The Bowls

The Little Book

Then we come to Chapter 10 where the Apostle John is given a little book and is instructed to eat it. This occurs between the 6th and 7th trumpet. The 7th trumpet heralds the return of Christ at the end of the 7 year tribulation, “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”—10:7.

John eats the book which tastes sweet but is bitter to the stomach because the 7 bowl judgments are so severe and terrible. The 7 bowls are also described as bowls of wrath and plague. These 7 bowls bring the judgments to fullness and completion, they reveal what the earth will be like at the end of the seven year tribulation.—10:8-10

The 7th Trumpet

When the 7th trumpet sounds, the temple is opened, there are “lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.” The wrath of God is poured out and Christ is about to descend from heaven. The seventh trumpet is also the 3rd woe and reveals 7 bowl judgments. The 7th trumpet is blown at the close of the great tribulation when the mystery of God is finished.—Revelations 11:14-19

Each of these 7 bowl judgments are similar to the 7 trumpet judgments. You will notice a definite cause and effect relationship between the two. These bowls of wrath are also called plagues. They describe what the earth will be like at the time Christ returns. These plagues are a result of the previous trumpet judgments, the earth being hit by comets, asteroids.

1. The 1st bowl reveals malignant sores upon men’s flesh (effects of the 1st trumpet upon the land)— 16:2
2. The 2nd bowl reveals the seas turned to blood, nothing left alive (effects of the 2nd trumpet upon the seas)—16:3
3. The 3rd bowl reveals all fresh water turned to blood (effects of the 3rd trumpet upon lakes and rivers)—16:4
4. The 4th bowl reveals men scorched with great heat (effects of the 4th trumpet upon the atmosphere)—16:8
5. The 5th bowl reveals great darkness over the antichrist seat of power located in the Middle East (effects of the 5th trumpet, the first woe)—16:10
6. The 6th bowl reveals the Euphrates river is struck and completely dried up to make a way for the nations to march for the battle of Armageddon (effects of the 6th trumpet, the second woe)— 16:12
7. The 7th bowl reveals the final cosmic impact brings 100 pound hail and triggers a global earthquake that brings down all the cities of nations and removes mountains and islands out of their place. (the effects of the 7th trumpet, the third woe)—16:17-21

The Prophet Isaiah

The prophet Isaiah spoke of these trumpet and bowl judgments in Isaiah 13 and 24. In fact all of the Old Testament prophets had much to say about the coming day of the Lord as a day of woe, horror and great darkness and trouble.

See, the day of the LORD comes, cruel, both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and He shall destroy its sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations shall not give their light; the sun shall be dark when it rises, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make a man more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore, I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts and in the day of His fierce anger.—Isaiah 13:9-13 MEV

Terror and the pit and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. He who flees from the report of disaster shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare. For the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is split through, the earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and it totters like a shack, and its transgression is heavy upon it, and it shall fall, never to rise again.—Isaiah 24:17-20 MEV

The Apostle Peter

The Apostle Peter admonishes us in view of the coming judgment. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. The earth also and the works that are in it will be burned up. Seeing then that all these things are to be destroyed, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, while you are waiting for and desiring the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will be consumed by intense heat? But, according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.—2 Peter 3:10-13 MEV

The Apostle Paul

The Apostle Paul also admonishes us in view of the Day of the Lord. For you know perfectly that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this Day should overtake you as a thief…. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.—1 Thessalonians 5:2-4,8-9 MEV