Revelation 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways… I. ERE THE END COMETH GOD'S JUDGMENTS OF WRATH WILL BE POURED OUT UPON THE WORLD. II. GOD HATH HIS "BOWLS" IN WHICH ARE THE CONTENTS OF HIS WRATH WAITING TO BE OUTPOURED. III. THE BRINGING OUT OF THESE HIDDEN FORCES IS FORESEEN AND DETERMINED. IV. WHEN THE ANGELS OF JUDGMENT POUR OUT THE "BOWLS," ALL NATURE MAY BE FULL OF WHIPS AND STINGS (cf. vers. 1-4, 8-11). V. THE EFFECT OF THESE JUDGMENTS ON UNGODLY MEN WILL BE TO EXCITE TO ANGER, AND NOT TO BRING TO REPENTANCE. "They repented not"; "they blasphemed" (vers. 9, 11). VI. THE HOLY ONES SEE IN THE DIVINE RETRIBUTION A MANIFESTATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. In ver. 5 "the angel of the waters" celebrates the righteousness of God, and in ver. 7 "the altar" is said to do it; so the Revised Version reads; meaning, probably, the souls of the martyrs beneath it (Revelation 6:9). Only those beings who are in full sympathy with the Divine righteousness and love are in a position to judge rightly of the Divine procedure. Note — 1. Although all Scripture points to trouble on a vastly greater scale than we as yet see it, ere the end shall come, yet on a smaller scale God's judgments are ever at work. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." That which is a bulwark to the good is a detective to the evil. 2. Let us not forget that the wondrous way in which the balance of nature's forces is preserved, so as to bring us life and peace and comfort, is owing, not to nature, but to God. 3. In our daily life we can sing of both mercy and judgment. No cup is all sweetness. A dash of bitter mingles with all. Not all bitter, lest we should pine away; not all sweet, lest we should become insensible to life's peril and responsibilities. 4. We are indebted to Divine mercy even for the sanctifying effect of our trials. (C. Clemance, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. |
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