When this second bowl is poured out, its contents strike the sea, as we see in verse 3. The results of this stroke of judgment are seen in the following words; ". .. and it [this second bowl of wrath] became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, even the things that were in the sea." Again, there is no reason for our making any attempt to explain this language away. We are to take everything that God says literally unless there is some evidence in the immediate context or in a passage which is related to it that shows a departure from the literal meaning. We therefore have every reason to believe that this statement means exactly what it says. Why should it be thought incredible that this judgment means exactly what it says? When Moses waved his rod over the waters of Egypt "all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood" (Exod. 7:20). So when this stroke of judgment referred to in Revelation 16:3 falls upon the sea, "it became blood as of a dead man."

In Revelation 16:4-7 we have the pouring out of the third bowl of God's wrath upon the rivers and the fountains of waters--the source of water supply for the nations. The result of this judgment is expressed in the following words: ". . . and it [the rivers and fountains] became blood." The same remark that I made about the preceding stroke of judgment applies to this one. It becomes evident that it says exactly what it means and means what it says.

At this point we are told that the angel of the waters proclaims: "Righteous art thou, who art and who wast, thou Holy One, because thou didst thus judge: 6 for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets, and blood hast thou given them to drink: they are worthy." It seems that the angels have special duties to perform in reference to various phenomena connected with the universe. Here we see "the angel of the waters," a celestial being that has charge of man's drinking water.

God is righteous and holy in everything that He does and says. He must punish sinners who are unrepentant of their wrongs. At this juncture a voice comes forth from the altar saying; "Yea, 0 Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments." Eventually all celestial beings, together with men upon earth and the lost in Sheol, will declare that God is righteous in all that He does. His righteousness and justice will become apparent to all.

We have, in Revelation 16:8,9, a description of what actually occurs upon earth when the fourth angel pours out his bowl of wrath: "8 And the fourth poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire. 9 And men were scorched with great heat: and they blasphemed the name of God who hath the power over these plagues; and they repented not to give him glory." This stroke of wrath strikes the sun, from which is concentrated heat to heat the earth and to scorch men with fire. This should not be thought incredible when we remember that we can take a lens, put it in the sunlight, focus the rays of the sun, and can actually burn wood or other combustible material. If man can do it how about God Almighty who is the Creator and Controller of all the material universe? In the light of all that we know, we must accept this statement at its face value and not try to read into it something that is not there.

When the heat becomes so very intense at this stage of the second half of the Tribulation, men here upon the earth will suffer so very greatly under it that they will blaspheme the name of God, who brings these judgments upon them. But they will be so very greatly hardened that they will not repent of their sins and give Him glory. Men who keep resisting God and sinning against Him frequently reach the point beyond which it is impossible for them to repent. Man, by impenitence and persistence in sin, destroys the delicate mechanism of his conscience. Hence, men do reach that point beyond which there is no remedy, as the writer of II Chronicles 36:11-16 declared.

The fifth bowl of God's wrath is spoken of in the following words: "10 And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast; and his kingdom was darkened; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores; and they repented not of their works" (Rev. 16:10,11). Again let me say that we are to take this language literally at what it says since there are no indications of a departure from the plain simple meaning of the words. This fifth plague will affect the throne of the beast and his kingdom. It will be directed against men.

We are told that the kingdom of the Antichrist will be darkened. There will be a complete, total blackout at this time. This should not be surprising when we remember that, when Moses was bringing his judgments upon Egypt, there was a total blackout, caused by the Lord. God, who did it once, can do it twice, or as often as He wishes. In doing this, God will bring judgments upon the nations that they deserve; but all of these strokes will be designed for their good--to bring them to repentance, if at all possible.

We have every reason to believe that this fifth judgment will be in the latter part of the latter half of the Tribulation. We note that men will still have the sores which occur from the pouring out of the first bowl of God's wrath. Medical science will be unable to cope with that dread affliction. Thus men will, from the beginning of the pouring out of these bowls on through at least to the fifth bowl, suffer from the effects of the first bowl of God's wrath.

Again we see that they do not repent of their evil works. Men will become hardened in sin so that they cannot turn from evil to God.

In Revelation 16:12-16 we have the pouring out of the sixth bowl and the effects upon the earth. This bowl is poured out "upon the great river, the river Euphrates," The "river Euphrates" means exactly what it says. There is no occasion for our interpreting this as a reference to the Ottoman Empire, as has been done so very frequently. There will be the drying up of the Euphrates in order that the kings that come from the Orient may come for the war of the great day of God the Almighty. This is seen in verse 12.

In verses 13 and 14 we see that there are three unclean spirits, like frog's, that are demons, and that go forth into all the world to stir up the kings of the earth to come to the place in Palestine "which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon," for the laying of the strategy for "the war of the great day of God, the Almighty."

We frequently hear of "the battle of Armageddon." Of course, we understand what is meant, but it would be far better to speak of Biblical things in scriptural terms. The Bible speaks of this final conflict as "the war of the great day of God, the Almighty."

Though men will be hardened by sin, yet there is given a call, as we see in verse 15, to those who have any desire to do the will of God, and a promise made to those who turn to Him, who keep watching, and who keep their garments clean.

Finally the kings of the world will gather together at Megiddo in Palestine for the laying of the strategy for "the war of the great day of God, the Almighty."

In the final paragraph of chapter 16, verses 17-21, we have the account of the pouring out of the last bowl of the wrath of God which finishes His wrath against men. The strokes become more severe as we approach the end of the Tribulation.

At the conclusion of the Tribulation there occurs the greatest earthquake known to all history. At that time Babylon the Great (Babylon rebuilt on its ancient site), together with all the cities of the world, is thrown down and becomes nothing but rubble. God must deal with people who defy Him, according to the merits of their cases.

At that time, as we learn in verse 21, there will be great hail that will come down out of heaven. God has His armory full of weapons. On this point, let us remember what the Lord said in Job 38:22,23. He has filled His armory full of hail and snow "against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war."

In this connection, however, we should remember to study the great prophecy found in II Peter, chapter 3. This is a prediction that will be fulfilled at the end of the Tribulation. Many of the planets and bodies belonging to our solar system will explode with great noise and intense heat. The heat waves will travel as far as the earth. Those parts of the earth that are struck by these terrific heat waves will be burned to a crisp, as we see in this marvelous prediction.

As we shall learn in Revelation, chapter 19, Christ will come at the end of the Tribulation, and will take over the government of the world and establish His reign of righteousness.

But we have reached, chronologically, the end of the Tribulation and the second coming of Christ, as will become evident when we study chapters 17-19.