Verses 13 through 16 are a vision inserted between the sixth and seventh bowls. This vision is of the gathering at Armageddon.
Verses 13 and 14 say, “And I saw, 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 spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, doing signs, which go forth to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” These unclean spirits are like frogs. As spirits, they should be in the heavenlies, but as frogs they can only move about on the earth. At that time Satan and his power to act will be limited to the earth. He will no longer have the right to maneuver in the air. Hence, the spirits that follow him will be like frogs.
By means of the signs they perform, these spirits of demons will gather together the kings of the inhabited earth for war. According to verse 16, “They gathered them to the place which in Hebrew is called, Armageddon.” At the end of the great tribulation, three unclean spirits out of the mouths of Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet, will go forth to stir up the rulers of the whole inhabited earth and gather their forces, including the two hundred million cavalry mentioned in 9:14-16, to the war at Armageddon, which will be the last war among mankind before the millennium. In that war Satan’s intention will be to destroy Israel (Zech. 14:12) and to fight against Christ and His army. For this he will use all rebellious mankind (17:12-14; 19:11-19). Christ and His chosen overcomers will defeat and destroy them all (19:20-21; Zech. 14:3, 12-15; 12:4, 9) and save the nation of Israel (Zech. 12:3-8; 14:4-5; Joel 3:14-17). This is the treading of the winepress recorded in 14:17-20, Isaiah 63:1-6, and Joel 3:9-14.
Armies from the west (Roman Empire), the north (Russia), and the east (“the rising of the sun”) will be gathered at Armageddon. Ezekiel 38 and 39 prove that Russia, called Gog and Magog, will be there. Revelation 9 also indicates that two hundred million cavalry troops from the east will be there. Although armies from the west, the north, and the east will gather at Armageddon, there is no hint that the armies from the United States will be there. God has sovereignly arranged for the United States to be one of the few countries that are pro-Israel. If it were not for God’s sovereignty, how could Israel, a country surrounded by hostile nations, be able to survive? Although all the worldly forces will be prepared to damage the little nation of Israel, the United States will not be included. Again, I ask you not to understand the Bible in a natural way, but in the way of enlightenment, with insight into the Word and into today’s world situation.
Between the sixth and seventh bowls, the Lord issues a warning regarding His coming. Verse 15 says, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, that he may not walk naked and they see his shame.” According to the context, this word is spoken by the Lord at the end of the great tribulation before the war at Armageddon. This proves that at that time there will still be some believers, the gleanings, left on the earth. To them the appearing of the Lord in His coming back will still be as a thief, in an hour unknown to them. This is a strong proof that even after the harvest there will still be believers on earth.
When the seventh bowl is poured out upon the air, a loud voice “out of the temple from the throne” will say, “It is done” (v. 17). This means that everything both for judgment and for God’s expression, God’s testimony, has been accomplished. Immediately after this word is spoken, there will be lightnings, voices, thunders, and the greatest earthquake that the world has ever seen (v. 18). This earthquake, the same as the one in 11:19, will cause the great city, Jerusalem, to be divided into three parts and the cities of the nations to fall (v. 19). Because Jerusalem will have become as evil as ancient Sodom, God will judge it by means of this earthquake.
Verse 19 also says, “And Babylon the great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.” The religious, mysterious Babylon in 14:8 is destroyed at the beginning of the great tribulation; therefore, Babylon the great here, which will be destroyed after, at, or before the war at Armageddon at the end of the great tribulation, must be the material Babylon, the city of Rome. The Babylon in 14:8 corresponds to that in chapter seventeen, while the Babylon in this verse corresponds to that in chapter eighteen. The sketches of the two Babylons are recorded in 14:8 and 16:19, the details are given in chapters seventeen and eighteen.
Verse 19 says that God will give her “the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.” Rome gave the wine of the fury of her fornication to the faithful saints among the nations (18:3). Now God in vengeance gives her the wine of the fury of His wrath.
Verse 20 says, “Every island fled, and mountains were not found.” Verse 21 concludes by saying, “And great hail, every stone about the weight of a talent [approximately one hundred pounds], comes down out of heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague of it is exceeding great.” Once again I say that this hail will not come down upon the people in America, but mainly upon the citizens of the empire of the beast. In the midst of the downpour of this great hail, those in the empire of Antichrist will continue to blaspheme God. This proves that they have no intention to repent. Rather, they will fight against God to the end.