Chapters 22,23 Revelation 15 and 16
CHAPTER XXII
Chapter 15: NO ESCAPE
We have already seen the appropriateness of the sequence SEALS — TRUMPETS — VIALS. The first describes in leisurely fashion the disclosure of the purpose of God as a whole from John's day, leading to the trumpets, blown concerning events shortly and suddenly to come to pass; and the last speaks of the outpouring of God's judgements as a prelude to the establishment of His own kingdom. It is to the last of these that chapter 15 forms the curtain raiser.
15.1: / saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having seven plagues, which are the last, for in them is finished the wrath of God. 15.2: And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire; and them that had come victorious from the beast, and from his image, and from the number of his name, standing by the glassy sea, having harps of God.
The saints are now pictured in their unassailable security of salvation. It would seem that they have now been caught away from the scene of the world's tribulations, for in this picture they have already gotten the victory over the Beast and his image: that is, they have refused to bear his mark, have endured whatever sufferings this might have brought upon them, and have been accepted and glorified. Only in symbol do we know where they are, and that is "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven" (15.5).
The saints are pictured on a glassy sea mingled with fire, suitably reminding us, of the Refiner's fire which purifies those whom God receives (Malachi 3.2-3), as well as of the fire which shall then destroy the wicked (4.1).
It is with very different eyes that righteous and the wicked behold the fire of God. For "the sinners in Zion", and elsewhere, such fire in only to be feared (Isaiah 33.14), for nothing but destruction is in store for those to whom a rejected Lord must come in flaming fire taking vengeance. But to the saints, even though it will not be pleasant to be reminded of the wood, hay, and stubble which have been thoughtlessly or carelessly incorporated in their building on the only acceptable foundation, Jesus Christ, the purgation of that day will issue in their salvation, "so as by fire" (1 Corinthians 3.11-15). When they are finally accepted before their Lord, the trials of the last purification will be forgotten as the 'devouring fire' becomes the divine glory to him "that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly; that despiseth the
gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking on evil. He shall dwell on high, his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; his bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall behold the King in His beauty; they shall behold a far-stretched land" (Isaiah 33.15-17).
Now, "having the harps of God", the saints themselves join in those praises of God which have hitherto been the prerogative of the heavenly host (5.8; 14.2). The symbolic heavenly temple resounds with such music as eclipses that provided by David's divinely approved system of worship in Solomon's temple (1 Chronicles 13.8; 15.16-28; 2 Chronicles 5.12; Psalm 147.7, etc.)
15.3: They sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are Thy works, 0 Lord God, the Almighty, righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the ages.
The first Song of Moses celebrated the victory over the Egyptians (Exodus 15.1-18, 21). If there is one thing more than any other which stands out from this, it is that the victory is attributed wholly to God, without Whom Israel would have been utterly helpless. "Thou in Thy mercy hast led the people which Thou hast redeemed", and, "Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to Thy holy habitation" (Exodus 15.13) could hardly be more appropriate. Israel was, and the new Israel is, "The people Thou hast purchased", which "Thou shalt bring in, and plant in the mountain of Thine inheritance, the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thee to dwell in, the sanctuary which Thy hands have established"; words which truly describe the indebtedness to God of those who join the Lamb on Mount Zion. The other Song of Moses tells in other language, and on a wider canvas, the same story, with yet more telling references to His mercy in the face of the people's sin (Deuteronomy 33.5-28).
As for "the Song of the Lamb", this must be the "new song" of 5.9, celebrating the accomplishment of the work of redemption by the Lamb of God, perhaps supplemented by the choruses of 5.12, 13, the doxology of 7.12, and the celebration of 7.13-17. Some of these are sung as anthems in the congregations of the saints in our own day: how much more appropriately when their triumph has been fully achieved?
15.4: Who shall not fear, 0 Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy: for all the nations shall come and worship before Thee: for Thy righteous acts have been made manifest.
Of course, the remaining words of this verse also represent a song, though, almost surprisingly, they are not addressed to the Lamb Himself, but to His Father. This is appropriate all the same: "fear God and give glory to Him" has been urged in vain on the nations; it has been denied to Him throughout the ages of which He is King. The Lord Jesus came to see to it that, in the end, "Thy will be done" should be achieved (Matthew 6.10), and it will be His own great joy to celebrate the final achievement at the very end, when "the Son shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15.30).
