And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
The Sixth Vial, Rev 16:12-16
12. Euphrates ] Rev 9:14 sqq. Where Babylon confessedly stands for Rome, we should naturally understand the Euphrates to be used also in a symbolical sense, possibly as meaning the Tiber. But the Tiber is not a very “great river:” and the mention of “the kings of the east” (lit., the kings from the rising of the sun) as needing to pass the Euphrates seems to mark it as meant literally.
the water thereof was dried up ] Referring to the way that the ancient Babylon was actually captured by Cyrus, by drawing off the water of the Euphrates into a reservoir, so as to make its bed passable for a few hours. Though not mentioned in Daniel 5, nor by Cyrus in his lately discovered account of the capture, there seems no doubt that this incident is historical: the details given in Hdt. I. 191 agree exactly with those of the predictions in Isa 44:27; Isa 45:3; Jer 50:38; Jer 50:44; Jer 51:30-32; Jer 51:36.
that the way &c.] Compare the prophecies of Cyrus’ advance in Isa 41:2; Isa 41:25. He is there spoken of as advancing on Babylon “from the East:” much more would any invader of Rome or the Roman Empire come from the East, if he had to cross the literal Euphrates.
the kings of the east ] Rather, from the east. In Rev 17:16 we hear of the kings of the earth combining to attack Babylon, and the Euphrates may be dried up, only that the kings from the east may be able to advance to bear their part in the assault. But why do they specially need their “way to be prepared”? The Euphrates is a far less impassable frontier than the Alps or the Mediterranean: it was in fact in St John’s day the weak side of the empire. And probably in this fact we may see the key to the prophecy. In Dan 8:8; Dan 11:4 we have the division of Alexander’s empire described as “toward the four winds of heaven:” in Rev 11:5-6 the Egyptian and Asiatic kingdoms are designated as “the kings of the south and of the north.” It is implied therefore that the kings of Macedon are kings of the West: and it remains that the other great and permanent kingdom (of smaller ephemeral ones there were more than four) which arose from the dissolution of Alexander’s shall be “the kings of the east.” Now this designation obliges us to think of the Parthians, the longest-lived of all the Alexandrine kingdoms, and the only one surviving in St John’s day. This differed from the others, in respect that its royal dynasty was native, not Macedonian, but it was not the less a portion of Alexander’s empire, inheriting his traditions. (The veneer of Greek culture existing among the Arsacidae is well illustrated by the grim story of the performance of the Bacchae at the time of the death of Crassus: it is instructive also to look at the series of coins engraved in Smith’s Dictionary s.v. Arsacidae, where we see Hellenic types gradually giving way to Assyrian.) In Enoch liv. 9 we hear of “the chiefs of the east among the Parthians and Medes:” that passage throws no real light on this, except as shewing who “the kings of the east” were understood to be, by a person familiar with the same ideas as St John. Now in St John’s time (whether the earlier or later date be assigned to the vision) there were apprehensions of a Parthian invasion of the empire on behalf of a pseudo-Nero (Tac. Hist. I. ii. 3), i.e. a shadow of Antichrist: and it is likely that St John’s prophecy is expressed (as so many O. T. prophecies are) in terms of the present political situation. But it had no immediate fulfilment: the danger from Parthia under Domitian passed off, and soon afterwards its power was broken for ever by Trajan. But its place was taken in time by the Sassanian kingdom of Persia, which remained for three centuries the most formidable enemy of Rome. Then, as Parthia had been broken by Trajan and fell before Persia, so Persia, broken by Heraclius, fell before the Arabs, who endangered the existence, and actually appropriated great part, of the Eastern Empire. To them succeeded the Turks, before whom it fell.
Now while no event in this series can be called a definite or precise fulfilment of St John’s prophecy, we may hold that this habitual relation of “the kings of the east” to the Roman empire supplies a number of typical or partial fulfilments. A pseudo-Nero, made emperor by a Parthian conquest of Rome, and ruling (as might be expected) in Nero’s spirit, would have been almost a real Antichrist: and for such a revelation of Antichrist St John’s immediate readers were meant to be prepared. Again, in the conquests and persecutions of Sapor and Chosroes, of Omar, Mohammed, and Suleiman, it was intended that the Christians of the empire should see the approaches and threatenings of the kingdom of Antichrist. But the empire whether Roman, Byzantine, or Austrian continued to “withhold, that he may be revealed in his season”; and its modern representatives will continue to do so “until it be taken out of the way: and then shall that Wicked be revealed.”
It may be observed that Dan 11:40 sqq. seems to imply that the political situation in the East in the days of Antichrist will be not unlike that in the days of Antiochus: for while it is certain that the early part of that chapter applies to the latter, it is hard to regard the passage beginning at Dan 11:36 as adequately fulfilled in him. Humanly speaking, it does not seem that the changes now going on in the east are as capable of producing a conquering empire, as they are of producing an antichristian fanaticism: but qui vivra verra.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates – On the situation of that river, and the symbolical meaning of this language, see the notes on Rev 9:14-21. The reference there was supposed to be to the Turkish power, and the analogy of interpretation would seem to require that it should be so understood here. There is every reason, therefore, to suppose that this passage has reference to something in the future history of the Turkish dominions, and to some bearing of the events which are to occur in that history on the ultimate downfall of the anti-Christian power referred to by the beast.
And the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared – That is, as the effect of pouring out the vial. There is an allusion here, undoubtedly, to the dividing of the waters of the Red Sea, so that the children of Israel might pass. See Exo 14:21-22. Compare the notes on Isa 11:15. In this description the Euphrates is represented as a barrier to prevent the passage of the kings of the East, on their way to the West for some purpose not yet specified; that is, applying the symbol of the Euphrates as being the seat of the Turkish power, the meaning is, that that power is such a hindrance, and that, in some way that hindrance is to be removed as if the waters of an unbridged and unfordable river were dried up so as to afford a safe and easy passage through. Still there are several inquiries as to the application of this, which is not easy, and, as it refers to what is still future, it may be impossible to answer. The language requires us to put upon it the following interpretation:
(a) The persons here referred to as kings of the East, were ready to make a movement toward the West, over the Euphrates, and would do this if this obstruction were not in their way. Who these kings of the East are is not said, and perhaps cannot be conjectured. The natural interpretation is, that they are the kings that reign in the East, or that preside over the countries of the eastern hemisphere. Why there was a proposed movement to the West is not said. It might have been for conquest, or it might have been that they were to bring their tribute to the spiritual Jerusalem, in accordance with what is so often said in the prophets, that under the gospel kings and princes would consecrate themselves and their wealth to God. See Psa 72:10-11; The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him. So also Isa 60:4-6, Isa 60:9,Isa 60:11; Thy sons shall come from far – The forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee – All they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense – The isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them – Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. All that is fairly implied in the language used here is, that the kings of the East would be converted to the true religion, or that they were, at the time referred to, in a state of readiness to be converted, if there were no hindrance or obstruction.
(b) There was some hindrance or obstruction to their conversion; that is, as explained, from the Turkish power: in other words, they would be converted to the true faith if it were not for the influence of that power.
(c) The destruction of that power, represented by the drying up of the Euphrates, would remove that obstruction, and the way would thus be prepared for their conversion to the true religion. We should most naturally, therefore, look, in the fulfillment of this, for some such decay of the Turkish power as would be followed by the conversion of the rulers of the East to the gospel.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 16:12-16
The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates Three unclean spirits
The mission of the three spirits
The river Euphrates, the dividing stream (in old time) between Israel and Assyria, between Israel and Babylon–the dividing stream (in typical language) between the Israel of God and the foes of God, between the Church and the world, between the disciples of Jesus Christ and the opposing hosts and powers of evil–is dried up, by the outpouring of the sixth vial, that the last confederacy of infidelity and ungodliness may be tempted onward to its ruin.
These vials are vials of wrath. The longsuffering of ages is at length exhausted: the measure of earths iniquity is at last fun. The time is come for a decisive battle: the kings from the east, from the enemys side of the river, shall be encouraged to cross over, shall be permitted to pass over dryshod, that they may throw themselves, in all their proud superiority of strength and numbers, upon the camp of the saints and upon the beloved city. Such is the parable. Enough of palliatives and enough of compromises: enough of human expedients for harmonising the irreconcilable, for making truth speak the speech of compliment, and toning down revelation till human reason shall flatter herself that she invented it: not thus can the true life be lived, the reality of death faced, or a boundless eternity entered: not thus shall place ever be found for that new heaven and new earth, in which dwelleth righteousness, in which the tabernacle of God is with men. There must first be a war and a battle: the war of spiritual combatants, the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Thus we are enabled to contemplate, with awe but not with dismay, all that growing boldness and insolence of unbelief which seems likely to be characteristic of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. It is all working up to a consummation–a consummation foreordained of God–a consummation revealed by Him in prophecy. The three unclean spirits which gather the invading powers to the battle of the great day are said to issue from the mouth of the dragon, and from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. The reference is to the section of the three enemies, occupying the twelfth and two following chapters of this book.
1. The dragon is described to us in the twelfth chapter by figures and names, which leave no doubt of their meaning. He is expressly termed the devil and Satan–the old serpent, with evident reference to the history of mans fall–the deceiver of the whole world–the accuser of the brethren. He is described as a dragon–that fabulous monster of antiquity, with its huge coils of serpent-like scales–here painted with seven heads, ten horns upon one of them, and seven crowns–telling at once of manifold versatility, giant strength, and more than regal dominion. He is described further as casting down to the earth the third part of the stars of heaven–to express at once the audacity of his presumption, and the superhuman sweep of his success. He stands before the woman clothed with the sun and crowned with the stars–emblem of the Church of God now travailing in birth with the Saviour of prophecy and of expectation–stands, I say, watching for the Incarnation, and eager to devour the Divine Child at the moment of His birth. Frustrated by the final rescue which transfers the imperilled Saviour, by ascension, to the throne of God in heaven–and himself receiving a defeat in the war with the glorified Christ which hurls him back, wrathful and revengeful, upon an earth not yet regenerated–he turns all his fury first upon the Church, which escapes from him into the wilderness, cared for by God Himself, who has prepared there her temporary home and her heavenly supplies–cared for by God, but helped even by the earth, who, in a sense wonderfully true to history, has sometimes even protected and favoured her–first, I say, upon the Church herself, and then (by a slight modification of the metaphor) upon the individual Christian, represented as not yet sharing the full security of the Church as a whole, as having still to fight for his life, though the Church is guaranteed from the once threatened destruction.
2. The second enemy is depicted in the thirteenth chapter. A wild beast of hideous composite form–lion, bear, and leopard in one–is seen by the evangelist rising out of the sea. With one slight–very slight–difference his first appearance is that of the dragon himself. There are the seven heads and the ten horns upon one of them, only in this latter case the horns arc crowned, not the heads, and therefore the crowns are ten, not seven. The dragon gives him his power and his throne: he is to represent him: the dragon is a power out of sight: the beast is his impersonation and his express image. One peculiarity of this foe is a portentous vitality. He receives a mortal wound, but he lives again. The admiration of the beholders rises into adoration. They worship the dragon who gave him his authority, and they worship the beast who lives after dying. The second enemy is the world. There is no mistaking the symbolism. In the interpretation of Daniels vision the four beasts combined into the beast before us are expressly said to be kings: the beast is the world, as the dragon is the devil. The world, in its aspect of power–the aspect here presented–is a great reality. In St. Johns time it was the formidable–apart from revelation the irresistible, invincible–foe of the little Church of Jesus Christ. The time was to be when an apparently fatal wound was to be inflicted upon this antagonist–a wound, of which one illustration, if not the one fulfilment, was to be the nominal conversion of the Roman Empire to the faith which once it persecuted. Surely that wound was a mortal wound? Wait a while and you shall see the world rise from its bed of death–you shall see names changed, realities surviving–you shall see kings ruling in lust and rapine by the grace of God–you shall see the nominally Christian world wax wanton in turn against its imaged and sculptured Lord–you shall see Christian kings issuing their edicts of exile against Christian worshippers, and Papal Rome drawing from her scabbard the sword which Pagan Rome had for ever sheathed. The power of the world is superhuman in its vitality: the dragon–this accounts for it–gives the beast his throne and his authority, and that throne and that authority, call themselves what they may, are still adverse and antagonistic to the cause and the people of Jesus Christ.
3. There is a third enemy, called in the text, for the first time, the false prophet; but clearly marked, in later passages of the nineteenth and twentieth chapters, as identical with the beast from the earth of the thirteenth. His characteristics are peculiar. They combine might and meekness. He has two horns like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon; he unites the seeming innocence of the lamb with the subtlety which beguiled Eve in the serpent. There is no doubt as to his origin–it is more patent than that of the second–he comes up out of the earth whatever his apparent influence with heaven and the unseen. In some sense he is the viceroy of the second enemy; he exercises all his power before him–the power which the dragon gave he guides to its destination. His work is to glorify in every way the beast which is the world. He makes earth worship the world. He magnifies, by every art and every persuasion, the miracle of the revival. He props miracle by miracle, can make fire come down from heaven by his incantations to deceive mankind into the idolatry of the beast which died and lives. He bids them make an image of the god-world, and then he puts life into the image and makes it speak. St. John lived in days when the beast was embodied in the empire, and when the image of the emperor was an object of worship. The suspected Christian was bidden for his life to sacrifice to that image. All this would make the figures of this part of the vision very real and very life-like to the Church of that time. Illustrative, not exhaustive, of them. The second beast, like the first–the third enemy, like the second, lives on until now. He is the wisdom, as the other is the power, of this world. He is that subtler, more penetrating influence of policy and diplomacy, of skill and scheming, of expediency and statecraft, of knowledge divorced from religion, of science falsely so called, of reason set against revelation, and creatureship exalted into rivalry with the Creator, without which the brute-force of wealth and numbers, of edicts and penalties, of arms and armies, would have no avail ever against intellect and enlightenment, would have lost it long ago in the face of popular growth and advancing freedom. It must be confessed that it is not easy to set before ourselves in a sharp, strong, telling way the distinctions and contrasts of the three enemies. They interlace and intertwine with each other–their general drift is the same–they are working to one end, and they are helping one another to reach it. Yet we must endeavour to see why they are distinguished, and to discover their special characteristics as influences upon the generation occupying the earth on the very eve of the great day. I saw three unclean spirits come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
(1) We might hesitate long and anxiously about the first of these. We might think of many characteristics of the evil spirit in his fall and in his ruin, in his reign and in his warfare, as they are suggested to us in the hints and warnings of the Bible. But there is one quality which seems to underlie and motive all, and that is insubordination. It is the unwillingness to keep the rank and the station–the first estate, as St. Jude calls it–assigned by the Lord of all to the individual being created. It is the inability to curb and coerce the unruly workings of that pride of self, that lust of liberty, that passion for independence and exemption from jurisdiction, which begins by trying to escape from the omnipresence, and ends by making omnipotence itself its foe.
(2) And what of the inspiration from the beast which is the world? To it also we might assign many names, but we shall choose one among them and call it materialism. It is the pressure upon us, the influence over us, of this brute thing, the power of the present, the power of the seen, the power of sense and time, the power of the circumstance and the surrounding of the men that shall die and the world that passeth away; it is the inability to withstand the custom and the fashion, the force of numbers and the cry of voices and the command of the society which can compel or outlaw; it is the influence, in One shape, of clamorous appetite and eager ambition and unsatisfied getting; it is the influence, in another shape, of the meanest and vilest of philosophies, saying, The body is all–let it have its way; or, The body is all–there is no hereafter.
(3) Insubordination–materialism–what shall be the third spirit? Think of the characteristics of the lamb-like, serpent-like wonder-worker–of the ingenious subtle inventor that can draw fire from the sky and make images speak–that can assert itself under anothers name, impose its edicts with authority, and ostracise the poor Christian that would so much as buy or sell unmolested–think of all this, and you will not count the third influence misnamed if we call it intellectualism–the thing which struts and parades itself as thought, intelligence, an open mind, a refusal to see with others eyes, a repudiation of the received, a passion for the original–though its discoveries are oftentimes the mere echo of an echo from days of obsolete objection, of puerile, infantine bewilderment. (Dean Vaughan.)
The battle of that great day of God Almighty.
The final conflict
Is it possible, after all, that we have mistaken the character of the final triumphs of humanity and Christianity? Are they to be peaceful triumphs? or are they to be gained in the bloodiest grapple of the long-opposing forces which the pen of history ever had or ever shall have to record?
1. In the first place it lies level to the most superficial observation that this, our earth, was chosen of God as the theatre of a great judicial conflict. This world is not a pleasure-garden in Gods realm, in which white-footed angels may walk at the cool of day, fearing no thorns or flinty roughness, and inhaling only the fragrance of roses and spices. It is not a place of idle sauntering for any citizens of Gods empire, just giving grateful shade, and musical with birds and fountains. It is a rough battlefield on which Good and Evil are met to strive for the mastery. It would not be strange, then, at all if in a world so purposed and elected the conflict should ever be keener; the progress be not more and more pacific, but more and more troubled and stormy; the struggle should ever gather to itself on either side more masterful forces, and the final battle be more resolute and deadly, as it is to be more determinate than any that have gone before.
2. But let us descend for a little from the broad view to details of the engagement, and see how the strife goes in the individual heart–what the law of progress, and what the character of the most decisive victories. Leave out the more spiritual aspects of the conflict for a moment, and come in upon one who is wrestling with some evil habit. Here is a man trying to break away from the bands of intemperance. His first efforts are feeble and ineffectual. He doesnt understand the power of his adversary. All his measures are mild, all his efforts are languid. He tries gentleness and moderation long enough to see that they only play into the hands of the enemy. It begins to dawn upon him that nothing but a terrible final duel can lay his enemy prostrate. Now the grim appetite rises in its strength. The soul, too, seeks to put on power. It thinks of whatever may stimulate its prowess–property wasted, health blasted, name dishonoured, family comfort and peace desolated, life imperilled–and meets the dread hour. It has need of all the heroism it can summon up. It navel: knew till now what the contest must be, and more than once now, doing its best, it may be worsted. It must yet put forth a more desperate strength. The battle that wins for it deliverance, that breaks the tyrants sceptre, will be the fiercest battle of all the war. So it is with all the vices–with every evil habit. Is it not thus with the more spiritual struggles for the new spiritual life? The soul begins perhaps by entertaining graver thoughts. That is well, but that doesnt end it. It isnt even the beginning of the end. It reasons with its wild and lawless propensities. The headstrong rioters laugh at such proclamations. They are paper-bullets. It seeks realise an outward reformation. This is no more than cutting off the outposts of evil–shooting down a picket or two. It tries exercises, Bible-reading, praying, good-willing; but only to discern more clearly how immovable the heart. The heart is yet securely intrenched. The citadel has not been carried. The soul becomes more in earnest, and the forces waken and multiply on either side–the truth pleads, and conscience and fear and the Holy Ghost and the world pleads–and the flesh and the adversary. This will be another struggle from any that have gone before. It will be a striving unto blood. It will be a grapple for life or death. The soul, if it wins, comes out of it after all pale and spent, with scarce strength to raise the shout of victory. Is not this private and individual strife an epitome of the larger–the public–the universal and comprehensive struggle? Are not the final conflicts ever the most desperate? Is not the fact of hopeful progress declared, not by increasing pacification, but by the growing sternness and fierceness of the contest?
3. When these three combine against God and his people–Sadduceeism, with audacious head; absolutism, with a chained fellow-man beneath its heel; and false religion, binding and loosing human consciences with a lie–then will that last great battle be joined whose fortunes and whose fluctuations will issue in giving the kingdom to the saints of the most High God. There will yet be such a combination. There is yet to rock the perturbed earth the tumult of that battle-day. Evil is not to be quietly dispossessed of its seat in this fair province of God. It holds by immemorial possession. It shall please God to show the full prowess of truth. The mightiest rally of evil in its united strength will be permitted. Gog and Magog will be gathered to the war. The false prophet, the beast, and the old dragon will consolidate their divisions in one dread array. Christianity will advance her banner and sound her charge. Considering what she is called to encounter, considering the long historic past, considering all the prophetic intimations, it will not be strange if she is called to contend against carnal weaponry. That Armageddon of the Lord, on which evil, with all its myrmidons, is finally to fall down slain, will be, we believe, not figuratively, but in some part of it, and in the high places of the field, literally an aceldama. There will be the thunder of the captains, with confused noise and garments rolled in blood. (A. L. Stone.)
