Revelation 16:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.

NIV: The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.

NASB: The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.

CSB: The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger.

NLT: The great city of Babylon split into three sections, and the cities of many nations fell into heaps of rubble. So God remembered all of Babylon’s sins, and he made her drink the cup that was filled with the wine of his fierce wrath.

KJV: And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.

NKJV: Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.

We learn from this verse that the earthquake resulting from the seventh bowl judgment is felt globally. Cities worldwide collapse into rubble. Whether or not the re-arrangement of islands and mountains is global, this event is strong enough to create havoc in every part of the earth.

Jerusalem is likely the location here called "the great city," and it, too, experiences the magnitude of the earthquake. It split into three sections.

Babylon also falls under God's judgment. The city is said to drain the cup of the wine of the fury of God's wrath. The imagery is significant. Revelation 17:2 charges Babylon with the sin of making the residents of earth drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality. The great earthquake that levels cities across the globe may coincide with the dividing in two of the Mount of Olives when Jesus returns to earth (Zechariah 14:4–5). Further, Babylon may be the capital of the beast's empire. Throughout biblical history Babylon is cited as the center of idolatry. It seems the city on the Euphrates River will be rebuilt in the tribulation and will incorporate demonic religions.

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.''