15.5: After these things I saw, and the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened, and there came out from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, arrayed in linen pure and bright, and girt about their breasts with golden girdles. And one of the four living creasures gave to the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who livethfor ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from His power; and none was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels should be finished (-15.8).
Never was there a sharper division drawn between the true worshipers of God and the slaves of the Beast than in this place. The heavenly sanctuary is a symbol of the refuge of all the saints in all their walks of life: their names are in God's keeping; those who have died are remembered beneath His altar (6.9); while they live they have access with boldness before the throne of grace, finding mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4.14-16). There sits their great High Priest, ever living and making intercession for them (Romans 8.35). But now, it may be, the distinction could be physical also. At some point, we know, the saints are removed to meet their Lord. Whether this is so at this point, is not a matter on which we can be quite certain, for as late as the Sixth Vial (16.15), when the world is gathered to battle, the exhortation to be watchful and hold fast is still being given. In that event the saints are being given the assurance that the plagues shall not smite their dwellings. As the prophet wrote, "Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself for a little moment until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to judge the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain" (Isaiah 26.20-21). Some of the events of the vials are further elaborated in 17.1-18,24 and the following chapter, where the saints are bidden concerning 'Babylon', "Come forth, My people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (18.4). But whether the saints
are absent from the scene, or present as these judgements are poured out, they are plainly told that they have nothing to fear from them.
These judgements will fall only on "the men which had the mark of the Beast, and which worshipped his image" (16.2), on those to whom "the Lord has given blood to drink, for they are worthy" (16.6); who "repented not to give Him glory" (16.9); upon "the throne of the Beast" (16.10); upon the nations "gathered together to the great war of God Almighty" (16.14); and upon "great Babylon, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath" (16.19).
The saints' immunity at this stage from the visitations of God is not incompatible with their being still on the scene, and still suffering the displeasure of the Beast. Israel was, no doubt, still persecuted in Egypt even during those plagues which afflicted the Egyptians alone: man would continue to hurt them even though God showed them favour (Exodus 8.22; 9.4-6, 26; 10.23; 12.21-30). What measure of protection God will give we do not know, but it would be foolish to build one's hopes on what He has not promised.
If, as seems possible, the pouring out of the Vials is immediately preceded by signs in which the servants of God participate (11.3-6), then this very fact may make life at the hands of the earthly authorities harder for them during this period. The essential thing for us all to remember is that the Lord knoweth them that are His (2 Timothy 2.19), and that, if His strength is sought, they will not be tested above that they are able to bear, but will be provided with a way to escape capitulation and to prevail (1 Corinthians 10.12-13).
But the day of effective repentance for the world is at this stage past. No-one who is not already repentant can be admitted into the temple of the living God. The "temple is filled with smoke" (Exodus 40.34; Isaiah 6.4), and no unauthorized person can now gain admittance.
CHAPTER XXIII
Chapter 16: THE POURING OUT OF THE VIALS
It is perhaps of no particular importance, but the word rendered "vials" in A.V. is practically transliterated, for it'is the Greek phial?, and it only occurs in the New Testament in this Book [5.8 ("full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints", in the hands of the living creatures and the elders); and, all concerned with the judgements described in this chapter, in 15.7; 16.1,2,3,4,8,10,12,17; 17.1; 21.9].The same word occurs more than 30 times in the Old Testament ( Exodus 27.3; 38.23; Numbers 4.14; 15 times in Numbers 7; 1 Kings 7.26, 31, 36; 2 Kings 12.13;25.14, 15; 1 Chronicles 28.17; 2 Chronicles 4.8,21; Nehe-miah 7.70; Proverbs 23.31; Song of Solomon 5.13; 6.1; Jeremiah 52.18; Zechariah 9.15; 14.20). The ritual use of the term is predominant, and the translation 'bowl' or 'basin' typical. Only in Proverbs and Song does the word have any secular significance; and nowhere is it used in anything like the way we find it here. Vine lists the word under 'bowl' and says that this is what it means, its shape denoting the ease and rapidity with which its contents could be poured out; while the small Liddell and Scott describes it as "a flat shallow cup or bowl, especially a drinking bowl, or bowl for libations; also a funeral vase or urn". If the word 'vial' is retained here, it is of human weakness because of the euphony of the word, and because, since it represents in this Book something unique and terrible, it seems not amiss to let it keep this special term of its own.
16.1: / heard a great voice out of the temple, saying to the seven angels, Goye, and pour out the seven vials of the wrath of God into the earth.