Behold, I come as a thief.–
The coming of Christ
How comes a thief? He comes secretly and unexpectedly; secretly, lest he be discerned, and then with all advantages of surprisal, that he may not be taken himself while he is taking others. So Christ is said to come to judgment. He comes suddenly and unexpectedly. When people will take no warning He watches the time of their destruction, so that here you have the goodness and the severity of God (Rom 11:22): first, His goodness is showed in that He will give warning in all dangers; but here is His severity also: when warning will not be taken, then He comes with judgment. Christ here says He will come as a thief in the night, and this His coming is by reason of our unfaithfulness. And His coming is sudden, unless to some of His children that He prepares by warning. When He came into the world at His first coming there were but a few waited for the consolation of Israel (Luk 2:25): the rest did not. When He comes to any man or nation in His judgments doth He find faith? No; He finds them blessing themselves that to-morrow shall be as to-day. All that have spiritual life, labour to be waking Christians and then watching Christians. What is the difference between men but that carnal men are sleepers and spiritual men are waking? And what is the difference of Christians that are good and that are not? The one is a watchful Christian and the other not so. Wherein is one better than another? As the one is more careful to avoid sin than another. To come, therefore, to some directions how to carry ourselves, and among others remember this: we should have this waking and watchful consideration that we have a soul immortal, and that we are for eternity; and whatever we do in the flesh that shall be ever with us; and how that shortly we are going to the tribunal seat. In all these respects we should labour to be watchful at all times, because that time in which we take liberty to ourselves may be the time of our surprisal. We should therefore watch at all times, in prosperity and adversity. We should watch against all the sins of our persons and the sins of the state we are in. Besides, if we use this course, we shall bring our souls to that awe as that they shall not dare to offend God, by reason they must come to be examined. And how will our souls be willing to be judged before Christ, when we are unwilling to set ourselves before ourselves? If we use this it will bring a holy awe upon our souls, because they know they must come to examination for every sin. But mark what follows: Blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments close lest he walk naked.
1. First, know we have no garments of our own. Now it is thus in spiritual things. We have no garments of our own since the fall; but before we had. We have none now but original corruption that spreads over the soul. Besides that, men living unto years have another nature worse than the leprosy, custom. Here is all the clothing we have of ourselves; but for any spiritual good we must fetch it from Christ (Rev 3:18).
2. Now the second thing is this, we having none of ourselves, therefore we must have garments; and when we have them we must keep them clean and close: Blessed is he that keeps his garments close. For the first must be garments for defence; so in spiritual things there must be garments to defend us from the wrath of God, else we lie as naked to Gods wrath as a man in a storm being naked lies open to the storm. We must have garments of amity and friendship now. Again, we must have garments for distinction. Now, garments do distinguish Christians at the day of judgment. Garments that are coverings must be all over of equal extent. They cover the whole man. So head, hands, and heart, all must be sanctified as well as justified. So that those that look upon a Christian should see nothing in him but somewhat of Christ, His words, His callings, His thoughts. And we must be clothed not only with garments, but armour, because we live in the midst of our enemies, by which we may perceive the necessity of the putting on of the one as well as the other. Now, as we must have garments and must keep them close, so also we must keep them from stains. The persons where these graces are may be defiled, but the graces are pure. We should, therefore, labour to keep our actions unspotted. The righteousness of Christ is an excellent garment, but it must be put on; and if we have Christ we have all. There is another thing intended in this Scripture. These are dangerous times, and there are spiritual cheaters abroad in the world. Therefore we should keep our profession close, and keep our truth and our judgments close, and get love into our affections; for we shall be set upon, and if we walk at large, then heretics and seducers will come between us and salvation, because our garments are not close. If a man will have any good by religion, he must cleave to religion. Lest they walk naked, and men see their shame. All shame arises from this, that we do not keep our garments close. So long as truth and Christ by truth have a place in the soul, so long we are safe. Now to give some directions how to keep our garments close.
(1) Labour for convincing knowledge, because all grace comes into the soul by the light thereof. Grow, therefore, in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; and often propound queries to our judgments about the Word and sacraments. Am I able to maintain this truth I have been brought up in? And do I find them true to my soul, &c.
(2) Those that will have good gardens will have flowers of every kind, so a Christian must have graces of every kind. We must put on whole Christ for justification and sanctification, and we must add grace to grace; and when we have put on every grace we must keep them clean, and not defile our profession. (R. Sibbes.)
The swift and sudden advent
These are words specially for the last days. With eighteen hundred years behind us now, we may take them home most solemnly to ourselves.
1. They warn.
2. They quicken.
3. They rouse.
4. They comfort.
I. The coming. It is the long-promised advent. Christ comes! He comes–
1. As Avenger.
2. As Judge.
3. As King.
4. As Bridegroom.
Like lightning; like a thief; like a snare. Like lightning to the world, but the Sun of morning to His Church; like a thief to the world, but like a Bridegroom to the Church; like a snare to the world, but like the cloud of glory to His own.
II. The watching. Not believing, nor hoping, nor waiting merely; but watching–as men do against some event, whether terrible or joyful, of which they know not the time. Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour of His arrival. Watch, for that day is great and glorious. Watch, for ye are naturally disposed to sit down and take your ease. Watch, for Satan tries to lull you asleep. Watch, for the world, with its riches and vanities and pleasures, is trying to throw you off your guard.
III. The keeping of the garments. Be like Nehemiah, who, when watching against the Ammonites, did not put off his clothes night nor day. Keep your garments all about you, that when the Lord comes He may find you not naked, but robed and ready.
IV. The blessedness. Blessed is the watcher; blessed is the keeper of his garments. Many are the blessed ones; here is one class specially for the last days.
1. It is blessed, for it cherishes our love.
2. It is blessed, for it is one of the ways of maintaining our intercourse.
3. It is blessed, for it is the posture through which He has appointed blessing to come, in His absence, to His waiting Church.
V. The warning. Lest ye walk naked, and men see your shame. Shame has three meanings
1. The shameful thing or object.
2. The feeling of shame produced by the consciousness of the shameful thing.
3. The exposure to shame and scorn from others. The first of these is specially referred to here. But all the three are connected. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The necessity of vigilance
I. Behold! Here is a business infinitely more momentous than any other that can engage you.
II. I Come. Jesus the Son of Mary–Christ the Son of God. He whose hands were filled with mercies, and whose heart overflowed with love. He comes to see how we have requited His love–what benefit we have derived from His glorious incarnation and His great redemption–what use we have made of His Word, of His Sacraments, of His Church, of His ministers, of His Sabbaths, of His grace. I come, not I will come, but I come–the present tense, I am coming, I am on My way. Behold, I come as a thief: when all is repose, quietness, confidence, security. Such will, very generally, be the state of that generation of men who are living when the Lord descends at the last day. Behold, I come as a thief. Most who die, die suddenly. A year before, a month before, they never thought of dying. Many never give a serious thought to death a week before they die, and some not even a day.
1. Watch, while others sleep.
2. Pray, while others trifle.
3. Labour, while others are idle. (T. Nunns, M. A.)
Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments.—
Garments–a Scriptural figure
It was customary in the temple at Jerusalem for certain of the Levites to keep watch or guard during stated hours of the night. An officer was appointed over them, whose business it was to go round, and see that these watchers were attentive to their duties. He carried a lighted torch in his hand, and, if he found any of the men asleep at their posts, the law permitted him, if it did not require of him, to set fire to their garments. The offender, thus marked, was brought up before the magistrate on the following day, with his garments either wholly consumed or partially scorched, and then received the punishment due to his negligence. Now, see the force of the text: Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments. Blessed is the man who so takes heed to his Christian profession in this dark world, where it is necessary he should act as a watchman, because his enemy Satan goeth about to catch him asleep at his post. Blessed is the man who so minds his duties and his Masters interests that no mark of disgrace is put upon him, and that a charge of negligence cannot fairly be brought against him. Blessed is the man who gives such diligence to make his calling and election sure, that the garments in which he will have to appear, in the light of perfect day, when every mans work will be tried of what sort it is, may not prove his confusion.
I. First let us take the word garments as used literally, and as denoting only the clothing or covering which we wear upon our bodies. The Bible teaches us something about our garments in this plain and literal sense. Many seem to think that religion has nothing to do with the manner in which a love of dress and outward adornment is indulged; that every one is at liberty to choose and act for themselves in this matter. A Christian, however, does not think so. He has learnt that there is a sobriety and suitableness of attire which become godliness; and he makes it his aim to adorn, not himself, but the gospel he professes, even in this particular.
II. But let us now take the word garments in its figurative sense, and see what doctrinal truths it is employed to teach.
1. The perishable nature of all earthly things.
2. The sinfulness of our nature, and the worthlessness of our best deeds.
3. Again, the figure contained in the text is used also in the Bible in a more cheering and gracious signification. Garments of light, are spoken of; garments of praise; white garments; holy garments; shining garment. These beautifully significant figures were not all of them applied, in the first instance, to sinful creatures like ourselves; yet they truly betoken the state of Gods redeemed people at one period or other of their earthly pilgrimage. Collectively, they portray the believers sanctification.
4. But I must proceed to remark, lastly, that there is a sense given, in the Bible, to the figure in our text, which is especially glorious and worthy of remembrance. Garments of salvation are spoken of, beautiful garments, which are something more than mere garments of sanctification, though that is an immense blessing; garments in which the believer may appear before God with exceeding joy. (F. W. Naylor, M. A.)
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Watch against old sins
Watch against old sins. Sitting on a flowery bank, a viper crawled forth and bit us. Great were the pain and the peril before the wound was healed. Shall we carelessly choose that very bank on which again to rest? Would it be wise to let the pale primrose and the fragrant violet tempt us where deadly reptiles may still make their nest? Let us watch against the delusion that there is no longer need to watch. After a severe struggle the victory was won over our reigning lusts, and we fancy that the peril is past. But let us watch. The rebellion has been put down; but though its armies have been scattered and its prince dethroned, many traitors lurk in secret places watching for opportunities to renew the struggle. The embankment is weak where it once gave way; and though the breach has been repaired it must be diligently watched. The flames have been put out, but the ashes are still smouldering; and, if the wind rises, the fire may burst forth anew. (Newman Hall.)
And he gathered them together unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.–
The eve of Armageddon
The hosts that have mustered behind the Euphrates were once Gods handiwork and Gods creatures. They have broken loose from that relationship. They have chosen them another leader–himself already emancipated from the yoke of the original blessedness. There is one power, one only, which God does not-shall we say it with reverence? perhaps cannot–exercise: the compulsion of the will–that coercion of the moral being, which some talk of as though it certainly would be applied if God were at once Almighty and all-loving, but which a deeper reflexion feels to be inconsistent alike with the definition of man and with the definition of salvation. Man without free will is man no more–and a salvation imposed by main force would be no salvation. There is a point in the affairs of nations–there is a point even in spiritual history–beyond which war is the one solution. Enmity–even between man and his Maker–may become hostility. As the end draws on, prophets and evangelists concur in anticipating a culmination, if not an incarnation, of evil, only to be dealt with by an intervention of God Himself to decide the long controversy, and to regenerate earth, as a prophet has written, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. The prophetic figure for this catastrophe is that of a war and a battle. God would have the matter fought out. But how strikingly is the distinction here drawn between Gods part, and that which is not Gods part, in the impending conflict! An angel dries the Euphrates, but no angel stimulates to the crossing. That is the office of the unclean spirits; and they issue from the mouth of the three enemies–the dragon, the wild beast, and the false prophet. He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. The gathering is ascribed, in the 14th verse, to the three spirits. The word is the same here–and the Greek idiom will bear the rendering they gathered. But the instinct of our English translators has well guided them to the transition: the parenthesis of verse 15 has broken the thread. The unclean spirits go forth to gather–Behold, I come as a thief–Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments–And he gathered them together into the place which is called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. The spirits of evil do not choose the battle-field: they whisper, and buzz, and irritate–they suggest, and prompt, and incite; but there is a hand and a will above theirs, which leaves not to them the strategy or the combination. He gathered together, and He chose the ground. Thus is it in the Old Testament prophecies of the same last encounter. Thou shalt come up against My people, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee. Thou shalt come–and I will bring this is from Ezekiel. I will gather all nations thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. This is from Joel. The day of the Lord cometh For I will gather all nations to battle Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations. This is from Zechariah. The spirits go forth, but it is God who gathers. He dries the Euphrates, and He fixes the Armageddon. We scarcely recognise, in that name of mystery, the familiar Megiddo–Armageddon, hill of Megiddo–on the southern skirt of that great plain of Esdraelon which was the scene of so many conflicts, for defeat or victory, in the earlier and later history of Israel. But does any one imagine that we are to seek, on the map of Palestine or of the world, a site or a place for the last great battle? It is well to look into the imagery: it is helpful toward the understanding of the thing signified; it is in the comparison of Scripture type and Scripture parable that we learn what God has written about this consummation of all things. Even in that last suggestion, of the attractiveness to a later enemy of a battle-field fatal to Josiah, we have something to learn as to the fascinations of that lying spirit which alone can make any man a fighter against God. But we are reading of spiritual things: the field of that war is not local–any more than its armour, whether of defence or attack, is carnal. Nay, the place itself is varied in various predictions. St. Jehu points us to the valley of Esdraelon and the hill of Megiddo; Joel makes the place of decision the valley of Jehoshaphat; and Zechariah gathers all nations against Jerusalem, speaks of a siege and capture of Jerusalem, and sets the feet of the Divine Deliverer upon the Mount of Olives before Jerusalem eastward. Such varieties should guard us against all temptations to limit or localise where the matter itself spoken of is not carnal but spiritual. As surely as the vulture scents its prey wheresoever there is death, so surely shall the destroying Angel find out sin, so surely shall delivering Angels find out Gods elect, so surely shall there be for every man a day of judgment, for every man a way of salvation: not here, nor there, particularly, shall the war of the end be waged or the battle of decision fought out: Armageddon is a type, not a locality, and the prophecy, like all prophecy, is not letter but spirit.
(1) We have before us, then, the two camps, distinct and separate, of the faithful and the foe. It is characteristic of the scene and of the time. A battle is impending, and there can be no battle without a choice of sides. Silently and half unconsciously the two camps are forming: every sinful thing done, every unkind word spoken, every heart-murmuring, every spirit-blasphemy, against the commandment or against the revelation or against the providence of God, is drifting the doer or the speaker or the thinker towards the camp of the foe: every act of good, every earnest effort, every struggle with a sin, every souls prayer and souls feeling after the invisible, every thought of love to Him who died for us, every longing yearning desire after a heaven of holiness and of service, is tending towards that camp of the saints of which a later chapter tells–safe whatever befalls, because God Himself is there.
(2) Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth. The absent Lord speaks–and says, I come. On the eve of the battle–while yet there may be a failing heart needing to be encouraged, or a rebel heart opening itselt to conviction–the voice sounds between the two camps–I come. Creep back, rebel heart, to thy allegiance–be strong, coward heart, be strong–behold, I come–come as a thief–mad blessed is he that watcheth! And what is watching? Is it a restless, hurrying, rushing activity, which counts every moment a sin that is not either excited devotion or bustling charity? Is it the refusal of every comfort and every enjoyment, lest a God who is looking out for our fall should take advantage of us and come because we are resting? Is it the eager calculating of times and seasons, the living much with what Isaiah calls stargazers and prognosticatore, men who can give a name out of this book to each dynasty and each potentate of modern history, and tell precisely at what point we stand on the bank of the stream of time in reference to the advent or the millennium? Is this the life to which Jesus Christ calls us, when He sends that voice, between the two camps, from the excellent glory, Blessed is he that watcheth? None of these things. To watch, in Christs sense, is to have the heart interested in truth, and the spirit alive to duty–to be able to say, in hours of resting, I sleep, but my soul waketh–to listen for the voice of God, even in the night hours, and to be always alert to answer, Speak, for Thy servant heareth. To watch, is to keep the heart with all diligence, lest it pollute, at the source, the very stream of the life–to guard against the first rising of sinful thought, ere it form itself into desire or have time to set up an idol–to have the door ever open between the soul and its God, that it may breathe the air of heaven, and weigh all things here with the very shekel of the sanctuary. (Dean Vaughan.)
Battle of Armageddon
Dream not of marching battalions and of mustering squadrons when you hear of Armageddon, dream not of a local battlefield. No; this is no common earthly battle; it is a spiritual battle; a war of principles; of righteousness against unrighteousness; of faith against unbelief; of Christ against Antichrist. This war has been waging ever since St. John received the revelation. In the latter days it will culminate in this one grand final conflict–the crisis of the world; the battle of the great day of God Almighty; the great decision between good and evil, sin and God, the world and Christ. The future of the Church used to be described as a shining river flowing full to the promised end, silently widening itself out into a bright tranquil summer sea. How different the predictions of Scripture, of Christ and His apostles. Rather is the future of the Church in their view that of a mighty river sweeping to a great Niagara. The bright tranquil summer sea is beyond, seen afar off, but first there is the terrible precipice; the tranquil sea is only reached through the war of falling, tossed, and troubled waters. I am sure that this is the prediction repeated again and again of Christ and His apostles: In the last days perilous times shall come; Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Do not these words most strikingly answer to those of the text? Are not these powers, and signs, and manifestations, and embodiments of the spirits of devils working miracles, which go forth to gather together the hosts of the world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty; to gather them together to the battlefield of Armageddon? And by what evil influences will these malignant spirits work their will and delude the world? It would seem from several passages, as well as the text, that it may be allowed to them to perform the appearance of lying miracles, with what will look like supernatural powers. But in the main these evil spirits will appeal, nay, are appealing, to that which is worst in the hearts of men–to an impatience of moral restraint, to a dislike of pure Christian morality, to the longing after independence, to the rising in the human heart against the childlike teachableness and submission of soul which the Christian faith requires of us, to the desire to have no superior, to be a law unto ourselves, a god to ourselves. And all this is carrying on at this very day, and every day more and more actively; so actively, so successfully, that we might almost despair of the good cause if we did not remember that two hosts are being gathered to the battle–the host of Christ as well as the host of Antichrist–and that the influence and energies which enlist soldiers for Christ are quite as powerful and more powerful than those which enlist soldiers against Christ. And if the adversaries of Christ were never more numerous, so never were the devoted soldiers of Christ more numerous. And just as in the English army the immediate prospect of war leads men to enlist, so in this spiritual war are Christians keen for the battle, and the growing opposition and the pressing danger only awaken in their hearts an enthusiasm for the cause of Christ which they would not feel in more quiet times. In prospect of the coming battle I will not despair. I address you as soldiers of Christ. I ask of you an enthusiasm for the person of Christ your Lord, a devoted faith and love for Christ. This is what the captain of an earthly host desires of his soldiers: if they have an enthusiasm for him, they will follow him anywhere, they will follow him to the death; and this enthusiasm Christ asks and is able to inspire. And in your dealings with others, who perhaps seem to be in the opposing army. I do not ask you to contend with them, to argue with them, still less to think evil of them (some of them may yet be standing shoulder to shoulder by your side before the battle is over); but I ask you by your life, much more than by your words, to let all see and know that you have a true devotion to Christ, that you love Him with your whole heart. This will draw them to your side–yes, all the truest souls among them; they all long in their hearts, half unknown to themselves, for such a noble love, for such an inspiring devotion. Let them see in you that such a love, such a devotion, is possible, is real, is all-powerful. And in your dealings with others, remember that the love of Christ is the magic influence which alone controls the human heart. (E. J. Rose, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Upon the great river Euphrates] Probably meaning the people in the vicinity of this river; though some think that the Tiber is intended.
