Revelation 16:17 Commentary and Bible Study

The seventh plague brings us once again to the end of the world. It describes in particular the downfall and destruction of Babylon and the description of its total desolation is extended into chapters 17 and 18. Chapter 19 which is also part of the same section then goes on to describe the triumph of God’s people and the final capture and punishment of the beast and the false prophet; the capture of the devil himself, being reserved for the next section of the book.The seventh angel pours out his vial into the air. How should we understand this? In Ephesians 2:2, Paul calls Satan ‘the prince of the power of the air’. The air stands for the invisible realm, the realm of ideas, attitudes, all that the world pumps out into the minds of unsuspecting people to take them away from God, the word air being used almost as a synonym for spiritual. This is consistent with the words that immediately follow, ‘the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience’. Is this a judgment on men or on demons? It may be better to understand this bowl, poured out into the air as affecting man, rather than the demons. It could signal the time when God ends life on earth by cursing the very air that man breathes. This is Hendriksen’s suggestion.Again the finality of this judgment is stressed. This plague is marked by a voice from heaven saying, ‘It is done’. That voice comes from the throne itself. Earth’s history has come to an end. The postponement of justice can continue no longer.