Revelation 16:6

For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. (; ; , end.) Anticipation of ; : cf. . FOR. A B C, Andreas, omit: 'Aleph ('), 'of which (blood) they are worthy.'...

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 16:6. _THOU HAST GIVEN THEM BLOOD TO DRINK_] They thirsted after blood and massacred the saints of God; and now they have got blood to drink! It is said that when _Tomyris_, queen of the Scythians, had vanquished Cyrus, she cut off his head and threw it into a vessel of blood, saying these words: _Satia te sanguine,_ _quem sitisti, cujusque insatiabilis semper fuisti_; "Satisfy thyself with blood, for which thou hast thirsted, and for which thy desire has been insatiable." See _Justin_. Hist., lib. i. c. 8. This figure of speech is called _sarcasm_ in rhetoric. "_Sarcasmus_ with this biting taunt doth kill: _Cyrus, thy thirst was blood; now drink thy fill_....

FOR THEY HAVE SHED THE BLOOD OF SAINTS - The nations here referred to. They have been engaged in scenes of bloody persecution, and this is a just recompense. AND PROPHETS - Teachers of religion; ministers of truth. It is not necessary to understand the word “prophets” here in its technical sense, as denoting those who are raised up by God and sent forth as inspired men, but it may be understood in its more common signification in the New Testament as denoting teachers of religion in general. See the Romans 12:6 note; 1 Corinthians 14:1 note. AND THOU HAST GIVEN THEM BLOOD TO DRINK - To wit, by turning the streams and fountains into blood,...

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.

FOR THEY HAVE SHED THE BLOOD OF SAINTS AND PROPHETS,.... Which shows that rivers and fountains cannot be literally understood, but men are designed, wicked and bloody men; and it is notorious to all, how much of the blood of the saints, of the preachers of the Gospel, of the prophets and witnesses, have been shed in Italy, Savoy, and other places near Rome, as well as in Rome itself; see Revelation 17:6. AND THOU HAST GIVEN THEM BLOOD TO DRINK; sent the sword among them, making great slaughter and devastation; see Isaiah 49:26 FOR THEY ARE WORTHY; or deserving, to have their blood shed by the law of retaliation....

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