The water thereof was dried up] The people discomfited, and all impediments removed.
The kings of the east] There seems to be an allusion here to the ruin of Babylon by Cyrus, predicted by the Prophet Jeremiah, Jer 50:1-51:64. But what city or people is pointed out by this Babylon it is in vain to conjecture.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Upon the great river Euphrates; upon the Turkish empire: See Poole on “Rev 9:14“.
And the water thereof was dried up; their force, power, and strength shall be destroyed.
That the way of the kings of the east might be prepared; that a way may be prepared for the conversion of the Jews. This I find to be the sense of the most learned and judicious interpreters of this mysterious book, amongst whom I count Mr. Mede, Dr. More, Pareus, Mr. Durham; &c. But it will be reasonable to say something further to show the probability of this sense. Euphrates was a great river that ran by Babylon, the depth of it was (as historians tell us) about two mens height. When Cyrus and Darius came to conquer Babylon, they diverted this river, Jer 51:32,36. Here is an allusion to that history. The Turks first took up their habitation about this great river, as was said in our notes on Rev 9:14, where the providence of God restrained them for many years, till the sixth trumpet sounded. The Jews, who are observed to be in greatest numbers in the Eastern countries, having had a promise, Exo 19:6, to be a kingdom of priests, may well be called here the kings of the east. Two things hinder their embracing the Christian faith:
1. The image worship and idolatry of the papists.
2. The power of the Turks, with the success they have had against Christians.
But both these being taken away, by the fall of Babylon and the ruin of the Turks, the way seems to be prepared for the Jews receiving of the Christian faith. In a case where nothing can be certainly determined, this seemeth a very probable opinion. To which it contributes a little, that it is probable, that the sixth vial answereth the sixth trumpet; and that as they were the people first let loose by Euphrates, where they were bound, so they are the people to be destroyed under the notion of drying up the waters of Euphrates: and this seemeth to be a work of providence brought forth after the ruin of Rome, and the total breaking of the power and dominion of the papacy. Thus we have foretold the breaking both of pope and Turk, and all their upholders; but we must not imagine them so ruined, but that parties of both should be left in the world, which combining, made up the army to fight the devils last battle in Armageddon, of which we shall read, Rev 16:16.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. angelso Coptic andANDREAS. A, B, C, Vulgate,and Syriac omit.
kings of the eastGreek,“the kings who are from the rising of the sun.” Referenceto the Euphrates similarly occurs in the sixth trumpet. Thedrying up of the Euphrates, I think, is to be takenfiguratively, as Babylon itself, which is situated on it, isundoubtedly so, Re 17:5. Thewaters of the Euphrates (compare Isa 8:7;Isa 8:8) are spiritual Babylon’s,that is, the apostate Church’s (of which Rome is the chief, thoughnot exclusive representative) spiritual and temporal powers. Thedrying up of the waters of Babylon expresses the same thing as theten kings stripping, eating, and burning the whore. The phrase, “waymay be prepared for,” is that applied to the Lord’s coming(Isa 40:3; Mat 3:3;Luk 1:76). He shall come fromthe East (Mat 24:27; Eze 43:2,”the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of theEast“): not alone, for His elect transfigured saints ofIsrael and the Gentiles shall accompany Him, who are “kingsand priests unto God” (Re 1:6).As the Antichristian ten kings accompany the beast, so thesaints accompany as kings the King of kings to the lastdecisive conflict. DEBURGH and others take itof the Jews, who also were designed to be a kingdom ofpriests to God on earth. They shall, doubtless, becomepriest-kings in the flesh to the nations in the flesh at His coming.Abraham from the East (if Isa 41:2;Isa 41:8; Isa 41:9,refers to him, and not Cyrus) conquering the Chaldean kings is a typeof Israel’s victorious restoration to the priest-kingdom. Israel’sexodus after the last Egyptian plagues typifies Israel’s restorationafter the spiritual Babylon, the apostate Church, has been smitten.Israel’s promotion to the priest-kingdom after Pharaoh’s downfall,and at the Lord’s descent at Sinai to establish the theocracy,typifies the restored kingdom of Israel at the Lord’s more gloriousdescent, when Antichrist shall be destroyed utterly. Thus, besidesthe transfigured saints, Israel secondarily may be meant by “thekings from the East” who shall accompany the “King ofkings” returning “from the way of the East” to reignover His ancient people. As to the drying up again of thewaters opposing His people’s assuming the kingdom, compareIsa 10:26; Isa 11:11;Isa 11:15; Zec 10:9-11.The name Israel (Ge 32:28)implies a prince with God. Compare Mic4:8 as to the return of the kingdom to Jerusalem. DURHAM,several centuries ago, interpreted the drying up of the Euphrates tomean the wasting away of the Turkish power, which has heretofore heldPalestine, and so the way being prepared for Israel’s restoration.But as Babylon refers to the apostate Church, not toMohammedanism, the drying up of the Euphrates (answering to Cyrus’overthrow of literal Babylon by marching into it through the drychannel of the Euphrates) must answer to the draining off of theapostate Church’s resources, the Roman and Greek corrupt Churchhaving been heretofore one of the greatest barriers by its idolatriesand persecutions in the way of Israel’s restoration and conversion.The kings of the earth who are earthly (Re16:14), stand in contrast to the kings from the East whoare heavenly.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the sixth angel poured his vial on the great river Euphrates,…. Which is not to be understood literally of the river Euphrates, which ran through Mesopotamia and Chaldea, and by the walls of Babylon; and of the drying of it up to make way for the Jews in the eastern parts of the world, to pass into their own land, and possess it; when a like miracle will be wrought for them as was when they came out of Egypt, by dividing the Red sea for them; and as when they entered into Canaan’s land, by laying the waters of Jordan on heaps, so that they passed over as on dry land; in favour of which sense the passage in Isa 11:15 is thought to be, which the Targum interprets of God’s smiting the river Euphrates; though the river Nile in Egypt seems rather to be meant: but it does not appear that there is any number of Jews beyond the river Euphrates; the far greater number of them is in the western and northern parts of the world; so that there will be no need for the drying up of this river for their passage into their own land; nor, if there were any in those parts, can any reason be given why they should be called the kings of the east, who, wherever they are, are a poor contemptible people, and have never had any ensigns of royalty among them for many hundreds of years; nor can that river be thought much to hinder, were all other impediments out of the way, nor the drying of it up much facilitate their passage to Judea, and much less affect their conversion: besides, this vial, as the rest, is a plague on antichrist, in some branch or other, or on some part or other, of the antichristian state; which, if not designed here, is nowhere in the account of this vial, and therefore this must be understood mystically; there is no doubt an allusion to the draining of this river at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus, according as was predicted in prophecy, Isa 44:27 who, making sluices and drains, turned the river another way, and marched through it with his army, and surprised and took the city at once, while Belshazzar and his nobles were indulging themselves in rioting and drunkenness, as Daniel relates, Da 5:1. Now some, because that Babylon was situated upon the river Euphrates, and Rome, or the Romish antichrist, is mystical Babylon, think that is here designed, and is the object of this vial; and that the drying up of this river designs the withdrawing of nations and kingdoms, signified by waters, Re 17:15 from its jurisdiction and power, which will bring on its ruin; and also the stoppage of dues and tithes, annates, Peter’s pence, and of all its traffic in indulgences, pardons, c. whereby it will be greatly impoverished, and brought to nothing: but it should be observed, that the fifth vial affects Rome, the seat of the beast and as for the beast himself, he will not be destroyed till the battle of Armageddon; and mystical Babylon, or the antichristian state, in the whole compass of it, will not be destroyed until the pouring out of the seventh vial; wherefore rather the eastern antichrist, the Turks are meant, in whose dominions this river is; for as the Assyrian monarch is signified by the waters of this river, when he was in his glory, and had his seat at Babylon, by which this river ran, Isa 8:7 so may the Turks, who inhabit by this river, be intended by it; and the rather, as this sense exactly corresponds with the sixth trumpet; for as the sounding of that trumpet looses the four angels bound in the great river Euphrates, which founded the Turkish empire, as we have seen; so the pouring out of this sixth vial affects the same empire, and brings it to ruin. Mr. Daubuz is of opinion that this plague refers to the depopulation and destruction of the Grecian empire, and the bringing of the Turks into Europe, who have greatly distressed and tormented the corrupted Christians or Papists.
And the water thereof was dried up; the Ottoman empire will be extinct, just as the destruction of the Babylonish monarchy is expressed by the drying up of its sea, Jer 51:36 so the destruction of the Turkish empire is signified by the drying up of the water of this river, which is in the heart of it: and this is the passing away of the second woe, Re 11:14
that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared; which some understand of Christians in general, who are made kings and priests unto God, and of Christian kings in particular, whose way will be prepared, by the declining state of antichrist, to express their hatred to the whore of Rome, and burn her flesh with fire; but the Romish antichrist is not here intended: others think, as before observed, that the Jews are designed; that the Jews will be converted in the last days seems manifest from Ho 3:5 and other places; and that they will return to their own land is suggested in abundance of prophecies, particularly in Eze 37:21 Am 9:14 and it must be allowed that the eastern, as well as the western antichrist, is a stumbling to them; and especially the advantage which the Turks have gained over the powers that go under the Christian name, and their possession of their land is an hinderance to their return to it; so that the destruction of the Turkish empire will undoubtedly make way for their conversion, and restoration to their own land; but then this will be equally advantageous to the Jews in the west as to those in the east, if there be any numbers of them there, which does not appear, and therefore there seems no reason why they should be pointed at, and be called the kings of the east: rather therefore to me it seems, that, through the fall of the Ottoman empire, way will be made for the kings and princes of the east, literally understood, to have and embrace the Gospel of Christ; for, the Turks being destroyed, the Mahometan religion will decline, the Gospel will be carried into the eastern parts of the world, into those vast kingdoms and countries which lie in those parts, when they will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and the kings and princes of them will come to the brightness of Zion’s rising; so that the ruin of this monarchy will pave the way for the spread of Christ’s kingdom from sea to sea, and front the river, the river Euphrates, to the ends of the earth; and this also will prepare the way, and lead on for all the saints, who are kings, and shall reign with Christ a thousand years, who is said to come from the east, Re 7:2 or from the rising of the sun, as these are said to do, as the words may be rendered, to possess the kingdom under the whole heaven: Philo the Jew z has some expressions illustrating the literal sense of this, where he speaks of a Roman army on the banks of Euphrates, which kept the passage of “the eastern kings”.
z De Legat. ad Caium, p. 1022.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| The Seven Vials. | A. D. 95. |
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The sixth angel poured out his vial; and observe,
I. Where it fell–upon the great river Euphrates. Some take it literally, for the place where the Turkish power and empire began; and they think this is a prophecy of the destruction of the Turkish monarchy and of idolatry, which they suppose will be effected about the same time with that of the papacy, as another antichrist, and that thereby a way shall be made for the conveniency of the Jews, those princes of the east. Others take it for the river Tiber; for, as Rome is mystical Babylon, Tiber is mystical Euphrates. And when Rome shall be destroyed her river and merchandise must suffer with her.
II. What did this vial produce? 1. The drying up of the river, which furnished the city with wealth, provisions, and all sorts of accommodations. 2. A way is hereby prepared for the kings of the east. The idolatry of the church of Rome had been a great hindrance both to the conversion of the Jews, who have been long cured of their inclination to idols, and of the Gentiles, who are hardened in their idolatry by seeing that which so much symbolizes with it among those called Christians. It is therefore very probable that the downfall of popery, removing these obstructions, will open a way for both the Jews and other eastern nations to come into the church of Christ. And, if we suppose that Mahomedism shall fall at the same time, there will be still a more open communication between the western and eastern nations, which may facilitate the conversion of the Jews, and of the fulness of the Gentiles. And when this work of God appears, and is about to be accomplished, no wonder if it occasion another consequence, which is, 3. The last effort of the great dragon; he is resolved to have another push for it, that, if possible, he may retrieve the ruinous posture of his affairs in the world. He is now rallying his forces, recollecting all his spirits, to make one desperate sally before all be lost. This is occasioned by the pouring out of the sixth vial. Here observe, (1.) The instruments he makes use of to engage the powers of the earth in his cause and quarrel: Three unclean spirits like frogs come forth, one out of the mouth of the dragon, another out of the mouth of the beast, and a third out of the mouth of the false prophet. Hell, the secular power of antichrist, and the ecclesiastical power, would combine to send their several instruments, furnished with hellish malice, with worldly policy, and with religious falsehood and deceit; and these would muster up the devil’s forces for a decisive battle. (2.) The means these instruments would use to engage the powers of earth in this war. They would work pretended miracles, the old stratagem of him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,2Th 2:9; 2Th 2:10. Some think that a little before the fall of antichrist the popish pretence of power to work miracles will be revived and will very much amuse and deceive the world. (3.) The field of battle–a place called Armageddon; that is, say some, the mount of Megiddo, near to which, by a stream issuing thence, Barak overcame Sisera, and all the kings in alliance with him, Judges v. 19. And in the valley of Megiddo Josiah was slain. This place had been famous for two events of a very different nature, the former very happy for the church of God, the latter very unhappy; but it shall now be the field of the last battle in which the church shall be engaged, and she shall be victorious. This battle required time to prepare for it, and therefore the further account of it is suspended till we come to the nineteenth chapter, Rev 16:19; Rev 16:20. (4.) The warning which God gives of this great and decisive trial, to engage his people to prepare for it, v. 15. It would be sudden and unexpected, and therefore Christians should be clothed, and armed, and ready for it, that they might not be surprised and ashamed. When God’s cause comes to be tried, and his battles to be fought, all his people shall be ready to stand up for his interest and be faithful and valiant in his service.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Upon the great river, the river Euphrates ( ). The sixth trumpet brings up the river Euphrates also (9:14), only there with the locative, while here with the accusative. Note triple use of the article here.
Was dried up (). First aorist (prophetic) passive of (14:15). Cf. Zec 10:11.
That may be made ready ( ). Purpose clause with and the first aorist passive of . Common verb in Rev. (Rev 8:6; Rev 9:7; Rev 9:15; Rev 12:6; Rev 19:7; Rev 21:2).
The way for the kings ( ). Objective genitive .
That come from the sunrising ( ). “Those from the rising of the sun,” the kings from the east (cf. Mt 2:2) in their march against Rome. Parthia in particular resisted Rome before Trajan’s day.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Euphrates. See on ch. Rev 9:14.
Of the east [ ] . Lit., as Rev., from the sunrising. See on Mt 2:2; and dayspring, Luk 1:78.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And the sixth angel poured out his vial,” (kai ho hektos execheen ten phialen autou) “And the sixth (of the seven angels) poured out (emptied) his vial-like container, (bowl),” of judgment as directed from the temple area of heaven, Rev 15:1; Rev 16:1.
2) “Upon the great river Euphrates,” (epi ton potamon ton megan Euphraten) “Upon that great river, the Euphrates; where four angels were bound or held back for a time, where the East meets the West, where the Eastern boundary of God’s land grant covenant of Abraham and Israel is located, Rev 9:14; Gen 15:18. The river Euphrates is 1,800 miles long from 900 to 3,600 feet wide, 10 to 30 feet deep.
3) “And the water thereof was dried up,” (kai ekseranthe to hudor autou) “And its water was dried up (evaporated),” taken away or taken out of its bed, dried up, by Divine provision, much as the Red Sea and Jordan were for Israel’s crossing, Exo 14:16; Exo 21:30; Jer 50:38-39; Jer 51:36.
4) “That the way of the kings of the East,” (hina he hodos ton basileon ton apoanatoles heliou) “in order that (for the purpose that) the roadway of the kings (royal rulers)from the land of the rising sun,” the Eastern world, India, Pakistan, Japan, China, etc., Isa 41:2; Isa 41:25.
5) “Might be prepared,” (hetoimasthe) “might be prepared,” or made ready, ready for royal confrontations of earthly rulers yet to occur in tribulation fury nearing the end of the tribulation era, Isa 11:15-16; Isa 44:27; Jer 51:36; Zec 10:11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Strauss Comments
SECTION 55
Text Rev. 16:12-16
12 And the sixth poured out his bowl upon 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 sun rising. 13 And I 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; 14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 15 (Behold, 1 come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) 16 And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.
Initial Questions Rev. 16:12-16
1.
What boundary line did the river Euphrates represent Rev. 16:12?
2.
What is the geographical source of the water of the Euphrates? Unless the source is dried up too, would it be literally possible for the mighty river to be absolutely dry?
3.
Discuss Gods warning in Rev. 16:15.
4.
Where is Har-Magedon Rev. 16:16?
Rev. 16:12
The sixth bowl is in the form of a prediction of the invasion of the diabolical barbarians from the east. This bowl was poured out into the great Euphrates river; and its water was dried (up), in order that (hina purpose clause) the way of the kings from the rising of the sun (the East) might be prepared. The invaders could cross the eastern boundary of the Roman Empire, and visit mighty Babylon (Rome) with the havoc of war. The great natural barrier, the Euphrates, is now gone! There is nothing to hold back Romes hated eastern enemies.
Rev. 16:13
Gods judgments bring forth a counter attack from the strategy room of hell. Three unclean spirits are set forth by the evil trinity the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. In the East, the image of the frog stands for everything low and defiled. In most Eastern Religions, even today, the frog is a symbol for that which is absolutely dirty.
Rev. 16:14
These unclean spirits are the spirits of demons, working (poiounta present, active, participle, they continually worked signs) miracles (semeia signs 1 of the 3 basic N.T. words for miracle) which go forth unto the kings of the whole earth, to assemble them together unto the war of the great day of almighty God. The forces of Satan have heard heavens challenge to their control over the universe, and the lives and destinies of men.
Rev. 16:15
Paul makes the same claim in 1Th. 5:2 that Christ will come in judgment unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.
John reverts to the first person, as God begins to speak directlyBehold, I come as a thief. Only the one that keeps on watching and keeps on keeping his garments spotless will be ready when Christ appears again!
Rev. 16:16
The decisive battle between righteousness and unrighteousness is about to open. The symbolic place of Gods judgment is the valley of Megiddo (see Joe. 3:1 ff, for the prediction of this great day of judgment). The great battle ground of Palestine. The text gives the Hebrew Har-Magedon. This means the mountains of Meggido. Some English translations contain an anglosized form of this word Armagedon. The Hebrew consonant for our h was transcribed into Greek (via Septuagint), and Greek has no consonant for our h, but uses the rough breathing mark (h) for this sound. If the rough breathing mark is not transcribed, then the word would start with our a. (Armagedon) This is why we might find these different forms of this word in our English translations. (There are also differences in the spelling of the words, but this is due to faulty transcriptions of sounds).
It was in the valley of Esdraelon that Ahaziah the king of Judah was slain by Jehu (2Ki. 9:27). Pharaoh Neco of Egypt killed young king Josiah (2Ki. 23:29) on this battle field. The memory of this valley had been indelibly written on the minds of everyone who knows the history of the Jewish people. Israel had gained a victory over the Canaanites here, and its memory was recorded in the song of Deborah (Jdg. 5:1 f). (See the discussions in the standard critical commentaries such as Charles and Swete, but for the best single discussion read I. T. Beckwith, The Apocalypse of John; New York, MacMillan Co., 1919, p. 685.
