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.
The sixth bowl of God's wrath is not poured on people directly but on a river — and the result is not flood but drought. Why would God dry up the Euphrates, and whose road does that clear?
The Euphrates was not just a large river. It marked where one world ended and another began.
The Euphrates was the great eastern boundary of the Roman empire. It was the regular line to which they carried their conquests. So the drying up of the Euphrates would seem to mean that this side of the empire would be left open. The eastern powers could then come and mingle with those of the west, or attack them. One effect of this bowl, then, would be the removal of the eastern barrier. So the way of the kings from the east is prepared, probably for the great closing conflicts.
This bowl does not wipe out the empire on the western side. It leaves it exposed.
The sixth angel pours out his bowl on the great river Euphrates. We see clearly that the beast is not destroyed, although its empire is made miserable. There is an interval here, as after the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet. The river Euphrates, which is the barrier of the prophetic earth on the side of the east, is dried up. The barrier falls, and the kings from the east can enter.
This river carries a long history in the Bible, and that history shows why its removal matters.
It is famous in Bible history and prophecy. Israel's great ancestor, Abram, came from its other side into the land of Canaan. The rivers Nile and Euphrates are prophetically named as the limits of the promised land (Gen. 15:18). For a short season David and Solomon extended the royal authority to the Euphrates... The Euphrates was the natural boundary separating the nations of the east from Palestine. Its broad stream flowed between Israel and her powerful enemy Assyria.
Commentators differ here. Scott, in the same passage, concludes that the real river is meant: "the literal Euphrates is meant here, and not the Turkish power." Others read the drying as a picture, in line with how they read the earlier bowls.
We need not understand this, any more than the previous judgments, literally. The Euphrates was the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire. Its waters dry up to make a way for the kings of the East. That is a natural picture of the breaking down of that boundary line of the revived empire under the beast.
Commentators call these rulers the kings of the sunrise. They suggest who these kings might be, but they do not claim to be certain.
The Euphrates was the boundary of the Roman empire and the land of Israel. This barrier is now completely removed, so that the kings from the sunrise can invade the land. The term "Kings of the sunrise" may even mean the far Eastern Asiatic nations, like China and Japan. The drying up of the Euphrates therefore seems to mean the removal of the barrier. Then the predicted gathering of the nations can take place (Joel 3:2). What began under the sixth trumpet is finished when the sixth bowl is poured out. It is an act of judgment-wrath. At the same time these opposing nations are gathering for the great day of God Almighty.
The Euphrates also appeared under the sixth trumpet. The two scenes differ in scale and purpose.
The Euphrates is the scene of the sixth trumpet as well. That would seem to give only an earlier attack by the same powers that are in view here. The door is now set wide open for them by the drying up of the river, the old boundary of the Roman empire. In the trumpet there was only a raid into the empire. Now there is much more than this: it is the gathering for the great day of God Almighty!
A road opened in one direction is open in both. What crosses it is not only armies.
The drying up of the river would symbolise that a barrier will be removed. It is the barrier that keeps the Eastern and Western nations from mixing. The way is prepared for the kings of the East. That would suggest that all the evil superstitions of the East will be allowed to flood the West.
- Barrier. The Euphrates has always divided east from west. It was the eastern frontier of the Roman empire — a wall of water God now takes away.
- Opened. The bowl does not destroy the beast's empire. It strips off the eastern defence, and the kings from the sunrise can walk in.
- Debated. Some read a literal river drying up; others read the drying as a picture of a boundary broken down. The result described is the same either way.
- Escalated. The sixth trumpet brought a raid across the same river; the sixth bowl swings the door wide for something far larger.
- Gathered. The road is prepared so the nations can gather. The gathering is itself judgment, drawing them to the great day of God Almighty.
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;
John sees three foul spirits come out of three mouths — the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Three questions follow: who these three are, why they look like frogs, and what their words achieve.
Each of the three has already appeared earlier in the book. One writer names them one by one:
These murmuring spirits came out of the mouths of the three powers we have seen in Revelation 13. The first is the dragon, the open enemy of Christ. The second is the beast, the revived Roman Empire. The third is the false prophet, the religious beast that had lamb-like horns, imitating Christ's power, but who is now described only in his deceptive religious character.
The three are not just allies. Together they are a copy of God, made by an enemy who can invent nothing himself.
A distinguished writer has remarked on what the Bible tells us of Satan: he appears to have no power to originate anything. He can only imitate. God sets up a church; Satan has his false church. God has His Christ, Satan his antichrist. And here in this chapter of Revelation there is a Satanic anti-trinity. It consists of Satan himself, the Roman prince, and another beast. That beast has "two horns like a lamb" — an imitation of Christ — but "he spoke as a dragon." Satan's grand aim is to get himself acknowledged in the place of God.
