Big Idea: God continues to pour out his wrath on the ungodly, leading to a climactic eschatological battle and resulting in the final judgment of the evil world system.

Understanding the Text

Following the introduction of the bowl judgments in 15:1–8, chapter 16 provides details about each of the seven last plagues. When viewed alongside the previous trumpet judgments, the differences are few and the similarities many. While the trumpets kill a third of humanity, the bowls bring total destruction, and the bowls also lack the interlude that precedes the final judgment. But both the trumpet and the bowl plagues are patterned after the Egyptian plagues.[1]

It appears that the seals, trumpets, and bowls all describe events that occur in the last days, (i.e., the period between the first and…