Discussion Questions
See Rev. 16:17-21.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(12) And the sixth . . .Better, The sixth (angel) poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried that the way of the kings who are from the rising of the sun might be prepared. The symbolical meaning of the Euphrates has been touched upon before. (See Notes on Rev. 9:14.) In the great age-long struggle between the kingdoms of Christ and the world the Euphrates represents the great separating boundary between the two kingdoms, as the literal Euphrates formed the barrier between Israel and the hostile northern and eastern kingdoms. It is the great impediment to war. It is true that there is a great interposed boundary of public opinion, which restrains evil from breaking forth in its ruder and more violent forms. Men may be hostile to spiritual religion, yet they scarcely like to shock public sentiment, or to incur the charge of depraving public morals; but there may come a time, after false principles have been taught, corrupt manners tolerated, and the light of better things darkened, when the public sentiment loses all sense of shame, and the decorums of life, which have acted as a breakwater against the tide of outrageous evil, are swept away: then is the Euphrates dried, and then may the hostile powers of evil, unrestrained by any considerations, unchecked by the popular conscience, cross boldly over and invade the whole sacred soil of human life. There have been times like this when shameless sin has walked forth, secure of public favour, to desecrate every sanctuary of purity and faithwhen the most barbarous manners and the most unscrupulous violations of public faith and morals have been not only tolerated, but applauded. The kings of the east (or of the sun-rising) represent the forces of rude and open evil which have been long restrained. As the four barbarian and tyrant kings (Gen. 14:1-24) from the East invaded the land of promise in Abrahams days, so the leaders of open and violent hate of right, purity, and Christ, have the way of their advance prepared. But certain agencies go forth to bring about this uprising of rude revolt against every sanctity of life.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
c. Sixth vial on the Euphrates, for the kings of the East, Rev 16:12 .
12. Great river Euphrates Viewed here not as a part of the framework of creation, but as a symbol of the populations (Rev 18:3) that sustain Babylon and the beast. Rev 9:14. This symbol is drawn from a signal passage in profane history. When Cyrus the Great came with his mighty armies from the east, with many a king and prince in command of the various sections of his hosts, to conquer old Babylon, he found “the great city” impregnable. At length, in a master-stroke of military genius, he set his men to work to turn the direction of the channel of the Euphrates, which ran through the city. When its channel was sufficiently dry he led his soldiers on its bottom into the city, and so conquered it. So, then, the Euphrates was literally dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. Most beautifully does our seer appropriate this historic event to his symbolic purpose.
Cyrus is styled by God himself (Isa 45:1,) “mine anointed,” that is, my messiah, and so, if not exactly a type, is certainly an illustrative figure of our Messiah. One is from the east, and the other is from “the day-spring from on high.” Luk 1:78. One conquered the literal, and the other conquers the mystical, Babylon. Here as elsewhere John’s symbols are taken from sources within the biblical range. The meaning, then, is, that the population and powers of Babylon are wasted away, that the way of our Messiah, with his kings of the east leading his armies, might be prepared to the capture of the mystic Babylon. Alford objects, that to introduce an “auspicious event” like this here, where all is adverse, would be incongruous. But the event is very inauspicious to Babylon, and so is congruous with all the previous plagues.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river, the River Euphrates, and its water was dried up in order that the way may be made ready for the kings who come from the sunrising. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the monster and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits as it were frogs. For they are spirits of devils, 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. (Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and has his garments ready lest he walk naked and they see his shame). And they gathered them together to the place which is called in Hebrew ‘Har-Magedon’.’
The sixth bowl, like the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet, has in mind the final days of the age (in contrast with the remainder). Here now things are coming to a head. It is noteworthy that the monster, the Beast and the False Prophet have continued on through the centuries, as Satan has used both secular powers and religious powers to attack the people of God.
The drying up of the River Euphrates parallels the drying up of the Jordan for Joshua to cross (Jos 3:13-17) and of the Reed Sea for Israel to cross (Exo 14:21-22). Then it carried forward God’s purposes of deliverance. Now it will carry forward God’s final judgment (compare Isa 11:15; Zec 10:10-11). That the mighty Euphrates should be dried up would have been viewed with the greatest horror by the people of the area. It was a symbol of their life blood being destroyed. There is an indication here of water shortage on a vast scale. But the drying up may also symbolise the final destruction of the great powers who depended on the Euphrates for provision, who are also seen as ‘dried up’ (Zec 10:10-11).
The kings who come from the sunrising (that is, from the distant East) represent kings from the furthest parts of the earth. The judgment that is coming is to have worldwide effects. All will gather (or be gathered) for the final judgment. They are in direct contrast with the angel who ascended from the sunrising who sealed the people of God on their foreheads, preserving them from the wrath of God. These kings from the sunrising will contribute to the world’s judgment.
‘The monster, the beast and the false prophet’. These represent firstly the monster of Rev 12:3, Satan himself, secondly the Beast from the abyss, the scarlet beast (Rev 17:3), which incorporates within itself the beast of chapter 13, and thirdly the false prophet who incorporates within himself the second beast of chapter 13. Nothing is said after this about the false prophet apart from that he accompanied the beast (Rev 19:20), but it is clear that there is an assumption that he is the continuation of the second beast. The latter was not actually called the false prophet. He was the beginnings of which the False Prophet was the end. But Rev 19:20 makes a clear identification. It is obvious therefore that the assumption is made that the beast throughout history continues to have at his side a false prophet (Rev 19:20) like the second beast (Rev 13:11-17). The secular and the religious ever go hand in hand. The false prophet therefore refers to those who continue religiously to promote the cause of the beast. (That the first beast had seven heads and ten horns and the second beast had two horns (chapter 13) demonstrates clearly that we are considering more than one person. The beasts represent empire and false religion following in continual succession side by side until the end of time).
The bringing up of ‘frogs’ by the unholy trinity, the three arch deceivers, compares with the production of frogs by the magicians of Egypt (Exo 8:7). They were false signs but in the end they were futile and ineffective. And they were the production of lies and deceit. Similarly will these evil spirits use false and deceitful signs to achieve their purposes (compare Rev 13:13-14), whether by astrology, necromancy, sorcery or any other method. We see in our own day the growth of interest in the occult, even in children’s books, preparing for these events. But we need to remember that contact with the occult can only result in deceitful and lying messages, and what is worse, it can result in possession by evil spirits. Just as the days before the Flood were highlighted by the presence of fallen angels (Gen 6:1-4), so the days before the final judgment will see a predominance of evil spirits.
Thus the deceived world will gather to battle with God, the Almighty. This battle must not be taken too literally. All pictures of it are highly symbolic. When Christ comes in His splendour the nations will cower before Him and seek to hide from his presence (Rev 6:15). None can stand before the power of the final Word of God (Rev 19:13). What the picture is saying is that the deceit of Satan and his minions has built up final resistance against God and His claims, but that the coming of Christ will shatter all resistance. Armageddon will not be so much a war as an abject surrender to His authority and power. The Judge will not really need to fight. Any warfare will be between the nations. The point is that the enemies of God are as it were ready to fight because they have not understood the power of the opposition, but find that they are totally deceived.
Har Magedon – the Mount of Megiddo. There was no specific Mount Megiddo that we know of but the city of Megiddo looked out over the valley of Esdraelon where many decisive battles were fought, for it was the way for the kings of the East, thus John may be referring to the mountain overlooking the plain. It may be paralleled with ‘the valley of Jeho-shaphat’, the ‘Valley of Yahweh Judges’. There Joel saw the final scene of judgment as the nations were gathered, the sickle was put in, the winepress was trodden and the multitudes were gathered in the valley of decision (Joe 3:11-14). Either way we have a vivid picture not to be taken too literally geographically. It is the idea that matters.
But in the midst of this powerful scenario a word from the Lord is slipped in, a word of warning. He is coming like a thief, suddenly and unexpectedly. Let each beware and ensure that they have their garments ready so that they will not be found naked. This has in mind the words spoken to the church of Sardis (Rev 3:3-4) and the words to Laodicea (Rev 3:17-18) and the parables describing servants waiting for the coming of their Lord, especially Luk 12:35 onwards. His people are to live in readiness for His coming.
2Co 4:1-6 is very apposite here. Paul did not want to be deceived by the god of this world and be found naked, rather He wanted to be clothed with his resurrection body, as a result of seeing the light of the good news of the glory of Christ Who is the image of God, and responding to Him. So those to whom John is writing must recognise in Him the glorious Saviour and live in readiness so that they are not caught out by that day coming as a thief with the result that they are found naked (1Th 5:2-4 compare Mat 24:43; 2Pe 3:10).
So as with the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet, the sixth bowl brings things to a close and is followed by the final judgment. This may raise the interesting question as to whether the number of the beast, 666, has partly in mind these three sixes, the six seals, the six trumpets and the six bowls, each of which leads up to the seventh. Over each series of six the Beast carries on his activities, only to be brought to a sudden halt in each case by the judgment of God. The seventh in each case signals the triumph of God. In each series Satan fails in the end.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 16:12-16. The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates, &c. Whether by Euphrates be meant the river so called, or only a mystic Euphrates; and whether by the kings of the East be meant the Jews in particular, or any eastern potentates in general, can be matters only of conjecture, till the event shall make the determination. Whoever they be, they appear to threaten the ruin and destruction of the kingdom of the beast, and therefore of the agents or emissaries of Popery;of the dragon, Rev 16:13-14. the representative of the devil; and of the beast, the representative of the antichristian empire; and of the false prophet, the representative of the anti-christian church; as disagreeable, as loquacious, as sordid, as impudent as frogs. These are employed to oppose the kings of the East, and to stir up the princes and potentates of their own communion to make their united and last effort in a religious war. Of necessity these must be times of great trouble and affliction; so that an exhortation is inserted, Rev 16:15. by way of parenthesis, of the suddenness of these judgments, and of the blessedness of watching, and of being clothed, and prepared for all events. This parenthesis has led our translators, as well as several others, to render the following words, Rev 16:16. And HE gathered them together, when the true construction is, And THEY gathered them together; the evil spirits and agents before mentioned, gather all the forces of the Popish princes together, into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, that is, the Mountain of Destruction. That Megiddo had been a place remarkable for slaughter, appears from Jdg 5:19 . 2Ki 9:27 . 2Ch 35:22 . Zec 12:11 . To express the certain destruction of the antichristian powers, they are described as brought together to this mounta.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 16:12-16 . The sixth vial is poured upon the Euphrates, and causes it to dry up, in order that the kings of the East might pass through. Three unclean spirits, which in the form of frogs issue from the mouths of the dragon, and the two beasts serving the dragon, gather the inhabitants of the earth at Armagedon.
. In the sense of Rev 9:14 the starting-point is indicated, in a schematic way, for the kings coming from the East, for whom God himself makes the way by drying up the Euphrates. The correct estimate of this point is gained only by considering it in connection with the correct conception of “the kings” coming from “the East.” The problem in general is so to understand all the particular features of the representation (Rev 16:12-16 ), especially also the significant local designation (Rev 16:16 ), that this vial-vision correspond with the essential meaning of the other vials. Accordingly, as a whole, nothing else can be represented than a revelation of judgment pertaining to the inhabitants of the earth, according to the analogy of the plagues proceeding from the other vials. By a comparison with Rev 9:14 sqq., the suggestion is readily made, that the Eastern kings themselves may be regarded the executors of the plagues. So Ewald, who refers to the Parthian allies with whom the returning Nero [3715] would go up against Rome. [3716] But the kings of the East belong rather to the (Rev 16:14 ), and appear as leaders of the inhabitants of the whole earth, and, accordingly, as instruments of the dragon and the beast (cf. Rev 16:13 ), who go up to war, not against Babylon, but rather against believers. [3717] The kings of the East are identical with the ten kings (Rev 17:12 sqq.) who give their power to the beast. [3718] Just as in Rev 11:7 the beast from the abyss was mentioned proleptically, which nevertheless does not enter definitely into the development before ch. 13, so here a statement is made concerning definite kings ( . ., . . . ), whose more specific relation to the beast [3719] does not become clear until from Rev 17:12 sqq., but whose fate is indicated first only in this passage (Rev 16:16 ), yet is not expressly stated until the actual end. [3720] For the plague of the sixth vial does not lie in the fact that those kings come, this is rather a proof of the apparently victorious defiance of the secular power, but that they assemble at Armagedon; i.e., a place where they shall be brought to naught with their insolent power. [3721] Bengel [3722] has already correctly acknowledged this by saying very appropriately, even though he very preposterously thinks of the inroads of the Turks: “It is these very kings who blindly incur the plagues.” While in Rev 16:12 the coming of the kings was so stated, that thereby the purpose of God leading those enemies to destructive judgment might be marked; [3723] on the other hand, in Rev 16:13 sq., it is emphasized as to how these Eastern and all kings of the earth in general are gathered together by the dragon to the conflict against believers. [See Note LXXIX., p. 425.] Immediately from the mouth of the dragon himself ( . . ), [3724] and mediately from the dragon, from the mouths of the two beasts equipped by the same for the conflict against believers, [3725] three unclean spirits are sent forth, of those which serve the dragon, in order to bring together the kings of the earth.
. This formal attribute also [3726] designates the demoniacal nature of these spirits. [3727]
. This addition is not to be referred to the mere , but designates, in the sense of the var. , the form in which those spirits appear. It is possible that this form of illustration depends upon an allusion to Exo 8:1 sqq., [3728] although the batrachian form of the spirits bears no reference whatever to any peculiar pestilential nature of frogs, as the spirits are to be regarded only as such as, according to the wish of the dragon and of the two beasts, by their deceptive persuasion, move the kings to the expedition against Babylon. But what or who be meant by these three spirits, is a question originating from the same misunderstanding as that which, e.g., attempts in Rev 9:14 sqq. to find a supposed fulfilment of prophecy within the sphere of ecclesiastical or secular-historical facts. To the false question, necessarily, the most arbitrary answers are given. The three spirits are, according to Grot.: “Divination by inspection of entrails, by the flight of birds, and the sibylline books, in which Maxentius trusted” (for Rev 16:12-16 refer, according to Grot., Hammond, etc., to the rout of Maxentius by Constantine); according to Vitr., who explains the drying-up of the Euphrates by the circumstance that the kingdom of France, drained by its kings, could send no more money to the Pope, the spirits are to be understood as referring to the Jesuits; according to Calov.: “The Jesuits, Capuchins, and Calvinists;” according to others, [3729] “The Jesuits, Macchiavellians, and Spinozists.” Even Luther explains: “The frogs are the sophists, like Faber, Eck, Emser, etc., who banter much against the gospel, and yet effect nothing, and remain frogs.” But to the contemplation of the seer, the three spirits have the same reality as the dragon and his two beasts, from whose mouths the spirits actually proceeded. [3730]
. The parenthesis which designates the unclean spirits expressly as spirits of demons explains their efficacy by the remembrance that they are spirits of demons which could perform miraculous signs. Just as the dwellers upon the earth are brought by the false prophet to the adoration of the beast, [3731] not without the working of miracles, so these three spirits also use their miraculous signs as a means whereby they attempt to bring together the kings of the earth.
. . . , , . . . As the words . referring back to what precedes the parenthesis, relatively carry still further the clause . . ., . . ., they supply in this way the partic. not written in Rev 16:13 .
. Cf. Rev 14:6 ; Mat 3:7 . [3732] The kings of the whole earth, the rulers of all the inhabitants of the earth worshipping the beast, [3733] are those to whom the spirits here take their course. They be take themselves to the kings, “to gather them together” ( , inf., as Rev 12:17 ) “to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” That this day is often not understood [3734] in its eschatological definitiveness, i.e., [3735] as the future day of final judgment, [3736] is owing to the fact that the relation of the sixth (and seventh) vial to the actual end [3737] is not properly appreciated. As by the mention of definite kings, Rev 16:12 was comprehended already in the development of the proper final catastrophe, so Rev 16:14 also, by the reference to the conflict against the saints to be undertaken by all the kings of the world combined on the day of final judgment, alludes to a point which does not actually occur until in the last time of Rev 19:19 . [3738] But it is just this which corresponds with the character of the penultimate plagues among those that are “last,” [3739] that here the demoniacal spirits come forth, who unite those kings together with their hosts of people in an attack to be completed at the actual end, which will then result, on that great day, by the judgment of Almighty God ( . . . ), [3740] in the complete ruin of the enemies. [3741] But as thus reference is made from the sphere of the vials to the actual end, the artistic plan of the Apoc. again stands forth, involving with it that the nearer the proper final judgment with its distinct acts occurs, the more definitely appears the connection between it and its various forms of preparations, which have come into view in series of visions that, although they are distinct, yet interpenetrate one another.
In this also the feeling is expressed, that the day of judgment is impending so closely, that the comfort which is introduced with such emphasis in Rev 16:15 is occasioned by the definite allusion to the same in Rev 16:14 . [3742]
, . . . The prophet speaks immediately as in the name of the Lord himself. [3743] With formal incorrectness, Hengstenberg says that Christ himself actually speaks.
, cf. Rev 3:3 . On any day, at any hour, therefore, the Lord may come, and thus that great day of the Lord open. Upon this is based the admonition succeeding without express connection, which, first of all by proffering the blessed reward, [3744] encourages to watchfulness, [3745] and to the faithful keeping, by believers, of their garments, [3746] but then, also, on the other hand, does not refrain from threatening disgrace and punishment against the faithless. [3747] After the parenetic interlude, there follows in Rev 16:16 the conclusion belonging to Rev 16:14 : . As the subject we can regard neither the sixth-vial angel, [3748] nor God, [3749] nor the dragon, [3750] but only the . (Rev 16:13 ), [3751] since the , with the corresponding expression, designates that which was named in Rev 16:14 , as the purpose of those spirits. [3752] The peculiar point of the entire section (Rev 16:12-16 ) lies in the significant naming of the place of assembling of the antichristian kings of the world: In Hebrew the place is called . The name is to be explained either etymologically, i.e., from the meaning of the Hebrew words contained therein, or historically, i.e., so that the Hebrew proper name, by its reference to some fact of the O. T. history, appears characteristically for the present case, which is accordingly transferred to that Armagedon. The etymological explanation is attempted by many of the older writers without a proper foundation in a linguistic respect. [3753] The most admissible is the interpretation of Drusius, who understands the words “destruction,” and “army,” so that the entire name means “the slaughter of their army.” This is more correct in a linguistic respect, and as a matter of fact, than when Rinck makes of it a compound of (which he regards as meaning “castle”) and “fortress,” and thus finds the capital designated; just as Grot., who in other respects follows, in etymological explanation, the footsteps of Drusius, solves it as “Mons Janiculus.” But if John had had in mind the obscure verbal interpretation of the name Arm., he would scarcely have refrained from giving the Greek explanation to his readers in Asia Minor; [3754] on which account we are the rather directed to the historical interpretation by a significant prototype. This has been attempted in various ways by Tichon., Ribera, Coccejus, Vitr., Bengel, Eichhorn, Ewald, Zllig, Hofm., Hengstenb., Ebrard, Bleek, Volkm., [3755] in combination with the etymological interpretation. [3756] The place at which, in the times of the judges, the Canaanite kings were slaughtered by the Israelites, [3757] and where King Josiah was defeated by the Egyptians, [3758] the LXX. call ( ). The allusion to one of the two events would be liable to no doubt whatever, if John had not named the locality meant by him as ( ), i.e., Mount Megiddo, while the more express determinations in the O. T. read either . [3759] or . [3760] But this additional circumstance, which also admits at least of a probable explanation, [3761] can in no way lead us astray as to the chief reference of the name Megiddo in the O. T. Yet the defeat of the people of God, and of his King Josiah, cannot be the prototype for this passage, [3762] as the subject here has respect to a defeat of antichristian enemies; [3763] but only the victory of Israel, [3764] as it is described in Jdg 5:19 , won by God’s miraculous aid over the at Megiddo. By designating the place, therefore, where the antichristian kings assemble for battle against Christ and his Church, by that name, it is indicated that the fate of the antichristian kings shall be the same as that of the Canaanites formerly at Megiddo. With this thought, the designation Mount Megiddo appears also to correspond. For as the subject has to do not with an actual, but only with an ideal, geographical specification, in the designation Mount Meg., there can lie an intimation of the immovableness and victory of the Church of God. [3765] [See Note LXXX., p. 425.] This ideal character of the geographical designation prevents, however, the explanation that Armagedon is Rome, [3766] or the mountains of Judah, where the enemies are to gather until they are annihilated in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. [3767] Without any support whatever in the text is the view of Ew. ii., that since the numerical value of is the same as that of (viz., 304), by hieroglyphic art “Rome the great” is expressly designated. Concerning the number of a name, [3768] nothing whatever is said in this passage. [3769]
[3715] Cf. Rev 13:3 .
