The Last Half of the Tribulation, 14:1—19:21
Just prior to the events that make up the latter half of the Tribulation, the 7th trumpet sounds and the third woe begins, Revelation 11:14—13:18
The 7th trumpet is a span of time that takes in the events of 11:15—19, and John’s vision-within-a vision, 12:1—13:18. The “catching up” or rapture of the male child, the expulsion of the dragon from Heaven, the flight of the woman into the wilderness, the persecution of the remnant, the rise of the various Beasts are symbolic events that symbolize real people and events that will take place during the 7th trumpet.
Parenthetical Passage, 14:1—20
These verses constitute a parenthetical passage because we see in detail seven events that take place between the 7th trumpet and the first bowl.
- The 144,000 in Heaven, 14:1—5.
- The Three Messengers from God. These three angels proclaim three messages:
- Impending judgment
- The fall of Babylon
- The doom of the Beast worshipers
- The blessed dead, 14:13. These are the people martyred because they refuse to worship the Beast and refuse to take his mark.
- The harvest of the earth, 14:14—16. This harvest refers to Armageddon. The sharp sickle is also mentioned in Joel 3:9—14.
- The vintage of the earth, 14:17—20. The “vine” of the earth is another way of illustrating the “harvest” of the earth; they are both judgments from God that refer to what happens at the battle of Armageddon.
The seven angels, 15:1, 6—7.
These seven angels are seven redeemed men who apparently have glorified bodies at the time of the fulfillment of this part of Revelation. These are the same angels referred to in 19:9—10; 21:17; 22:8—9.
Parenthetical Passage, 15:2—4
This “sea of glass” where the tribulation martyrs gather is before the throne of God in heaven.
The tabernacle in heaven, 15:4, 8; 16:1
This is a continuation of the vision of the seven angels. This temple is mentioned 12 times in Revelation and each time God is seen sitting on His throne.
The Bowl Judgments:
- Boils, 16:2. This is a literal plague, just like the one that afflicted the Egyptians in Exodus 9:8—12.
- Sea of blood, 16:3.
- Rivers of blood, 16:4—7.
- Intense heat, 16:8—9. Under the 4th trumpet, one third of the sun, moon, and stars will be dimmed, so that part of the earth will swallowed up in darkness. Under this judgment, the opposite will occur: the heat of the sun will be magnified to the extent that human beings will be burned.
- Darkness, 16:10—11. This is a repeat of the 9th Egyptian plague (Ex. 10:21—22). These judgments from God will go from one extreme to another.
- The Euphrates dried up, 16:12. This will occur near the end of the Tribulation, just before the battle of Armageddon, after the Antichrist has taken the countries to the north and east. The drying up of this river will prepare the way for those who will come from the east to do battle with the Antichrist.
Parenthetical Passage, the evil frog-like spirits, 16:13—16
This is inserted between the 6th and 7th bowl and is fulfilled near the end of the Tribulation.
The 7th Bowl, Earthquakes and Hail, 16:17—21
Much will occur under this judgment. Its events begin in chapter 16, but will be interrupted by chapter 17, and is concluded in chapter 18. The result of this great earthquake will be the destruction (total and partial) of many cities, including parts of Jerusalem. The hail that will fall will weigh close to 100 pounds. This last judgment is similar, though much more intense that the plague of Exodus 9:13—36.
Parenthetical Passage, Babylon, 17:1—8
The term “Babylon” is unnecessarily controversial among prophecy students. Babylon, as used in Revelation, refers to three things:
Political Babylon—The ten-nation confederacy of the Antichrist.
Religious Babylon—The national religious system of the False Prophet, the great whore of chapter 17.
Commercial or Economic Babylon—This refers to the mark of the Beast and the worship of the Antichrist in order to engage in any kind of commerce.
After the announcement of Revelation 14:8:
Religious Babylon is destroyed in Chapter 17; Commercial Babylon is destroyed in Chapter 18; and Political Babylon is destroyed in Chapter 19 at Armageddon.
But why “Babylon?” It is helpful to trace the development of Babylon through the Bible, and when we do, we see that Babylon is an ancient idea that began with Babel:
Babel, from which “Babylon” is derived, was started by a man named Nimrod. The phrase a “mighty hunter before the Lord” suggests Nimrod was a sort of wild and rebellious man who lived contrary to the will of God.
Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. (Genesis 10:8—10)
The story of Babel continues in Genesis 11 with man’s very first organized rebellion against God. God had said to fill the Earth, but instead of doing that, the people decided to build a tower and stay in one place. Some scholars have suggested that their idea may have been that if God sent another flood they could climb out of it on their tower.
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1—9)
When we fast forward and read Isaiah 14, it becomes evident that “Babylon” is not just a physical location, but is also symbolic of something, namely, it is symbolic of man’s organized rebellion against God.
