Revelation 16:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And I heard the altar saying, "Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!"

NIV: And I heard the altar respond: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments."

NASB: And I heard the altar saying, 'Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.'

CSB: I heard the altar say, Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments.

NLT: And I heard a voice from the altar, saying, 'Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and just.'

KJV: And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

NKJV: And I heard another from the altar saying, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”

In this verse the apostle John reports that he heard the voice agree that the Lord God Almighty's judgments are true and just. Revelation 6:9–11 tells us the martyrs under the altar cry out for vengeance on the wicked. They are told to wait a little longer until the number of their fellow martyrs is full. Now, under the third bowl judgment, the time has arrived to avenge the martyrs' deaths.

At this point of the tribulation, human wickedness has reached its peak, and the martyrs witness God's judgments on the wicked. They attest to the fact that God's judgments are true and just. God may not judge all sin immediately or as quickly as we wish, but He judges it fully, in His own time. Christians who suffer at the hands of violent, wicked men may wonder why God doesn't punish the wrongdoers right now, but they may rest assured He will take appropriate action when He deems best.

Revelation 16:1–7 reports the beginning of the bowl judgments which were predicted in Revelation 15:5–8. The first and second judgments resemble the plague of boils and the plague of blood that God brought upon the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrews leave Egypt (Exodus 7:19–21; 9:8–12). The third judgment turns the water sources into blood. The second and third judgments resemble the third trumpet judgment (Revelation 8:8), but their intensity is greater. A break occurs in 16:5–7 as an angel reflects on the first three bowl judgment and affirms that God is just to judge the wicked.

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.''

Accessed 11/21/2024 10:31:53 AM