[3716] “In order to sustain Nero, attending antichrist, they come to destroy the city.” Cf. also Eichh., Heinr., Volkm., Hilgenf.; Ebrard also belongs here, in so far as he identifies the kings of the East with the four angels (Rev 9:15 ), and regards their expedition directed first, at least, against Babylon, and then, of course, also against believers.
[3717] Cf. Rev 12:17 , Rev 13:7 , Rev 17:12 sqq., Rev 19:19 .
[3718] De Wette.
[3719] Cf. Rev 16:13 .
[3720] Cf. Rev 19:19 .
[3721] See on Rev 16:16 .
[3722] Cf. De Wette, Hengstenb.
[3723] Cf. Mic 4:12 sq.
[3724] Cf. Rev 9:17 , Rev 11:5 . Incorrectly, C. a Lap., etc.: “At the command.”
[3725] Rev 13:1 ; Rev 13:11 .
[3726] Mat 10:1 ; Mar 1:26 .
[3727] Rev 16:14 : . . Cf. Rev 18:2 .
[3728] Ew. ii.
[3729] Cf. Wolf.
[3730] Cf., besides, Rev 9:17 sq., also Rev 9:1-11 .
[3731] Rev 13:12 sqq.
[3732] Winer, p. 380.
[3733] Rev 14:6 ; Rev 14:11 , Rev 13:3 sq., 12.
[3734] So Beng., De Wette; cf. also Ew. i., who, however, like Eichh., refers only to the devastation of Rome.
[3735] Cf. Rev 16:15 .
[3736] Mat 7:22 ; Luk 17:24 ; Luk 17:31 ; Heb 10:25 ; Jud 1:6 . Cf. 1Th 5:21 .
[3737] Cf. Beda: “The is the entire time from the Lord’s passion.” Hengstenb.: “The day of God has a comprehensive character, which unites into one picture all the phases in it of the judgment of God against ungodly wickedness.”
[3738] Cf. also Ew. ii. and Volkm.
[3739] Rev 15:1 .
[3740] Cf. Rev 1:8 , Rev 11:17 , Rev 16:7 .
[3741] Cf. Rev 16:16 .
[3742] Cf. Rev 13:9 sqq., Rev 14:12 sqq.
[3743] Cf. Rev 22:7 ; Rev 22:12 ; Rev 22:20 ; De Wette.
[3744] Cf. Rev 14:3 , Rev 19:9 , Rev 22:7 ; Rev 22:14 .
[3745] Rev 3:2 sq.
[3746] Cf. Rev 3:18 , Rev 7:14 .
[3747] Cf. Rev 3:18 , also Rev 7:9 ; Rev 7:14
[3748] Beng.
[3749] Hengstenb., Ebrard.
[3750] Rev 16:13 ; Ew. ii.; Volkm.: “The beast.”
[3751] Ewald, Bleek, De Wette.
[3752] . . Observe here also the sing, with the .
[3753] According to Beda, . is meant to be “a holy city, i.e., the Church.” He compares then Rev 20:9 . Yet he regards also possible: “insurrection against what precedes,” “a spherical mountain,” so as to designate “a place of the godless.” Andr. interprets, . It indicates the extermination ( ) of enemies. C. a Lap. explains: “The artifice of the congregation, because God, as it were, by an artifice will unite those kings with antichrist, so as to destroy all in one day.” More to the same effect in the Crit. Sacr . Luther has the gloss: “In German, doomed warriors, accursed equipment, or unsuccessful warriors, from Herem and Gad.”
[3754] Cf. Rev 9:11 ; Beng., Hengstenb.
[3755] Cf. also De Wette, who, however, vacillates.
[3756] Vitr., Eichh., Zllig.
[3757] Jdg 5:19 .
[3758] 2Ki 23:29 sqq.; 2Ch 35:22 . Cf. Zec 12:11 .
[3759] 2 Chron., l. c.
[3760] Judg., l. c.
[3761] See above.
[3762] It is said incorrectly (Hengstenb., Hofm., etc.), that the reference to the defeat of Josiah is rendered the more probable by the example of Zec 12:11 ; for if on the one hand the contents of Zech. l. c. are completely distinct from those of this passage, it is also to be observed that the LXX., of whom John is by no means independent, do not have there the name at all. They explain it as . With this the above-cited interpretation of Andreas is in remarkable agreement. Possible, and of interesting facility, is the explanation of Hitzig (cf. Hilgenf., p. 440): . = , i.e., the city M. Cf. also Kienlen. But it is not perceptible why John would not have abode by the mere name ., if he had not wished to give the idea of the mountain.
[3763] Against Ewald, Hengstenb.; also against Hofm., Schriftbew ., II. 2, p. 639, who, however, makes the alteration, that in the beginning of the war the experience of the saints shall be that of the Israelites at Megiddo, but that finally the enemies shall be trodden down in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
[3764] Beng., Ebrard, Klief.
[3765] Cf. Psa 121:1 ; Psa 125:2 .
[3766] Ewald.
[3767] Zllig.
[3768] Cf. Rev 13:18 .
[3769] Bleek already has declared against Ew.
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LXXIX. Rev 16:12 .
In entire harmony with Dsterdieck, Alford: “In order to understand what we here read, we must carefully bear in mind the whole context. From what follows under this same vial, we learn that the kings of the whole earth are about to be gathered to the great battle against God, in which he shall be victorious, and they shall utterly perish. The time is now come for this gathering; and, by the drying-up of the Euphrates, the way of those kings who are to come from the East is made ready. To suppose the conversion of Eastern nations, or the gathering-together of Christian princes, to be meant, or to regard the words as relating to any auspicious event, is to introduce a totally incongruous feature into the series of vials which confessedly represent ‘the seven last plagues.’ ”
NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR
LXXX. Rev 16:16 .
So also Gebhardt (p. 274): “It is clear that by this name we are to understand Megiddo, which Jdg 5:19 , 2Ki 23:29 , 2Ch 35:20-24 (cf. Zec 12:10-11 ), mention as the great battlefield of the O. T. But a mere statement of locality cannot be intended, for then it would not be called Armageddon, but Megiddo or Magedon; nor would it be said that the locality was so called in the Hebrew. This addition, as well as the compound name, compels us to notice the verbal meaning, and yet not the etymological meaning of Magedon, which John, on account of its difficulty, would certainly have added in Greek (cf. Rev 9:11 ), but only that Armageddon in Hebrew means Hill of Megiddo. It is in the highest degree probable, that, in this designation, the seer refers to Zec 12:11 : ‘in the Valley of Megiddo,’ valley, symbol of defeat; hill, of victory, and wishes us to understand that what the heathen once did against Josiah and his people at Megiddo would now find its counterpart in what they did against Jesus and his followers; but that as once, in the Valley of Megiddo, the theocracy was borne to the grave with Josiah, so, in Armageddon, the Hill of Megiddo, the Lord would avenge the crime of the heathen.” The point of comparison here is rather with the battle of Jdg 5:19 , as Ebrard shows, and Dsterdieck seems to intimate, than with that of 2Ki 23:29 , as Gebhardt states. Thomson ( Central Palestine and Phnicia , p. 213) explains the adoption of the local name for that of the great prophetic conflict, by the fact that the Apostle John was a native of Galilee, well acquainted with the natural features and ancient history of the great plain of Esdraelon to which it belonged. So, too, Stanley ( Sinai and Palestine , p. 330): “If that mysterious book proceeded from the hands of a Galilan fisherman, it is the more easy to understand why, with the scene of those many battles constantly before him, he should have drawn the figurative name of the final conflict between the hosts of good and evil from ‘the place which is called, in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon,’ i.e., the city or mountain of Megiddo.” See also Alford.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
(12) And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. (13) And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (14) For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. (15) Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. (16) And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
The pouring out of the sixth vial is yet to come. And when it comes, the chief ministry of it, will be upon the kingdom of the false prophet. This blessed event; brings on the total overthrow of that Anti-Christian power. The river Euphrates implies his whole territory. And what a wonderful effect will it produce? Isaiah the prophet evidently alluded to this in one of his Chapters, where he saith; And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day. And the Lord shall smite Egypt, he shall smite and heal it. And they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and he shall heal them. In that day shall there be an highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt, and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, blessed be Egypt my people; and Assyria the work of my hands; and Israel Mine inheritance. Isa 19:21-25 . Hence, if this Scripture be in reference to this event, as I venture to believe it is and the sixth trumpet overthrow, as I believe it will, the false prophet and totally destroy his empire, the Lord will bring out his Chosen ones that are new there, and by the sovereignty of his grace, will cause the Jews to return and the redeemed to be together, and the Lord will open an highway for all his people, both Jew and Gentile, bond and free, to return to Zion with everlasting songs upon their heads, and when all these Anti-Christian heresies are destroyed, his redeemed out of all nations shall come and flow together, and Christ will prepare his people for his reign upon earth.
And in confirmation of this, let the Reader further observe that in the close of what is here said, under the sixth vial, the Lord Jesus Christ himself is said to come, and to come suddenly. The Lord will strike the last deadly blow to all the powers. And when the unclean spirits, that is, the spirits of devils, are seen coming out of the mouth of these Anti-Christian powers, and are gathering to the battle of the great day of God, that is, not the day of judgment, for that is not yet, but to this which is before it, and are drawn there to their own ruin, then will Christ’s power be known, and felt, and acknowledged by all.
The place of battle called Armageddon, is only specified by way of confirmation. It seems to have been taken from Megiddo, the valley Ar, or more properly Haar, signifying the mountain of the same place. I think the name is only used, to show how open and exposed, as an high mountain it shall be.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
Ver. 12. Upon the great river Euphrates ] i.e. Upon whatsoever yet hindereth the destruction of spiritual Babylon and the coming in of the Jews, as the Turkish empire.
That the way of the kings ] Christians, say some, who are kings in righteousness, and come from the East, or from Christ, “That dayspring from on high,” Luk 1:78 . Others understand this text of the Jews, who are most of them in the East, dispersed through Turkey, Tartary (the ten tribes especially), and China. a Junius saith, that which is called the “land of Sinim,” Isa 49:12 , may probably be meant of China; which if it be the meaning, there may be many of the Jews, whose conversion we daily expect and pray for. See Isa 11:15-16 Zec 10:10-11 .
a Tartars of Tothar, a remnant or residue.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
12 .] And the sixth poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates: and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings which come from the rising of the sun might be prepared (notice, but not to be blindly led by it, the analogy of the sixth trumpet, also having reference to the river Euphrates. In order to understand what we here read, we must carefully bear in mind the context. From what follows under this same vial, we learn that the kings of the whole earth are about to be gathered together to the great battle against God, in which He shall be victorious, and they shall utterly perish. The time is now come for this gathering and by the drying up of the Euphrates, the way of those kings who are to come to it from the East is made ready. This is the only understanding of these words which will suit the context, or the requirements of this series of prophecies. For to suppose the conversion of Eastern nations, or the gathering together of Christian princes, to be meant, or to regard the words as relating to any auspicious event, is to introduce a totally incongruous feature into the series of vials, which confessedly represent the “seven last plagues .” Andreas explains it as above: and so Bleek, Ewald, De Wette, Dsterd., al.).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 16:12-16 . To facilitate the invasion of the empire (Rev 17:12 ; Rev 17:16 ) by the Parthians (Rev 9:14 f.) under Nero redivivus ( cf. Rev 19:19 ), as in 4 Esd. 13:43 47 to let the ten tribes return in safety from captivity, the Euphrates is to be dried up in the latter days, like the Jordan before Joshua or the Euphrates itself when Cyrus captured Babylon (Herod, i. 191).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev 16:12-16
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east. 13And I 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 like frogs; 14for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 15(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) 16And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
Rev 16:12 “the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates” This river was mentioned in Rev 9:13-19 when the demonic army crossed its borders to torture mankind. The headwaters of the Euphrates were the northern boundary of the Promised Land and the outer limits of the Roman Empire. The possible historic basis for this metaphorical demonic army was the Parthian calvary. These fierce anti-Roman invaders were a terror to the Roman legions.
“its water was dried up” Quite often in the OT the drying up of the water was seen as an act of God as seen in
1. the Red Sea (cf. Exo 14:21)
2. the Jordan River (Jos 3:17)
3. several allusions in prophetic literature (cf. Isa 11:15-16; Isa 44:27; Jer 51:36; Zec 10:11)
This physical act symbolizes that God is allowing the end-time conflict to culminate. It is theologically parallel to 2Th 2:6-7, “what/who restrains.”
“that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east” There has been much discussion as to how “the kings of the east” in Rev 16:12 are related to “the kings of the whole world” in Rev 16:14 :
1. they are the same
2. they are antagonists (Nero Redivivus myth and the Parthian army)
3. the kings of the east refer to the army of God
If so, it is an allusion to God’s calling His people from Babylon (cf. Isa 41:2; Isa 41:25; Isa 45:1-3; Isa 46:11). It is possible from the context that the kings of the east are God’s tools to attack the armies of the beast (i.e., a historical allusion to Parthians attacking Rome). However, Rev 16:14 and chapters 19 and 20 imply that there is only one human army and it is united against God (cf. Psalms 2; Jer 25:15-26).
Rev 16:13 “the dragon, the beast, the false prophet” This is the first time that the second beast (cf. Rev 13:11) is called “the false prophet,” but from now on he will be referred to by this name every time (cf. Rev 16:13; Rev 19:20; Rev 21:10).
These three refer to a Satanic trinity which will be defeated in two stages: the two beasts in the valley of Megiddo (cf. Rev 16:12-16) and Satan at the end of Christ’s earthly reign (cf. Rev 20:7-10).
“three unclean spirits like frogs” The term “unclean” is used in the NT gospels to refer to demons. Why they are characterized as frogs has been greatly disputed:
1. this is another reference to the Egyptian plagues (cf. Exo 8:6)
2. in Zoroastrianism frogs are the symbol of ultimate evil
3. they refer to unclean animals (cf. Lev 11:10; Lev 11:31)
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DEMONIC (UNCLEAN SPIRITS)
Rev 16:14 “they are spirits of demons, performing signs” It is very interesting to note that these signs and wonders will lead all unbelievers astray, but not even the least of the children of God (cf. Rev 13:13; Mat 24:24; Mar 13:22; 2Th 2:9-11). This last literary unit (the bowls) is a comparison between what will happen to the children of God and what will happen to the inhabitants of the earth. Christ speaks words of truth, righteousness, and mercy to bring peace to the earth, but the demonic frog spirits speak lies and gathers the nations for war.
“which go out to the kings of the whole world” This may be an allusion to Psa 2:2, which forms the imagery of these last chapters of Revelation.
“gather them together for the war of the great day of God” The description of an end-time battle appears in Rev 6:2-8; Rev 11:7-10; Rev 12:17; Rev 16:14; Rev 17:14; Rev 19:19; Rev 20:8. It is possible these all represent one battle from different perspectives (i.e., parallelism).
Rev 16:15 This parenthetical phrase contains the words of Christ which are interjected to encourage and warn the people of God. This is the third of the seven blessings to believers (cf. Rev 1:3; Rev 14:13; Rev 16:15; Rev 19:9; Rev 20:6; Rev 22:7; Rev 22:14).
“I am coming like a thief” These words of Jesus (cf. Mat 24:43-44; Luk 12:39-40) were used earlier in Rev 3:3 and alluded to in 1Th 5:2 and 2Pe 3:10. It seems to refer to the any-moment, sudden coming of Christ in judgment at the Parousia (Second Coming).
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE SECOND COMING
“Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes” This is the third of seven blessings given to faithful believers (cf. Rev 1:3; Rev 14:13; Rev 16:15; Rev 19:9; Rev 20:6; Rev 22:7; Rev 22:14). This almost seems to be a summary of the eschatological warning found in Mar 13:33-37; Luk 12:37. This verse must be out of place if the theory of a secret rapture of the Church before this time of persecution is affirmed. To whom, then, is Jesus speaking? See Mat 24:37-42 online at www.freebiblecommentary.org .
“so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame” This may be an allusion to Rev 3:18. In the OT nakedness was a symbol of judgment (cf. Eze 23:29; Hos 2:3; Amo 2:16; Mic 1:8). However, it refers not to the loss of salvation, but to Christians who will be ashamed of their activities and lack of lifestyle faith at Jesus’ Second Coming. Jesus’ coming as the Judge and Conqueror, which is exactly how the Jews expected the Messiah to return, is described in Rev 19:11-16.
Rev 16:16 “and they gathered them together” This is repeated in Rev 20:8.
NASB”in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon”
NKJV, NJB”in Hebrew, Armageddon”
NRSV”in Hebrew is called Harmagedon”
TEV”in Hebrew is Armageddon”
This word is spelled differently in several Greek manuscripts. There have been several theories to describe this name (which appears nowhere else in Hebrew or Greek literature).
1. it refers to “the mountain of Megiddo,” a northern city in the tribal allocation of Manasseh, built on a hill
2. it refers to “the city of Megiddo,” but the problem is that this is not the exact spelling of that city
3. it is a translation of a phrase “the mount of assembly” found in Isa 14:13, which refers to the ultimate mountain of Deity which Satan attacks
4. it refers to the whole Promised Land (cf. “the mountains of Israel” mentioned in Eze 38:8; Eze 38:20-21; Eze 39:2; Eze 39:4; Eze 39:17)
5. it refers to “the fruitful mountain” which would symbolize Jerusalem, the end-time site of many of these final battles between good and evil (cf. the prophecy of Joel)
6. the root meaning of “megiddo” might be “to cut or to attack,” making this a reference to “the destroying mountain” of Jer 51:25, a symbol of Rome’s destruction.
John has chosen a city that was well known and has slightly changed its spelling (see Metztger, Textual Commentary, p. 755). This is similar to his inaccurate listing of the twelve tribes in Rev 7:5-8 in order to show their symbolic nature. This symbolic interpretation is further seen in the use of the phrase “in Hebrew,” which indicates symbolism, as in Rev 9:11. It is true that the Valley of Jezreel or the Plain of Esdraelon was the site of many OT battles (cf. Jdg 5:19-21; 2Ki 9:27; 2Ki 23:29-30; 2Ch 35:22; Zec 12:11). This northern invasion route of Mesopotamian powers had become a cultural symbol of evil (cf. Isa 14:31; Jer 1:13-14; Jer 4:6; Jer 10:22; Jer 46:20-24; Jer 47:2-7; Jer 50:3; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:41; Jer 51:48; Eze 38:6; Eze 38:15; Eze 39:2).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
that = in order that. Greek. hina. kings. Supply “that come”.
of. Greek. apo. App-104.
the east. Literally the rising of the sun.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
12.] And the sixth poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates: and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings which come from the rising of the sun might be prepared (notice, but not to be blindly led by it, the analogy of the sixth trumpet, also having reference to the river Euphrates. In order to understand what we here read, we must carefully bear in mind the context. From what follows under this same vial, we learn that the kings of the whole earth are about to be gathered together to the great battle against God, in which He shall be victorious, and they shall utterly perish. The time is now come for this gathering and by the drying up of the Euphrates, the way of those kings who are to come to it from the East is made ready. This is the only understanding of these words which will suit the context, or the requirements of this series of prophecies. For to suppose the conversion of Eastern nations, or the gathering together of Christian princes, to be meant, or to regard the words as relating to any auspicious event, is to introduce a totally incongruous feature into the series of vials, which confessedly represent the seven last plagues. Andreas explains it as above: and so Bleek, Ewald, De Wette, Dsterd., al.).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 16:12. ) We render upon, rather than in, because on account of the drying up of the waters no[180] mixture is here made, as in the case of the sea and the rivers, where the preposition was used. Marck.-, dried up) Thus Alex. Lat. It coheres with , and with , Rev 16:16. Most editions read, , either from the rhythm , or from habit.[181] For often occurs in the New Testament, and here also it has been readily caught at by the copyists.-, of it) and so of those rivers also, which flow into the Euphrates. The Turks at the present day live near that river. Or if Mahometanism, as some think, is shortly about to receive some injury, it may however possibly happen, that the sixth angel will pour out his vial somewhat later.
