Revelation 16:17-21

We come to the end of chapter 16 and the last of the seven bowls. In all the plagues, the people cursed God and did not repent.¶

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!"

Revelation 16:17 (ESV)¶

"It is done!"¶

This last bowl is poured into the air, and God himself calls out, "It is done!" — excited, it seems, that the end is at hand: the end of sin, the end of Satan's rule, the end of destruction, the end of his wrath. A shout of joy, or relief. Did you know God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, even the wicked? "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked... and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). God "desires all people to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:1-4), which is why we are told to love and pray even for our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48). God's love is perfect because he loves even those who do not love him.¶

The great earthquake — like the cross¶

And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth... The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.

Revelation 16:18-19 (ESV)¶

The lightning and thunder come straight from the throne of God (compare Revelation 4:5). This reminds me of the most significant event in history — the death of Jesus, when there was darkness, the curtain torn, the earth shook, and rocks split (Matthew 27:45-54). Just as rocks split when Jesus died, the great city is split. The "great city" is Babylon, and also Israel under Roman rule (Revelation 11:8, "where their Lord was crucified") — and spiritually the renewed Roman empire.¶

And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail...

Revelation 16:20-21 (ESV)¶

Islands are the highest places in the oceans, mountains the highest on land — God is bringing low all powers and authorities. The hailstones, far heavier than the heaviest ever recorded, are a plague done directly by God (Joshua 10:11) and a sign of the end of his wrath, "to make a full end" (Ezekiel 13:13). It is fitting this is the last of the bowls. "Babylon the great" is spiritually the kingdom of the devil — the spirit in which all the world's kingdoms operated, the kingdom we were once citizens of but have been liberated from in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-2). As we go into chapter 17, we will start to see the spiritual work God is doing behind the scenes.¶