Days of Vengeance - The Preterist Archive

16:1
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JUDGMENT FROM THE SANCTUARY
The Seventh Trumpet was the sign that “there shall be
no more delay” (cf. 10:6-7). Time has run out; wrath to
the utmost has now come upon Israel. From this point
on, St. John abandons the language and imagery of
warning, concentrating wholly on the message of
Jerusalem’s impending destruction. As he describes the
City’s doom, he extends and intensifies the Exodus
imagery that has already been so pervasive throughout
the prophecy. Again he mentions “the Great City”
(16:19), reminding his readers of a previous reference:
“the Great City, which Spiritually is called Sodom and
Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified” (11:8).
Jerusalem is called Sodom because of its sensual,
luxurious apostasy (cf. Ezek. 16:49-50), and because it
is devoted to total destruction as a whole burnt sacrifice
(Gen. 19:24-28; Deut. 13:12-18). But St. John’s more
usual metaphors for the Great City are taken from the
Exodus pattern: Jerusalem is not only Egypt, but also
the other enemies of Israel. He has shown us the
Egyptian Dragon chasing the Woman into the
wilderness (Chapter 12); a revived Balak and Balaam
seeking to destroy God’s people by war and by
seduction to idolatry (chapter 13); the sealed armies of
the New Israel gathered on Mount Zion to celebrate
the feasts (Chapter 14); and the saints standing in
triumph at the “Red Sea,” singing the Song of Moses
(chapter 15). Now, in Chapter 16, seven judgments
corresponding to the ten Egyptian Plagues are to be
poured out on the Great City.
There is also a marked correspondence between these
Chalice-judgments and the Trumpet-judgments of
Chapters 8-11. 1 Because the Trumpets were essentially
warnings, they took only a third of the Land; with the
Chalices, the destruction is total.
Chalices
1. On the Land, becoming sores
(16:2)
2. On the sea, becoming blood (16:3)
3. On rivers and springs, becoming
blood (16:4-7)
4. On the sun, causing it to scorch
(16:8-9)
5. On the throne of the Beast,
causing darkness (16:10-11)
6. On the Euphrates, drying it up to
make way for kings of the east;
invasion of frog-demons;
Armageddon (16:12-16)
Trumpets
1. On the Land; 1 /3 earth, trees, grass
burned (8:7)
2. On the sea; 1 /3 sea becomes blood,
1 /3 sea creatures die, 1 /3 ships
destroyed (8:8-9)
3. On the rivers and springs;
1 /3 waters become wormwood
(8:10-11)
4. 1 /3 of sun, moon, and stars
darkened (8:12)
5. Demonic locusts tormenting men
(9:1-12)
6. Army from Euphrates kills 1 /3
mankind (9:13-21)
Plagues on Egypt
1. Boils
(sixth plague: Ex. 9:8-12)
2. Waters become blood
(first plague: Ex. 7:17-21)
3. Waters become blood
(first plague: Ex. 7:17-21)
4. Darkness
(ninth plague: Ex. 10:21-23)
5. Locusts
(eighth plague: Ex. 10:4-20)
6. Invasion of frogs from river
(second plague: Ex. 8:2-4)
7. On the air, causing storm,
earthquake, and hail (16:17-21)
7. Voices, storm, earthquake, hail
(11:15-19)
7. Hail
(seventh plague: Ex. 9:18-26)
The First Four Chalices:
God’s Creation Takes Vengeance (16:1-9)
1 And I heard a loud Voice from the Temple, saying to the
seven angels: Go and pour out the seven Chalices of the
wrath of God into the Land.
2 And the first angel went and poured out his Chalice into
the Land; and it became a loathsome and malignant sore
upon the men who had the mark of the Beast and who
worshiped his image.
3 And the second angel poured out his Chalice into the
sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man; and
every living soul in the sea died.
4 And the third angel poured out his Chalice into the
rivers and the springs of waters; and it became blood.
1. The correspondence is not exact, however; and Russell characteristically goes too far when, after a superficial comparison, he categorically declares: “This cannot
be mere casual coincidence: it is identity, and it suggests the inquiry, For what reason is the vision thus repeated?” (J. Stuart Russell, The Parousia: A Critical Inquity
into the New Testament Doctrine of Our Lord’s Second Coming [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983], p. 476).
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