Revelation 16:3-9

Last time we saw the first bowl — painful sores only on those with the mark — and how God keeps his wrath from those who love him, and how this first plague is the sixth plague of Egypt (where God hardened Pharaoh's heart). Now the next few bowls.¶

The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse... The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, "Just are you, O Holy One... For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!"

Revelation 16:3-7 (ESV)¶

The second, third, and fourth bowls are similar to the second, third, and fourth trumpets of Revelation 8, in the same order — but they cannot be the same: the trumpets touched only a third; these bowls are all-encompassing. There is no more reprieve, no place to hide. The whole world is forced to confront the truth of God.¶

"Blood to drink"¶

God has given them blood to drink. One way or another, every person will drink blood — either the blood of Jesus, which cleanses and saves, or the blood of a corpse, which brings death. "It is what they deserve" — and this is what we all deserve, but Jesus paid for it with his own blood. Since God is perfectly just, he cannot overlook sin (Revelation 16:7). Water represents the nations, all people; here ALL the water of the earth turns to blood — representing how completely sin has affected all men, and how much sin the blood of Christ covers: all of it (1 John 2:1-2). God's message to the world in this moment is: you have rejected the forgiveness purchased for you; you have chosen to drink the cup of my wrath rather than believe in the one who drank it for you.¶

The four cups of Passover¶

The Passover meal has four cups: the cup of sanctification, the cup of wrath (after reciting the ten plagues, wine sprinkled on the table), the cup of blessing, and the cup of praise. Jesus' blood is the first cup — "this is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:27-28). Jesus himself drank the second cup, the cup of wrath — "let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39). And he told his disciples he would not drink of the fruit of the vine again "until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:29) — eagerly anticipating the cup of blessing and praise with his church. The cup of wrath is both consumed and a little sprinkled out — which lines up with what we see here: either the world believes in the one who drank the cup, or the cup is poured out on them.¶

The saddest thing about hell, in my opinion, is that there will be no one there whose sins have not been forgiven — all sin was forgiven at the cross. People ask how a loving God can send people to hell; God doesn't want anyone in hell — he made a way. This should bring us to worship Jesus for drinking the cup for us, and remind us that when we share the gospel, we can confidently tell people their sins have been forgiven — all of them, forever — and all they must do is believe.¶