Revelation 16:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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!"

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

NASB: Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, 'It is done.'

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

NLT: Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, 'It is finished!'

KJV: And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

NKJV: Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

When the seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, a loud voice from the temple, from the throne, declared, "It is done!" To this point, the seventh instance of a series of judgments was made up of the next series. God's first judgments in the tribulation are seal judgments; the seventh seal is primarily made up of the trumpet judgments. The trumpet judgments are next, and the seventh trumpet judgment is mostly composed of the bowl judgments. God's third and last set of judgments are the bowls. Each series increases in intensity, and now the judgments conclude with the definitive and terrible seventh bowl judgment.

This instance is described as the angel pouring his bowl "into the air," but unlike the other bowls, what follows doesn't seem specifically targeted at the item the angel pours into. This angels' action might suggest the judgment is especially wide-ranging, covering the entire earth. What's described in the following verses certainly fits that interpretation. It might also be a reference to an attack on Satan, who is sometimes described as "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2).

Once this bowl is poured, God declares the end to His judging. Once the events of this bowl judgment are completed, the tribulation will be finished and the end times will move into their final stages. "It is done!" is similar in meaning to what Jesus declared from the cross about His work of redemption. John 19:30 tells us, "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." While Jesus used the Greek term tetelestai from the cross, implying a fulfilled payment, this verse uses the word gegonen, which more literally means something is completed or finished. Those who refused to accept the finished work of Jesus on their behalf will face the full judgment of God.

Revelation 16:17–21 tells what happens when the seventh angel empties his bowl of the wrath of God. This is the last stage of the tribulation—the final chapter in God's outpouring of wrath on the world. What the sixth angel did prepared the way for the seventh bowl judgment to put an end to the kingdom of the beast. Chapters 17—19 give a detailed account of the fall of the beast and his kingdom.

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.''