A dictionary sums up where frogs appear in the Bible, and what they are like:
In the Old Testament the frog is mentioned only in connection with the second of the plagues in Egypt. In the New Testament three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. Frogs are remarkable for grovelling in the mire, with great noise and activity in the night.
Their mission fits the picture. It reaches the whole earth:
There are "three unclean spirits," called the "spirits of demons." They are likened to frogs — loathsome, filthy, disgusting, bred out of the mire and the sickening vapours and moral wickedness of the corrupt scene. Out they go on their terrible mission. They are to influence the peoples of the earth by word, sign and miracle, and lure them on to the "war of that great day of God Almighty."
The spirits come out of mouths, not hands. What gathers the world for war is speech.
These three — the dragon, which is the devil, the beast, and the false prophet — will form a terrible trinity of evil. Revelation 16:13-14 brings them together in the unity of their purpose, and that purpose is war. The evil spirits that go out of the mouths of this diabolical trinity are deceptive and inflammatory words and doctrines. And in composing and broadcasting these, Antichrist will take the lead.
The nations will think they are acting for their own reasons. Scripture strips the disguise off:
It is by God's counsel that all the nations are gathered "against Jerusalem to battle." God makes the dragon and men's evil passions work out His own will. He told the lying spirit to go and lure Ahab to his fall. He sends men in this dreadful time "strong delusion that they should believe a lie." In the same way He now uses the unclean spirits out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet to draw this assembly of powers together. To men's eyes, no doubt, the war will be declared with the usual exchange of diplomatic dispatches and the usual claims of unselfish intentions. But the Spirit of God unmasks the true motives at work.
Does this describe today? One writer answers plainly:
First there is the great trio of evil — Satan, the Beast (head of the revived Roman Empire) and the False Prophet (the Antichrist, King of Jerusalem). Clearly the present time is not Armageddon. These sinister figures of the last day — the Beast and the False Prophet — have not yet appeared. Satan is invisible, and with demonic subtlety he is at work even now. But so far the Roman Empire is not revived, and the Antichrist has not arrived, though many antichrists are preparing his way.
- Three mouths. The dragon is Satan. The beast heads the revived Roman Empire. The false prophet is the Antichrist. Three powers, one voice.
- Three counterfeits. Satan cannot create, only copy. The trio is a fake trinity, aimed at getting Satan acknowledged in the place of God.
- Three frogs. Creatures of the mire, loud in the dark — the image of doctrine that is unclean, noisy, and everywhere at once.
- Three voices. What comes out is words. Deceptive, inflammatory speech, backed by signs and miracles, talks the peoples of the earth into war.
- One outcome. The nations think they choose. God is drawing them to the war of that great day of God Almighty — and that hour has not yet come.
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.
This verse looks behind the world's last war. Unseen spirits work miracles and move the rulers of the earth toward one battlefield. Two questions follow. Who is really doing the gathering? And why can a miracle never prove that a message comes from God?
The three sources named in verse 13 have already appeared in this book. One writer traces each one back to its first description.
These murmuring spirits came out of the mouth of the three powers we have seen in Revelation 13. Out of the dragon, the open enemy of Christ. Out of the beast, the revived Roman Empire. And out of the false prophet, the religious beast with lamb-like horns, who imitated Christ's power, but is now described only as a religious deceiver… It is a general collision of the kings of the whole inhabited world. The western powers are lined up for the war, and the eastern ones too. It is the great day.
Verse 13 compares these spirits to frogs. The picture is not decoration. It shows what they are like, and how far they reach.
Satan himself provides a "worldwide ministry" to bring about the greatest combination of opposing forces ever seen… There are "three unclean spirits," called the "spirits of demons." They are compared to frogs: loathsome, filthy, disgusting, bred out of the mud and poisonous fumes and moral wickedness of this corrupt scene. They are sent out on their terrible mission. They are to influence the peoples of the earth by word, sign, and miracle… God is about to set His King on Mount Zion (Psalm 2), so the might of the whole inhabited earth is gathered to thwart and defeat God's purpose.
If these spirits work signs, then signs alone cannot show whose side a messenger is on. One writer gives God's own test, and adds a note on who works miracles in the last days.
God gives safeguards so that His people are not deceived. Miracles must be for the truth, or we are not to accept them. If they support what is not the truth, the one who works them must be rejected completely (Deuteronomy 13). I add this. Scripture reveals that Satan will work amazing signs, to deceive God's chosen ones if that were possible. And further, it is only on Satan's side that signs and miracles are said to happen in the last days. Then they will happen. That is the sign that marks the coming of the man of sin. So a miracle by itself cannot be the test of truth.
Some read the phrase "the whole world" as a picture of the gospel finally covering the globe. The same writer answers from what the spirits are sent out to do.