[180] Nulla seems to be required by the sense here, in Bengels Latin.-E.
[181] The margin of the larger Edition assigns no value to the reading ; Edit. 2nd gives it a moderate value; the Vers. Germ., agreeing with the Gnomon, a sure value.-E. B.
Vulg. has siccavit aquam (other MSS. aqua) ejus. But Lachm. and Tisch., with the greatest number of oldest authorities, read .-E.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rev 16:12-16
4. THE SIXTH PLAGUE DESCRIBED
Rev 16:12-16
12 And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up,–Expositors are divided, in the main, between two views concerning the application of this plague, both appearing probable. As both harmonize with known facts, and either might have been the thing intended, we should not be dogmatic in our assertions. One view is that it refers to the same world power that was symbolized by the sixth trumpet (Rev 9:13-19)–the Turkish Empire from which arose Mahometanism. The probability here is in the facts that the Euphrates River is mentioned in both passages and that the “false prophet,” mentioned in verse 13, presumably is Mahomet, the founder of this false system of religion. Elliott and Barnes both defend Mahomthis- view and give historical events to indicate that etanism about A.D. 1820 began a gradual loss of power, signified by the waters of the river Euphrates drying up. Probably the most plausible reason for this view is that such a great religious power as Mahometanism would hardly be left out of a system of symbols designed to portray the destinies of the church over a period when Mahometanism ruled so much of the world.
The other theory is that this plague was to affect spiritual Babylon, and this is based upon the supposed fact that the destruction of ancient Babylon furnished the imagery here. The intimation in Jer 51:36 was carried out when Cyrus drained the river Euphrates and entered the city of Babylon through its bed. As Babylon in this book (Rev 17:3-5) clearly represents the false or harlot church, the drying of the Euphrates may prefigure its gradual decline and final overthrow. In the first few words of this paragraph we have portrayed the coming of the final great struggle between sin and righteousness, error and truth, in which the right will prevail. The time covered is from the early part of the nineteenth century till the coming of Jesus.
that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising.–Again commentators are much at variance about who the kings are and the purpose of their coming. The word “king” sometimes stands for kingdom. (see Daniel) Possibly it here means the nations east of the Euphrates. If so, the application to the Mahometan races may be correct, in which case the drying of the river may mean the gradual loss of Mahometan power and the consequent coming to the gospel by people in such countries. If applied to papal Rome, the same thing would be true. In either case any weakening of enemies of the truth will lend it strength and lead to final victory. This is a general fact regardless of any special views of the details here mentioned. That we are now in the general trend of events leading to the “war of the great day of God” is evident from this paragraph, but how long will it be till that day arrives must be left to the infinite wisdom and power of God.
13 And I 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:–In this vision John saw the sources from which would come the enemies of the truth that will be united against it in the final struggle. They are enemies of the truth now, but will at last unite their forces in some way in a final desperate effort to destroy Christianity. Unclean spirits are in the next verse called “spirits of demons”–that is, evil spirits. They appeared to John as frogs, for which it is not easy to give a satisfactory reason ; hence, no effort will be made here. Naturally unclean spirits would come from an evil source and operate through evil means. The dragon is called the devil (Rev 12:9) and described as the deceiver of the whole world. Whatever means or agencies are used to propagate evil, the devil is the original source; he operates through them.
As the devil’s first great persecutions against the church came through pagan Rome, the dragon here, doubtless, is a symbol for paganism, which may also be called idolatry. This would include any and all nations under the influence of idolatrous teaching. The application of the word “beast” in this verse depends upon whether or not the “false prophet” is to be identified as the second beast (Rev 13:11-13), which we have already decided is papal Rome–the apostate church. If this identity be conceded, then “beast” in this verse must be something different from the Roman Church. Apparently nothing is left but to apply it to the political Roman Empire through which papal Rome exercised its power. If so, it would probably be the emblem for any and all corrupt political governments through which Satan can exercise his destructive power against the church. If the “false prophet” may refer to Mahomet and the system of Mahometanism, then the “beast” in this text would apply to the apostate church. Whatever may be the correct application of the three destructive forces, we are safe in saying that idolatry, corrupt political powers, and false religions in the name of Christ will be the combined forces Satan will use in his last effort to destroy Christianity. Coming from the mouths of the three indicates that these evil forces will be exercised through the teaching of false doctrines.
14 for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. –Thatthese false religious powers would claim to perform miracles in support of their teachings is what would naturally be expected. It is plainly prophesied of the apostate church. (Rev 13:11-13; 2Th 2:9-12.) By means of their false doctrines the nations of the world are to be so corrupted that they will be led to fight against the truth in the last war. When this time conies, which is here called the “great day of God,” his wrath against evil on this earth will be finished. (15:1.) When this time will be is known only to the Father himself. (Mat 24:36-39.)
15 (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)–Suddenly or unexpectedly will the time arrive for this final blow–it will be at the coming of the Lord. Paul said “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” (1Th 5:2.) See also Rev 3:3; Rev 3:13. To watch for an event means to be constantly prepared for it. Those who are faithful till death (Mat 24:13; Rev 2:11) will be happy, for they will not be taken unprepared. To keep his garments is a figurative expression. It probably means that as one who puts off his garments takes the risk of having them lost, leaving him naked, so one who lays aside his righteousness will find himself exposed to shame when the Lord comes. This verse is a parenthetical expression in which saints are warned and exhorted to faithfulness.
16 And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon.–This verse does not describe the war of the great day of God, but simply mentions the gathering together for it. It is entirely unnecessary to suppose that this language means that all forces of good and evil will meet at any one place to engage in a physical warfare. This is symbolic language and only indicates that in the final struggle the forces of good will prevail. At his coming Jesus will slay “with the breath of his mouth” the man of sin (2Th 2:8), but how many or what means he will use is not revealed. He will only have to speak the word and events will transpire.
This verse mentions Har-Magedon as the place where this battle will be fought, but this is clearly a symbolic use of the term just as the final abode of the lost is called Gehenna, which literally means a valley east of Jerusalem where refuse was continually burned. Symbolically, it stands for torment and lamentation. It cannot mean that all the lost will dwell in that little place, but they will endure a continual punishment that is fitly represented by the perpetual burning in the literal Gehenna. In like manner Har-Magedon, referring to a famous battlefield where decisive victories were lost and won, figuratively describes the last decisive victory over the power of evil. The name means the mountain of Megiddo, but the battles were doubtless fought in the valley near that mountain. (2Ch 35:22.) There Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera and his army (Jdg 5:19), and Josiah was slain (2Ki 23:29-30.) It was also referred to as a place of great mourning. (Zec 12:11.) Being such a noted place of Jewish wars, it becomes, like Marathon or Waterloo, emblematic of any decisive battlefield; hence, appropriately represents Satan’s final defeat in whatever way that battle may be fought.
Commentary on Rev 16:12-16 by Foy E. Wallace
8. In the history of Israel the armies invading their lands had come from the river Euphrates, and that historical fact was used in Rev 16:12 as the symbol of Judea being over-run from that quarter. The drying of the river Euphrates that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared represented the removal of all barriers which hindered the progress of the powers to strike the final blow of the war against Judah and Jerusalem. It was related in symbolism to the feat of Cyrus in the military operation to divert the same river Euphrates for the capture of the old literal Babylon. This historical basis may be reasonably regarded as supplying the outline of this imagery.
(6) The smiting of the Euphrates which evaporated its waters: And the. sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared -Rev 16:12.
It has been noted that the symbol of this verse was based on the history of Israels enemies invading Judea from beyond the Euphrates in their western aggressions. The drying of the river by the pouring of the sixth vial symbolizes obliterating all deterrents to the hordes overrunning Judea and besieging Jerusalem. An allusion to the Israelites crossing over the emptied bed of the Jordan was not outside the imagery, in which application judgment was executed on the nation there victorious but here apostate.
The verses that follow Rev 16:13-16 describe the gathering armies for the final battle in the overthrowof Jerusalem, with the spiritual overtones of the conflict between the forces of Judaism and heathenism on one side, and Christianity (the church) on the other. Previous comments in verse 16 of this chapter on Armageddon make further discussion here unnecessary.
It is sufficient to add that the sixth plague was descriptive of the battle which destroyed this symbolic Babylon– the apostate harlot Jerusalem, causing great mourning for Jerusalem among the Jewish tribes everywhere.
9. The incidents of Rev 16:13-14 is an apocalypse of the prevailing conditions before and during the siege of Jerusalem–the symbolic description of the pervading influence of seducers, deceivers, false prophets, and pseudo-signs, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect, as narrated in Mat 24:11-24, and verified in the histories of Josephus and Pliny.
These demoniac spirits of seduction which were like frogs came out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. The frog has ever been a symbol of magical signs and that amphibious creature was here employed to signify the combined effort of the imperial minions to deceive and seduce the dwellers of Judea and Palestine. It was this same demoniac spirit of Rev 16:14 that inspired the kings of the earth (the provincial kings of Palestine) and of the whole world (the imperial rulers) to gather their armies for the battle of that great day of God Almighty. All the evidence necessary to sustain the claim that this day of God referred to the destruction of Jerusalem is the comparison with the prophecy of Zechariah (chapter 14) on the destruction of Jerusalem. The chapter begins with reference to the day of the Lord, and the entire chapter was a description of the siege and devastation of the city and the employment of high metaphors of peace and blessing that followed.
In further support of the parallel between Zec 14:1 and Rev 16:14, the analysis of the Zechariah chapter from the authors book, GODS PROPHETIC WORD, is here inserted : We shall not here read the chapter, but rather refer to its contents verse by verse. Zec 14:1-21 is almost universally used as a second coming of Christ chapter but it is a destruction of Jerusalem chapter instead.
Verse 1: Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. The symbolic day of the Lord here is the same expression precisely that is used in Isa 13:9 in reference to the destruction of Babylon. If the destruction of Babylon could be called the day of the Lord, why not the destruction of Jerusalem? That expression does not mean the second coming of Christ in either of these passages. Compare Isa 13:1-22 as a prophecy against Babylon, Isa 17:1-14 as a prophecy against Damascus, Isa 18:1-7 as a prophecy against Ethiopia, Isa 19:1-25 as a prophecy against Egypt, with Zec 14:1-21 as a prophecy against Jerusalem, and it can be seen that the assertions of the millennialists that Zechariah is prophesying the second coming of Christ and the millennium are wrong.
Verse 2: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
The historical accounts of the siege of Jerusalem by Josephus, Pliny, Horne and Clarke fulfill Zechariahs descriptions. Reference to nations gathered for battle is a description of besieged Jerusalem, the houses rifled and the women ravished. The same description is found in Isa 13:1-22 (see verses 15 and 16), concerning the fall and destruction of Babylon. The comparison is forceful.
Verse 3: Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle. Factually, all the nations were represented in the Roman army, and God afterward fought against them by means of the Northern nations. Read Zec 9:14-15 : And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning; and the Lord God shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The Lord of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones. The visitations are figurative, of course, but nevertheless significant of the fact that all the nations referred to against whom the Lord fought were destroyed.
Verse 4: And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
The prophetic declaration that his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem, does not refer to the second coming of Christ but rather to the siege of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ stood with his feet on the mount of Olives when he uttered the doom of the city. The Roman general stood on the mount of Olives when Jerusalem was besieged. The formations of the battle lines, entrenchments and redoubts, the circumvallations of the Romans, all enter into the graphic description and portrayal of the prophet that the mount should cleave in the midst and toward the north and toward the south.
Verses 5-7: And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
Obviously, these verses are a metaphorical description of the mixture of divine mercy with justice. After the visitation there would be light–the diffusion of divine knowledge. This did follow the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Jewish state.
Verses 8-9: And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
The only consistent application of this language is a spiritual fulfillment in the gospel of Christ and the church. Who is ready to deny that the clause in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one, refers to the present dispensation? There is one Lord, his name is one, and the Lord is king over all the earth. It finds its fulfillment in the church of Christ where there is neither Jew nor Gentile, but all one in Christ, and one Lord over all.
Verses 16-17: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. If these verses are not figurative, if they are to be taken literally, then all nations and families must literally go up to Jerusalem and literally offer animal sacrifices and keep the Passover, restore Judaism with all of its literal ceremonies, in order in fulfill the prophecy. That would be a complete re-establishment of old Judaism and everything that characterized it, all of which was taken away. But if these verses are not literal, then the application made of the whole chapter by the millennialists loses its force. These last verses refer to the expansion of the blessings of the gospel dispensation after the destruction of Jerusalem. Upon all who received the gospel, its blessings descended as rain; but to the unbelievers who rejected the gospel upon them shall be no rain–all such are barred from its promises and privileges.
The simple truth of the matter is that as Isa 13:1-22 is a prophecy on the destruction of Babylon, Zec 14:1-21 is a prophecy on the destruction of Jerusalem. It does not teach millennialism in a sentence or a syllable.–GODS PROPHETIC WORD, pp. 246-9.
Thus the downfall of Babylon in Isa 13:1-22, and of Jerusalem in Zec 14:1-21, Mat 24:1-51, and in Revelation were described with identical symbolism. The evidence is preponderant that the gathering for the battle of that great day of God portended the over-running of Judea and the onslaught against Jerusalem by the Roman armies, set forth in numerous visional developments; which included the uprisings, insurrections and rebellions that diverted the powers of evil from the afflictions of the church.
(2) A parenthesis of beatitudes-Rev 16:15.
Among the portents of persecution and catastrophe of the apocalypse, there are to be found declarations of consummate bliss and blessedness in a series of beatitudes. This cluster of precious and promising assurances to besieged, encompassed and beleaguered Christians shine through the text of Revelation with the brightest luster, like diamonds that flash and send forth a thousand rays as the sun falls upon them. These apocalyptic beatitudes, seven in number, are collated with comments in Rev 22:14. One of these scintillating assurances mingled with ominous overtones is in this verse: Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
The warning words of Rev_1615 are the interposition of another parenthetical beatitude comparable to Rev 1:3 and Rev 14:13. A blessing is pronounced on all that watch, for God would come in these events as a thief. The phrase as a thief does not indicate the element of surprise, but rather of preparedness. Jesus gave the signs of these events in Mat 24:25 : Behold, I have told you before; and in Verse 33, so likewise ye, when he shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. This same event must have been the object of Pauls exhortation to the Thessalonians, in 1Th 5:1-4, in reference to the day of the Lord, saying that they were not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief”– that is, having knowledge of it, they would abide in preparation for the ominous events.
(3) The gathering forces of Armageddon-Rev 16:16. The outpouring of the seventh vial into the air, verses sixteen and seventeen symbolized the sphere of life and influence in contradistinction with the earth as the place of nations, and with the heaven, which denoted the ruling authorities.
In this context the great battle of Armageddon was envisioned: And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. The name Armageddon was derived from mount Megiddo, which was located in a valley now known as the plain of Esdraelon. It was the battlefield of nations in Jewish history. It was in this valley of Megiddo that Deborah and Barak overthrew Sisera and annihilated the hosts of Midianite oppressors. (Jdg 5:19) It was in this valley of Jehoshaphat where he triumphed over the ambushments of the combined armies of Ammon and Moab and the fear of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. (2Ch 20:22-30) In this valley (designated in later history as the plain of Esdraelon) the Jews and the Saracens and the Egyptians, the Druses and the Turks and the warriors of many hostile nations, pitched their battles; and thus the battlefield of mount Megiddo became a universal proverb.
Under the word Armageddon, the original Bible Dictionary of Philip Schaff states that it was a name used figuratively in Rev 16:16, and suggested by the great battlefield noted in the Old Testament and now known as the Plain of Esdraelon. This figure in the text of the apocalypse was employed not for the physical location but for the battle imagery. The deepest affliction of Jerusalem could be symbolized in no stronger terms of mourning, as prophesied by Zechariah in Zec 12:11 : In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
The personage designated Gog in connection with this battle imagery, was the king of a country that sustained relations of hostility to Israel. The names Gog and Magog were used identically and are associated in Rev 20:7-9 as a type of the enemies of Christ. It becomes evident that the symbolic adaptation of Armageddon rises above the physical slaughter that overwhelmed Jerusalem and Judah to the hostile forces of evil surrounding the church, personified as Gog and Magog. It was therefore symbolic of the battle against Christianity–the forces of Judaism on the one side and of heathenism on the other. But the Rider of the white horse was the Conqueror; the Son of man appearing on the white cloud was the Victor; the saints robed in white garments were the Overcomers; in all of the symbols and imagery of the visions and in surviving the persecutions, the church emerged in victory to make the kingdoms of this world (Rev 11:15) become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ by the universal sway of the gospel.
This is consistent with the repeated emphasis of the early chapters of the apocalypse in the letters addressed to the seven churches, that the period through which they were passing was the tribulation era of the church.
Commentary on Rev 16:12-16 by Walter Scott
SIXTH BOWL OF WRATH.
Rev 16:12-16. – And the sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. And I saw 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 frogs; for they are (the) spirits of demons, doing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole habitable world to gather them together to the war of (that) great day of God the Almighty. (Behold I come as a thief. Blessed (is) he that watches and keeps his garments, that he may not walk naked, and that they (may not) see his shame.) And He gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.
THE EUPHRATES.
The great river Euphrates. (See remarks on Rev 9:14-15.) This justly celebrated river is the largest in western Asia, and figures largely in history and prophecy. It is first named in Gen 2:1-25, and last mentioned in Rev 16:12. The two apocalyptic references to it are expressed in exactly the same terms (Rev 9:14; Rev 16:12). The Euphrates formed the limit in the east of Roman conquest, and forms the eastern boundary of enlarged Palestine (In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates (Gen 15:18). Thus the Nile on the west and the Euphrates on the east are the prophetic limits of the land. David and Solomon pushed their conquests on the eastern side of the kingdom up to the borders of the great Asian river, but they were unable to hold them for any length of time. Gen 15:18 is of future and permanent application.) in the future. It has ever stood as a geographical barrier, a natural separating bulwark between the west and the east. The golden Bowl of the sixth angel is poured on the great river, so that its water was dried up. (An account of this remarkable and interesting river may here be given, geographically and commercially too, the largest and most important of the rivers of western Asia, and frequently referred to in Scripture. Its entire length, from its rise in the Armenian mountains to the Persian Gulf, is about 1780 miles. Its depth and width vary according to locality and season. From the month of March to May, owing to the melting of the snow on the mountains and the heavy rains, the river rises considerably, and hence both depth and width are greatly increased. There are two sources to this river, both found in the highlands of Armenia considerably apart. These form into streams which combine at a place called Kebben Maden. Here the river is about 120 yards wide. About 750 miles from its mouth it flows over a large alluvial plain, where it widens to about 900 yards. After flowing through mountains for about 45 miles, it emerges at Sumeisat, 1195 miles from the sea, and is navigable for light vessels the whole distance, while for the last 150 miles vessels of 500 tons can safely navigate the river. Up to the time of Elizabeth it was the commercial highway to India. At Bei the Euphrates is distant from the nearest shore of the Mediterranean about 100 miles, and is there said to be about 630 feet above the level of that great sea. At Kurnah, 90 miles above the Persian Gulf, it is joined by the Tigris, and is then spoken of as Shatt-el-Arab. Then the river, under this new name, flows steadily on till it empties itself by several arms into the Persian Gulf, the link between the Euphrates and the Indian Ocean. From Kurnah, the meeting place of the rivers, is an area of about 108,000 square miles, and its average breadth 600 feet. There is abundance of fish in the waters. Anciently the rivers Tigris and Euphrates were connected by navigable canals, which made Nineveh and Babylon the great centers of commerce for the eastern and western worlds. There were also numerous dykes, canals, aqueducts, and other artificial means for the irrigation of the poor and unproductive soil of the country, so cleverly planned as to equal in scientific skill anything produced by our modern engineers. Alexander the Great, in fixing his seat of empire in the east, so fully appreciated the natural and artificial advantages of the river that he personally superintended the repair and enlargement of those mighty works which had so greatly helped the Babylonian empire in its commercial greatness.) The barrier is removed by this act of judgment, so that the eastern nations can the more readily pour their armies into Canaan.
