Click here for the Revelation 16:12-16 PODCAST
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates so that the water in the river was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east to come. 13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These evil spirits are the spirits of demons, which have power to do miracles. They go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 15 “Listen! I will come as a thief comes! Blessed are those who stay awake and keep their clothes on so that they will not walk around naked and have people see their shame.” 16 Then the evil spirits gathered the kings together to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language. ~ Revelation 16:12-16
Today, we return to Revelation 16 where we find the last of the judgments of God, the seven bowls. From Revelation 6 through Revelation 15, we have been given frighteningly clear details of the coming wrath of God upon the unbelieving world. Today, we come to the beginning of God's description of the end of the world.
In v.12 we read, "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates so that the water in the river was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east to come."
With the pouring out of the sixth bowl judgment, the Euphrates River will be dried up. This isn’t the first time, by the way, in the judgments of the book of the Revelation that the Euphrates has been mentioned. Back in Revelation 9:14, the sixth angel blew his trumpet. That reference to the Euphrates river indicated that a barrier will be removed so the Eastern armies can come into the west. Then, here in Revelation 16 we find the Euphrates river appearing again and this time it will be dried up so that the armies of the east can freely advance on up to Israel.
John refers to the Euphrates river as "great" because it is eighteen-hundred miles long. In fact, its headwaters are found in Mount Ararat where Noah's ark ended up. The summit of Mount Ararat is somewhere around seventeen thousand feet. It is snow-capped all year long. The great Euphrates River begins there and it flows downhill all the way to the gulf of the Arabian Sea, clear across the Middle East in what we know as the Fertile Crescent. At certain spots it is as wide as thirty-six hundred feet, and as deep as thirty feet.
The sixth bowl dries up the river to prepare the way for the kings of the East, the armies of perhaps, India and China and maybe Japan. This was at the battle of Armageddon which will be the final Great War between those loyal to Satan and the Antichrist and the tiny nation of Israel. At Armageddon the Antichrist and his followers will be overthrown and defeated.
In v.13-14 we read, "13 Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 These evil spirits are the spirits of demons, which have power to do miracles. They go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the battle on the great day of God Almighty."
Here we are given insight into how nations of this world will be manipulated by the unseen forces of Satan. The nations will be unaware of the fact but they will be made to do certain things. Three evil spirits that look like frogs which come out of the Satanic trinity will deceive the nations. They will trick them into launching World War III. This will be a terrible time when the nations of the world launch their nuclear warheads. This will be the time when, as we saw in Revelation 9, the armies from the east, some 200,000,000 gather around Israel, to make war.
In v.15 we read, "Listen! I will come as a thief comes! Blessed are those who stay awake and keep their clothes on so that they will not walk around naked and have people see their shame."
As we have seen before, there is always a parenthesis between the sixth and seventh of each of the seals and the trumpets. Here that parenthesis is found in v.15. This includes a pause and a word from heaven. This will come in the form of a promise to the believers, because between the sixth and seventh seals there was a pause to give promise and hope to the believers, and between the sixth and seventh trumpets there was a pause to give promise to the believers. So, it makes sense here that between the sixth and seventh bowls there will be a pause and a promise to give hope and encouragement to the believers.
In v.16 we read, "Then the evil spirits gathered the kings together to the place that is called Armageddon in the Hebrew language."
This will be Satan's final attempt to destroy the people of God, to make one final attack on Jerusalem and destroy the Jews once and for all. So, he will lure the strongest and the greatest armies on the earth to Israel to try to destroy her.
The cross of Christ and the valley of Megiddo are two altars of sacrifice that dominate the history of the world. Both describe God's wrath upon sin. Both are brought about by God’s enemies. From each proceeds a supper: the first the Lord's Supper for the people of God. The second, a feast of God's retribution upon rebellious and stubborn man. And, both end with the victorious cry, "It is finished."
And I might add that the comparison is apt because the judgment on Calvary provided forgiveness and grace for those who are humble enough to admit they are sinners and are in need of a Savior. The judgment at Armageddon will provide destruction and damnation for those who will be so proud they will not admit they are sinners and are in need of a Savior. One is a saving judgment on sin, the other will send the unwilling to Hell for eternity.
