Useful Bible Studies > Revelation Commentary > chapter 16
In Revelation chapter 16, God’s special servants, the angels, pour out their bowls upon everything that has power over this world. It is necessary to return all these things to God’s control. Until that happens, evil forces use these things to carry on their evil work.
So, we have seen judgements against the earth, the sea, the sources of water and the sun. Those are the natural things that control people’s lives. Then, in verse 10, there was a judgement against the government of this world and its legal and political systems. In verse 12, the judgement was upon the river Euphrates, where Babylon stood. Chapter 18 will show us how ‘Babylon’ means the financial and trading systems of the world.
Therefore, the judgements begin with the sources of power that we can see. They end with the sources of power that we cannot see.
The last of all these judgements is against the air. That seems to be a word-picture for the spirit world, as it is in Ephesians 2:2. The air, of course, constantly surrounds us, although we are usually unaware of it. So it is with the spirit world. It affects everything that is happening in our world. We only really become aware of the power of the air when the wind blows. In the languages of the Bible, the same word means both ‘wind’ and ‘spirit’. As the wind affects our world powerfully, so good or evil spirits can affect our lives.
This great final act of judgement happens, and God declares it complete. We may compare it with Christ’s declaration on the cross in John 19:30. Both of these events are great acts of God’s judgement against sin (evil deeds). On the cross, Christ suffered the judgement for his people’s sins, so that God can forgive them.
People must make a choice. They can accept Christ’s death so that God will forgive their sins; or they will suffer for their own sins, with the devil and his forces.
Next part: The earth shakes in the most severe manner ever (Revelation 16:18-20)
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© 2016, Keith Simons.