Is this the gospel bringing the whole world under Christ's rule? Whatever we make of the details, this passage plainly shows Satan's corrupting and hateful influence at work on a huge scale. It gathers the powers of this world, in the last times, into conflict with Almighty God — and so into judgment from Him.
Verse 16 says "they assembled them." One writer asks who is really behind that gathering, and points to a purpose the gatherers know nothing about.
The unclean spirits that go out to push people this way come from the trinity of evil — the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. They use superhuman powers to sway people's minds in the direction they want. But in all this, without knowing it, they do what God in His wisdom and judgment has already decided will be done. They are only preparing themselves for the last stroke of overwhelming judgment.
The verse calls Him God the Almighty, and that name settles the outcome before the armies arrive. The same passage holds comfort for anyone who fears God in that hour.
Those who fear God are reminded of this. Even if the whole world unites under the devil against God, God will step in through the coming of Christ and judge the world when no one expects it. His coming will be like a thief. But while His coming brings unexpected judgment for the world, it will bring blessing to those who are watching, and who walk apart from the world by keeping their garments clean… When God sends out His "everlasting gospel" to every nation to gather a people for the kingdom of Christ, the dragon, the beast, and the Antichrist will combine to gather "the kings of the earth and the whole world" to fight against God the Almighty, only to meet overwhelming judgment at the hands of the Almighty.
- Source — The three spirits come out of the dragon, the revived empire, and the false prophet. Revelation 13 already described all three.
- Method — They persuade by signs and miracles. So a wonder alone proves nothing. A miracle must be for the truth, or reject the one who works it.
- Reach — Their mission covers the whole world. But it gathers the nations against God, not to Him. This is not the gospel winning the earth.
- Overruling — Satan recruits, but God decides. Without knowing it, the gatherers do what He had already determined. They line themselves up for judgment.
- Outcome — They gather to fight the Almighty, and they meet Him. For those who watch and keep their garments clean, the same day brings blessing.
(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.)
The verse breaks into a scene of gathering armies. Evil spirits are drawing the kings of the world into battle when another voice cuts in. It is the Lord Himself. He says nothing about armies. He speaks about watching, garments and shame. So who is He speaking to, and why here?
Verses 14 and 16 join up when read together. Verse 15 sits between them as an insertion.
Notice that verse 16 follows on from verse 14 and in fact completes it. So the passage in between (v. 15) forms a parenthesis of great moral value. "Behold I come as a thief." Satanic power gathers the kings and peoples. At their moment of apparent success and victory, the Lord will suddenly surprise them by coming in glory (1 Thess. 5:2-3). The whole world will be asleep in midnight moral darkness, congratulating itself on "peace and safety." Then the Lord Himself bursts in upon the scene, unexpected, as a thief in the night. ... It is not a question of life or salvation here, but of how one lives day by day.
This break is not a one-off. The same pause turns up at the same point in the earlier series of judgments.
What a striking proof of the ordered structure of the book! Here in the sixth Bowl a parenthesis occurs, just as we saw at the same point in the sixth Seal and the sixth Trumpet.
The voice needs no introduction, and what it brings is not only warning.
An urgent warning breaks in here. There is no need to name the Speaker! ... It is to the world that Christ's coming will be that of a thief; for "in such an hour as you think not, the Son of Man comes." The closing words show that "Blessed is he who watches" is a solemn warning to the careless. In any case, wisdom will speak, and no one will go out to meet the doom of the rebels without warning. It is good to find mercy pleading in this very place, whether people listen or not. The doom that comes is no less terrible on that account.
A thief is the one visitor nobody invites and nobody expects. That is the point of the image. It is not how the Lord speaks to His own.
It is the Lord coming, but then He is coming in judgment to surprise the earth; and this is the reason why the figure is used. A thief comes unexpected and unwanted. The Lord's coming will be even less welcome to the earth. But some saints will welcome it. His appearing will rescue them by judging their enemies. And they are to watch their daily life closely... When speaking to us He says, "Behold, I come quickly: hold fast what you have, that no one take your crown." How much more blessed that word is!
Commentators link this call to the promise that the day will not catch believers by surprise. They read it as spoken to people living through these judgments on earth.
Christ will come suddenly upon this world as a thief. But we know that He will not come to us as a thief. "You, brothers, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." (1 Thess. 5:4.) But while judgment threatens, a gleam of mercy also seems to shine, rejoicing against judgment. It suggests that a remnant will be watching for the Messiah. Of others it says that the shame of their nakedness will be made plain.
This instruction, as well as warning, applies above all to the elect remnant of that day.
Garments here are not about whether a person is saved. They picture how a life actually looks, and sleep is what exposes it.