There is a grimly dramatic air about this command. The long delay in the apparently sluggish movement of human history towards its divine climax has been brought to an end some little time before this, when the Sixth Trumpet announced to us that "there shall be time no longer" (10.6); and, with the end of the breathing space provided by the preaching that should follow, the remainder alone of that promise remains to be fulfilled: "In the days of the seventh angel, then is fulfilled the mystery of God" (10.7). These events of the Seventh Vial are all comprehended within the period of the Seventh Trumpet; and the curt "Go ye and pour out the seven vials!" is as abrupt as a military command: "Charge! and get the wretched business over!" is the dramatic
impact of this instruction. Nowhere else in the Book is this urgency found. The Lamb remained seated on His throne as He opened the Seals; the angels sounded their alarms, indeed, but took their time, "preparing themselves to sound" (8.6), as it were. But now the divine edict goes forth: "Pour them out!".
16.2: The first went, and poured out his vial into the earth; and it became a noisome and grievous sore upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and worshipped his image. 16.3: The second angel poured out his vial into the sea; and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living soul died, even the things that were in the sea. 16.4: The third poured out his vial into the rivers and the fountains of the waters; and there came blood. . . 16.8: And the fourth angel poured out his vial on the sun. . . 16.10: The fifth poured out his vial on the throne of the beast, . . . 16.12: The sixth poured out his vial on the great river, the river Euphrates;. . . 16.17: The seventh poured out his vial upon the air ...
The comparison of these Vials with the Seven Trumpets has already been tabulated (pages 149-150). Now what was then provisional is made final. Then the four spheres of operation were injured; but now they are destroyed. The direct intervention of God in the Trumpets is continued and extended. It is, indeed, made even more direct. Then trumpets were blown, and events occurred. Now God's angels actually pour out the plagues, so to say, with their own hands. As to interpretations of these signs, though, the uncertainty which we had to acknowledge in connection with the still-future events of the Trumpets is yet more a factor here. It is almost like trying to predict before they occurred what form the plagues of Egypt would take.
We should remind ourselves at this point, though, of the close and purposeful parallels between the Trumpets and the Vials tabulated already. The activities referred to here cover the same areas, but with comprehensive force. Yet they are more focalized: the wrath poured out on the earth affects particularly those who bear the mark of the Beast (16.2); that on the rivers wreaks vengeance on those who have persecuted the saints (16.6); it is the kingdom of the Beast which is singled out for attack in the Fifth Vial (16.10). But beyond pointing to the certainty that when these signs appear they will be recognized by the saints as directed against the antichristian power which will then be rampant in the earth, we can only watch the events as they unfold, and then fill in the gaps in our knowledge. When the saints see the Beast revealed in all its terrible power, then they will be in a better position to see where it must be attacked by their God and His angels.
It is important, in view of the inevitable incompleteness of the
exposition, specially at this point, that the major alternative exposition should be examined particularly critically, since otherwise its apparent completeness where we have offered only tentative solutions might be deceptively attractive. We turn then to:
THE CONTINUOUS HISTORIC VIEW OF THE VIALS OF REVELATION 16
The first five Vials have been supposed to symbolize certain events in Europe just prior to the rise of Napoleon (regarded as a type of Christ in his judicial capacity), and certain features of the . Napoleonic Wars up to 1814. The Sixth Vial is then held to represent the decline of the Turkish Empire from 1820 to 1918. Some readers may remember the attractive maps, with the Turkish Empire represented by coloured sections, which could be removed one by one to show the "drying up" of the Empire with time.
The First Vial (16.2). Dates are arrived at by starting from the Decree of Justinian, in 533 (recognizing the Pope as spiritual lord of all mankind), and adding 1260 years to bring us to 1793, "when all Europe was convulsed by the anti-papal French Revolution" (R.R., page 130). This is already unsatisfactory. The two decrees of Justinian are dated 535 and 545 and, as we have already noted, his reign proved "throughout a period of deep humiliation for the Papacy". Even if the addition of 1260 years is accepted, this brings us to 1795 and 1805; it is in any case strange that a switch should have been made from a date of 606 and the Decree of Phocas, leading to 1870 or thereabouts, to a decree by Justinian, leading to 1793 or so. The change was necessary if the scheme of interpretation of the first five Vials as covering events from 1795 to 1815 was to be retained, but this hardly seems a sufficient reason. Both starting points are in any case unsatisfactory, as we have seen.
