah has certain treasuries of the city, prepared for the day of the battle and the war of God, was mentioned even in the time of Job (Job 38:22,23).About the "stone city" for the punishment of the wicked, He also spoke to His people of antiquity (Ezek. 13:13). He will apply itIn the last plague for this agealong with the impious system of government of the devil - all wicked people will fall from a hail of enormous size (one such "hailstone" the size of a talent weighs 45 kg).

That is, the age of the reign of the devil will finally end its existence, since all its components will be destroyed, namely: the system of government of the devil with demons who inspire evil deeds and wicked people who support the power of the devil on earth.
How are people behaving at this moment?

and the people blasphemed God for the plagues from the hail, because the ulcer from it was very heavy.
The text shows that even at this final moment of this age, all the people of the Earth only curse God - instead of repenting for him: even at the very last moment of their lives, the hearts of the wicked will not soften, having become stagnant in their pride and resistance to God.

This terrifying picture finally assures that there will not be a single person on Earth who would have managed to survive Armageddon.

Total according to the judgment of Jehovah over all the gods of this world:
The pharaoh of Egypt is a prototype of the devil, just like Egypt is a prototype of the devil's world with many false gods, from which at the end of this age and executions for the spiritual "Egypt" - the firstborn of God will be brought to heaven, and the firstborn of the devil and the spiritual "Egyptians" will be destroyed in the time of pouring out the seven bowls of Jehovah's wrath and "finished off" in Armageddon.

The firstborn of Egypt are the descendants of Ham:
Ps.77:51 he struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of power in the tents of Ham;

So God essentially predicted that there would not be a single spiritual “Ham” in His world, all “Hams” would be destroyed (the promised land was also cleansed of all boors, the descendants of Hamov through the grandson of Canaan, and this, too, has a spiritual meaning: in in the true promised land, in the world order of Jehovah, there will not be a single boor, wicked, if translated into understandable language)