Those whom God will bless are those who watch and are therefore not deceived by fair appearances. They keep their garments on, so they escape the shame and humiliation that comes from ignoring the truth and grace of God. While King Saul slept, the edge of his robe was cut away from him, a symbol of the exposure of his sinful course (1 Sam. 24:3-4). So anyone asleep to the truth of God's Word because he prefers sin is in immediate danger of exposure.
There is only one source for that daily clothing.
In the same way, the "white garments that you may be clothed" mean the saint's practical righteousness of every day. That righteousness cannot exist apart from Him, "for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
- Pause — Verse 16 continues verse 14. Verse 15 sits in between, like the breaks at the sixth seal and the sixth trumpet.
- Speaker — The voice is Christ's, and no one has to say so; mercy pleads once more before the doom falls.
- Thief — Unexpected and unwanted. That is how He comes to the world, not to those already watching for Him.
- Watchers — The call is to watch your daily life. It applies above all to the elect remnant of that day.
- Garments — The issue is daily life, not salvation. Sleep exposes a sinful course, as Saul's robe showed. Practical righteousness never comes apart from Christ.
And he gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armagedon.
One line names the meeting place of the world's rulers. Two questions sit inside it: who does the gathering, and why this name from Israel's past?
Verse 14 said the demonic spirits went out to do the gathering. Yet the original word can mean either "he gathered" or "they gathered". Translations split over it.
It might seem strange that it should say, "He gathered". After all, in verse 14 the evil spirits, or spirits of demons, were the ones who went out to gather the kings together. The reason is this. In the language that the Holy Spirit used, the word is capable of meaning either he or they gathered... If it be "He gathered", the reference of course is to God Almighty, who might be said to do it through the intervention of these unclean spirits.
Whichever reading is right, one hand stands behind the result.
"And he gathered them together." Who is He? This was the power and providence of God by Christ, I take it: whatever the satanic influence or instrumentality, it was done, if through that, by Him. The spirits were to go forth to gather; and they gathered: but it was really the Lord's doing in judgment.
One writer explains how these spirits work on people, and ends with a question for today.
Frogs lurk quietly in hidden places, unnoticed, and these spirits are the same. They overcome people by the miraculous signs and lying wonders they perform, and they gather men to the great battle... though Satan and his allies are the instruments, it is to carry out God's purpose... Men little think what Satan is doing by the alliances of the day... The question is, What is man's object now? Is it self or Christ?
Armageddon means the hill of Megiddo, and Megiddo carries two very different memories in Israel's history — one of victory, one of grief. Commentators differ over which one the name recalls. One reading goes back to a day when Israel was weak and won anyway:
The place of gathering named here, called in Hebrew Armageddon, is, I think, a reference to Judges 5:19. It was not that Megiddo was a place of any great size or note. God looks to the principle at issue. Israel was in a low state. The Lord used a prophetess to give them courage, and once she had encouraged them they won a great victory over their enemies... In the day of the Judges, Megiddo was a memory of joy and triumph to Israel. In the time of Josiah it was a place of gloom... For here it is the Lord beating down the nations.
Others take the death of Josiah as the point, and find a reversal in it:
The multitudes were called to Armageddon, which means the hill of Megiddo. In the valley of Megiddo the last godly king of David's line fell before the advancing nations. At last on that very spot the far greater Son of David will deal the swift death blow to all the proud might of the Gentiles.
The crowd gathered here is far too large for one valley floor. One writer reads the name more widely, and says what is settled there:
It is not that the actual hill of Megiddo or its valley is to be the gathering centre of the nations; its limited area must rule out any such idea. But the simple meaning is this. God will have gathered many of the nations of the earth to Palestine by satanic agency. Their object is to overthrow and crush Israel, and to throw themselves in their combined might against Jehovah. But, sadly for them, they do so only to their own destruction... There God will settle the great question of who rules the earth. He will overthrow the nations completely, set up the world kingdom of our God and of His Christ, and settle Israel in permanent possession of her land.
The verse stops at the gathering. What follows comes later in the book, and it is no ordinary battle.
Those gathered there by the influence of Satan, the Beast and the False Prophet intend to come to the defence of Jerusalem, but they never get there. Revelation 19:11-21 describes their humiliating destruction at the hands of the Lord on the white horse. He fights against them with the sword of His mouth. There is no defensive fighting on their part: they are simply destroyed.
- Gathered — by whom. The word allows both "he" and "they"; either way the demons do the luring and God does the gathering.
- Gathered — through evil. Satan's spirits work by signs and hidden persuasion, yet serve a purpose they never chose and cannot see.
- Gathered — to a named place. Armageddon means the hill of Megiddo. Commentators differ: does the name recall the old victory in Judges, or Josiah's death?
- Gathered — with a target. Their aim is Israel and, behind Israel, God Himself; the size of the gathering points beyond one valley to the land as a whole.
- Gathered — for one end. They never reach the fight they planned. The Rider on the white horse destroys them, and the rule of the earth is settled.