Revelation 16:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

NIV: They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.

NASB: for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the entire world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

CSB: For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.

NLT: They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.

KJV: For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

NKJV: For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

This verse identifies the three unclean spirits that John saw coming out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. The symbolism of those "frogs," as they were described in the previous verse, is explained here. They are demons, and they perform miraculous signs.

This passage is building to an event often referred to as a "battle," when in reality it's more of a "war," referred to using the name of a particular location: Armageddon. The mission of these three spiritual beings is to gather leaders of the world together for this conflict. The time is set for "the great day of God the Almighty." This looks ahead to Revelation chapter 19, which describes the return of Christ, who strikes down the nations and "tread[s] the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty" (Revelation 19:15). All the armies of earth with all their deadly, sophisticated weaponry will be no match for the Almighty!

There is no scholarly consensus about the immediate reasons why these armies gather. Some teachers believe they assemble to battle the beast—the Antichrist—but why would the Devil draw men into battle against his ally? Other teachers offer a more plausible explanation. They think the international armies assemble in order to join the armies of the beast in an all-out attempt to annihilate the Jews and to dethrone God and His Son. It's possible that they may be initially brought with the intent of fighting against Antichrist, but then turn and join him to fight a common foe.

Revelation 16:8–16 reports what happens when the fourth, fifth, and sixth angels emptied their bowls of God's wrath. It continues the apostle John's description of the bowl judgments which began in Revelation 16:1–7. The fourth and fifth bowl judgments resemble some of the events of the trumpet judgments, but are much more intense. These events occur just prior to the return of Christ to subdue His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth (Revelation 17—19).

This chapter explains the bowl judgments, which are the last and most severe of God's outpouring of wrath on earth. The first three bowls bring sores, seas of blood, and rivers of blood. After a declaration of God's justice come the next three bowl judgments, involving scorching sunlight, darkness, and a drying of the Euphrates to clear the way for an invading army. In the final, seventh bowl judgment, an earthquake tears Jerusalem into three parts, levels cities worldwide, and displaces islands and mountains. Hundred-pound hailstones fall, but unbelievers refuse to repent and instead continue to curse God.

Revelation 16 resumes the account of God's judgments on the wicked. It describes the bowl judgments, the third and final series of judgments. The seven seal judgments of Revelation 6:1–17 and 8:1 are the first series of judgments. The trumpet judgments of Revelation 8:1—9:21 and 11:15 are next. All of these judgments vent God's wrath and are recognized as the day of his wrath and the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:17). Chapters 17 and 18 further describe the destruction caused by the judgments. Revelation 19 and 20 will describe the culmination of God's wrath and the final events of the end times.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''