Revelation 16:5

And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. ANGEL OF (PRESIDING OVER) THE WATERS. O LORD. Omitted by 'Aleph (') A B C, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, Andreas. AND SHALT BE. 'Aleph (') A B C, Vulgate, Andreas, for this clause, read, '(which art and wast) holy' [ hosios (G3741) for ho (G3588) esomenos]. The Lord is no longer He that shall be, for He is come in vengeance; therefore the third of the three clauses, Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8;...

1-7 We are to pray that the will of God may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Here is a succession of terrible judgments of Providence; and there seems to be an allusion to several of the plagues of Egypt. The sins were alike, and so were the punishments. The vials refer to the seven trumpets, which represented the rise of antichrist; and the fall of the enemies of the church shall bear some resemblance to their rise. All things throughout their earth, their air, their sea, their rivers, their cities, all are condemned to ruin, all accursed for the wickedness of that people. No wonder that angels, who witness or execute the Divine vengeance on the obstinate haters of God, of Christ, and of holiness, praise his justice and truth; and adore his awful judgments, when he brings upon cruel persecutors the tortures they made his saints and prophets suffer....

Verse Revelation 16:5. _THE ANGEL OF THE WATERS_] The rabbins attribute angels, not only to the four elements so called, but to almost every thing besides. We have already seen the _angel_ of the _bottomless pit_, Revelation 9:11, and _the angel of the fire_, Revelation 14:18. The _angel_ of the _earth_ is spoken of in _Yalcut Rubeni_, fol. 13, 2, and is called _Admael_. They have also an _angel_ that presides over the _grass_; another that presides over the _cattle_ which feed upon the grass. They say that God employed the _angel of the sea_ to swallow up the waters at the creation, that the dry land might appear. He disobeyed,

AND I HEARD THE ANGEL OF THE WATERS SAY - The angel who presides over the element of water; in allusion to the common opinion among the Hebrews that the angels presided over elements, and that each element was committed to the jurisdiction of a particular angel. Compare the notes on Revelation 7:1. THOU ART RIGHTEOUS, O LORD - In view of the judgments that reddened these streams and fountains with the blood of people, the angel ascribes righteousness to God. These judgments seemed terrible - the numbers slain were so vast - the bloody stream indicated so great slaughter, and such severity of the divine judgment; yet the angel sees in all this only the act of a righteous God bringing just retribution on the guilty. WHICH ART, AND WAST, AND SHALT BE - That is, who art eternal

EXPOSITION In the judgments of the _vials, _or _bowls, _we have undoubtedly a recapitulation of what has been already foretold in the trumpet and seal visions. This recapitulation is not a mere repetition; but the idea contained in the first visions is strengthened and set forth more forcibly, in conformity with Revelation 15:1, where we are told the wrath of God is finished in these plagues of the vials. The following comparison will illustrate the points of resemblance and contrast between the visions of the trumpets and of the vials. _Trumpets._ 1. Hail, fire, and blood cast upon THE EARTH; _one third _trees, etc., burnt. 2._ One third _of SEA made blood; one third of creatures therein and of ships destroyed. 3.

AND I HEARD THE ANGEL OF THE WATERS SAY,.... So we read in Jewish writings t of an angel that was שרא דימא, "the prince of the sea", and of angels that were over the waters, and others over fire u; though here is designed not one of the מלאכי מים "angels of the water", that presided ove the waters, as another over fire; Revelation 14:18, but the third angel that poured out his vial upon the waters; when he had so done, he said as follows. Dr. Lightfoot thinks, and that not without reason, that since these angels appeared in the garb of priests, Revelation 15:6 and since there was a priest appointed to take care of the wells, and fountains, and ditches about Jerusalem, that the people might have water at the feasts w, there is an allusion to him; and certain it is that there was suc

CHAPTER 16 Revelation 16:1 . The great voice commands the seven angels to go on their way and to empty the bowls upon the earth (Ps. 49:24). And these vials of judgments affect not only the Roman Empire, but the entire world, for the whole world is guilty before God. The first vial poured out produces a grievous sore upon the worshipers of the beast. While it is undoubtedly true that we have symbols also in these vial judgments, it is nevertheless possible that some of these plagues may have, besides the symbolical, also a literal meaning. The sixth plague which came upon Egypt, the first judgment upon the persons of the Egyptians, was also a sore (Exodus 9:10). The worshipers of the beast and of the image will be dreadfully afflicted....

REVELATION 16:2. The first bowl. The wrath of God is poured out on the worshippers of the beast, _i.e._ Antichrist, _i.e._ Nero. MARK OF THE BEAST: REVELATION 13:16 *. WORSHIPPED HIS IMAGE: _ i.e._ the image or statue of the emperor (_cf. Revelation 13:14_ f.). Revelation 16:3. The second bowl, like the second trumpet (Revelation 8:8), destroys the living creatures in the sea. _Cf._ also the first of the Egyptian plagues ...

THE THIRD VIAL. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And. heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous,. Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And. heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments."--16:4-7. John sees the third "vial poured upon the rivers and fountain or waters; and they become blood." This vial will symbolize another event calamitous to Rome. The seat of the disasters is described as the rivers and we may expect some historical events, connected in some way with rivers, that result in the injury of the papacy. There are two marks given which help us to locate the seat where the plague of the thir...

THE SEVEN BOWLS OF THE WRATH OF GOD (Revelation 16:1-21) It will be better to read through the whole chapter before we study it in detail. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying to the seven angels: Go, and pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God 2 upon the earth. The first angel went away and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and there came an outbreak of evil and malignant ulcerous sores on the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image. 3 The second poured out his bowl upon the sea; and it became blood, like the blood of a dead man, and every living thing died of the things in the sea. 4 The third poured out his bowl upon the rivers and the 5 springs of waters, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: You are just, you who are and who were, O Holy One, because you have delivered this 6 judgment. Because they