Passing by these defects, though, can the history of that period properly be made to correspond to these Vials? First, the great voice from the heavenly temple (16.1) is said (J.T. Ill, page 472) to be fulfilled in the Declaration of Pillnitz (1791) by which the Austrian Emperor Leopold and the King of Prussia demanded that the French king, now sorely beset by the French Revolution, should be free to go where he pleased, and that the French Assembly should be disbanded, in default of which war was threatened. Yet in E.B. (llth Edition, X, page 854) we are told that "this Declaration was but an excuse for non-interference"; and S.R. Atkins ("From Utrecht to Waterloo", page 208) writes, "This guarded statement really meant that the cautious Leopold would do nothing". How this Declaration could fulfil the global terms of 16.1 is beyond understanding. It is noteworthy that this point is omitted in R.R., C.C.W., and W.H.B.
The First Vial proper is interpreted as judgements on the papal populations of Europe, beginning with the terrors of the French Revolution and continuing to the campaigns of Napoleon. We have already questioned the Tightness of referring "them which had the mark of the Beast" to the Catholic people of Europe, and the mark itself to the sign of the Cross. But passing over this, and
assuming, without necessarily agreeing, that it was the Catholics of Europe who were the worst sufferers in this period, we consider France under the Revolution. The basic purpose of the National Revolutionary Assembly of 1789 was not opposition to Roman Catholicism as such: it was simply the abolition of feudalism and privilege wherever it was found, and the Catholic church was not exempt. Tithes were abolished, ecclesiastical property confiscated, and the Pope deprived of all executive power, the organization of the church becoming almost presbyterian in character. Reform rather than oppression marked revolutionary policy until 1793. Then the Reign of Terror began, political opponents and rebels being the chief sufferers. One section led by Hebert did introduce a religious Reign of Terror also, and churches in Paris were closed, stripped of their bells to make cannon, and of their silver and gold to fill the depleted national treasury. Violence against priests was discouraged by the Committee of Public Safety; in any case Hebert and his principal colleagues were executed in 1794, and the situation of the Catholic church became much easier.
Napoleon, who now rose to power, was not anti-catholic; but, like others before him, he was determined to keep the church in i'.s place. In spite of opposition from his advisers he concluded a concordat with Rome in 1801 which remained in force until 1905. The principal European countries troubled by Napoleon's campaigns during this supposed First-Vial period were Holland, Belgium, Prussia, the German States, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, together with Egypt in Africa and Syria in Asia. Of these, Holland, Switzerland, Prussia, the North German States, Egypt, and Syria could scarcely be called Catholic, and in any case the hardships which befell the oppressed and largely illiterate populace could hardly be thought to arise because they bore "the mark (sic) of the Beast". Their worst troubles were in fact that the French armies lived off their countries. The hardships of much of Europe during the Thirty Years' War two centuries earlier, followed as it was by civil war in France and the Dutch land wars, were far greater and more protracted. In brief, the application of the First Vial to this period is totally unconvincing.
The Second Vial (16.3). This is said to have been fulfilled (C.C.W., pages 47-48) when "the maritime power of'the Beast' was destroyed in the wars that followed the Revolution", while we read in R.R., page 153 that, as a result of the victories of the English navy from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th over the ships of'the Beast-worshippers', "every living thing died in the sea; that is, every living soul on the sea belonging to the continent (which was the subject of the operation) died in the sense of ceasing to have life permitted on it."
In fact, except for short intervals, France and Britain were at war for some 20 years until 1815, and each country tried to blockade the other. British and French fleets were engaged in constant war, and Britain gained complete supremacy. British trade was not seriously affected until 1811, and by 1809 British exports had reached a record height. With Napoleon controlling much of Europe, French trade there prospered. France and Italy (two
'Beast' countries) suffered little, as both could grow many of the excluded articles. The main nations to suffer were Spain, Holland, and northern Europe, of which only Spain was Catholic. Neutral, including American, shipping prospered in spite of the risks. By no means did the sea become stagnant, as the interpretation demands.
The Third Vial (16.4-7). This is referred to Napoleon's campaigns in northern Italy, desolating the country and decimating its inhabitants; the area being described as "a perfect network of watercourses", and as a country "most distinguished by the shedding of the blood of saints and prophets" (R.R., pages 132-133). The last statement is incorrect. Bohemia, France in particular, England, Spain, and Portugal were much more notorious in this respect. In his 'Book of Martyrs' Foxe has much to say about persecutions in Bohemia, France, and England, and nothing about the same in Italy, probably because Protestantism had never made any headway there.
