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Revelation

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple declaring to the seven angels: “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” 2 So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth. Then ugly and painful sores appeared on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.⁠ 3 Next, the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood, like that of a corpse, and every living creature that was in the sea died.⁠ 4 Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they turned into blood. 5 Now I heard the angel of the waters saying:⁠ “You are just—the one who is and who was, the Holy One—because you have passed these judgments, 6 because they poured out the blood of your saints and prophets, so you have given them blood to drink. They got what they deserved!”⁠ 7 Then I heard the altar reply, “Yes, Lord God, the All-Powerful, your judgments are true and just!” 8 Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was permitted to scorch people with fire. 9 Thus people were scorched by the terrible heat, yet they blasphemed the name of God, who has ruling authority over these plagues, and they would not repent and give him glory. 10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain.⁠ 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east.⁠ 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.⁠ 14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful. 15 (Look! I will come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays alert and does not lose his clothes so that he will not have to walk around naked and his shameful condition be seen.) 16 Now the spirits gathered the kings and their armies to the place that is called Armageddon in Hebrew.⁠ 17 Finally 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!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an⁠ earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath. 20 Every island fled away, and no mountains could be found. 21 And gigantic hailstones, weighing about a 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people, but they blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, since it was so horrendous.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 14:21 and Revelation 16:12

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation’s description of the Euphrates river drying up recalls the parting of the sea in Exodus while reversing its meaning. In Exodus, the divided waters open a path for deliverance, while in Revelation they clear the way for conquering armies.

Passages

Exodus 14:21

Hebrew Bible
19 The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 It came between the Egyptian camp and the Israelite camp; it was a dark cloud and it lit up the night so that one camp did not come near the other the whole night. 21 Moses stretched out his hand toward the sea, and the Lord drove the sea apart by a strong east wind all that night, and he made the sea into dry land, and the water was divided. 22 So the Israelites went through the middle of the sea on dry ground, the water forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians chased them and followed them into the middle of the sea—all the horses of Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Revelation 16:12

New Testament
10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast so that darkness covered his kingdom, and people began to bite their tongues because of their pain. 11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their sufferings and because of their sores, but nevertheless they still refused to repent of their deeds. 12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and dried up its water to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of the demons performing signs who go out to the kings of the earth to bring them together for the battle that will take place on the great day of God, the All-Powerful.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... As the largest river in southwest Asia, the Euphrates was never known to dry up, unlike most of the rivers in the Near East. The drying up of the river Euphrates to allow the kings of the east to cross over it is the typological antithesis of the Exodus from Egypt, in which the Israelites under Moses crossed the Reed Sea, and the later crossing of the Jordan under Joshua. The drying up of rivers is one of the responses of nature to the coming of God (Isaiah 50:2; Hosea 13:15; Nahum 1:4; see Jörg Jeremias, Theophanie, 90–97); it is also a miracle attributed to Ezekiel in "Vita Prophetarum" chapter 3, verse 7 (see Schwemer, “Vitae Prophetarum,” 242–48). The drying up of the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 14:21; compare Isaiah 11:15; Jeremiah 51:36) and the drying up of the Jordan River (Joshua 3:17) function as miraculous means enabling the passage of victorious armies ..."
David Aune, Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 6-16 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2017), 1083.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 14:21 and Revelation 16:12

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