GETTING THE MESSAGE/Accept Christ, the water of life

Revelation chapter 16 describes the 7 bowls of wrath poured out on the world in the days before the Lord Jesus comes in glory. They are precursors of the final judgment. Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, he pronounced 7 woes on the Jewish leaders and warned of the judgment that was to come upon Jerusalem.

Salvation came to the Jews first, but judgment came upon Jerusalem and the temple for their hypocrisy and hardness of heart, despite having the light of God’s word for ages, as well as testimony of Jesus to them. In Revelation 16, the gospel and salvation have been proclaimed throughout the world, and now the wrath of God will be poured out upon the world. The day of salvation has ended; the day of judgment has come.

The angel with the first bowl pours out the bowl and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast (verse 2). The physical misery in these plagues draws our attention, but the spiritual implications are vital. Sin makes a beast of you. By serving the beast, you serve the devil.

When you think of the mark of the beast, think of an absence of wisdom. Proverbs 14:9 says the fool mocks sin. The word for sin there actually means guilt or a guilt offering. There is no fear of God, no need for atonement of sin in the mind of those who reject Christ. The wisdom of God is foolishness to them, so they will get harder and more rebellious. The sores on the body are judgments on the corruption within.

The second bowl of wrath makes the sea become like the blood of a corpse. The sea represents the prosperity of the nations. It will come to an end. There is nothing wrong with working to improve our condition and becoming prosperous, but not if it means apart from God, and it is connected to all manner of depravity (chapter 18).

The third bowl turns the rivers and springs of water into blood. The Lord Jesus often equates his word with living waters. The last invitation of Christ to sinners in the Bible is as sweet and kind an invitation as we can hear: “Come, let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Rev. 22:17).

The springs of water being turned into blood means there is no desire to hear the word of God, and so God takes it away. At every stage of your life, it is a solemn and dreadful thing to refuse to listen to Christ. Many souls have neglected God’s word to the point they are hardened and have no need of it. It is just if God takes it away.

Verses 5-7 speak of the justice of God in pouring out these judgments. Not all people have “shed the blood of saints and prophets” but all who reject Christ are of the same spirit. So, they are also guilty of the blood of the saints. They are glad the word of God is silenced. Neither the law of God nor the gospel moves them. No warning or invitation from God is effectual.

Adam’s sin of eating the forbidden fruit may seem insignificant to men, but it involved the total rejection of God’s authority over men; it believed the lie of an evil spirit and trusted human reason rather than the clear word of God. Every sin is an offense against God and is an alarm to our need of God’s grace. If one rejects mercy, he receives justice.

Verses 8-11 shows us the sad trajectory rebellion against God. No matter how miserable men become, they do not humble themselves before God nor repent of their sin. In chapter one, the exalted Christ’s face shines like the sun at full strength, a sign of his infinite, blessed favor toward his people. But here in verse 8, the sun is a curse to those who oppose God.

In verse 10, the throne of the beast is plunged into darkness. The throne men exalted and worshipped is now nothing but darkness and confusion. People gnawed their tongues in anguish. The mouth of the beast spoke lies, they believed and worshipped the lie, and the misery in their tongues reflects it. Sin is a miserable affliction only Christ can heal. The more we think of the bowls of wrath, the more excellent will Jesus appear.

The Rev. Chris Shelton is pastor of Union’s First Presbyterian Church.