We gather from the object in view that the Euphrates, or part, will be literally dried up, miraculously no doubt. A somewhat similar judgment will be witnessed in the west (Isa 11:15). Both the Nile and the Euphrates are dealt with – the western and the eastern boundaries of the land of Palestine. There need be no difficulty in accepting the statement in our text in its full and literal sense. The future is brimful of wonders and startling events, and if the river divides the east from the west, that of necessity must be removed sufficiently to allow the eastern armies under their respective kings to cross the country and assemble in Palestine. The reason of divine judgment on the river is that the way of the kings FROM (not of as in the Authorized Version) the rising of the sun (A beautiful Oriental and poetical expression, signifying the east, where the sun rises.) might be prepared. These kings cannot be the Jews, a strange supposition. The mass of the Jewish people will enter the land from the west, while Ephraim or the ten tribes are restored chiefly from the north and south. Besides, it is not the kings of the east, but from the east, peoples on the eastern side of the Euphrates, that are in question.
We see no reason why the Turkish empire should be referred to in the naming of the Euphrates in either of the two texts where the river is named in the New Testament. Turkey is not referred to in the Scriptures at all. It needs no prophetic statement nor remarkable foresight to predict the falling to pieces of that most corrupt and the worst governed power on earth. Its dismemberment has commenced, and its complete and final overthrow is only a matter of time, and not a long one either. Palestine and adjacent countries, now part of the Ottoman empire, are rapidly coming to the front. This assemblage of opposing forces in the Holy Land is prefigured in that millennial chapter, Gen 14:1-24. In and about Judea God will gather the nations and kingdoms to pour upon them His indignation and fierce anger (Zep 3:8). Persia, Ethiopia, etc., are under the power of Russia and follow in the train of Gog, the last ruler of the Russian peoples (Eze 38:2-6). Greece seems to act an independent part in the near crisis (Zec 9:13), but all these powers are politically hostile to restored Judah (Psa 83:1-18; Zec 12:1-14; Zec 14:1-21). Egypt will be subordinate to and an ally of the Beast, and thus an object of attack by the king of the north – Israels determined political foe (Dan 11:25; Dan 11:29; Dan 11:42-44). The Beast and Gog are opposing powers. Their policy and aims are widely different. The former is the would-be protector of the Jewish people; the latter their destroyer.
A SATANIC TRINITY.
Not only are natural hindrances and barriers removed, so that the great Asiatic powers might have the way prepared to take their allotted part in the conflict and confederacy of the last days, but Satan himself provides a universal ministry to effect the most gigantic combination of opposing forces ever witnessed. The sixth Bowl of wrath is not exhausted in the judgment on the Euphrates. There are three unclean spirits, termed the spirits of demons, likened to frogs – loathsome, filthy, disgusting, bred out of the mire and pestilential vapors and moral wickedness of the corrupt scene – these are sent out on their terrible mission. They are to influence by word, and sign, and miracle the peoples of the earth; to lure them on to the war of (that) great day of God Almighty. God is about to set His King on mount Zion (Psa 2:1-12), so the might of the whole habitable earth is gathered to thwart and defeat the divine purpose. It is a universal gathering of the powers. A trinity of evil – the concentrated malignant influence of Satan – is employed to effect the gathering together of the kings of the earth. These spirits issue out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the Beast, and out of the mouth of the False Prophet. The mouth is regarded as the source and means of destructive agency (Rev 1:16; Rev 2:16; Rev 9:17; Rev 19:15; see also Isa 11:4). The dragon not only works actively to effectuate his plans, but his two prime ministers share in the work – the Beast and the False Prophet. The former is the vast apostate civil and political power of Rome; the latter is the second Beast of Rev 13:1-18, here termed for the first time the False Prophet, as by his lies and influence he can the more readily act upon the peoples. We have here a combination of direct satanic power, apostate brute force, and malignant influence, all employed in this hellish work (compare with 1Ki 22:1-53).
ARMAGEDDON.
Rev 16:16. – And He gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. The pronoun he no doubt refers to God. He is behind the scenes and the actors in this judicial judgment and course of dealing. It is God Almighty, therefore, Who effects, in righteous retribution, this vast gathering of the nations, employing the dragon, His declared enemy, and the great apostate chiefs of earth to carry out His purpose. Why is the gathering place Armageddon? There the Canaanitish kings gave battle to Israel, but Jehovah fought with and for His people, and the signal victory granted to Israel is celebrated in glowing and triumphant strains by Deborah, the prophetess (Jdg 5:19-20). Now one great object which the assembled nations have before them is to crush and overthrow Israel (Psa 83:3-5), but God intervenes, and effectually destroys them and delivers His own, as He did in the early days of the Judges. The early victory is here alluded to as a pledge and earnest of the latter. It is not that the actual hill of Megiddo or its valley is to be the gathering center of the nations; its circumscribed area must forbid any such notion. But the simple meaning is that God will have gathered by satanic agency many of the nations of the earth to Palestine, their object being to overthrow and crush Israel, and fling themselves in their combined might against Jehovah. But, alas for them, they do so only to their own destruction. God pours upon the assembled nations His fury (see the prophets Joel and Zephaniah). It has been remarked that the valley of Jehoshaphat is the place of slaughter, and Armageddon the place of gathering by the nations. Both places, however, are intended to present in principle certain closing scenes in the last days. Both the mountain and valley point to a future assembling of kings and peoples in the land of Palestine, and probably in the vicinity of Jerusalem. There the great governmental question of the sovereignty of the earth is to be decided in the complete overthrow of the nations, and in the establishment of the world kingdom of our God and of His Christ; in the settlement, too, of Israel in perpetual possession of her land, and in headship and supremacy of the nations in the millennial earth.
RETROSPECTIVE VIEW.
But now we must retrace our steps somewhat. It will be observed that Rev 16:16 naturally follows, and indeed completes the subject of Rev 16:14, hence the passage between (Rev 16:15) forms a parenthesis of great moral value. Behold I come as a thief. The kings and peoples gathered by satanic agency shall in the moment of apparent success and victory be suddenly surprised by the Advent of the Lord in glory (1Th 5:2-3). The whole world will be asleep in midnight moral darkness, and congratulating itself on peace and safety, when suddenly the Lord Himself bursts in upon the scene, unexpectedly, as a thief in the night. That aspect of the Coming neither forms our hope not causes fear (v. 4). We are not of the night, nor of darkness, and hence can never be so overtaken. To us, ere the day breaks, He appears as the bright and morning star. Then the parenthesis closes with a serious word of much-needed instruction at all times, but especially at the moment and occasion of this latter-day prophecy. The believer who in that day watches and keeps his garments is pronounced blessed. It is not here a question of life or salvation, but of walk. How needful then, as at all times, to look carefully to ones ways, lest there be exposure in sight of the enemy, and they see our shame and moral nakedness.
VIAL AND TRUMPET COMPARED.
In bringing our remarks on the sixth Vial to a close we would briefly note the correspondence between it and the sixth Trumpet. In both the Euphrates is named. In both, too, the Asiatic powers take their part in conflict; various other points of resemblance may be noted by careful readers. We may further remark that the sixth Vial in itself does not present a scene of conflict by the various powers, nor does it unfold a universal slaughter; it rather points to the general gathering of the peoples from all parts of the earth, so that they are there when the Lord comes in power (Rev 19:1-21). Other Scriptures, however, enable us to fill in details. One or two statements to emphasize points of prophetic truth are important to grasp. Judea, especially in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, is the final gathering place of the nations and peoples of the earth. Most of the nations, particularly those in the north and east, seek to destroy the Jewish commonwealth, then politically restored and in measure upheld by the western powers. All the nations are more or less combined in undying hatred to God and to His Christ, and all are judged and punished at the Lords Advent in power (Rev 19:1-21; Isa 66:1-24; Zec 14:1-21).
Commentary on Rev 16:12-16 by E.M. Zerr
Rev 16:12. The great river Euphrates has played an important part in God’s dealing with his people in their relation with the nations. The city of Babylon was situated upon its banks. When the time came for the overthrow of the first of the “four world empires” (the Babylonian), it was accomplished by diverting the stream from its regular channel. When that was done the water was lowered (was dried up) so that the soldiers of Cyrus (kings of the east) could march into the city and slay the man on the throne. All of this describes a literal event in history, but it is used to form the phraseology for the overthrow of another Babylon (“Mystery Babylon the Great”), which had been brought into existence by the union of church and state.
Rev 16:13. Frogs are slimy, loathsome creatures and are used to represent three very loathsome powers and individuals. They are the dragon (Satan, Rev 12:9), the beast (Rome) and the false prophet. The last phrase is singular in grammatical form but does not refer to any particular one of the false prophets. It means the group of evil workers who used their deceptive tactics to mislead the people all over the domain or the dominions of Rome.
Rev 16:14. Devils means the demons by which the apostate church imposed upon the victims of their treachery. Working miracles is explained at Rev 13:14, and it is the same that Paul predicts in 2Th 2:9 as follows: “Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” Rev 16:1. The great voice was out of the temple. That means it was from God, for we have learned in the preceding chapter that no man was able to be in the temple at this time. The seven angels have been given the vials of divine wrath, now the voice bids them empty their contents in the places deserving such treatment.
Rev 16:15. This verse is in the nature of a parenthesis because it speaks of the coming of Christ, at which time all things on the earth will end. But the preceding verse mentions a battle that is to continue until that event, and the verse following our present one will go back to the beginning of that battle as to its coverage of time.
Rev 16:16. Armageddon is the Greek word of the original text spelled with English letters. The literal meaning of the word as defined in Thayer’s lexicon is “destruction.” It is the action referred to by “battle” in Rev 16:14 which means war in general, not merely a single fight. This will be commented upon at length at chapter 20.
Commentary on Rev 16:12-16 by Burton Coffman
Rev 16:12
And the sixth poured out his bowl upon 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.
And the sixth poured out his bowl … upon the Euphrates … Pieters thought that, “The interpretation of this has not been found, and probably cannot be found.”[32] Despite this, he mentioned an understanding of it that might well have the key to what is meant:
Dr. Grijdamus looks upon the Euphrates as the symbolical prophetic boundary between Christendom and heathendom.[33]
This must be at least a part of the correct answer. One of the most hurtful and damaging corruptions of the spiritual environment is the breaching of barriers between the church and the world. Of course, that is not exactly what Grijdamus meant, but his comment suggested it. The extent of this breach is seen when a so-called Christian church ordains a homosexual preacher, throws a drinking party in the physical plant of the church itself, or teaches adultery and fornication under the guise of their being a “new morality.” Plummer approached this view when he wrote, “It means that a barrier that wards off hostile hosts is lost.”[34] The making of sin to be popular and acceptable in churches themselves would indeed be exactly that type of removing barriers. Carpenter’s perceptive comment was:
There may come a time, after false principles have been taught, corrupt manners tolerated, and the light of better things darkened, when the public sentiment loses all sense of shame, and when the decorums of life, which have acted as a breakwater against the tide of outrageous evil, are swept away; then is the Euphrates dried up, and then may the hostile powers of evil, unrestrained by any considerations, unchecked by the popular conscience, cross boldly over and invade the whole sacred soil of human life.[35]
Valvoord noted that, “as many as fifty different interpretations have been advanced regarding the dried up Euphrates,”[36] but we are confident that the meaning lies somewhere within the sector indicated above.
That the way may be ready for the kings that come from the sunrising … When the boundary between right and wrong, between the church and the world, is dried up, “the kings of the east” will come to exploit their advantage. These are not to be understood as allies of righteousness, but as enemies of it. But they come from the east, “the sunrising.” In our interpretation, this merely means that they come from “beyond” the violated boundary. Forces of evil will enter and dominate what was once true religion. Their being called kings should not mislead us; their names are given in the very next verse.
[32] Albertus Pieters, op. cit., p. 244.
[33] Ibid.
[34] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 395.
[35] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 608.
[36] Valvoord as quoted by Robert H. Mounce, Commentary on the New Testament, Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), p. 298.
Rev 16:13
And I 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:
Out of the mouth of the dragon … the beast … the false prophet … Ah! Here are the “kings of the east” mentioned above. Their purpose in crossing the boundary will quickly appear.
Three unclean spirits, as it were frogs … “Their evil influence is shown under the figure of frogs, because it was by producing frogs that the magicians deceived Pharaoh (Exo 8:7).[37] The next verse tells us more about these frogs. “To say that they come out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet is to say that their words are like plagues, unclean, empty futilities and allies of the powers of darkness.”[38] The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet were accurately identified by Summers as “the devil, godless government and false religion.”[39] Lange called these frogs “the modern nightingales who announce the new springtime of mankind.”[40] From the dirtiness and slimey nature of the frogs, we may conclude that they are the devil’s propaganda agents, making a lot of noise like frogs, but being in themselves small, weak, dirty, and despicable.
[37] J. R. Dummelow. Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 1086.
[38] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 130.
[39] Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 189.
[40] Lange as quoted by Lenski, op. cit., p. 477.
Rev 16:14
for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
With the barrier breached and Satan’s propagandists able to operate in the church itself, the ultimate crisis will soon arrive.
They are spirits of demons … Their teaching is satanic, motivated by the hatred of God and of his truth.
Working signs … Not merely the priests of the ancient emperor cult, but the Medieval apostate religion with its bleeding and speaking images, and its miracles, such as driving the snakes out of Ireland, are examples of the “signs” done by the frogs. The lying miracles of the man of sin are meant (2Th 2:1-12).
To gather them together unto the war … This refers to the kings of the earth who are thus gathered. Plummer identified these as, “those who sin and delight in the possession of the pleasures of this world.”[41] Thus, the frogs had the spirit of the devil, and the people had the spirit of the world. The result was a foregone certainty. They joined forces for the great spiritual battle. This brings us to the threshold of Armageddon.
ENDNOTE:
[41] A. Plummer. op. cit., p. 396.
Rev 16:15
(Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.)
There is no need to write this in parentheses as in our version. This warning of the Second Advent of Christ has the utility of emphasizing the spiritual nature of the conflict and the individual responsibility of Christians not to be taken unaware. This forbids our looking for any great deployment of world armies in this “war.” Absolutely nothing in this whole passage justifies the notion of massive world armies deployed in some gargantuan military conflict. The war in view here is taking place in the hearts of people.
Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments … This verse is the order of the day for the soldiers of Christ. It is not preparation for a literal battle of some kind, but a matter of prayer and watchfulness, and of “keeping” one’s garments of purity, morality, and fidelity to Christ. That a soldier metaphor is employed here seems certain. Bruce relates how:
According to the Mishna, the captains of the temple in Jerusalem went their rounds of the precincts at night, and if a member of the temple police was caught asleep at his post, his clothes were taken off and burned, and he was sent away naked in disgrace.[42]
There could be another hint of the same thing in Rev 3:17-18. “The kind of spiritual preparedness that Christ requires is the discernment which cuts through the deceptive propaganda of Satan and his henchmen.”[43] Of course, the great thrust of these verses is that, “the battle of the war” (Rev 16:14) is a daily one in which “Christians are themselves engaged.”[44] It is a war going on in people’s hearts. What then is signaled or symbolized by Armageddon? See below.
[42] F. F. Bruce, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 657.
[43] Robert H. Mounce, op. cit., p. 301.
[44] A. Plummer, op. cit., p. 396.
Rev 16:16
And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew [Har-Magedon].
ARMAGEDDON
Note that there is no “battle” of any kind mentioned here. “Not a word is said about the Lord God’s army.”[45] Why should Almighty God need an army? “There is no such place as Har-Magedon. The name is symbolic. It signifies a conflict, not carnal, but a spiritual conflict.”[46] Beckwith’s comment on this, described by Strauss as “the best anywhere,”[47] states that “the name is unquestionably purely mystical, an imaginary name.”[48] “John means the place of the final struggle between the powers of evil and the kingdom of God.”[49] And where is any such place if it is not in the hearts of people?
The entire unscriptural concept of the so-called “Battle of Armageddon” as some kind of a super-colossal showdown on some earthly battlefield is totally illogical, and contrary to the whole teaching of Christ. Even writers who generally maintain their spiritual understanding of this prophecy have a tendency to “go literal” here. Why? Could it ever be supposed that the Almighty God will fight a literal battle on earth? Remember who God is. He needs no army.
Respect for the general opinions on this by many sincere people suggests that we list some of the places which have been suggested as the site of this battle:
The battle is to take place in Rome.[50] All the armies and leaders are gathered in Palestine.[51] It is every battle when need is greatest, and the Lord suddenly reveals his power, as when Sennacherib was slain.[52] It will be on the greatest natural battlefield in the world, in the valley of Jehoshaphat to the north of Palestine among the hills of Megiddo.[53] Etc., etc.
It is difficult to understand how such a literal earthly battle could decide either the victory or the defeat of righteousness. Even if such a battle were to take place, how could the place of a literal battle make any difference? Eller, with his usual humor, suggested that, “Some might like to know just where it is to take place in order to be able to sell tickets!”[54] No actual place of this name is known, and the term is surely symbolical.”[55] “If one expects this to be a literal, material battle, he must expect Satan’s army to be headed by a committee of three frogs! Both figures are symbolical; neither is literal.”[56] This battle is between the truth in Christ and the evil propaganda of Satan, and the truth of Christ will win.
There is no waving of banners, no prancing of horses’ hoofs; the warfare is spiritual, so there is in sight no camp, no foe. It is a conflict that arises out of various opinions and diverse principles. It is a war of principles and of morals.[57]
Har-Magedon … is the way this word appears in our ASV; and it seems to be associated with the plain of Esdraelon in Israel.”[58] “There Israel achieved some of her greatest victories and suffered some serious defeats.”[59] It may not, therefore, be associated with either victory or defeat. Perhaps it suggests “the place of decision.” That place, of course, is in the hearts of men, of every man, of all people.
[45] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 479.
[46] Frank L. Cox, Revelation in 26 Lessons (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate Company, 1956), p. 97.
[47] James D. Strauss, op cit., p. 266.
[48] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 685.
[49] George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), p. 216.
[50] J. W. Roberts, The Revelation of John (Austin, Texas: The R. B. Sweet Company, 1974), p. 131.
[51] W. A. Criswell, op. cit., p. 176.
[52] William Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 196.
[53] M. R. DeHaan, M.D., Revelation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1946), p. 211.
[54] Vernard Eller, op. cit., p. 151.
[55] Leon Morris, op. cit., p. 199.
[56] Ray Summers, op. cit., p. 189.
[57] W. Boyd Carpenter, op. cit., p. 609.
[58] W. B. West, Article, Armageddon, in Gospel Advocate (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1978), February 23, p. 113.
[59] Ibid.
Commentary on Rev 16:12-16 by Manly Luscombe
Battle of Armageddon–We are now ready to study the sixth bowl of wrath. In the verses that follow, we will need to understand the term Armageddon. There is much confusion and dissension about this matter. The most common view of this battle is a literal one. It is commonly held that the forces of Satan and the returned forces of Christ will meet in a great literal battle fought in the valley of Megiddo. It is believed that Christ will win the battle, bind Satan, and establish an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem for a period of 1000 years. In order to understand the term and its symbolic meaning we must trace some history of Israel.