In 8.10-11, the judgement of the Third Trumpet fell on a third part of the rivers and fountains of waters, supposed to denote northern Italy, though C.C.W., page 23, also includes the regions of Danube and Rhine. We have already noted that two other parts of the Roman Empire would fit this description, if this is the right kind of interpretation. The devastation by Attila the Hun, supposedly occuring under that Trumpet, was far more frightful than anything under Napoleon, yet is directed against "the third part" only, whereas the current prophecy is not so restricted. Napoleon's first invasion of Italy was in 1797-8, when Napoleon issued a proclamation to the people, then under Austria and Sardinia, containing these words: "People of Italy: the French army comes to break your chains . . . Your property, your religion, and your usages will be respected. We make war as generous enemies, and we have no quarrel save with the tyrants who enslave you." (H. A.L. Fisher, History of Europe, page 823). The assurance was not kept well, for picture-galleries and museums were plundered, heavy taxation levied, and supplies requisitioned, but Fisher adds, after observing that Napoleon was himself an Italian: "Though he was severe, he seems to have been a liberator . . . Much was forgiven to the young general who broke the Austrian stranglehold . . . The Italian literati praised him to the skies; the best Lombards crowded to his court." (page 824).
Napoleon's second campaign was brief (1800), and not marked by severe measures against the Italian people. The professional classes supported the new regime enthusiastically. Only the ecclesiastical hierarchy remained hostile. A number of republics were formed under French control, heavy tribute was levied, and many Italians were conscribed into the French army. But it is estimated that only a minute fraction of the population was involved. The campaign in Italy, and the short-lived occupation of the entire peninsula (not just the north) is hardly a convincing fulfilment of the fearfuljudgements indicated in this prophecy. It has to be said, too, that the "continuous-historic" school of the 19th century lived too close to the events of the Napoleonic era to assess their passing
importance, and their expectation of the Lord's advent in their own days has not been fulfilled.
The Fourth Vial (16.8-9). The sun is said to symbolize the Holy Roman Emperor (R.R. page 134; also W.H.B., C.C.W. page 48, include other 'kings and emperors' made and unmade by Napoleon). The "him" (R.V. "it") of 16.8 is regarded as being Napoleon himself (J.T. and W.H.B.).
But "him" has nothing to do with Napoleon: it refers to the sun of the symbol, which is a masculine noun. The enhanced heat of the sun here in no way corresponds to the condition of the countries supposed to be represented. The Austrian Holy Roman Empire was crushed by Napoleon's victories, and the Holy Roman Empire came to an end in 1806. As observed by H.A.W., page 196, the result of the Napoleonic wars was the opposite of what is supposed, for they were followed by "the biggest revival of religion the world has ever known, with the possible exception of the Reformation". The revival was particularly prominent in America, and even in France there was a remarkable pro-papal revival in the 19th century. As for the suggestion that Napoleon was a type of Christ executingjudgements, he was totally unlike our Lord, being motivated by sheer ambition.
The Fifth Vial (16.10-11). The seat of the Beast is said to be Rome, not in itself an unreasonable identification. Its correctness (R.R., page 135) is regarded as proved by the events after Vials 1-4 being directed against the Pope and his dominions. However:
Though relations between the revolutionary French government and Pope Pius VI had been strained, Napoleon took exception to the way the Pope had been treated, and to the circumstances of his death. The new Pope, Pius VII, was only elected after some delay, and at this time Napoleon was determined to restore the position of the Catholic church in France to some degree, and signed a Concordat in 1801 on terms favourable to himself. In spite of uneasy relations, in December 1804 the Pope was induced to proclaim him emperor. From summer 1805 relations deteriorated, owing largely to Napoleon's high-handed attitude, and in 1808 the Papal States were put under French military occupation, the Pope's political authority in Rome and district remaining intact. In summer 1809 things came to a head, the Pope's temporal power was abolished, and French troops assumed full control of Rome. The Pope excommunicated Napoleon, and French troops, going beyond Napoleon's orders, kidnapped the Pope, and took him to Savona in N.W. Italy, where he lived for some years in virtual captivity. Early in 1811 Napoleon suspended the power of the Papacy throughout his empire, and had the Pope transferred to Fontainebleau, where he remained until 1814. Then, following the collapse of the French Empire, he returned via Savona to an excited reception in Rome. In October 1817 the Pope actually intervened to try to improve the conditions of Napoleon's exile on St. Helena, in the course of which he acknowledged the latter's work in re-establishing the Catholic religion in France.
