Sunday School Notes: Revelation 16:12-14

¹² And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates, and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east may be prepared. ¹³ And I saw from out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean things like frogs. ¹⁴ For these are spirits of demons doing signs which come out to the kings of the whole inhabited world to gather them unto the battle of the great day of God the Almighty.

When we come to the sixth bowl, we should not be surprised to find more Exodus parallels. First, the drying up of the Euphrates parallels the parting of the Red Sea. Of course, in Exodus the Red Sea parted for God’s people and consumed Pharaoh and his armies. Here, the “kings from the east” cross the dry Euphrates. However, we shouldn’t get hung up on the details since these are, I think, intended to be subtle connections that reinforce the more obvious ones. Another such connection is, perhaps, the fact that the plague of locusts came upon the land of Egypt on an “east wind.” Finally, the demon frogs bring to mind the plague of frogs, the second of the Exodus plagues.

The purpose of the sixth bowl appears to be some kind of final gathering of earthly powers for a big battle on “the great day of God the Almighty” at a place called “Armageddon.” But before we get carried away with speculations about which kings these represent, and where this Armageddon place is where this last confrontation will take place, we need to remember that these are all symbols. If we are to be consistent in our interpretation, we should be looking for the underlying meaning of the Euphrates and its drying up, the kings coming from the east, and the frogs.

The Euphrates was one of the four rivers that flowed from Eden in Genesis 2:14, along with Pishon, Gihon, and the Tigiris, and one of the two major rivers in Mesopotamia. Needless to say, John’s readers in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) would all have been familiar with the Euphrates. From their vantage point, east of the Euphrates would equal Persia (basically modern-day Iran) and the surrounding Middle Eastern kingdoms.

Isaiah prophesied Israel’s restoration and the fall of Babylon at the hands of the Persians, referring to a time when the Euphrates will be “dried up” allowing the invading army to cross into Babylon. In Isaiah 11:15, the prophet says the Euphrates will dry up so people can cross “by sandal.” Also in Isaiah 44:27-28 God tells the rivers to be dry, and commissions Cyrus to fulfill His purposes with Babylon. The historical record supports the biblical narrative. Greek Historian Herodotus (490/480 BC – 425 BC) describes how Cyrus diverted the Euphrates so his men could march into the city through thigh-high water (see THE HISTORIES, Book 1:190-191).

If, historically, Cyrus was an agent of God to bring judgment upon Babylon, so these kings will also, ultimately be used of God for the same purpose, as we’ll see in the coming chapters. This historical background only serves to underscore the symbolic significance of what’s going on in John’s vision. Just as Babylon fell under Cyrus, so “Babylon”–the evil city, the manifestation of the rule of the beast on earth–will fall by the hand of God.

Water has played a large part in the bowls so far. The second bowl was poured onto the sea, the third onto the springs and rivers. In chapter 17, we will see the prostitute sitting on “many waters.” According to the angel who shows John the vision, the waters there represent multitudes and nations and languages (17:15). In this sense, the Euphrates could be a symbol for the multitudes who have chased after Babylon and will become disenchanted. The picture of Cyrus riding through the Euphrates to take Babylon represents the kings and the people who followed after the prostitute rising up against her, leading to her downfall.

The Euphrates was previously mentioned in 9:14, where at the sixth trumpet four angels bound at the Euphrates were released to kill one third of mankind. As noted before, the layering of the seal, trumpet, and bowl visions indicates these events have been going on throughout church history and will one day come to a final culmination. In this instance, we can acknowledge the tenuous relationship between secular governments and the earth-dwellers who both love them and bring them down. One day there will be a final reckoning, where godless authority will be destroyed, and the godless will both have a hand in it happening, and will mourn the victory of God over their culture (this is to come in chapters 17 and 18).

John goes on to describe how these kings from the east are summoned. The mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet open releasing demon frogs that take the summons to the kings. We noted the definite article on all three of these, indicating we should know who they are. John had a vision of the dragon in chapter 12, and we were told then that the dragon represents Satan. We met two beasts in chapter 13, one who rose from the sea, and another who leads people to worship the first beast. The first beast had ten horns, seven heads, ten diadems, feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion. These indicate global power and authority, and also connect this beast with the four beasts of Daniel 7 in terms of prophetic fulfillment (see the notes on Revelation 13 for more details).

Who then is “the false prophet“? This is the first time we’ve seen this term in Revelation. Yet, if we recall the activity of the second beast of chapter 13, I think the designation fits. That beast had two horns “like a lamb” and spoke like a dragon (a Satanic lamb?). It has authority from the first beast, and provokes the world to worship the first beast. The second beast performs signs and makes fire from heaven, and deceives the earth-dwellers such that they make an idol of the first beast and worship it. If the first beast is an “anti-Christ,” the second beast is one who acts and speaks on behalf of that “anti-Christ,” and draws people into worship and obedience to that “anti-Christ.” Just as a true prophet speaks to God’s people, so the “false prophet” speaks to the earth-dwellers. True prophets will also address ungodly nations, and likewise false prophets will address the church. 1 John 2:18-19 notes that “antichrists” have come into the church, but we know who they are because they didn’t remain; if they were of the church, they wouldn’t have left. Verse 15 seems to support the idea that this “false prophet” will try to infiltrate the church and lead God’s people astray, hence Jesus’s warning to stay awake.

This begs the question: Is the second beast “The Antichrist“? In the sense that he stands opposed to Christ and his church, one could indeed say he is an antichrist. But I don’t think the intention is to cast this beast as an End-Times evil figure that will herald the Apocalypse. He is anti-Christ, but the term “Antichrist” is not used of him. In fact the term “Antichrist” is not found at all in Revelation. In fact, it occurs only four times in the entire Bible: three times in 1 John, and once in 2 John. As we just indicated, 1 John doesn’t speak of just one Antichrist, but many antichrists who will infiltrate the church over time.

From the mouths of this unholy trinity come three unclean spirits like frogs. The Greek literally says “unclean things,” but the grammar and context allow for the interpretation “unclean spirits.” At first blush, it seems odd that these spirits would be describes as being like frogs. Undoubtedly part of the intention here is to recall the Exodus plagues (again!). The second of those plagues was a plague of frogs that multiplied all over Egypt, filling houses, ovens, beds, and kneading bowls. But this wasn’t merely a sanitation (or sanity–think of all the croaking, day and night!) plague. The Egyptian goddess of resurrection, Heqt, was depicted as a frog. By covering Egypt with frogs, and then killing them all, God was showing His supremacy over yet another Egyptian god. The significance of this particular god to the readers of Revelation perhaps lies in the fact that the first beast had a head with a mortal wound that healed–a parody of Christ’s death and resurrection. If these frogs are enticing the kings of the Earth to gather, might they be using not only signs and wonders but also stories of this resurrected beast to elicit support?

Again, however, this is all symbolism. What does it mean?

We started discussing the meaning but ran out of time, so we’ll pick up that discussion next time.