Armageddon is from the Hebrew term Mountain of Megiddo (In Hebrew, Har Megiddo) and refers to a very important mountain and the narrow valley below.
The narrow valley below Mt. Megiddo is the only passageway into Israel from the north. Syria and any nation north of Israel must march through this pass. As long as Israel could control this narrow valley, they could stop any invasion from the north.
At this location Gideon and his 300 defeated the Midianites. It was here that the Philistines defeated King Saul. Barak and Deborah defeat the Canaanite king, Jabin. Ahaziah was killed by Jehu here. As this location Pharaoh-Necho defeated Josiah. Do you get the picture? This was the location of many decisive battles. Israel won some and lost some. This is not a place that represents defeat or victory. It does represent a place of great and decisive battles.
Ray Summers observes, Thus Megiddo fitly symbolized the worldwide distress of righteousness and evil engaged in deadly combat. This is not an actual material sword and spear battle. Such a thing would be at cross purposes with all the teachings of the New Testament, the ideals which Jesus held, his death on the cross, and all Gods purposes of grace. (2, 189)
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. The sixth angel pours out a bowl of wrath on the river Euphrates. The river is dried up. This opens the way for the kings of the east to prepare for battle. IF we understand that this is symbolic, then it will be easy to see that the Euphrates was the boundary line. When there is a battle for territory someone draws a line in the sand and declares here is the line. We will not move. This is the boundary. The Euphrates is symbolic of the boundary between the righteous and unrighteous. This is Gods line in the sand. The water that separates the saved from the lost is the water of the gospel in baptism. In this passage the water is dried up. The gospel is not being heard. People are not obeying the gospel. The hearts of the masses are so hardened that they will not respond to the gospel. This is consistent with the previous plagues where the people were so hardened that they refused to repent. Here, if they would repent, they would be baptized. (Act 2:38). There is a similar description of sinful men in Rom 1:1-32. In this passage God gave them up to their immoral desires. God, in effect, turned them loose and let them suffer the natural consequences of their evil deeds.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits 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. John next sees three unclean spirits. They are like frogs. NOTE: If the battle described here is literal, then the generals of the army are frogs. Here is another parallel with the plagues of Egypt – frogs. These frogs come directly from the mouth of the dragon, who is Satan. They come from the mouth of the beast (civil governmental power) and from the mouth of the false prophet (second beast of chapter 13). Here are the three generals in Satans army. Satan = evil personified; Beast = persecuting governments; False prophet = false religions. When you combine these three together you have the ways in which Satan seeks to harm, kill, persecute, destroy, and eliminate Christians.
14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. These frogs / spirits / generals in Satans army, appear to have the ability to perform miracles. Of course, the miracles are done by fraud and deceit. Combine the power of Satan with persecuting governments and the power of false religions, and you have a force to be reckoned with. They gather their followers together for a battle. They know they will be battling against God. In their pride and arrogance, they think they can win. The great Day of Judgment is coming. As the song expresses it, Theres a Great Day Coming. Christians in every period in history have had to fight the battle of Armageddon. There will always be a struggle between good and evil. The battle goes on internally – between our flesh and our spirit. (Gal 5:16-18) The battle goes on when we are faced with a temptation. Like Peter, The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. But when the final battle is engaged – the Day of Judgment – God will be totally and completely victorious. We are told in Rev 17:14 that there will be war against the Lamb and that the Lamb will overcome them.
15 Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. The forces of Satan may think they are ready for battle. They have not seen battle until the meet the Almighty God. Amos warned of the serious mistake of thinking we are ready or able to take on God. Prepare to meet your God, O Israel, (Amo 4:12) is not an invitation to get ready for a social fellowship with God. These words are a warning. Do you think you can meet God in battle and win? Jesus is coming. His coming is not going to be announced in advance. He will come in the same manner that a thief comes. When we least expect it. At the moment that we think He will not come. That is when he will come. In Mat 24:36-51; Mat 25:1-46, Jesus warns us to be always on guard, always prepared. We must constantly watch. Keep your garments clean. Dont get caught with your pure white robe stained, blotched, or torn. Keep it always clean, always fresh. The Christians at Sardis were warned to keep your garments. (Rev 3:4)
16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. All these evil forces gather together. They think they are ready, but they are not. The Hebrew transliteration is Har Mageddon. Any time one mentions Armageddon, most will recognize the term and have some (usually mistaken) notion of what it means. Even movies have been made with this title. In Zec 12:11 this location is referred to as a valley of great mourning. This place is the Mountain of Sorrows. Thus, the symbolic meaning of this term is a place of great sorrow. The enemies of God will be gathered together in the place of great sorrows. The amount of sorrow they experience will be like a mountain. They will suffer immense grief. They will endure immeasurable amounts of pain. I share with you some statements from Paul Rogers work:
What does Armageddon mean to us? It still represents the conflict between good and evil and we need not expect a literal battle to usher in the coming of Christ. There is a sense in which every man has his personal Armageddon, which is fought daily, on the plains of conscience. It will be fought ever day and every hour until time is no more. However, we can take courage, as did the early disciples in the fact that God will ultimately triumph. Like them, we are surrounded by error and evil, with false religions very much in the predominance. And yet we know our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1Co 15:58). When the struggle is over, God will place his flag upon the highest hill, and the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever (Rev 11:15). (3, 68-69)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
angel
(See Scofield “Heb 1:4”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
upon: Rev 9:14, Rev 11:14, Isa 8:7
and the water: Rev 17:15, Isa 11:15, Isa 42:15, Isa 44:27, Jer 50:38-40, Jer 51:36
that the: Isa 41:2, Isa 41:3, Isa 41:25, Eze 38:1 – Eze 39:29, Dan 11:43-45
Reciprocal: Jos 4:22 – General 2Ki 2:8 – were Psa 74:15 – flood Pro 21:1 – as Isa 43:16 – maketh Eze 30:12 – I will make Dan 11:40 – with horsemen Dan 11:44 – east Hab 3:8 – the Lord Hab 3:10 – the overflowing Zec 10:11 – smite Rev 17:16 – these
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 16:12. The great river Euphrates has played an important part in God’s dealing with his people in their relation with the nations. The city of Babylon was situated upon its banks. When the time came for the overthrow of the first of the “four world empires” (the Babylonian), it was accomplished by diverting the stream from its regular channel. When that was done the water was lowered (was dried up) so that the soldiers of Cyrus (kings of the east) could march into the city and slay the man on the throne. All of this describes a literal event in history, but it is used to form the phraseology for the overthrow of another Babylon (“Mystery Babylon the Great”), which had been brought into existence by the union of church and state.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 12.
8. In the history of Israel the armies invading their lands had come from the river Euphrates, and that historical fact was used in verse twelve as the symbol of Judea being over-run from that quarter. The drying of the river Euphrates that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared represented the removal of all barriers which hindered the progress of the powers to strike the final blow of the war against Judah and Jerusalem. It was related in symbolism to the feat of Cyrus in the military operation to divert the same river Euphrates for the capture of the old literal Babylon. This historical basis may be reasonably regarded as supplying the outline of this imagery.
(6) The smiting of the Euphrates which evaporated its waters: “And the. sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared” –Rev 16:12.
It has been noted that the symbol of this verse was based on the history of Israel’s enemies invading Judea from beyond the Euphrates in their western aggressions. The drying of the river by the pouring of the sixth vial symbolizes obliterating all deterrents to the hordes overrunning Judea and besieging Jerusalem. An allusion to the Israelites crossing over the emptied bed of the Jordan was not outside the imagery, in which application judgment was executed on the nation there victorious but here apostate.
The verses that follow (Rev 16:13-16) from thirteen to sixteen, describe the gathering armies for the final battle in the overthrow of Jerusalem, with the spiritual overtones of the conflict between the forces of Judaism and heathenism on one side, and Christianity (the church) on the other. Previous comments in Rev 16:16 on Armageddon make further discussion here unnecessary.
It is sufficient to add that the sixth plague was descriptive of the battle which destroyed this symbolic Babylon– the apostate harlot Jerusalem, causing great mourning for Jerusalem among the Jewish tribes everywhere.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 16:12. And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates. The sixth trumpet had related to the river Euphrates, chap. Rev 9:14, and the principles of interpretation necessary there are also to be applied here. The Euphrates is the river of Babylon, the seat of antichristian power, from which proceed assaults upon the people of God.
And the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings from the sunrising may be prepared. At the foundation of this figure of the drying up of the Euphrates may lie the drying up of the Jordan when Israel took possession of the promised land; but it is more probable that the Seer has in view that diverting of the course of this river by means of which Cyrus captured Babylon. When Cyrus is predicted as the destroyer of Babylon he is twice spoken of by Isaiah as from the East or the sunrising (Isa 41:2; Isa 46:11). Cyrus was indeed generally thought of by the fathers as a type of Christ, and it may be observed that, when He is first alluded to, it is in the chapter immediately succeeding that in which Isaiah prophesies of the Baptist as preparing the way of the Lord (chap. Rev 11:3). The figure of drying up waters is one often met with in the prophets, where it is used to express the steps by which God prepares the way for the deliverance of His people and the destruction of their enemies (Isa 44:27; Isa 51:10; Jer. 1:38; Zec 10:11). In addition to this, the words, that the way may be prepared, lead us directly to the thought of the preparing of the way of the Lord by the Baptist, and thus to a preparation of which the good, not the wicked, shall avail themselves. Further, this very expression, from the sunrising, has already met us in chap. Rev 7:2, in connection with the angel who comes from that quarter with the seal of the living God in his hand; and, as it is always necessary in the Apocalypse to interpret the same expression in the same way, we are once more led to the thought not of evil but of good. This view is confirmed by another remarkable fact, that in the prophets Christ Himself is sometimes designated by the word The East. Thus in Zec 3:8, where we read in the Authorised Version Behold I will bring forth my servant the Branch, the LXX. read my servant the East; so also in Zec 6:12; while, in Jer 23:5, I will raise unto David a righteous branch, is in the LXX. a righteous East. Once more, it is difficult to resist the impression that there is a contrast between these kings from the sunrising, and those described in Rev 16:14 as the kings of the whole world, who are evidently evil.
Putting these circumstances together we seem compelled to come to the conclusion that the persons described as kings from the sunrising are the very opposite of what they are often interpreted to be. They are not the forces of rude and open evil which have been long restrained; still less are they the princes who would fain return with a Nero redux for the destruction of Rome. They are representatives of all Christs faithful ones who are not only priests but kings unto God, and for whom the waters of the Euphrates are dried up that their march to the destruction of Babylon may be easy and triumphant.
Christs people are now gathered together as an army. But they shall not need to fight. We shall see that they do not fight (comp, chap. Rev 20:9). They shall rest in Christ. God shall fight His own battle. The war shall be that of the great day of God, the Almighty (Rev 16:14).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, 1. In the drying up of the river Euphrates, a manifest allusion to the manner of old Babylon’s destruction. The river Euphrates ran through old Babylon, and was a greater defence to it than its celebrated walls, which for thickness and height were the wonder of the world. Cyrus, when he took Babylon, cut many ditches, and let the river Euphrates run out, and so he and his soldiers entered the city, then fordable, and took it.
Now, as the drying up of Euphrates, then, was an immediate forerunner of the destruction of Babylon, in like manner the drying up of Euphrates, signify it what it will, shall be the immediate forerunner of the destruction of antichristian Babylon, whenever it shall be. The Romish Erpharates being dried up, the Romish Babylon will hasten amain towards its final ruin.
Quest. But what is meant by Eupharates here?
Ans. Probably the Turkish empire, according to Mr. Mede and Dr. More, the Turks first taking up their habitation about this great river: so that by Euphrates may be understood the people inhabiting about Euphrates; and by drying up its waters, the diminishing and lessening of their empire.
By the kings of the east, the Jews are said to be understood, who inhabit the eastern countries, to whom God made a promise, Exo 19:6 that they should be a kingdom of priests: so that here seems to be a prophecy of the Jews’ conversion to the Christian religion, which two things do chiefly hinder, namely the idolatry of Rome, and the power of Constantinople; the image-worship of the Papists, and the puissance of the Turks: but both these being taken away by the fall of Babylon, and the ruin of the Turks, the way then will seem prepared for the Jews’ receiving of the Christian faith.
Taking the words in this sense, the notes are these,
1. That the days will come wherein Christian princes and states shall pour out the wrath of God upon Popish idolatry and Turkish tyranny.
2. That the pouring out of the wrath of God upon both these grand enemies of God, will prepare and make ready the way for the Jews’ conversion to him.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
The sixth trumpet released four angels who had been bound at the Euphrates and they destroyed one-third of mankind with a great army. ( Rev 9:13-16 ) Remember, during the reign of Solomon, this was the eastern border and represented a barrier to invading armies. Cyrus dried up the Euphrates to capture Babylon, which was prophesied by Isaiah. ( Isa 44:27-28 ; Isa 46:11 ) First century Christians should have been familiar with this and likely would have seen this as showing God’s ultimate control and use of even the matters soon to be revealed.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 16:12-14. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates Affected also by the sixth trumpet; and the water thereof was dried up And of all the rivers that flowed into it. The Turkish empire seems to be here intended, lying chiefly on this side the Euphrates. The Romish and Mohammedan affairs ran nearly parallel to each other for several ages. In the seventh age rose Mohammed himself, and a little before him Boniface III., with his universal bishopric. In the eleventh, both the Turks and Gregory VII. carried all before them. In the year 1300 Boniface appeared with his two swords at the newly-erected jubilee. In the self-same year arose the Ottoman Porte; yea, and on the same day. And here the vial poured out on the beast is immediately followed by that poured out on the Euphrates; that is, as appears, on the Mohammedan antichrist, as the former were on the Papacy. And as the sixth trumpet brought the Turks from beyond the Euphrates, from crossing which river they date their rise, this sixth vial dries up their waves, and exhausts their power, as the means and way to prepare and dispose the eastern kings and kingdoms to renounce their heathenish and Mohammedan errors, in order to their receiving and embracing Christianity. To nearly the same purpose Mr. Faber interprets the effects of this vial. Under the sixth trumpet, says he, the four Turkish sultanies, the mystic waters of the Ottoman empire, issued from the river Euphrates: under the sixth vial the waters of the same Euphrates are to be dried up. We cannot, therefore, reasonably doubt that the symbolical Euphrates means, in both cases, the same power. Rivers typify nations; and when a particular river is specified, the nation immediately connected with that river is obviously intended. Such being the case, as the issuing forth of the four sultanies, those mystic waters of the Euphrates, which deluged the eastern empire, denotes the rise of the Turkish power, so the drying up of those waters must evidently denote its subversion. As a prelude to this, if we advert to the present state of the Turkish power we shall be convinced that, for several years, it has gradually been upon the decline; and the approaching termination of the Ottoman empire is so manifest, that even those whose attention is solely directed to politics, are sufficiently aware that the time of its extinction cannot be far distant. Of late it has been preserved rather by the jealousy of the great European powers than by any physical strength of its own; and it doubtless will be preserved by the hand of Providence, until his own appointed season shall approach for preparing a way for the kings of the east, and for gathering together the kings of the Latin world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty By the kings of the east are probably meant the kings or kingdoms lying east from the Euphrates, namely, in Persia, India, and perhaps also China, for the conversion of whom to the Christian faith, it seems the removal of the Mohammedan empire will prepare the way. But though this seems probable, there can be no certainty of it; nor can the matters here predicted be more than the subjects of conjecture. Whoever these kings or kingdoms may be, they appear, Bishop Newton thinks, to threaten the ruin and destruction of the kingdom of the beast; and, therefore, the agents and emissaries of Popery, (Rev 16:13-14,) of the dragon, the representative of the devil, and of the beast, the representative of the antichristian empire, and of the false prophet, the representative of the antichristian church, (that is, as some think, the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits,) as disagreeable, as loquacious, as sordid, as impudent as frogs, are employed to oppose them, and stir up the princes and potentates of their communion to make their united and last effort in a religious war. These three unclean spirits, it is said, are the spirits of devils working miracles Namely, pretended miracles, to impose upon the weak and credulous; which go forth to the kings of the earth , of the whole Roman world, or empire, as the expression frequently means; to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. That is, they use all their evil arts and wicked policy to excite the princes and great men of the world to unite more firmly against all who aid and abet the cause of truth and righteousness, of God and religion.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:12 {9} And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river {10} Euphrates; and {11} the water thereof was dried up, {12} that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
(9) The story of the sixth angel, divided into his act, and the event of it. The act is, that the angel cast out of his mouth the plague of a most glowing heat, in which even the greatest floods, and which most were accustomed to swell and overflow (as Euphrates) were dried up, by the counsel of God in this verse. The event is, that the madness with which the wicked are enraged that they may scorn the judgments of God, and abuse them furiously to serve their own turn, and to the executing of their own wicked outrage.
(10) The bound of the spiritual Babylon, and to the fortresses of the same Rev 9:14 .
(11) So the Church of the ungodly, and kingdom of the beast is said to be left naked, all the defences of it in which they put their trust, being taken away from it.
(12) That is, that even they who dwell further off, may with more convenience make haste to the sacrifice, which the Lord has appointed.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
8. The sixth bowl 16:12-16
The final three bowl judgments all have political consequences.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The problem that this judgment poses for earth-dwellers is not a result of the judgment itself but its consequences, namely, war. It does not inflict a plague on people but serves as a preparation for the final eschatological battle. [Note: Ladd, p. 212.] The Euphrates River is the northeastern border of the land God promised to Abraham’s descendants (Gen 15:18; Deu 1:7; Deu 11:24; Jos 1:4). The Bible calls the Euphrates River (cf. Gen 2:14), the eastern border of the Promised Land, the great river; and it calls the Mediterranean Sea, the western border of the Promised Land, the Great Sea. Now God dries up this river that had previously turned into blood (Rev 16:4) so the kings of the East can cross with their armies (cf. Dan 11:44; Isa 11:15). God earlier dried up the Red Sea so the Israelites could advance on the Promised Land from the west (Exo 14:21-22; cf. Isa 11:16). He also dried up the Jordan River so they could cross over from the east (Jos 3:13-17; Jos 4:23). Elijah too parted the waters of the Jordan (2Ki 2:8). Cyrus may have conquered Babylon by draining the Euphrates and marching into the city over the riverbed (cf. Jer 50:38; Jer 51:36). [Note: Herodotus, 1:191. But see Edward J. Young, The Book of Isaiah , 3:191.] All these previous incidents should help us believe that a literal fulfillment of this prophecy is possible. A figurative interpretation sees Babylon as the world system and the waters of the Euphrates River as the multitudes of Babylon’s religious adherents who, throughout the world during the inter-advent age, become disloyal to Babylon. [Note: See Beale, p. 828.]
Some interpreters believe this is an Oriental invasion of Babylon in the future that will be similar to Cyrus’ invasion of it in the past. [Note: E.g., Swete, p. 205.] However, these are probably the Oriental armies that will assemble in Israel for the battle of Armageddon referred to in Rev 16:13-16. [Note: Walvoord, The Revelation . . ., p. 236.] The drying up of the Euphrates will be an immediate help to these advancing armies, but it will set them up for defeat, as was true of Pharaoh’s army.
". . . in the Old Testament a mighty action of God is frequently associated with the drying up of waters, as the Red Sea (Ex. xiv. 21), the Jordan (Jos. iii. 16 f.), and several times in prophecy (Isa 11:15, Jer 51:36, Zec 10:2)." [Note: Morris, p. 197.]
"A more immediate suggested identification of the kings from the east (i.e., ’the rising of the sun’) could be the Parthian rulers who were a continual threat to Rome during John’s day, but this was hardly a factor in preparation for the battle of Harmagedon in Rev 16:16." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 8-22, p. 263.]
Presently some sections of the Euphrates River are dry at certain times of the year due to dams that Iraq has built to create reservoirs. These dams generate power for the Middle East. Perhaps when the Euphrates dries up even artificial light will end in that region.