Must we not say that the terrors predicted in 16.10-11 far exceed
the troubles experienced by the Pope early in the 19th century; nor was there any noteworthy "blasphemy" from the 'subjects of the Beast'. To try to stretch the application of 16.11 to events in 1854 and 1870 (W.H.B., 4th. Edition reprint 1969, pages 143-144) is a desperate expedient. In any case, the decisions taken by the Papacy during this period should be regarded as wrong rather than especially blasphemous.
The Sixth Vial (16.12-16). This has been interpreted of the gradual decline of the Turkish Empire from 1820 to 1918. The author of the present notes spent a long time before he rejected it, even when inexorable historical facts had compelled him to reject the continuous-historic scheme as a whole. Joseph Mede's "Key of the Revelation" was published in 1643. Writing 200 years in advance, when the Turkish Empire was almost at its zenith, Mede viewed this Vial as predicting its decline. The nation of Assyria which occupied the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris for centuries, is described in Isaiah 8.20 as "the waters of the river", whilst the fall of kingdoms is likened to the drying up of waters in the cases of Egypt (Isaiah 19.4-5), and Babylon (Jeremiah 50.38; 51.36), and powerful nations generally (Zechariah 10.11). Again, while the entire length of the Euphrates formed part of the Turkish Empire until 1918, once this area (Mesopotamia) had been wrested from it, the long decline was arrested by the famous Mustapha Kamal Ataturk. These seemed to be impressive reasons for accepting Mede's views. .
But they must now be examined more closely. In the first place, the decline did not begin anywhere near 1820. Some of the eastern conquests were lost in the 17th century, and the northern territories in the 18th, which breaks the supposed historical sequence as a sequel to the Fifth Vial. Nor is the statement (J.T., III, page 546) that "affairs continued generally prosperous with the Turks till the commencement of 1820" correct. "Things went radically and irretrievably wrong at the end of the seventeenth century" (A. Mango, "Turkey", page 25; cf. H.A.W., page 200). In the second place, Turkey retained control of the entire territory bordering the Euphrates during the whole period of its decline right up to 1981. But, notwithstanding present difficulties, Turkey underwent an immense revival under Ataturk, and this cannot be reconciled with the view that the decline of Turkey could cease as soon as the Euphrates ceased to be part of its territory, for this is still not the case. A good one-third of its length is still in modern Turkey, and in the 1970s a giant dam for power and irrigation has been constructed at Keban on this river. If Turkey is understood under the term, the river has not dried up even now.
16.12: The sixth poured out his vial on the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising.
Mede wrote his Clavis Apocalyptica in 1627 , and the slow decline of the Turkish Empire which he predicted has been urged on the present writer as an impressive reason for accepting the continuous-historic view, here and as a whole. But Turkey lost the Mesopotamian part of the Euphrates in 1917-18, and the 60 years which have elapsed since do little to support Mede's inference that the departure of Turkey would facilitate events leading to the return of the Lord, and of "the kings from the sunrising". If a different power has controlled the Euphrates, or this section of it, since those days, the powers in command there have been no more favourable to this event than were the Turks, and the link of an event now so long ago with urgent preparation for "the war of the great day of God Almighty" (16.14) is hard to see.
We must emphasize again that, in the Old Testament, Euphrates is firmly linked, if first with Assyria, ultimately and decisively with Babylon, and since the fall of Babylon is a topic for the next Vial (16.19) this must be significant (see pages 171-172). Broadly speaking, they were kings from the east which overwhelmed Babylon in -538 (Media is N.E., Elam E., Persia S.E.), so the case for the use of the fall of literal Babylon as a basis for the destruction of the spiritual Babylon here is very strong. This Vial takes us Biblically, not to Turkey, but to the harlot Babylon of 17.1-5. Just as the ruin of that evil power in 17.16 leads to the return of the Lord and the destruction of the Beast (17.14; 19.19-21), so does the drying up of Euphrates here signify the preparation for the same events.
