Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Be on guard; God WILL have the final say; FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME.

The chapter begins with “a great voice” and ends with “the great plague.”

[Thomas M. Strouse, To the Seven Churches: A Commentary on the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, Selected Works of Dr. Thomas M. Strouse (Bible Baptist Theological Press, 40 Country Squire Rd., Cromwell, CT 06461, 2013), 631.]

I. God Speaks (Rev.

16:1)

Note - John hears God instruct the Seven Angels to pour (Rev.

16:1)

A. Vial One (Rev.

16:2)

Note - Bad and Evil Sores Upon the Beast-Mark Bearers Who Worship His Image (Rev.

16:2)

Note - Noisome

NOISŎME, a. noi´sum.

[Norm.

noisife; It. nocivo, noioso.

This word is formed with the Teutonic some, united with the It.

noiare, Fr. nuire, nuisant, from the L. noxa, noceo, to hurt.

Class Ng.]

1. Noxious to health; hurtful; mischievous; unwholesome; insalubrious; destructive; as noisome winds; noisome effluvia or miasmata; noisome pestilence.

Milton.

Dryden.

[Noah Webster, Noah Webster’s First Edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language.

(Anaheim, CA: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2006).]

B. Vial Two - (Rev.

16:3)

Note - Water Into Blood, Part One - Death in the Sea (Rev.

16:3)

C. Vial Three (Rev.

16:4)

Note - Water Into Blood Part Two - Rivers & Fountains (Rev.

16:4)

II.

Angels Speak (Rev.

16:5-7)

Note - The Lord God Almighty Is True & His Judgments Are Rightly Deserved Because of How His Saints & Prophets Were Slain By the Dragon & His Followers (Rev.

16:5-7)

Beast worshippers who have poured out believers’ blood will have the Seven Vial Judgments “poured out” upon them!

The seven-fold “pouring out” pictures the Lord’s perfection in retribution.

For instance, the Lord in His justice required the law of retaliation for the OT congregation, saying, “And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.

And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast.

And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.

And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death” (Lev.

24:17-21; cf. also Gen. 9:5-6; Ex. 21:24; Dt. 19:21).

[Strouse, 643–644.]

A. Vial Four (Rev.

16:8-9)

Note - Men Burned By the Sun Blaspheme God in the Light & Remain Unrepentant (Rev.

16:8-9)

This is the first of three times the verb blasfhmew occurs in this chapter, confirming (vide Dt. 17:6; 19:15) the unrepentant nature of those with the mark of the Beast.

The sin of blaspheming the name of the Lord was punishable by death, as the Jehovah instructed Moses, saying, “And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death” (Lev.

24:16).2488

[Strouse, 649.]

B. Vial Five (Rev.

16:10-11)

Note - Darkness on the Beast's Throne; Men Blaspheme God in the Darkness & Remain Unrepentant (Rev.

16:10-11)

The divine judgment thus inflicted, apparently upon the entire earth, does not bring men to repentance but only increases their blasphemy, even though they recognize that the plague comes from the God whom they reject....

The Scriptures plainly refute the notion that wicked men will quickly repent when faced with catastrophic warnings of judgment.

When confronted with the righteous judgment of God, their blasphemy is deepened and their evil purpose is accentuated.

[John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Galaxie Software, 2008), 234-5.]

C. Vial Six (Rev.

16:12)

Note - The Euphrates Dried for the Gathering of Armageddon (Rev.

16:12)

III.

Demons Speaking Lies (Rev.

16:13-16)

Note - The Devil's Demons Propagandize through Deception but God Uses Their Own Devices to Gather them For Destruction (Rev.

16:13-16)

A. Three Unclean Spirits (Rev.

16:13-14)

Note - Three Frog-Demons Catch Their Prey with Their Tongues & Signs (Rev.

16:13-14)

B. Beatitude Parenthetical (Rev.

16:15)

Note - The Secret to Happiness: Watch for the Second Coming of the Lord & Don't Let the Devil Steal Your Clothes! (Rev.

16:15)

In Matthew 24:43 and Luke 12:39 the second coming of Christ is compared to the coming of a thief who will overtake those who do not watch.

A similar warning is given to the church in Sardis (Rev.

3:3).

In 2 Peter 3:10 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4 the day of the Lord is said to come as a thief.

The unifying factor in all these passages is that the coming in view results in loss for those who are not ready.

[Walvoord, 238.]

Note - peripateo

1:2 A The man in charge of the Temple mount would go around to every watch, and lighted torches were [flaring] before him.

B And to any watch which was not standing did the man in charge of the Temple mount say, “Peace be with you.”

C [If] it was obvious that he was sleeping, he beats him with his staff.

D And he had the right to burn his garment.

E And they say, “What is the noise in the courtyard?”

F “It is the noise of a Levite being smitten, and his clothing being burned, for he went to sleep at his post.”

G R. Eliezer b.

Jacob says, “One time they found my mother’s brother sleeping and burned his garment.”

[Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah : A New Translation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988), 873.]

The OT prophet Isaiah likened “garments” with salvation that belongs to the Lord’s bride, saying, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels” (Isa.

61:10; cf. also 59:17 ).

[Strouse, 664.] (also Is. 52:1)

C. The Gathering of Armageddon (Rev.

16:16)

IV.

Vial Seven - God’s Final Word (Rev.

16:17-21)

Note - Poured into the Air - God Speaks the Final Word, "It Is Done" (Rev.

16:17-21)

A. The Terrifying Storm (Rev.

16:18)

Note - The Thunder Rolls & the Lightening Strikes (Rev.

16:18a)

B. THE Earthquake Strikes (Rev.

16:18b-20)

Note - The Worst Earthquake in Mankind's History Divides Jerusalem into Three Parts, Brings the Nations Down, and Levels the Whole Earth as God Remembers Babylon, Who Drinks the Cup of His Fierce Wrath (Rev.

16:18b-20)

Note - came in remembrance - lit. "came into remembrance before the face of God"Zech.

14:4-5Is.

40:4-5

C. Hundred-Pound Hailstones (Rev.

16:21)

Note - The Sky Rains Massive Hailstones Down Upon Mankind, Who Yet Blaspheme God Because of the Plague of Hail (Rev.

16:21)

Conclusion:

Chronologically the next event is that prophesied in 19:11 where Christ Himself descends from heaven to take over His kingdom on earth.

[Walvoord, 241.]