16.13:1 saw 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, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: 16.14: for they are spirits of demons working signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
We have already found the dragon (12.3,9; 13.2), with his comprehensive title of "the old serpent, he that is called the devil, and Satan". We saw him convey his power to the Beast which emerged from the sea (13.2), while this Beast in his turn gives authority to a second beast, here for the first time called the False Prophet, who "exercises all the authority of the first beast in his sight". So the overriding power of all human sin is to be mobilized together with its political manifestation, and its pseudo-religious henchman, to bring the world to challenge the very power of God Himself. The fact that one unclean spirit is assigned to each seems to suggest that, notwithstanding the fact that they form three links in a chain of authority, each will be playing its own part. It is easy to conceive of the False-Prophet system working what appears to be religious wonders; and the Beast working political and military ones; but what are signs by the dragon itself? For the moment we can only leave this as a question.
And why "like frogs"? This is the only occurrence of the word in the New Testament, and in LXX batrakhos, is only found in connection with the description of the plagues of Egypt and in recapitulations of these (Exodus 8.2-15; Psalm 89.45; 105.30). Moses brought forth frogs by the power of God; the magicians did so too, with their false enchantments: so this is an excellent way of telling us that there will be claims to divine powers which will seem to match those of God Himself, able to seduce if it were possible the very elect (Matthew 24.14; Revelation 13.3, 13-15). The signs spoken of in the Sixth Vial are plainly the same, and from the same sources, and for the same reasons, as those referred to in 13.3-15.
They are "the spirits of demons, working signs". As to the latter, we are back with the Olivet prophecy once again as we have seen. As to the former, though the demons of the Gospels in the main denote human bodily and mental afflictions, in the Epistles they are sometimes false gods, from which the believer must turn away (1 Corinthians 10.20-21; 1 Timothy 4.1; see also Acts 17.18; Revelation 9.20: the word in Revelation 16.13 is daimon, and not the more common daimonion, of the other passages referred to. The shorter word is also found in 18.2, "Babylon is become a habitation of demons", which in its turn is taken from Isaiah 13.21, where LXX uses the longer word, thus establishing their substantial identity. In fact Vine (under 'Demons') indicates that daimonion is the neuter form of the adjective derived from daimon.
16:5: Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
At this point we are warned at one and the same time that the Lord's coming is imminent (for we have not met this expression since 3.3: the whole Book has been leading up to this, and now it is close at hand), and that it cannot be pin-pointed. The thief does not make an appointment with "the goodman of the house" (Matthew 24.23; Luke 12.39). The timing has been so successfully obscured in Scripture that even in the first century men could not be sure that it would not be in their time (1 Thessalonians 5.2,4; compared with 2 Thessalonians 2.1-12). Those who received the warning of 2 Peter 3.3 first of all would feel themselves included, and encouraged not to join the ranks of scoffers who might come at any time. It is in fact a point strongly in favour of the approach to the Apocalypse made in the present work that the warnings should be given in such terms. Had it been possible to calculate even approximately that the return of the Lord would not be until around 1900 years after the Book had been written, then many generations would have felt no urgency in "watching and keeping their garments against that day". The fact that signs have so accumulated in our own day that it seems impossible to contemplate any great further delays, should not alter for us the fact that these latest signs have piled up very quickly, and so far as the earlier readers were concerned might have done so at an earlier stage. And, once again, attempts to use the data in this Book to fix the time have failed repeatedly, and led to many false and damaging expectations.
16.16: They gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har Magedon.
References to this proper name in the Old Testament are found in Joshua 12.21 (a king of that area whom Joshua defeated); 17.11 (the area which fell within the western half of Manasseh); Judges 1.27 (the place was not immediately subjugated); 5.19 (in Deborah's song celebrating Israel's victory); 1 Kings 4.12 (which shows that Solomon had firmly established his authority there); 9.15 (the fortress city he built there); 2 Kings 9.27 (where Ahaziah died from his wounds); 23.29,30 (where Josiah was killed in battle with Pharoah's forces); parallel references to these last two in 1 Chronicles 7.29 and 2 Chronicles 35.22; and finally Zechariah 12.11 (the mourning to come over Israel when they meet the Lord they crucified, compared with "the moutning of Hadad-rimmon in the Valley of Megiddon", probably an allusion to the sorrow felt over the death of Josiah).
Though there is a general picture of Megiddo as a battlefield in all this, it is not specially instructive as to why the name is used in Revelation. The place is geographically significant though, The plain of Megiddo is the broad valley of the Kishon, extending inland S.E. from Mount Carmel, and known in Roman times as "The Great Plain", effectively dividing Samaria from Galilee. The prefix liar-suggests that "Mountain of Megiddo" is meant, as the following note may elucidate:
The earliest known interpretation, extant only in Arabic, is 'the trodden, level place (Arabic 'Imwd'lwtv = the Plain?) . . . Ot four modern interpretations, namely 'mountain of Megiddo', 'city of Megiddo', 'mount of Assembly', and 'his fruitful hill', most scholars prefer the first. The fact that the tel of Megiddo was about 21 metres (70 ft) high in John's day, and was in the vicinity of the Carmel Range, justifies the use of the Hebrew har, used loosely in O.T. for 'hill' and 'hill country'. . . The 'waters of Megiddo' and the 'valley-plain of Megiddo' have witnessed many battles, from one fought by Tuthmosis III in -1468 to that of Lord Allenby of Megiddo in 1917. (Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 'Armageddon'). The modern event, in which Megiddo was the "scene of the operations, opening on 19 September 1917, by which Allenby, brilliantly outwitting the German commander, Limon von Sanders, broke the enemy's right in Palestine, encircled two Turkish armies with cavalry, and paved the way for the Turkish capitulation a month later" (Chambers' Encyclopedia in loc), especially since it gave Palestine in mandate to Britain the following year, and led to the beginning of the large-scale return of Israel to the Land. This has tended to focus attention on the geographical area as such, and led to confident anticipations that the actual final conflict between the Lord Jesus and the nations will take place at this very spot.
It may prove to be the case. There are complicated problems of chronology and of geography to be solved in that event, which it is not the purpose of this book to consider, but they can at least be indicated. In Zechariah 14.1-3 a deliverance of Israel by the Lord Jesus is located at Jerusalem (as it is also in 12.1-9). In Joel 3.2,12 the defeat of the nations is located in "the Valley of Jehoshaphat", and whatever the position of this valley was it seems not to have lain as far north as Megiddo, S.C. locates it near the Dead Sea at Ein-Gedi, where Jehoshaphat fought against the Moabites (2 Chronicles 20.2), some 30 miles south of Jerusalem. Tradition, perhaps with little historical foundation, has associated it with the Kidron Valley near to Jerusalem itself. If all three of these locations are geographical entities, then the campaigns of the last days are described in various Books of Scripture in ways which will require considerable industry to piece together. It may be interesting and possible to do so, but it is not the kind of detail with which we are here concerned.
Joel may lead us to a conclusion of a different kind. Apart from the fact that the Kidron Valley simply could not accommodate large armies locked in battle (Would any conventional battlefield do so?), the meaning of the name is perhaps more important than any geographical location. Jehoshaphat means "Jehovah is Judge", and the theme of Joel 3 is that of God's judging the nations for their offences against His people, in "the Valley of decision" (3.14). So Joel may be telling us that the nations will be subdued in "the Valley where the Lord shall judge them". Can the same be true of Har-mageddon? Young gives the meaning of Megiddo as "place of God", for no discoverable reason. Gesenius, and also Davidson, give "place of crowds" or "place of troops", as a possibility, linking it with the verb, gadhadh. As for the "mountain" of Megiddo, while there is not much to be said for I.B.D.'s suggestion of a tel only twice as high as a two-story house, might not the fact that Carmel is at the seaward end of the Valley of Megiddo suggest something much more appropriate? It was on Carmel that Elijah faced the host of priests of Baal, and God judged between them, resulting in the destruction of Baal-worship for the time: how seemly it would be for us to eearn that those gathered together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty will learn in their discomfiture that "The LORD He is God! The LORD, He is God!" (1 Kings 18.19-40). Revelation is not otherwise concerned with geography, and we might feel that in a Book of symbol a symbolic understanding of Harmageddon is as congruous as the same for Babylon and the Euphrates.
16.17: The seventh poured out his vial into the air; and there came forth a great voice out of the temple, from the throne, saying, It is done. 16.18: And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunder-ings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell; and Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give to her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. 16.19: And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 16.21: And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent, cometh down from heaven to men: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof is exceeding great.
This is the last Vial, the last phase of the Last Trumpet, itself the final scene in the Last Seal. The words "It is done" which introduce the Vial say as much. The Vial includes major events, however, and therefore what follows in the next three chapters must be thought of as the elaboration of the work here so briefly summarized. The lightnings with which this message is associated take us back to 4.5; 8.5; 11.19; the voices to 4.5; 8.5,13; 10.3,3,4; 11.15,19; and the earthquake to 6.12; 8.5; 11.13. We are being told: all that you have so far read about is now coming to its fulfilment. Watch, and be ready for the outcome.
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